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It is with deep sadness that the Sisters of St. Joseph of Sault Ste. Marie announce the sudden death of Sister Shannon Hickey, on Tuesday, May 26, 2020 at St. Joseph's Motherhouse, North Bay, Ontario. Click on name to read full obituary.

Attached you will find the World Oceans Day prayer June 8th beautifully prepared by Priscilla & Mary Mettler

This week we are invited to pray for the three Sisters of St. Joseph of LYON who minister in HONDURAS. Check out this link for some great photos: https://www.stjosephlyon.org/ou-sommes-nous/mexique-honduras-paso-tx/ News of government funding for food producers and agroindustry: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/honduras-allocates-funds-resources-support-022200376.html

Thank you Mandi, our Life Enrichment Coordinator who got us all involved in Fascinator Day - check out the photos!

Can you identify the photo - stay tuned for the answer next week

The hospitals were. St Joseph’s Hospital Thunder Bay founded by csj’s Toronto and later run by csj Peterborough and then by csj sssm ( Now St Joseph’s. Care Group with several entities including Smith Clinic, Heritage,Westmount Hogarth Etc) St Joseph’s Hospital Little Current founded by csjssm St Joseph’s Hospital Blind River founded by Dr Robb as a Red Cross Hospital in 1925 and taken over by csjssm in 1940 St Joseph’s Villa Blind River (not sure you are counting it as Hospital..( it was a home for aged) founded in 1942 by csjssm Sudbury General Hospital of the Immaculate Heart of Mary founded by csjssm St Joseph’s Health Centre Sudbury founded by csjssm. ( includes St. Joseph’s Continuing Care classified as a hospital and St Joseph’s Villa and Villa St Gabriel both long term care facilities). St Joseph’s Hospital North Bay was built in 1931 expanding the smaller Queen Victoria Hospital that was originally built in 1909. The new St Joseph’s was built by csj Peterborough then administered by csjssm after the new Congregation was founded in 1936 St Joseph’s Hospital Elliot Lake founded by csjssm in 1959. Also includes Camillus Centre and Oaks Centre

This week we are invited to pray for the 21 Sisters of St. Joseph of St. Vallier ministering in Haiti in pastoral ministry, education, health care, and working with the poor. Other ways CSJ’s support the people of Haiti: Presently the Canadian and U.S. Federations of the Sisters of St. Joseph are involved in a 10-year joint project, in collaboration with a non-profit organization called Mission Haiti, Inc. This organization is based in a parish in Minneapolis, where a Sister of St. Joseph is on staff. Excerpts from the February 2020 communication: Rebuilding Haiti through the Empowerment of Girls is in its eighth year of making a difference in the lives of ten girls in Leogane, Haiti. This collaborative project of the U.S. and Canadian CSSJ Federations started in 2012 in response to the devastation that occurred after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. So many changes in the past 7 years have occurred in Leogane, Haiti. Especially in the lives of our girl-students. We have been blessed to be a part of the growth. It is a delight to share some of the accomplishments and challenges that are happening in the lives of the students and teachers, both in Haiti and the U.S. • The girls have grown and this year all of them will be attending the secondary school at College Coeur de Marie. • Continued investment in the education and support of the teachers has resulted in stability among teachers and staff. During the forced closing of the schools due to civil unrest and opposition to government policies and corruptions, the teachers were able to be supported because of your generosity. • Both schools opened in January 2020. Changes in schedule include a longer school day and the continuation of classes thru July. This is all to make up “for lost time.” • Some current News from Anita Witta (Board Member of Mission Haiti): “The country is paralyzed and has been in lock down for many weeks. Sr Edna states that food is difficult to get and everything is very expensive. When you can get to the market, there is little food there due to no deliveries, roads are blocked. Electricity is scarce and so is gas. If the Sisters run the generator, they need diesel and that is difficult to find and extremely expensive. Downtown Leogane has experienced much violence on the streets with protestors. It is quite sad to read about the hospitals.” Sisters Jackie Janisse and Sister Janice Jonescu (CSJ in Canada) collaborate with a Canadian woman living in Haiti who has taken into her care 9 children at Maison Ke Kontan. Recently she has begun to empower local women through education and small business loans. In the midst of our own challenges we hold the people of Haiti, the Sisters and all in their care, in our hearts and prayer.

S. Mae Kierans, in her usual creative way, thought it would be a good idea for us to have a day during one of our bad hair days! Having lived and ministered in Kenya, Africa, the wonderful scarf day was born. Attached are several photos of sisters with their scarves. Enjoy!

