The Sisters of St. Joseph and Their Foundations in America

190 Pages·2013·10.47 MB·English

by  M. Aquinas Caffrey

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Master's Theses Theses and Dissertations
1935
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M. Aquinas Caffrey
Loyola University Chicago
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Copyright © 1935 M. Aquinas Caffrey
The Sisters of St. Joseph and
Their Foundations in America
A brief account of the Origin and
Ideals of the Congregation and
of its work in the Middle West.
1650-1930
by
Sister M. Aquinas Caffrey C.S.J.
A Thesis submitted in partial fulfilLment
of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Arts in Loyola University
1935
PREFACE
When in the middle o£ the seventeenth century
Bishop De Maupas o£ the diocese o£ Le Puy, with the
assistance o£ Father Madaille a French Jesuit, £ounded
the Congregation o£ the Sisters o£ St. Joseph, he imbued
the in£ant Congregation with the spirit o£ St. Ignatius
o£ Loyola and o£ St. Francis de Sales. Through long
centuries o£ holy and heroic endeavor, the Congregation
has preserved the spirit o£.these great masters o£ the
spiritual li£e. Its mani£old labors £or God and £or
souls in the old and in the new world make a history
truly edifying, but nowhere do we £ind more strikingly
evident the £inger 6£ God and the impress o£ the saints
than in the story which Sister Mary Aquinas has so ad
mirably given to us in her Chronicle o£ the rise and
the development o£ the Congregation o£ St. Joseph in the
archdiocese o£ Chicago. Thirty six years have passed
since the Congregation began its work in our archdiocese.
Without money or powerful worldly patrons, but with the
rich coin o£ prayer and sacri£ice, and the heavenly £avor
o£ the saints, seven holy women £or.med a little religious
£am1ly that has grown and prospered until today it con
tains one hundred and thirty-seven sisters who are labor
ing successfully in three £lourish1ng academies and in
fourteen parochial schools. And so Apostolic was the·
zeal of the sisters of the La Grange parent house that
in 1912 ten of ita daughters travelled to far away
California where they have grown into a large Community
that cares for the sick in five hospitals, and trains
in religion and virtue the little ones of Christ in fif
teen parochial schools.
I am glad of this opportunity to offer m:y humble
but heartfelt tribute to this noble Community whose mem
bers I have known and admired from the days when the
Congregation began ita works of religion in our arch
diocese.
CONTENTS
Page
CHAPTER I Origin of the Congregation of
the Sisters of St. Joseph in
France and in the United States ••• l
CHAPTER II Founda tiona made in New York
State (Canandaigua, Buffalo,
Rochester) •••••••••••••••••••••••• 34
CHAPTER III Beginnings in the State of
Ks..nsas ••••••••••••••••••••••••••• • 82
CHAPTER IV The Diocesan Foundation of
the Sisters of St. Joseph in
the Archdiocese of Chicago,
Illinois •••••••••••••••••••••••••• l04
The Sisters of St. Joseph
and
Their Foundations in America
A brief account of the Origin and
Ideals of the Congregation and
of its work in the Middle West
1650-1930
FOREWORD
Religious communities of men and women are numerous.
A common purpose, !9: majorem gloriam., unites their
~
diversified labors. Yet the spirit and the works of the
various orders and congregations are as different from
each other as are the religious garbs that so uniquely
distinguiSh them. So, too, the history of each, though
each is a story of divinely inspired love revealing itself
in deeds of Christian charity, each is influenced and
modified by the circumstances of the age of which it is
the product; each constitutes a narrative possessed of
elements of human interest and endeavor, peculiar to none
but itself.
Because the particular history of every Congregation
reveals incidents that serve to bring into strong relief
the characters of all connected with its foundation,
·-
'
because lmowledge of' the hardships and diff'iculties of
pioneer days enhances appreciation of present achievements,
and because such appreciation inspires emulation, it has
seemed good to me to collect the data that would enable
me to write the story of the foundation of a distinguished
Sisterhood in the great archdiocese of Chicago, namely,
the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of La Grange,
Illinois. You will find this history to be a record of
toil and arduous eff'orts, of' deprivations and suf'f'erings
to which the ve of' distance may lend a certain
perspe~t.;l
attractiveness.
The history of' a religious community must be especially
