Are you looking to connect or re-connect with one of our Sisters? If so, this is the right place!
Search by Sisters’s name, and don’t worry if you don’t know her last name — this is searchable by first name.
Feel free to click the Get In Touch link to send a message a Sister. If that Sister is deceased, but you want to make an inquiry, send an email to SSJNews@ssjerie.org. (Please note: messages sent to sisters via the website may not be private — please do not include personal or confidential information.)
Did you know that after Vatican II, many sisters returned to using their birth names rather than the religious names they were given when they entered the congregation? We’ve included current and former names to make your search easier. Just search by the name you remember.
If you would like to make a donation in honor or memory of a Sister, click here.
Can't find a Sister? Click here.
Perpetua Dickant, SSJ
SisterBiography
Home parish: St. Leo, Ridgway, PA
Sr. Perpetua Dickant, SSJ, was born in Ridgway, PA, to the late John and Susan Dickant. From the time she started first grade at St. Leo School, she was fascinated by the Sisters of St. Joseph and deeply influenced by their kindness, compassion, selflessness, and dedication. She entered the Sisters of St. Joseph from her home parish of St. Leo Magnus on September 2, 1954, and professed her final vows on August 15, 1960.
“I believe my real inspiration to become a Sister of St. Joseph stems from my early years when our weekly Lake Shore Visitor arrived,” she recalls. “I couldn’t wait to look inside to see if there were pictures of the Sisters holding, loving and caring for the children at St. Joseph’s Home.” Her love for God and children led her to dream of becoming a Sister so that she, too, could care for and love God’s “little ones.”
A few years after entering the Sisters of St. Joseph, Sr. Perpetua’s dream became a reality when she was assigned to St. Joseph’s Home for Children in Erie. There, she spent many years caring for children ranging from newborns to twelve years old, serving as a housemother and nursery supervisor. She later became director of the former Erie Day Nursery Day Care Center, a position she held from 1970 until the center closed in 1981.
Sr. Perpetua earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from Villa Maria College in Erie in 1972. She also participated in numerous workshops and seminars in early childhood education in Washington, DC, Richmond, VA, Harrisburg, PA, and at Georgetown University. She briefly taught third grade at Sacred Heart School in Erie early in her ministry.
Her desire to care for others eventually led Sr. Perpetua into health care. In 1983, she earned a Practical Nursing Certificate from the Erie School District. She first served as a nurse aide at Saint Vincent Hospital before becoming a licensed practical nurse in pediatrics, where she ministered for many years. She also shared her faith through pastoral ministry, serving as a Eucharistic minister at St. Joseph/Bread of Life Community in Erie since 1978.
Throughout her many years of ministry, Sr. Perpetua has remained especially inspired by Jesus’ words in the Gospel of John: “It was not you who chose me, it was I who chose you, to go forth and bear fruit… The command I give you is this, that you love one another.” These words have served as a reminder of her vocation and her call to live a life rooted in faith, hope, love, and service.
Looking back on her vocation, Sr. Perpetua credits the example of her parents, the priests and Sisters of St. Joseph at St. Leo School, and her mother’s prayers for shaping her journey. “I thank God every day for my vocation and continue to pray for the grace of perseverance,” she says. “I thank God for sharing with me the joy, love and strength for the privilege of working with His ‘Little Ones.’” In recent years, Sr. Perpetua continued the ministry that first captured her heart as a young girl: caring for children and sharing with them the love and compassion that inspired her own vocation as the school nurse at Villa Maria Elementary School.