The photo of the recently opened (1939) St. Joseph's College, Motherhouse shows that the top floor of the day-boarding school was missing. It was added and the school was finished in 1952, while Sister Shirley Anderson herself was a Grade Nine day student. Shirley recalls the scaffolding on the tracks side of the school upon which the bricks and other materials were lifted up above the third floor to complete the school while they tried to pay attention in class! Sister Winnifred McLoughlin was in the novitiate when the novices were sent to clean and scrub the new space in preparation for the boarders. (sound familiar?!) Sr. Marie Reynolds was cooking at St. Joseph's Convent Myles St when all the cooks were asked not to purchase cherries, nuts or chocolate chips for their baking. They were too expensive.

The first Convent for the Sisters of St. Joseph in North Bay. The former 12 room home of John Ferguson, one of the founders of North Bay became "St. Mary's Convent" at 246 First Avenue West. The Sisters of St. Joseph of Peterborough lived in it from 1906, when they arrived, to 1909 when they moved to the former Grand Union Hotel and repurposed it into St. Joseph's Academy. The building had a varied and colourful career over the years: army barracks during WWI; later an apartment complex; for many years, home of the Children's Aid Society; in recent decades, Traditions Restaurant and today, The Raven and the Republic Restaurant. That building has "good bones", but was also blessed with good tenants!

This week we are invited to pray for the 3 Sisters of St. Joseph ministering in Ghana, from the Congregation of Lyon. In 1996 Sr. Mabel St. Louis Mabel , Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada, served as a nurse with the Ghana Red Cross.

This week we are invited to pray for the 782 Sisters, 44 Associates, and 25 Charisma Passers in France. This represents the Congregations of Annecy, Chambery, Institut des Souers de St. Joseph, Lyon, St. Vallier, and Champagnole. You may wish to visit the web site of the International Centre. Our two staff persons, Sr. Eluiza de Andrade and Associate Olga Bonfiglio, have been in quarantine since early March. This link will bring you to a virtual tour of Le Puy. https://centreinternationalssj.org/home

A huge shout of thanks to all everyone who is working on the front lines nursing, emergency services, maintenance, housekeeping, dietary, etc. etc. etc. Those who have to work from home and those who have lost their jobs. We hold you all in our prayers. We had an Appreciation Noise socially distance gathering in our parking lot to thank everyone especially our own staff. Sisters, staff and tenants joined in to sound their appreciation.

This week we are invite to pray for the 12 Sisters of St. Joseph and 25 Associates in England from the congregations of Annecy and Lyon. They work as advocates for anti-trafficking of persons, provide education, parish and pastoral work, visit in prisons, work with the homeless, refugees, and as seafarer chaplains. Read about combining two feasts: the dedication of the Abbey chapel and the Hindu feast of Diwali. http://srsofstjosephofannecy.org/index.php/en/england/133-east-meets-west-in-llantarnam-abbey

https://csjssm.ca/a-blue-community

This week we are invited to pray for the 14 Sisters of St. Joseph of Lyon ministering in Egypt. Their work includes: catechesis, pastoral, care of asylum seekers, and participation in a number of associations including the Caritas clinic. For information about Caritas – Egypt: https://www.caritas.org/where-caritas-work/middle-east-and-north-africa/egypt/

This week we are invited to pray for the 25 Sisters of St. Joseph and 20 Associates ministering in Denmark. In the midst of the virus a new team is elected: http://www.csjchambery.org/en/destaque/804/novaequipedecoordenacaonaprovinciadadinamarca

This week we are invited to pray for the 132 Sisters and 60 Associates who live and serve in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They are from the Italian congregations of Cuneo and Instituto San Guiseppe. Ministries include education, dispensaries, AIDS programs, orphanages, catechesis, pastoral work empowerment of women, retreat work. We hold the people of DRC in prayer amid the outbreak of COVID -19 and the struggle with ongoing violence. https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/03/1058841

The Jesuit Newsletter has an article where Msgr. Donald Bolen (Archbishop of Regina), Sister Pricilla Solomon (Ojibwe and member of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Sault Ste. Marie) and Cecilia Calvo (Senior Advisor on Environmental Justice of the Advocacy Office of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States), who all took part in the “Tienda de la Casa Commun” alongside the last synod, have each analyzed the Exhortation and offered several paths we can follow to enact Pope Francis’ “dream” here.