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 Upcoming
Anniversary Events
March 29, 2009 -
Liturgy in celebration of the
125th Anniversary of the
Sisters of St. Joseph.
April 26,
2009 -
Pasta Dinner - details to be
announced
Our
Beginnings
The Sisters of
St. Joseph of Springfield was founded in 1883 following a
request by the pastor of St. Patrick’s in Chicopee Falls.
He needed help starting a parish school and so seven
sisters from the New York Congregation moved to the
Springfield area. The small community grew slowly but
steadily while educating poor immigrant children in
central and western Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
By the mid
1960’s, the ranks of the Springfield Congregation swelled
to over one thousand women. The group had founded or
staffed sixty schools and had established the Elms
College.
 Then following
the Second Vatican Council, the Sisters restructured their
community life. Many moved out of convents and into small
houses and apartments in local towns and cities. Their
ministries expanded as well. No longer limited to
schools, the Sisters worked in prisons, parishes, homeless
shelters and other social services.
In the mid 1970s, the Sisters of St.
Joseph of Fall River merged with the Springfield
Congregation. In 2001, Sisters of St. Joseph of Rutland,
Vermont joined the community which also covers Worcester,
the Berkshires, Rhode Island and even Louisiana and
Uganda. Today, the Springfield Congregation of about 300
Sisters continues to serve the people of God through a
variety of ministries.
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