News NotesNews NotesPROVINCE

SISTERS OF ST. JOSEPH OF CARONDELET AND ASSOCIATES • ST. LOUIS PROVINCE • JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2013

You are the light

of the world...

let your light shine

before others,

that they may see

your good deeds and

glorify your God.

Matthew 5:14-16

Page 2 January/February 2013 PNN

On the Cover : National Human Traff icking Awareness

Province News Notes is a publication of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, St. Louis Province. Its purpose is to promote dialogue and unity within the St. Louis province and to keep members informed on those subjects that promote community and ministry.

We welcome your submissions! Submit articles and photos to Sarah Baker (e-mail preferred to sbaker@csjsl.org).

**Materials are subject to editing and will be published at the discretion of the editor.

• STAFF •

Jenny BeatriceEditor

Sarah BakerGraphic Design

Susan Narrow &Print Shop Volunteers

Production, printing and mailing

S. Jane Behlmann, CSJS. Audrey Olson, CSJ

S. Charline Sullivan, CSJMadeleine Reilly

Proofreading

Inside this Issue

ContentsProvince Leadership Message .........................................................................................3Ascension Health ..............................................................................................................4Vocation/Formation ..........................................................................................................5Sister Sarah Heger’s Final Vows ......................................................................................6Senior Ministry ..................................................................................................................7Liturgy ..................................................................................................................................8Justice ...................................................................................................................................9Data Offi ce .......................................................................................................................10Sharing of the Heart .......................................................................................................11Meeting Our Ancestors .................................................................................................12Necrology, S. Joan Erdmann. ..........................................................................................13Corporation and Council ..............................................................................................14Face of the Motherhouse ..............................................................................................15Calendars ..........................................................................................................................16

On the Cusp...of EducationPage 10Data Coordinator Madeleine Reilly records bits of history in the lives of our Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and discovers that these women were on the cusp of their time and leaders into new eras.

Ascension Health Sponsorship: Past and PresentPage 4Sister Mary Kay Hadican responds to questions regarding the changes in sponsorship and clarifi es what the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet’s role as sponsors means today.

Happy Retirement, Lexa!It is with sad hearts that we say farewell to Lexa Carr, director of province support services, who retires on Feb. 1. She has worked in the Province Offi ces since 2002; her last full day at the motherhouse was Jan. 11. Lexa will spend more time with her husband Skip, her mom, her children and grandchildren. We thank her for her talents, leadership and friendship, and wish her the very best in this next chapter of her life.

January is National Slavery and Human Traffi cking Awareness Month. The Sisters of St. Joseph have committed to shine the light of God to those victims who are lost in the darkness. Help shine

your light upon this issue this month through information and prayer, a powerful combination. Learn more about our efforts this month on our justice blog, anunfi nishedworld.org.

www.csjsl.org Page 3

Province Leadership Refl ectionsA little child shall lead you...

by Sister Jean MeierEditor’s Notes

by Jenny Beatrice

Back: Sisters Liz Brown, Jean Meier, Patty Clune and Suzanne Wesley. Front: Srs. Helen

Flemington, Nancy Corcoran and Pat Giljum.

Ahh, the New Year. Th e time we are fi lled with enthusiasm for change. Th e time we know we can and will fi nally do “It.” Th e time we are at our best— our best intentions that is.

Th is turn-of-the-calendar kind of self discipline reminds me of a humorous morning prayer that keeps me swaddled in the blankets and hitting the snooze button:

Dear God, so far today, I’ve done all that is holy and right….But in a few minutes I’m going to get out of bed, and I’m probably going to need a lot of help.

At these moments, I fi nd comfort in one of my favorite CSJisms: preferred future.

Th ese words call us to take steps to bring us toward what we believe to be “holy and right,” while also calling us to let go of the pride that keeps us from recognizing we are safely cradled in God’s unfolding mystery— the place we truly are our very best.

A few days ago, at the Little Fishes Swim School, I watched with awe and delight as my two-year-old grandnephew launched himself off the side of the pool into water that was well over his head, swam to his mother’s waiting arms, and gave her a high fi ve in celebration. Danny is not troubled by the fi scal cliff or even the growing violence in our world; his only memory is that his parents are there for him, waiting to catch him when he falls or leaps into the unknown. As we usher out a year that has been fi lled with natural disasters, political bickering and untold violence, are we able to leave it behind and trust that God is waiting to catch us and is doing something new in our lives?

In his book, Bounce, Robert Wicks emphasizes the need for resilience in the midst of a world distressed on many levels. He suggests that we use some of the following practices to improve our resilience and increase our hopefulness in this new year:

• Develop an important balance of friends who inspire, support and challenge us

• See the value of compassion, knowing how to reach out to others• Incorporate silence, solitude, and mindfulness into daily life• Appreciate the joy, nobility, and privilege of being alive in such

uncertain times.