dear to those who have participated in the very beginnings
of' a f'oundation. A f'eeling of pardonable pride must fill
their hearts as they view the progress of' the community
toward the fUlfillment of those ideals which were the cause
of its inception. On the other hand to later members of'
the same community the examples and ideals of the pioneer
Sisters is a continual inspiration to give their best into
the treasury of' personal holiness, and of' common endeavor
in the cause of Christ. It is to these pioneers of our
community that this history is dedicated.
Chapter I
In presenting the of the Sisters of St. Joseph
histo~
of La Grange, Illinois, it may be helpful to include a
brief account of the original foundation of the Sisterhood
of which this particular Congregation is a branch.
It was in the middle of the seventeenth century, a
period fraught with trials and calamities to the Church,
that the Congregation came into existence. With the rise
of numerous sects, Christian unity a.ong the European
states of the North was destroyed, as one after another the
Teuton rulers foreswore allegiance to the center of ortho
doxy and closed to their subjects the road to Rome.
~e
Southern nations were for the most part loyal to the Holy
See, and the Catholic Hapsburgs of Austria had successfully
overcome ever,y attempt of the Reformists to separate the
states from union with the See of Peter. Even in Catholic
France, internal religious strife bad already begun to
manifest itself.l.
During this crisis, as always, God was with His Church.
He saw her need; He raised up a host of defenders, of men
who quickened her with renewed life, not only by their
personal holiness, but by their devoted service to God and
1. Resume taken from readings on the Religious Revolution
1n Europe, especially in France.
to their fellow men. Among those destined to sow anew
the seeds of piety in the hearts of men were the of
Bis~p
Geneva, St. Francis de Sales, who gave to Catholic educa
tion the Order of the Sisters of the Visitation, and St.
Vincent de Paul, who bequeathed to the poor and suffering
members of Christ, his Order of the Sisters of Charity.2•
this century belong two other men, illustrious
~o
alike .for virtue·and learning, who were destined in the
Providence of God to inaugurate in a new Congregation, that
namely of the Sisters of St. Joseph, the plan reluctantly
abandoned by the Bishop of Geneva. These were Msgr. Henri
de Maupas, Bishop of Le Puy and later o.f Evreaux, and Jean
Paul Medaille, a missionary of the Society of Jesus.3•
Msgr. de Kaupas was a member o.f the distinguished
family of·Gondi to which Vincent de Paul was for a time
attached, as preceptor and spiritual guide. Very little
is known of his early li.fe, except that from his tenderest
years, encouraged by his pious parents, he showed a decided
inclination to the priestly life. FaithfUl to the inspira
tions of he renounced all the earthly advantages of
~race,
which his birth would have assured him and gave himself
unreservedly to the service of God and His Church. While
yet young he was nomina ted to the Abbey of St • Denis of
2. Louis Bougaud, St. Chantal and the Foundation of the
Visitation Orde'F." New York, 1895, Vol. 1, p. 4-ri'f
3. ~: .2E. • .ill·, p. 407-408.
Rbeims, the revenue of which he dispensed in favor of the
poor. Later a more extensive field was opened to his zeal,
when in 1641 the See of Le Puy was offered to him by King
Louis XIII. In spite of his natural repugnance for a posi
tion that would bring him into prominence before the world,
he took possession of the See on January 10, 1044, and de
voted himself henceforth wholly to the labors of his Bishop
ric. Among the works to which his zeal and charity gave
rise, one of the most remarkable was the foundation of the
Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in the diocese of
Le Pu.y.
In this foundation Msgr. de Maupas had an ardent co
s.
laborer in the person of Rev. Jean Paul Medaille, J.
In the course of his missionary labors, Father Medaille had
met several pious women, anxious to devote themselves in a
special manner to the sanctification of their own souls,
and at the same time to engage 1n works of charity for their
neighbor. Being convinced that an association of religious
women that would embrace this two-fold purpose would be of
inestimable value to the Church, Father Kedaille communicated
his desire for such a foundation to the Bishop of Le Puy.
· That prelate entered heartily into the plan as it gave him
an opportunity to carry into effect the unrealized project
of St. Francis de Sales, namely, to establish a Sisterhood
that would unite the external works of mercy with the