best celebrating the 200th anniversary of the lyon
TRANSCRIPT
Celebrating the Celebrating the 200200thth Anniversary of Anniversary of
the Lyonthe LyonSisters of St. Sisters of St.
JosephJoseph
July 2008July 2008
One hundred thirty three Sisters of St. Joseph from 33 countries on five continentsgathered in Lyon, France,
July 7-12, 2008, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the
refounding of
Sisters of St. Joseph
Attending for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet
Arriving in LyonArriving in Lyon
AmbianceAmbiance
The TreeThe Tree
A heart for each Congregation
Later in the meeting we’d break into Congregational Groupings.
Each CSJ would write their reflection on colored paper in heart shapes…red for English
speaking; blue for French speaking persons.
Later it was used at the closing Liturgy and will be in the
Heritage display at the Lyon Motherhouse.
Tables were divided into English speaking and French speaking. Each table had on it a Statue of Mother St. john Fontbonne and a silk scarf.
At the end of the conference, each sister received a scarf and one sister at each table won by lottery the “miniature” of the sculpture of Mother St. John.
Lucky Carondelet winners were Laura Bufano, Kate Filla and Carol Rohloff.
Prayer Services
JANET
GAGNON,
From Winslow,Maine, USA
and General Superior
of the Sisters of St.
Joseph of Lyon.
Mary Hasbrouck, St. Paul, pours water at Prayer Service!
Sister Annunciata Collins, Watertown,
Receives water – world reps - poured into common bowl.
“We are one.”
Prayer
At another prayer service we blessed each other at our tables with holy oil…here at Carol’s table Annunciata (Watertown) blesses Kathy McCluskey,
(Boston) who serves as the Executive Director of the US Federation of Sisters of St. Joseph.
History
Bishop of LePuy,
France, Henri de Maupas
A young French Jesuit preacher and teacher named Jean-Pierre
Medaille
LePuy, France 1650
LYON CONGREGATION
Lyon – Started with Mother St. John and other sisters of St. Joseph being saved from the guillotine by one day .
It was in St. Etienne that Mother St. John (Jeanne) Fontbonne, at the invitation of Cardinal Fesch of Lyon, gathered a group of twelve women and guided them in the spirituality of the Sisters of St. Joseph.
On July 14, 1808, this group received the habit and, with Mother St. John as superior, became the refounding group of Sisters of St. Joseph after the French Revolution. She eventually centralized her sisters in Lyon.
The congregation also has five regions: England-Ireland,Greece, Lebanon, Egypt, and Africa.
Lyon Congregation TODAY not only in France but in:
Denmark USA Sweden Russia Norway Italy Ireland
North America Brazil Argentina India Lebanon Egypt
What one person can do!
Annecy
Pakistan
US FEDERATIONCarondelet
Philadelphia
Brentwood
Springfield
Boston
Baden
Rutland
(now with Springfield)
Medaille
Wheeling
Wichita
LaGrange
Nazareth
Tipton
Cleveland
Congregation of St. Joseph
Carondelet
Concordia
Orange
Erie
Watertown
Buffalo
Rochester
Carondelet was the first foundation Congregation in the USA (1836). We were the ones to begin the history section of USA and Canadian Congregations.
We sang an adapted version of
“Shall We Gather At the River”.
We projected the text to the song on the wall and also gave out hard copies to the French speaking sisters.
Laura and Maria placed “river shawls” around each of our necks. The same “river shawls” were used during congregational chapter and were given to discerners for
congregational leadership.
There was a pause in placing “river shawls” in between the verses –we sang. Kate Filla was the narrator and sisters read different parts.
Here Mary Sevilla reads her part.
As a gift to the Lyon Congregation ,
Sister Gerry Lane from St. Paul,
designed a sculpted candle
with a Fleur de Le.
To create the image of a river and
to symbolize our “oneness” we connected our
“river shawls” and Mary Sevilla led us
out.
Philadelphia sisters had to wear street dress when they first arrived in Philly because of prejudice toward Catholics. Carol Zinn, known by most
of us, is here with her red scarf…after they became known by the Philadelphians, young women began to join them and received the habit.
Buffalo Sisters since the early days ministered to the deaf. They still have one sister active in this ministry today. Bea Manzella led
us in “signing”
“ Peace Is Flowing Like A River.”
Catherine McNamee is dead center
here!!
BADEN
BOSTON
WATERTOWN
SPRINGFIELD
Sister of St. Joseph of Erie present their story.
Orange California
“California Girls”
What one person can do!
THE CANADIAN FEDERATION
The Canadians adopted Monica in her living quarters…..
TORONTO 1851
HAMILTON 1852
LONDON 1868
PETERBOROUGH 1890
PEMBROKE 1921
SAULT ST MARIE 1936
CANADIAN FEDERATION
The Canadians had a bit of difficulty
with the Canadian clergy.
So
many
of
their
skits
featured
disputes with the hierarchy….
Italian Federation
The Italian Federation
The closer to “Rome” the more traditional the habit….
Sister Graciela Sotelo from Argentina is in the center and Sister Gloria Cruz from
Puerto Rico is to your left.
Culture
What is the culture in the areas where Sisters of St. Joseph live and serve?
Sister Maria Pia from Switzerland
Lebanon
IRELAND
Sister Graciela
from Argentina, who spoke French and
Spanish presented
the cultural story of South
America. Not shown, is our Maria Rubina, who
did the translating
into English
Laura gets ready for our cultural presentation. We are in the
room with the Central USA and Argentina
(because Maria Rubina
translated for Argentina.)
Egypt
Mexico
France
Africa
USA
Art depicts culture
On the left is Sister Virginia Pearl
– from Concordia.
The group on the right is part of
the delegation of the “new”
Congregation of St. Joseph.
On Wednesday,
Alfredo Sfeir-Younis
addressed the group .
Carol Zinn explains hearts - Simone translates
In the afternoon we met in congregational groups and had opportunity to reflect,
share and write our thoughts…these red hearts
were then placed in the plastic heart containers.
The tree will remain on display as part of the Lyon
Congregation’s Heritage Exhibit.
Elaine Coutu represented the Carondelet Congregation.
Two days of visiting historical sites of LePuy, Lyon and
the Heritage Room and Archives at the
Motherhouse.
Visiting the Archives in Lyon Motherhouse
Relief depicting the arrival of the first six Sisters –
located in the Carondelet
Motherhouse in St. Louis.
Bas-en-Basset
The International Center
Early kitchen in Lepuy.
Chapel in Fourviere
where Mother St. John
Fontbonne went regularly to pray for her
nieces and the new
foundation in St. Louis – America.
The Black Madonna
Roman Ruins
FAMILY TREE
Congregations of Sisters of St.
Joseph throughout the
world
Today 2008!!!!
In 2108 ???
In 2208 ???
Thank you to YOU... Our CSJ sisters…
for allowing us the opportunity of a life time!
If you ever have the chance to interact with Sister of St. Joseph from other Provinces or Congregations - ”DO”.
You will learn much and enjoy …
It amazing to see and realize our common heritage.
“I See Myself in You”
By Kathy Sherman, CSJ – Congregation of St. Joseph