As we enter into this year of new beginnings, let us move forward with hope, supporting and encouraging one another as we leap into the unknown. With the strength of community and the commitment to resilience, we can move together into a future full of hope, hearing once again the words of the prophet Isaiah:

Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand new. —Isaiah 43: 18-19 from Th e Message.

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Ascension HealthAscension Health Sponsorship: Past and Present

by Sister Mary Kay Hadican, CSJ

Ascension Health Alliance and its subsidiaries, including Ascension Health, the nation’s largest non-profi t and Catholic health system, is in over 1400 locations across 21 states and the District of Columbia. Th e Mission, Vision and Values have proven to be visionary and have remained constant as the System has grown and reorganized to meet the ever-changing health care environment in which it serves its mission.

As Ascension has adapted, the sponsorship role of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet within the System has adapted as well. In response to questions regarding these changes, we off er this overview to clarify what our role as sponsors means today. Who was Ascension Health?At the time of its formation in 1999 Ascension Health was sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Nazareth, Michigan and three provinces of the Daughters of Charity. In December 2002 the health care ministries of Albany, St. Louis and Los Angeles provinces joined the Daughters of Charity and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Nazareth, Michigan as sponsors of Ascension Health.

In 2007 the Sisters of St. Joseph of Nazareth, Michigan along with six other congregations of Sisters of St. Joseph came together to form a new community, the Congregation of St. Joseph. Th e Sisters of St. Joseph of Wichita brought into this new congregation their health care ministries.

Since the Sisters of St. Joseph of Wichita belonged to the Via Christi Health System with the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother, they brought into Ascension only their health care ministries as an affi liate of Ascension.

How and when did the sponsorship change?Th e original structure of Ascension Health was the Sponsors Council (representatives from thereligious congregations in Ascension Health), the Board of Directors, and the executive and administrative team. Th e founding sponsor members envisioned a health care ministry described as Sponsorship of the Whole. Simply put, this vision challenged the sponsors to think of all the health care ministries in Ascension, not just their own congregational health care ministries.

In the winter of 2011, after several years of study, dialog and consultation, the Daughters of Charity, the Congregation of St. Joseph and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet petitioned Rome to transfer the canonical authority (Articles of Incorporation and By-Laws) for all our health care ministries that were a part of Ascension Health to a newly formed body, Ascension Health Ministries. Rome granted approval of this petition on June 30, 2011.

Who sponsors Ascension Health today?Ascension Health Ministries is the sponsor body composed of lay women, men and sisters, appointed by designees of the religious congregations within Ascension Health. Currently there are three laymen, one brother and seven religious women serving on this sponsor body. Th is “public juridic person” is an offi cial body approved by the Church to insure the Catholic identity of Ascension Health.

Th e religious communities who previously sponsored Ascension Health, including the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, can best be described as the historical sponsors.

For more information visit the Newsroom at www.ascensionhealth.org.

www.csjsl.org Page 5

Vocation/Formation

Seeding Our Future: Sembrando las Semillas de Nuestro FuturoYounger Sisters Meet in Peru

Picture a room buzzing with 30 sisters wearing headsets, the real-time images of fi ve sisters projected on the wall, and seven translators bouncing from English to Spanish to Japanese, keeping the communication fl owing. It’s a vision of religious life in the 21st century, as new modes of communication give way to new ways of being together as Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.

Th irty-one Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet (twenty-nine under the age of 58), gathered in Lima, Peru, Jan. 3-5 for an event titled, “Seeding Our Future: Sembrando las Semillas de Nuestro Futuro.” Planned by a steering committee made up of the participants, the bulk of the work was done by the Peruvian sisters as our hosts. In attendance from the St. Louis province were Sisters Sarah Heger, Amy Hereford, Sandra Schmid and Gail Trippet.

“Spending time refl ecting and praying about this together was a great way to seed the New Year, and it is a great way to seed a new era in religious life,” says S. Amy.

Th e fi rst day of the gathering was focused on who the sisters are as individuals formed by family and culture, as well as who they are as Sisters of St. Joseph sharing common values and commitment to their vocations.

“I found the time in Peru a true time of learning about how much the same and yet how diff erent we all are,” says

S. Sandra. “We still have a lot to learn about each other, but the beginnings of a wonderful future were set.”

Day two was a time of contemplation on the Dear Neighbor as the sisters visited with families near the formation house in Lima and participants shared their experiences in ministry.

Day three was set aside for wondering about a common future and thinking about the skills, attitudes, and information needed as the congregation travels forward together.

