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

The World is a Gift We Leave to Future Generations

| March 31, 2019

Living a Responsible Lent – Caring for our Common Home – Week 4 “Once we start to think about the kind of world we are leaving to future generations, we look at things differently; we realize that the world is a gift we have freely received and must share with others.” Pope Francis – Laudato…

Be Free From Obsession With Consumption

| March 24, 2019

Living a Responsible Lent – Caring for our Common Home – Week 3 “Christian spirituality … encourages a prophetic and contemplative lifestyle, one capable of deep enjoyment free of the obsession with consumption.” Pope Francis – Laudato Si 222 Pope Francis tells us in Chapter 3 of “Caring for our Common Home” that the gifts…

Living a Responsible Lent – We Have Only One Heart

| March 17, 2019

Living a Responsible Lent – Caring for our Common Home – Week 2 “We have only one heart, and the same wretchedness which leads us to mistreat an animal will not be long in showing itself in our relationship with other people.” Pope Francis – Laudato Si 92 This week as we read The Gospel…

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

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