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.

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News

meet ssj associate Tom Hudson

A physical therapist, Tom retired from Gannon University where he was an Assistant Professor and taught Pediatrics and Adult Neurology for twenty years.  He also worked part-time for 35 years, retiring in June 2018, from the Erie Homes for Children and Adults as a therapist. In his bio that he submitted when he became an…

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meet SSJ Associates Ted and Mary Wright

Spring has sprung! I feel a renewed sense of ambition and wanted to know what other associates are doing to spread the charism. I was blessed to speak with Mary Wright. Mary and her husband, Ted, became associates in 2008. Sr. Mary Alice Reed was their mentor. Mary and Ted moved to Beaverton, OR in…

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a Good Friday pilgrimage and the SSJ mission

SSJ Associate Stephanie Hall, who many know is also our Director of Public Relations and Communications, embarked on a spiritual journey during Holy Week. Stephanie, who has been making personal retreats in the desert of New Mexico for a few years, recently learned about a Holy Week pilgrimage to El Santuario de Chimayo in the…

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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