“Our experience in Lima was a spiritual journey that was invaluable,” says S. Gail. “Th e external boundaries of provinces and vice-provinces were shed to make room for a way of being present that opened the door for an inclusive community experience which allowed us to begin thinking with a new sense of inter connectivity.”

For S. Sarah, the journey reminded her that she is one of fi ve sisters (four from Peru) that began the novitiate the same year, a perspective that opened up her horizon of the future. “Th at is now the reality I know. My view of congregation is now something altogether new.”

To read more comments and stories check out the blog: https://csjslnovitiate.blogspot.com.

Page 6 January/February 2013 PNN

Congratulations, Sister Sarah!

y 2013 PNNNN

On Dec. 8, Sister Sarah Heger professed her fi nal vows as a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet during a special ceremony in Holy Family Chapel.

Pictured from top, l-r: Sarah’s students from Marian Middle School sing during the ceremony; Novices Mary Flick and Clare Bass speak during the event,Sarah poses with friend Meghan Mueller who spoke in Sarah’s honor; S. Patty Clune receives S. Sarah’s fi nal vows; Sarah smiles with pride as S. Pat Bober is the last to sign the Record of Profession, offi cially naming Sarah a Sister of St. Joseph. Sarah’s program cover art by S. Jean Iadevito. For more photos from the ceremony, visit Members Only for the link to the photo gallery.

I know that as a Sister of St. Joseph we stand for God and for a love

that includes, empowers and challenges. I know that I have inherited a legacy.

—S. Sarah Heger

www.csjsl.org Page 7

Senior MinistryGleanings

by Sister Bonnie Murray, CSJ & Trish Callahan

MindfulnessBy S. BonnieOne of the topics during our annual meeting for CSJ Congregational Coordinators of Retirement was on mindfulness. As we begin a new year, perhaps we can be encouraged to make a resolution about being more mindful as we journey through 2013. Th e presenter explained to us that mindful awareness is the moment-by-moment process of actively and openly observing one’s physical, mental, emotional (and I would add: spiritual) experiences. Mindful awareness has scientifi c support as a means to reduce stress, improve attention, boost the immune system, reduce emotional reactivity, and promote a general sense of health and well-being.

Some of the key elements in cultivating mindfulness are:• Concentrated attention on object/focus, i.e breath• Awareness of sensory experience, i.e. sight, sound, touch• Nonjudgmental point of view, i.e. thoughts, views and

opinions• Acceptance of what “is”• Being in the present moment• Mindset of equanimity: remaining calm, non-reactive,

non-aversive, non-clinging to experiences

We are constantly moving from one activity to another without much awareness of the transition. Th is causes fatigue, stress and dissatisfaction. When we fi nd ourselves in this predicament, what can we do about it?

• Stop when an activity is done• Take one breath• Adjust your shoulders and body• Consciously start the next activity• Have kindness in your heart and your process

Th ese mindful steps will cultivate more awareness, train the mind to experience the present moment, prevent stress from piling up, refresh mind, body, emotion and induce a sense of well-being.

I invite you to explore the website www.mindfulvalley.org for more helps in practicing mindfulness. Th is could be the fi rst step in keeping this New Year’s resolution!

Healthy ChoicesBy Trish CallahanNew Year’s Day has come and gone and no new resolutions have been made – just a continuing commitment to the changes made this past year.

One of these changes is to consistently check nutrition labels before buying any food item. I researched ideas for healthy parameters for items such as frozen meals and soups. I came across the following suggestion for frozen dinners:

• 250-400 calories• Less than 4 grams of saturated fat• Less than 600 milligrams of sodium• 3-5 grams of fi ber• 10-20 grams of protein

Nutrition Action Newsletter, published by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), has featured articles on several popular products found in grocery stores. An article in December 2012 issue focused on sodium content in soups. Many brands contain enough sodium in one serving to equal about a half day’s recommended amount.

Th e recommended daily allowance for sodium is between 1,500 mg to 2,400 mg, depending on age and health. Nutrition Action Newsletter, WebMD, the CDC and others agree that, while we need a certain amount of salt in our diet to be healthy, less is better. Th e average adult consumes between 3,000 to 5,000 mg of sodium a day!

For information about how to cut back on sodium in your diet, check out the Health and Nutrition section in the Senior Ministry webpages in Member’s Only at csjsl.org.

Senior Ministry Web Page

A new section for computer tips and tools

has been added to our web section in Members Only.

A copy of keyboard shortcuts is available to print.

Page 8 January/February 2013 PNN

Kingsbury Ensemble Concert

Arias by Bach and HandelArias from cantatas and operas for

soprano and countertenor.

