The history of the Sisters of St. Joseph began in Le Puy, France in the mid-seventeenth century.  The Sisters first came to America in 1836, settling in Carondelet, Missouri,  In 1856, they arrived in Brooklyn and gradually opened many missions there and on Long Island.

It wasn't until 1966, one hundred and ten years after their order was established in the Brooklyn diocese, that the Sisters came to Smithtown to staff St. Patrick School.  Actually, the Sisters were no strangers to the parish.  They had been coming to Smithtown for years to instruct children in the CCD Program.  Many of them were novices from the mother house in Brentwood.  They heped the lay people who taught in the basement of the church on Mayflower and Edgewater Avenues.  Some classes were bussed to St. John of God in Central Islip where Sisters of St. Joseph instructed them.  On Sundays, Sisters came from the Academy of St. Joseph to be with the clases at the 9:00 AM Mass.  Sister Mary Helen helped the lay leaders in coordinating the whole CCD Program. Sister Caryn Brennan came in later years as an assistant director of the Program.  From the beginning to the present day, the Sisters have had a very nice relationship with the leaders of the Religious Formation Program.

When the parish was preparing to open St. Patrick School in the mid-1960s, Father Joseph Canning invited the Sisters of St. Joseph to staff the new school.  Since its inception, St. Patrick School was known in the local community for academic excellence.  The first faculty consisted of six sisters and three lay teachers.  Sister St. Catherine, the first principal, described her faculty as very young, ddedicated, enthusiastic, and creative.  her coments on the Sisters' new home and benefactors are worth quoting:

"Furniture arrived slowly and only the bare necessities were there.  In fact, the dining room table and folding chairs were loaned to us from the public school.  Father Costa offered his car to us so that we could get to Church for Mass.  The Rosary Altar Society gave us a lovely welcoming party.  Everyone was so warm and friendly and very generous.  Very often, we found fruits and vegetables at our back door.  Catholic Daughters were also very good to us, especially in setting up the school library."

According to the Sisters, the many who came after their beginning group "have always experienced the same warmth, friendliness, and generosity of this beautiful parish."

Today, there are nine Sisters in our parish convent: Four work in the school, two are in outside ministries with the elderly, and three are semi-retired.  Their involvement in the life of the parish includes serving in the ministries of Baptism, Bereavement, Life Net, Social Justice, Girl Scouts, Eucharistic Ministers, Ministry of Consolation, Lectors, and with the Religious Formation Program.  In the latter ministry, two Sisters are catechists, two work in the office and some serve as interviewers in the Sacramental Program.  Four times a year we invite the parish to pray with us in our convent chapel; all the Wednesday evenings in Advent and Lent, May and October.

In their many years in the parish, the Sisters of St. Joseph have not just been doers.  They are an integral part of our parish family.  They have prayed with us and for us, cried with us, laughed with us, and listened and consoled us.  But, the Sisters also say they have recieved much in return.

"Your deep faith and prayerfulness, your generosity, your many kindnesses, and your friendliness have energized and enriched us," they said. "We often thank God for your presence in our lives."

Continued on next page...