WELCOME

SISTERS OF ST. JOSEPH

of Northwestern Pennsylvania

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.

News

Meet SSJ Associate Fr. Dennis Martin

| May 4, 2020

Fr. Dennis claims Pittsburgh, PA as his hometown where he was educated by the Sisters of Charity. He credits the sisters and the priests of his parish for his vocation. In 1975, he was ordained as a Marianist priest and was accepted into the Erie diocese in 1984. He served at St. George Parish for…

A Call to Postpone the DACA Decision

| March 30, 2020

Plaintiffs in one of the cases challenging the termination of DACA recently filed a letter with the Supreme Court asking them to consider the real-world consequences of the COVID-19 global health crisis for more than 700,000 DACA recipients and their families – including their 256,000 U.S. citizen children. The letter argues that if the Court…

we remember . . . Mary Arlene Menz, SSJ

| March 19, 2020

Sister Mary Arlene Menz, SSJ, age 94, of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania, died on March 19, 2020. She was in the 73rd year of her religious life. Born in Erie, Pennsylvania, on November 10, 1925, the daughter of the late Arthur and Marie Kloecker Menz, she entered the Sisters of St….

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 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 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 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 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

Click Here