Sunday, January 27 at 2 p.m. Holy Family Chapel

Cost: Admission is free for CSJ sisters.

$20 general admission, $15 seniors$5 students 15 to 25, free for children

Source and SummitWinter Refl ection

by Associate Mary Kay Christian, liturgist

Liturgy

LITURGY CALENDAR

Midday Prayer 11:45 a.m.

Midday Prayer 11:45 a.m.

Kingsbury Ensemble Concert 2 p.m.

Midday Prayer 11:45 a.m.

January16

23

27

30

I can be reached best by phone from 9 a.m-noon, Monday through Friday. If I do not answer, please leave a voice mail message or send an e-mail. Calls and e-mails will be returned within 24 hours. If you need immediate attention, you can contact me on my cell phone at 314-497-0640.

In the bleak midwinter,

frosty winds made moan

Earth stood hard as iron,

water like a stone

Snow had fallen,

snow on snow, snow on snow

In the bleak mid-winter long ago.

—Christina Rossetti

I am not a winter-person. I hate cold weather. My nose, toes and fi ngers are chilled to the bone until spring arrives. And yet, winter gives us time. Time to hunker down by a warm fi re on dark nights, time to refl ect, remember and to dream.

A lifetime spent as a pastoral musician has imprinted the lyrics of hymns and songs that spring to mind constantly. As I look out on this January day, these lyrics from a poem by Christina Rossetti and set to music by Gustav Holst, keep reminding me of the beauty, the awe that even the “bleak mid-winter” reveals.

So, I will pour myself a cup of hot tea. I will pull my afghan up around me, enjoying the ice and snow that are thankfully outside my window. I will take time to slow down, pray and imagine the God who is with us even when the nights are long and cold. I rejoice in God and in the cycle of the seasons, knowing the spring will be here before we know it.

Associate Commitment & Mass 10:00 a.m.

Ash Wednesday Midday Prayer 11:45 a.m.

Lenten Midday Prayer 11:45 a.m.

Lenten Midday Prayer 11:45 a.m.

February3

13

20

27

60th Jubilee CelebrationSisters and associates are invited to celebrate the 60th Jubilee of the Reception of 1953.

Saturday, March

: a.m. Mass, followed by lunch

Holy Family Chapel

RSVP by March 8 to 314-481-8800 or motherhousersvp@csjsl.org.

www.csjsl.org Page 9

JusticeHomecoming

by Anna Sandidge, justice coordinator

I had the privilege of attending the fi rst session of Chapter in December. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet more of you and also be with you during this sacred time. I am so grateful for having been invited to attend that fi rst session of Chapter with you. I hope to join you at others as it is appropriate.

As your justice coordinator, spending time with you in prayer, in meetings, over meals and as you discern—all this helps me know you better. To better understand the challenges and joys of this community enables me to not only share appropriate justice ministry opportunities, but also to see how the CSJ community can share its wisdom and public witness with a broken and struggling world.

Th e very questions this community is wrestling with are also being discerned, consciously and unconsciously, in the larger world. Th ose questions such as: How do we want to be together? How do we create a new norm? What does the world say to us and how do we respond? How are we being called to transform? And how do we accompany one another through transformation?

Th ese questions are huge, not just for us this year of Chapter but for the world. And as I witness the care and intention with which this community struggles to fi nd its way forward together I am given a model, a message of how to help our partners in the justice community wrestle with those same questions and ways of being together. I welcome your wisdom and your suggestions as we continue to deepen and grow in this ministry of peace and justice.

In February, I will have been with the CSJs for a year. A part of me feels like I have just begun and yet another feels like I have been here for years. For me this job is so much more than work. It feels like I have fi nally come home.

Over my peace and justice career, I have been a community organizer, in the streets planning protests and demonstrations, getting tear gassed, legally observing civil disobedience. I learned the necessity of action but the signifi cance of patience and understanding. I’ve worked with genocide survivors in Burundi, Africa, from them

learning truth and freedom in forgiveness and the importance of the ministry of presence. When working in human rights compliance for a fashion footwear company, I learned that right relationship is vital to creating openings for better practices and compassion is key. Making the other a villain does not invite transformation and can prevent me from being an instrument of God’s peace. And most recently at Saint Louis University, at the Doerr Center for Social Justice, I found hope. So many young adults of today are aching for a better world and they are willing to do the hard work if we join them. Th ey have so much to learn on the path for transformation and we do too.

