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FSSJ History
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Over a Century of Service to God and God's People
The Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph (FSSJ) trace their roots to five Charity Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo who, in 1889, arrived from Poland to educate children of St.Stanislaus Kostka Parish in Pittsburgh, PA. Eight years later, the Borromean Sisters were recalled to their homeland. Sister Colette Hilbert made the difficult decision to stay back with four American-born novices and was sent to staff St. Stanislaus School in Trenton, New Jersey for one year, after which time she was to return to Poland.
After much prayer, Sister Colette decided to stay in the United States with the American novices, causing her much personal sacrifice, including the great probability of never again seeing her homeland or her family. With the guidance of Reverend Hyacinth Fudzinski, OFM Conventual, a petition for the organization of this small group becoming a Franciscan congregation for the education of children of Polish immigrant families was presented to Rome and approved. On September 8, 1897, in Trenton, NJ, Sister Colette Hilbert and the four novices received the Franciscan habit from Father Fudzinski and assumed the Rule of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis as a new way of life. A year later Sister Colette, as the first Superior General of the Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph, established the new congregation's motherhouse and novitiate near Corpus Christi Church in Buffalo, New York. Both the motherhouse and novitiate were transferred to Hamburg, New York in 1928 where they are located today.
Over the decades, the Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph expanded their types and locations of ministry as the needs of God's people evolved. They found themselves serving in many states from the mid-West to the east coast, from Massachusetts to Alabama. For a while, the sisters also served in Brazil. As Mother Colette served the needs of her times, so too have the sisters as their ministries grew to include several types of health care, multiple levels of education, parish ministry, domestic missionary work and various areas of social services.
Currently the Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph live the Gospel in the Hamburg, NY area and in cities in Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Virginia. Through their evangelical lifestyle, they bring ministry and presence to God's people who are in need.
On July 1, 2010, the sisters moved into their new motherhouse which is located at 5229 South Park Avenue. Great care had been taken by the sisters to reduce their carbon footprint and they are proud to say they received the highest level awarded, platinum certification from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). The Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph’s Immaculate Conception Convent is the first platinum rated senior housing project in the LEED for Homes program and the first platinum rated project in LEED for Homes for a religious order in the United States.
Like St. Francis, the Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph's desire to live in right relation to God’s gift, and as “brother and sister to all creation,” they so choose to give public witness of their sisterhood to Earth by creating their home in a way that reflects their Franciscan heritage.
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©2009 Franciscan Sisters of Saint Joseph
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