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Sr. Patricia Macaulay, right, visits with a woman in Fort St. James.
Fr. Médaille looked for a missionary spirit in the hearts of the women who joined the Sisters of St. Joseph in the seventeenth century. When he died in 1669, the Sisters had already moved to five other dioceses beyond that of Le Puy-en-Velay. By the beginning of the French Revolution (1789) some 150 houses had been established throughout the south-central regions of France. Only in the nineteenth century, following the Napoleonic - Papal decrees to centralize religious communities under diocesan motherhouses, did missionary activity extend beyond France to all the continents of our world.
Sr. Rosemary Fry’s ministry is in Haiti.
From the Toronto foundation of 1851, the Congregation expanded throughout Ontario.
In August 1881, the first “far-off mission” was established in what is now Thunder Bay with the “heart-rending” departure of five Sisters who never expected to see Toronto again. Even more-distant Canadian missions followed in the twentieth century: at least 14 houses in British Columbia (mainland and Vancouver Island), one in Edmonton, Alberta, two in Saskatchewan, seven in Manitoba, two in Quebec and two more in Northern Ontario. Today Sisters are still present in Vancouver and Fort St. James, British Columbia, in Thompson, Manitoba, and in Kapuskasing, Ontario.
The first “foreign” mission was opened in Guatemala in 1968. Since then Sisters have served in Hong Kong, Sierra Leone and Ghana in Africa, as well as in Nicaragua, Honduras and Haiti. Sisters are still present in these last two countries. Truly Father Médaille’s maxim, quoted above, has been and is still being lived, with zeal and courage by our Sisters.
By Grace Sauvé CSJ
Caring for a resident at the House of Providence (1950s)
Father Médaille wrote that God had inspired the foundation of the Congregation "precisely for the relief of the sick poor." In Toronto’s early days, the Sisters cared for the sick at home and in the fever sheds. At the request of the Medical Officer of Health for Toronto, the Sisters took charge of the Isolation Hospital during the 1891 diphtheria epidemic. The following year they opened St. Michael’s Hospital. It was soon affiliated with the University of Toronto and continues as a world-renowned teaching hospital.
In June 1913 four Sisters went to British Columbia to open the congregation’s first western mission. St. Joseph’s General Hospital was established in Comox, Vancouver Island, for loggers and their families. Initially they cared for the sick in the tiny farmhouse where the Sisters lived. Today, the hospital continues to operate in the Comox Valley under the direction of the Catholic Diocese of Victoria. In Winnipeg, Manitoba, the Sisters took over a private hospital in 1923, operating it until 1953 when it was converted to a residence for the elderly.
Nursing in the maternity ward at St. Michael's (1970s)
With Toronto’s westward expansion, the need for health care grew. The Sisters responded with the establishment of St. Joseph’s Hospital in October 1921. Our Lady of Mercy Hospital, a chronic care facility established in 1925, adjacent to the House of Providence, moved in 1940 to Sunnyside Avenue, and then merged with St. Joseph’s in 1980.
Providence Healthcare continues the rehabilitation and long-term care that began at Mercy Hospital. St. Michael’s and St. Joseph’s Hospitals extended their services into the surrounding areas with neighbourhood health clinics. Today all three Toronto health care institutions are operating under the sponsorship of the Catholic Health Corporation of Ontario.
By Grace Sauvé CSJ
Dating back to the 17th century, the founding constitutions of the Sisters of St. Joseph urge them to assess the needs of communities in which they live and find ways to help their most underrepresented and needy neighbors.
The Sisters opened the House of Providence in 1857 to fulfill this responsibility at a time when social services in Toronto were virtually non-existent and the city’s elderly, terminally ill, poor and disabled residents had few options for care. At the House of Providence, the Sisters provided both physical nourishment and emotional and spiritual support. A 1924 Globe and Mail article, part of which is pictured at left, reported that the House of Providence served between 80 and 90 meals per day to the city’s unemployed men and women.
Today, the Sisters continue their commitment to providing nourishment to underserved community members, constantly adjusting programs to meet changing needs. Following in this tradition is ‘Eat Pray Share.’ Presented by Fontbonne Ministries’ young adult ministry, Faith Connections, part of whose flyers are shown at the bottom of this article, this unique program combines the love of good food with stimulating spiritual dialogue. ‘Theology on Tap’ also provides young adults with an informal setting for sharing thought-provoking discussions on faith and justice topics.
Established in 2000, the Mustard Seed is another one of Fontbonne Ministries’ programs dedicated to community nourishment. Located in Toronto’s South Riverdale neighbourhood, the centre offers drop-in programs that embrace the idea of sharing food as a starting point to building community. Some of these programs include ‘Community Kitchen,’ ‘Community Gardens,’ ‘Whimsical Wednesdays for Women’ and ‘Saturday Adult Drop-In.’ In addition, Village Mosaic in South Etobicoke nourishes community among seniors in the area through a variety of programs. Some Sisters offer spiritual guidance to individuals and through group retreats for women. In this way, the Sisters are continuing their long tradition of nourishing people in body and soul.