But in that work history, many of my lessons learned came through great resistance and confl ict, both my own resistance and from those I worked with. Trusting or even including God in the process was not the norm or even allowed in those settings. But my life and work has led me to believe that social justice is an invitation to healing, a chance to work toward social transformation in partnership with Spirit. Being with you, learning the charism of unity, reconciliation and care for the dear neighbor without distinction is an amazing gift. Every day I feel like I am making a positive diff erence in the world, not from simple political action but from a deeper spiritual practice. I truly get to live my vocation thanks to this community. Your care and generous spirit have been a wonderful homecoming for me. I am grateful for this chance to join in your justice ministry. It helps me know in my heart and share with the world that peace is possible and that together we are truly more.

Anna Sandidge

Page 10 January/February 2013 PNN

Data OfficeOn the Cusp...of Education

by Madeleine Reilly, province data coordinator

While sorting through fi les to update the new database, one particular document caught my eye, “Honors/Awards Received By Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, St. Louis Province, (reported by sisters) as of February 1981.” I was amazed and awestruck by the many individual achievements listed that when combined represent so much more.

As I record the bits of history in the lives of these women and compare them to national statistics, I fi nd that the sisters were on the cusp of their times, leaders into new eras. Building into the future, moving toward the more, leading on the cusp...these are the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.

It is in gratitude for the dedication and inspiration of the sisters upon whose shoulders we stand that in the next few issues of PNN, I share the fascinating information I have uncovered.

In just a slice of statistics from the St. Louis province database that includes information on the sisters from the late 1980s on, we count:

• 818 bachelor degrees

• 549 master degrees

• 61 doctoral degrees

• 300 listings of college educational hours

• 200 listings of diplomas or certifi cates

Th ese are the accomplishments of some smart women, receiving degrees on every level across the decades when fewer people received degrees and women graduates were certainly in the minority. Sister Mary Alfred Noble is just one example of academic achievement that surpassed national statistics on every level—a woman ahead of her time. According to Statista.com, only 48,000 people received a bachelor’s degree during the 1920s. S. Mary Alfred received a bachelor’s in English from Fontbonne in 1930. Government census information shows that in 1940, only 5 percent of the population held a bachelor’s degree or higher.

Sister Mary Alfred earned a masters in psychology from St. Louis University in 1932. Statista.com shows only 620 women received doctorate degrees in the 1950s. Sister Mary Alfred earned her doctorate in psychology from Th e Catholic University of America in 1940.

Th e national statistics in the 1920s-1940s demonstrate that the sisters were not only becoming highly educated, but also were paving the way for all women to reach academic achievement as well. In 1916 the CSJs founded the College of St. Teresa as a two-year college for women, with the fi rst graduates receiving their degrees in 1918. Th e U.S. Department of Education document titled, 120 Years of American Education: A Statistical Portrait, shows that during the 1920s, female attendance in higher education was on the rise, the numbers being indicative of women’s attendance in two-year teaching programs.

Th e “Portrait” document also states that by the end of the 1930s, college enrollment had reached 1.5 million with 9 college students per 100 18-to-24 year olds, with the proportion of women students decreasing. Yet in 1927, Fontbonne College awarded baccalaureate degrees to eight women.

I am constantly amazed and awed at these outstanding women who have been on the cusp, leaving legacies that are still leading the way in education for women and for all people.

S. Mary Alfred Noble

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Sharing of the Heart

To be honest, as I arrived at Chapter, I was torn: I don’t want a boundary between myself and the associates, although at one time I did. Yet deep in my heart (or was it my gut?), I felt a need for clarity, a boundary even. For years I have been aware of rumblings, but none fi rst hand.

In December, as I went to the fi rst session of Chapter at Carondelet, I put my own concerns temporarily aside in order to hear the real reason behind the objections raised at the end of the August Province Assembly. I left Chapter without knowing exactly what the objections were, but knowing clearly that we were uninviting the associates to some Chapter sessions. At one meeting a seemingly unconnected comment that Sister Jean Iadevito made about the diffi culty she experienced creating a mandala for a specifi c event jogged one of my memories.

When studying twentieth century music, I had an assignment: create a piece of music in one of the many types of the century I had studied that summer, a diff erent

one every day for fi ve weeks. I had fi ve days to conceive and fi nish the project. I was stymied. I could do anything I wanted. What was my problem? In previous composing, I had words to begin with, or instrumentation or a specifi c commemoration. Th ese were limitations, boundaries. Now, I had no limitations. I was paralyzed until I realized I had to choose my own limitation before I could put a note on the empty staff . Th en I could and did compose the assignment. It still wasn’t easy, but now it was possible. Is this not what we as a province need to do? Be clear with ourselves and with each other, agree upon a limitation so that we can move forward and together?

For years we have been functioning without real distinctions between ourselves and associates. “Without distinction,” I thought. Sound familiar? Our roles as vowed members, however, are at times really diff erent. Are we ready to clarify those times, those situations out of love so that actually “together we can be more”?

