150 Years

The Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania began a year-long celebration of the Congregation’s 150th anniversary of service to the Erie Diocese on May 23, 2010, with a Liturgy at Saint Peter Cathedral, Bishop Donald W. Trautman, S.T.D., S.S.L. as Celebrant. A reception at the Bayfront Convention Center followed the Liturgy. Other anniversary events included wreath-laying services at the cemeteries where deceased Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania are buried, a concert by the Erie Chamber Orchestra, and Bruce Morton Wright, Director, on the lawn at Villa Maria Academy. Former Sisters were invited to participate in the 150th celebration at a Homecoming event, and “appreciation events” were held throughout the Erie Diocese. The anniversary theme, WOMEN OF SPIRIT, COURAGE AND VISION, honors the earliest Sisters of St. Joseph in seventeenth-century France; Mother Agnes Spencer, SSJ, the first superior of the Congregation in Northwestern PA; and the generations of Sisters who have ministered in the Erie Diocese. Since the Sisters arrived in northwestern Pennsylvania, they have served in the 13 counties of the Erie Diocese and numerous foreign lands.