Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet

The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet (CSJ) are a Roman Catholic congregation of women religious which traces its origins to a group founded in Le Puy-en-Velay, France around 1650 by Jean Pierre Medaille, S.J. The design of the congregation was based on the spirituality of the Society of Jesus. The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet became a separate congregation of pontifical right on May 16, 1877. History In 1834, the Most Rev. Joseph Rosati, Bishop of St. Louis asked Mother St. John Fontbonne, the superior of the Sisters of St. Joseph at Lyon, to send some sisters to America to undertake instruction of deaf-mute children. Felicite’ Duras, Countess de la Roche Jacquelin, offered to defray expenses. On 17 January 1836, the first six sisters set sail from Le Havre, France on the ship Natchez. After seven weeks at sea, they arrived in New Orleans March 5, where they were met by Bishop Rosati and Rev. John Timon, the later Bishop of Buffalo. Rosati had arranged for them to stay with the Ursuline Sisters in the city and met with them the next day. The sisters enjoyed the hospitality of the Ursulines for two weeks, learning much about life in the United States. The Ursulines told them to disguise their religious habit when going abroad and while traveling to St. Louis as there was anti-Catholic feeling among some residents. Escorted by Bishop Rosati, the sisters boarded the steamer, the George Collier, traveled up the Mississippi and reached St. Louis on 25 March 1836. Through Holy Week the sisters resided with the Sisters of Charity, who had a hospital near the Cathedral. On April 7, three of the sisters, accompanied by Bishop Rosati and Father Fontbonne, travelled by boat for Cahokia, Illinois, a former French colonial town, where they opened a school for French and Creole settlers at the request of a Vincentian missionary. On September 12, the remaining sisters settled in a log cabin in the village of Carondelet, about five miles south of the city of St. Louis. At the time the sisters arrived at St. Louis, this humble house was occupied by the Sisters of Charity, who cared for a few orphans there who were soon transferred to a new building. Many institutions have started from the origin of these sisters and continue their good works; St. Joseph Institute for the Deaf, St. Joseph's Academy, Fontbonne College, now Fontbonne University, all were founded by the sisters of the convent at Carondelet. In 1847, the first foundation outside St.