Boundaries?A Refl ection from the First Session of Province Chapter

by Sister Jane E. Gerard, CSJ

Visit www.csjsl.org for more information about the2013 LOB events in St. Louis and Kansas City.

Saturday, Jan. 26

From Retribution to Restoration with S. Rose McLarney, CSJ

RSVP by Jan. 21 to

314-678-0307 or 314-678-0309

Cindy’s Creative Cutiesby Associate Cindy Bardenheier

2013 jubilee cards are now available for purchase with designs in generic and milestone selections available.

Cost is $1 per card.

Cards are available at the motherhouse or you can order them from Cindy at

bardskards@gmail.com or 314-920-2562.

Page 12 January/February 2013 PNN

Profi le of an Early Sister Who Died in the Month of January

Meeting Our Ancestors

Sister Mary Fidelis Cusack departed this life at Nazareth Institute, Muscogee, Indian Territory, on the second day of January nineteen hundred four in the 33rd year of her age, the fourteenth of her religious life.

Quite happily named was our dear Sister Fidelis, for she was indeed a faithful and devoted religious. Possessed of good sense and sound judgment, she early developed qualities and virtues which gave great promise of her future usefulness to the congregation. But the reaper, Death, cast his shadow all too soon across the path of this dear young sister and came to nip the fl ower ere yet it had had time to unfold its full beauty in the garden of the celestial spouse.

Many will bless the Lord and Sister Fidelis for the encouragement derived from her words and, perhaps still more from the truly moving example of her edifying life. May her short but faithful life in religion already have procured for her the magnifi cent reward promised by our Lord to those who leave all to follow Him. [From the Necrology Book]

Sister Mary Fidelis (Mary Alice) was born November 25, 1870 at Indian Creek, Missouri to Patrick and Mary Masterson Cusack. She entered at Carondelet on September 5, 1889 and received the habit on March 19, 1890. She made profession of vows on March 19, 1892.

Sister Mary Fidelis served at Nazareth Academy in Muskogee, Oklahoma until her death in 1904. She is buried in Calvary Cemetery, St. Louis, MO.

Nazareth Academy was founded in 1892 by an independent community of Sisters of St. Joseph who had left the Brentwood community. Th e community affi liated with the St. Louis province in 1900.Th e Academy was a boarding and day school for girls and a day school for boys.

Nazareth Academy, Muskogee, Okla., opened in 1892 and closed in 1934

www.csjsl.org Page 13

In her own way, Sister Joan Erdmann was one of the greatest givers we have had in our community. She lived to be of service to others. Very much like our patron St. Joseph, who went about doing and being for the Holy Family, S. Joan lived a simple life, embracing daily what came her way.

Joan was born January 13, 1930, to Elmer and Rose Bellin Erdmann in Green Bay, Wis. Th is fi rst-born child would later become the big sister to four brothers and one sister. At age 18, Joan left Green Bay to join the community in the fall of 1948. She received the habit and name, S. Rose Wilma on March 19, 1949.

Like many of us, S. Joan began teaching on the elementary level. She was one of those primary teachers who stayed with that ministry almost all of her active life. While a good many of her teaching assignments were in St. Louis, she also taught in Negaunee, Mich.; West DePere and Shawano, Wis.; Washington, Ga.; and Houston, Texas. Th ese teaching years, 1951 – 1974, were happy ones. Learning from others and sharing creative ideas with fellow teachers enhanced her instruction and allowed friends to enter her life. While at St. Vincent School in St. Louis she met her dear friend, Margaret. Th e two of them remained fast friends to the present. While she liked teaching in St. Louis, she was happy to be close to her

family when missioned in Michigan and Wisconsin.

Following her profession in 1951, S. Joan spent her summers studying at Fontbonne, and in 1958, she received her bachelor’s degree in education from that institution. From 1975-1989 she was a teacher aide at St. Rose of Lima School in Houston. While there she worked very closely with Ms. Colette Connelly in establishing Th e Learning Center at St. Rose School. Since S. Joan loved to read it was only natural that she be the one to help establish the school’s library. She read to the children and helped them fi nd books appropriate for their grade level and their interests. One teacher wrote, “Her quiet, consistent support, her comprehensive knowledge of the learning center’s operation, and her willingness to serve others selfl essly make her an exceptional role model for children and adults alike.” Ending formal classroom teaching, from 1989 – 1994, S. Joan assumed a staff position at the Carondelet Day Care Center located on the campus of the motherhouse.

