This year the Sisters of St. Joseph of Wheeling are celebrating 150 years of presence and service to the people of West Virginia. They came to Wheeling in 1853 at the request of Bishop Richard V. Whelan to staff Wheeling Hospital. Founded in France in the mid - 17th century by six women and a Jesuit priest, the congregation was reorganized in 1807 following the French Revolution and spread to the United States in 1836. Today, the sisters are a part of a worldwide network of Sisters of St. Joseph whose membership numbers 14,000. In the United States there are twenty-three congregations of Sisters of St. Joseph with a membership of 7,500 sisters. Currently, there are ninety-two members of the Wheeling congregation. The pictures that follow provide a glimpse into the life and ministry of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Wheeling, who, in collaboration with clergy and laity, seek to be a sign of hope to the people of West Virginia.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seasons of Nature andof Grace recounts the history of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Wheeling (West Virginia) from the time of their arrival in Wheeling, Virginia on April 13, 1853 through the end of 2002. A twenty page prologue traces origins of the Congregation from mid-17th century France through its first American foundation in Carondelet near St. Louis, Missouri in March of 1836. Wheeling was among the first to establish independent mother houses in the United States and Canada. Seasons of Nature and of Grace is offered in celebration of the Sisters of St. Joseph Sesquicentennial in West Virginia. Copies of this well-researched 300+ page history are available for purchase through the SSJ Mission Advancement Office in Wheeling. Contact Mary Palmer, SSJ by phone at 304-232-8160 or by e-mail at ssjadvancement@aol.com.