 It all
began in the little village of LePuy, France, more than 350
years ago. The founding Sisters formed a community of
women who would love and serve their “dear neighbor”.
They worked in orphanages, and schools. They took care of
the poor and the sick.
The
Congregation dispersed during the French Revolution but
was restored by Mother St. John Fontbonne in Lyons, France
several years later.
In
1836, nearly two centuries after their founding in France,
a small group of Sisters came to Carondolet, Missouri to
begin a school for the deaf. From there, the Sisters
moved to many parts of the United States and Canada.
The
Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield was founded in 1883
following a request by the pastor of St. Patrick’s in
Chicopee Falls. He needed help starting a parish school
and so seven sisters from the New York Congregation moved
to the Springfield area. The small community grew slowly
but steadily while educating poor immigrant children in
central and western Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
 By the
mid 1960’s, the ranks of the Springfield Congregation
swelled to over one thousand women. The group had founded
or staffed sixty schools and had established the Elms
College.
Then
following the Second Vatican Council, the Sisters
restructured their community life. Many moved out of
convents and into small houses and apartments in local
towns and cities. Their ministries expanded as well. No
longer limited to schools, the Sisters worked in prisons,
parishes, homeless shelters and other social services.
 In
the mid 1970s, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Fall River
merged with the Springfield Congregation. In 2001, Sisters
of St. Joseph of Rutland, Vermont joined the community
which also covers Worcester, the Berkshires, Rhode Island
and even Louisiana and Uganda. Today, the
Springfield Congregation of about 270 Sisters continues to serve the people of God
through a variety of ministries.
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