WELCOME

SISTERS OF ST. JOSEPH

of Northwestern Pennsylvania

SLIDE-02

Come to the Waters, is a history of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania written by Leonie Shanley, SSJ, and Mary Francis Becker, SSJ, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Sisters of St. Joseph in the Diocese of Erie in 2010. Click here to explore the book.

Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons

News

We remember . . . Geraldine Olon, SSJ

Sister Geraldine Olon, SSJ, age 91, of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania, died on December 22, 2022. She was in the 73rd year of her religious life. Sister Geraldine was born in Oil City, PA, on July 12, 1931, the daughter of the late Michael and Anna (Burke) Olon. She entered the…

Read More...

We remember . . . Martha Ann Rinderle, SSJ

Martha Ann Rinderle, SSJ, 84, of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania, died on December 9, 2022. She was born on September 1, 1938, in Erie, Pennsylvania, to the late Ferdinand and Marty Ann (Kreiger) Rinderle. She graduated from Villa Maria Academy, Erie, in 1956, earned a BS degree in elementary education from…

Read More...

Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania Call for Change in the Cash Bail System

The Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania join the U.S. Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph and The Bail Project to dismantle racism and eliminate the use of cash bail in the United States criminal legal system. The original sin of this country is racism. The legacies of white supremacy, colonization, and slavery…

Read More...

Maxims — A Modern Take

More than 360 years ago, Father Jean Pierre Médaille, SJ, composed the Maxims of the Little Institute, 100 short sayings to help the first Sisters of St. Joseph grow in virtue. We share them here, along with contemporary translations developed by Susan Wilcox, CSJ, Brentwood, and a group of her students.

maxim-MODERN-12

MAXIM 12

ORIGINAL

Choose to bear all the evils of time rather than the least of eternity, all the evils of nature rather than the least deprivation of grace, since all kinds of reasons illumined by faith teach you to live according to this truth.

Original Maxim 12
as written by Fr. Médaille

maxim-MODERN-26

MAXIM 26

ORIGINAL

Seek in everything God's contentment and not anything else, and the better to practice this, remember in the entire living out of your life, in desolation, in sick¬ness, etc., to desire God's greater contentment without giving a thought to your own interests.

Original Maxim 26
as written by Fr. Médaille

maxim-MODERN-54

MAXIM 54

ORIGINAL

Empty yourself of all human respect and of the least blameworthy concession, and declare, with a generous heart, never to yield in anything that would be against God's will.

Original Maxim 6
as written by Fr. Médaille

maxim-MODERN-81

MAXIM 81

ORIGINAL

Whatever the virtue you recognize in yourself, never turn away from a true fear of God, conscious that his judgments are unfathomable and that his appraisals are quite different from ours.

Original Maxim 81
as written by Fr. Médaille

Read all Maxims