After moving to Nazareth Living Center in 1995, S. Joan faithfully corresponded with her many friends. Other correspondents included incarcerated persons and sick and homebound persons. Over the years, she touched many lives and fi lled people with her compassion, comfort and support. Besides writing letters and

making phone calls to those she cared about, S. Joan had her own Ministry of Visiting at Nazareth. For years, she and S. Teresa Lawrence would go to S. Ann Bernadette Wagner’s room. Th ey’d take her to the Ice Cream Parlor or sit in her room where they would do their own “sharing of the heart.” S. Ann Bernadette always welcomed their daily visits.

Th ese past few years S. Joan suff ered physically and mentally. Yet, she never complained about her pain. She just voiced her desire to be back at Nazareth so that no one would have to visit her at the hospital. An especially bleak time occurred when, while visiting friends in Houston, she fell and needed hospitalization. But her last days were very happy. She felt better, was going to physical therapy to get her strength back, and was so happy to tell everyone how blessed she felt. Of the many who wrote to her she said, “I didn’t know so many people loved me.”

Death came as a surprise to her. She suff ered a seizure and was rushed to the hospital. She died quickly. Th e medics who came to Nazareth and took her to the hospital commented on how she smiled and took time to thank them. For all of the lives she has touched by her caring and compassionate support, may she now enjoy eternal happiness.

S. Kathleen KarbowskiS. Rita Louise Huebner

Sister Joan Erdmann, CSJJanuary 13, 1930 - December 5, 2012

A life lived to be of service to others

Th e Hand of God Shall Hold You

Page 14 January/February 2013 PNN

CSJ News

Corporation & CouncilNovember/December

Meeting

CORPORATION

Accepted • Minutes of Board of Directors of

the Corporation meetings held October 12, 2012

• October 2012 Financial Statements

Approved• Marian Middle School Dinner Auction

- $2,500• National Catholic Reporter (NCR)

Annual Appeal Campaign - $1,000• Women In Transition Dinner Auction

- $2,500• Guarantee of $30,000 of a $65,000 loan

for Jerusalem Farm, Kansas City, MO

COUNCIL

Accepted• Minutes of the Province Council

Meetings held October 12, 2012

Approved• Patrimony Request• Travel Request• Educational Request

Discussed• Department updates• Province Chapter• Women of Wisdom (WOW) Weekend• Sponsored Institutions updates • Vocation/Formation update• Nazareth Living Center/BHS

Sister Margaret Schulz, CSJ Recognized by Pope Benedict XVIIn recognition of her service to the Church of Peoria in Peoria, Ill., Sister Margaret Schulz was bestowed the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifi ce Cross by Pope Benedickt XVI.

Th e pontifi cal honor was offi cially presented to S. Margaret on Nov. 18 during a Solemn Mass for the Conferral of Ecclesiastical Honors in the Cathedral in Peoria. Th is award is one of the highest honors the Church bestows on Her faithful.

S. Margaret serves as the assistant principal for student aff airs at the Peoria Notre Dame High School.

CSJ Association’sMardi Gras Celebration & Initial Commitments

Sunday, Feb. : a.m. Eucarhistic Liturgy

Followed by Brunch

Visit Members Only at csjsl.org for more information - see “Calendar of Events”

RSVP by Jan. 29 to Kay Naughton: knaughton@csjsl.org or 314-678-0314 or Peggy Maguire: pmaguire@csjsl.org or 314-678-0318

We welcome Associate Diann Hefl in (center) to the CSJ community as she made her Initial Commitment on Dec. 1 in Denver, Colo. She is pictured with Sister Ellen Roach, friend Dolores Bland, Sister Mary Ann Figlino and Associate Diane Dean.

www.csjsl.org Page 15

Meet Sam FaulknerMaintenance Staff

Face of the MotherhouseRest in Peace

Mary Beth Field, sister of Associate Barbi Field Meyer

S. Monica Anne Waldmann (LA)

Bernadette Lynch, sister of S. Kathleen O’Malley

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November

Margaret Lucas, sister of S. Barbara Fleury

Carolyn Kost, sister of S. Elizabeth Ganss

Jack Burke, brother-in-law of S. Anna B. Kearns

S. Marie DePaul Rochester (SP)

S. Mary Rehfuss (A)

S. Helen Eugene McNally (A)

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December

Th ank YouA Message from Province LeadershipTh ank you so very much for your Christmas remembrances, prayers, masses, gifts, and good wishes. We are most grateful. May this New Year be fi lled with many blessing for you, your families, and for our community.

From S. George Antoinette Vander LoopMy sisters and brothers are deeply grateful for the masses and enrollments off ered for our mother, Antoinette Vander Loop. Your many prayers, cards, Phone calls and inspirational thoughts are treasured by each of us. Your care and concern have strengthened us.