By Sheena Stemler, Archives Assistant
June 2011
Sister St. Osmund Gebauer
feeding the hungry at House of Providence (c.1930s)
When the Sisters of St. Joseph arrived in Toronto on October 7, 1851 their first concern was for orphans and the sick poor. As Irish immigrants swarmed into the city - hungry, sick, in need of housing and care - Mother Delphine and her companions responded. From the orphan asylum they went out to nurse the sick and comfort the dying.
In an 1855 letter to the Catholics of the City Bishop de Charbonnel begged for help to build a House of Providence to care for the needy. He asked, “Besides offering a little comfort to poor immigrants, could we not attend to [the sick] and gather up some more orphans? Could we not save from destruction some young girls, shelter widows, and help some elderly or invalids?” The Bishop wrote that alleviating the social and domestic problems accompanying poverty was one of the main goals of a House of Providence.
Sisters of St. Joseph: Annette Lacroix, Penny McDonald, Roberta Freeman, Mary Anne McCarthy, Monica Marie Kelly, Susan Davy, Margaret Myatt, Anne Purcell, Divinia Pedro, with newly presented Heritage Toronto plaque celebrating 150 years in 2007.
Construction began in 1856 and was still in progress when the House opened in 1857. Over the next century it quadrupled to house over 700 residents without regard to nationality or religion - orphans, elderly, invalids, transients and homeless received food and shelter. It was a forerunner of Providence Villa and Hospital (later Providence Centre and now Providence Healthcare).
By January 1962, the mostly aged residents moved to a new facility in Scarborough. There, care of the elderly has continued and evolved as Providence Healthcare, and the legacy of the Sisters of St. Joseph continues to adapt to changing needs in our society.
By Grace Sauvé CSJ
Within a year after their arrival in 1851, the Sisters responded to the desperate need for teachers in Catholic schools for Toronto and the neighbouring towns and villages. By 1900 the majority of Toronto Catholic elementary schools were staffed by the Sisters of St. Joseph and the Christian Brothers.
They went on to make an impact in the area of women's education. In 1854 they opened St. Joseph's Academy, a private day and boarding school for girls in their first motherhouse on Power Street. St. Joseph's Academy offered primary and high school studies. Later known as St. Joseph's College School and now located on Wellesley Street West, it has a long tradition of educating young women by focusing on their intellectual, physical, social and creative abilities in a Catholic, faith-filled environment.
The Sisters founded five girls' high schools in the Toronto area - St. Joseph's College School, St. Joseph's Morrow Park High School, St. Joseph's High School, Islington (now Michael Power/St. Joseph's High School), St. Joseph's Commercial School and in Oshawa, Msgr. Paul Dwyer Catholic High School. The Sisters also established three schools of nursing attached to their hospitals, two in Toronto and one in Winnipeg.
In the years leading up to 1911, the Sisters were committed to providing post-secondary opportunities to young women for teacher training and university degrees. In 1911 St. Joseph's College was established alongside Loretto College for women students of St. Michael's College in the University of Toronto.
Today, some Sisters are engaged in education at the graduate and post-graduate level. Other Sisters respond to the spiritual, social and practical needs of others in a variety of ways: through spiritual direction; parish ministries with a focus on spirituality; ministry to mature adults; sacramental preparation; as well as drop-in programmes that teach life skills and build community.
By Linda Wicks
Congregational Archivist
April 2011
Mother M. Delphine Fontbonne CSJ
1813-1856
First General Superior
In the "Règlements" (rule of life) for the Sisters of St. Joseph established in France around 1650 we find this statement of purpose: "to lead others to union with God and with every kind of neighbour by undertaking all the spiritual and corporal works of mercy of which women are capable." There were no limits to what they could do.
Some two hundred years later, on October 7, 1851 four Sisters of St. Joseph arrived in Toronto at the request of Archbishop Armand de Charbonnel to care for poor immigrants who had fled starvation in Ireland. Mother Delphine Fontbonne, pictured above, and three young Sisters were put in charge of a house for orphaned children on Nelson (now Jarvis) Street. By 1854 it was overflowing with Sisters, novices and as many as 75 children.
Today, as Sisters of St. Joseph we are still ministering in all kinds of creative ways to the poor and disadvantaged in Toronto, in remote areas of Canada, in Haiti and Honduras. We named Fontbonne Ministries, established in 2000, after Mother Delphine. Like our other ministries, it continues this tradition of responding to current social needs in many ways. Fontbonne Place, Mustard Seed, Village Mosaic, Studio on the Hill, In Good Company, and Faith Connections are ways we nurture community and assist with the food, shelter, life skills, spiritual and social needs of our neighbours.
This year, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto will celebrate 160 years of responding to unmet needs, some unchanged, others evolving with the passage of time. The Maxims of Jean-Pierre Médaille, spiritual father of the earliest communities, capture the spirit which still guides our lives in the building and nurturing of community with those he called "the beloved neighbour."
By Grace Sauvé CSJ
March 2011
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