How long have you worked at the motherhouse? What does your job entail?I began on June 11, so I am just past my six-month mark. My job is to work with the other maintenance staff in taking care of the motherhouse and other CSJ houses. I am also responsible for some outside work such as taking care of the roses and picking up trash on the property grounds, etc.

Tell us about your family. My wife, Tabitha, and I have been married for a year and a half. We live in Granite City, Ill. And, in May we will be adding to our family with our fi rst child. My hobbies are... I don’t have a lot of them, but what I like to do with my spare time is hang out with friends, play video games, watch movies and just try to take it easy.

It would surprise people to learn...I am an open book. I am a simple man and I do not hide my mistakes because I will use them to help someone else. I like to talk with people, so, if you talk with me for a while you will know all about me.

I enjoy working for/with the CSJs because...I enjoy working here because everyone is so nice. Th is job is the most stress-free job I ever had. Everyone here cares for one another. Th e sisters always greet you and they tell you how much they appreciate all the work you do. Th ey just treat you well all around.

My fondest memory while working at the motherhouse is...I would have to say my fondest memory so far was the motherhouse administration, housekeeping and maintenance staff ’s Christmas party. Th is was the fi rst time I had a Christmas party with work and it was very nice talking with everyone.

Sam and Tabitha Faulkner

S. Christine Maria Barton (A)

Marie Flynn, sister of S. Anna Margaret Kern

3January

PROVINCE CalendarLEADERSHIP Calendar

Page 16 January/February 2013 PNN

NEXT ISSUE: March PNNSubmission Deadline: Feb. 15 • Publication Date: March 1

For a complete PNN schedule, visit Members Only at www.csjsl.org.

January16 STA Board Mtg. (PC)19 Feuerbacher Grant Committee (PC)18-20 Province Leadership Mtgs. (PL)22 Fontbonne Finance Committee (SW)23 Fontbonne Finance Committee (SW)25 CWIT Bridging Home Luncheon (SW)25-26 Fontbonne Board Mtg. (HF, SW)26 Linger Over Breakfast (JM)27 Kingsbury Ensemble Concert (PG)28 SJA Board Mtg. (PG)

February2 Justice Mtg. (HF)3 Associate Mardi Gras Celebration (PG)7-11 CLG - St. Louis (LB, NC, PC, PG, HF)12 Department Head Mtg. (PC, PG, HF)13 CWIT Exec Committee (SW)16 Avila Steer Dinner (PC)18 Eco-Spirituality Committee (HF)20 Senior Ministry Day (PG)20 English Tutoring Project Mtg. (HF)21-22 Avila Board Meeting (PC)23 SJA Auction (PG)23 Spring Sectionals (HF, SW)27 Investment Managers (PG, HF, SW)

March2 Spring Sectionals (LB, PC, JM)7 IEC (HF)11-13 Heartland Federation - Concordia (NC, PC, PG, HF, JM, SW)13 STA Board Mtg. (PC)14 SJID Board Mtg. (JM)14-16 Province Chapter Planning Committee (NC, PC)16 60th Jubilee - Carondelet (LB, PC, PG, HF, JM, SW)17 NLC Jubilee Celebration (LB, PC, PG, HF, JM, SW)18 SJA Board Mtg. (PG)20 Development Dinner - Dining to Donate (PC, PG, HF, JM, SW)21 Women in Transition Board Mtg. (SW)22 Chapter Planning Committee Mtg. (HC, PC)22 CWIT Fundraising Dinner (JM, SW)23-24 Province Leadership Mtgs. (PL)

The PL calendar is also available in Members Only at csjsl.org.

January19 Come & Explore Event26 Linger Over Breakfast with S. Rose McLarney27 Kingsbury Ensemble Concert

February3 Associate Mardi Gras Celebration23-24 Spring Sectionals

March2-3 Spring Sectionals16 60th Jubilee Celebration17 Nazareth Living Center Jubilee Celebration, NLC20 Dining to Donate, Favazza’s on the Hill

April13 Linger Over Breakfast with S. Sandra Schmid18 Generosity of Joseph Honors Gala,

Kemoll’s Top of the Met25-28 Province Chapter: Session II

*All events at Carondelet Motherhouse unless otherwise noted.

For more event listings and details, visit our Members Only Calendar of Events at www.csjsl.org.

St. Louis Province ChapterFor province chapter news and updates, visit

csjslchapter.org.

Upcoming Chapter Dates

April 25-28, 2013 - Province Chapter: Session II

Aug. 7-11, 2013 - Province Chapter: Session III

St. Louis Province Chapter Leadership Discernment Sessions Dates

July 8-10, 2013 - Province Discernment Gathering I

Congregational Chapter Dates

July 17-31, 2013 - Congregational Chapter