St Margarets Academy - Dayseye Yearbook (Minneapolis, MN)

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Years Ago Two Hundred and Seventy Years Ago. the Sisters of St. Joseph had the first draft of their Constitution approved, received the religious habit, and were given the glorious title of Saint Joseph by the co-founders, the Bishop of LePuy and Father Medaille, S. J. During the French Revolution, their convents and chapels being confiscated, they were forced to disband. One Hundred and Ten Years Ago. Mother Saint John Frontbonne reorganized the Institute from the ashes of that burning persecution. Ninety Years Ago. the Sisters of Saint Joseph made their first foundation in the United States at Carondelct. in the Diocese of Saint Louis. Seventy-five Years Ago. the Sisters of Saint Joseph landed in Saint Paul to begin their mission work. SIXTY Years Ago. the Sisters of Saint Joseph in the United States severed connection with France, and organized independently under the title of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Carondelet. These are a few of the historic preliminaries which made Saint Margaret’s possible, and which for us. culminates in our happy Commencement Day. Louise Kloss

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cleric to conduct them to the home of Madame Turpin, who received them kindly, and ministered to their needs. A few hours later. Bishop Cretin, accompanied by an ecclesiastical student, came to welcome the Sisters, and to introduce them to the home prepared for them. The small structure that was to house them was the former Episcopal residence, the later Theological Seminary, and was now to be the first Convent in Minnesota. It was a small, one-story shanty, overlooking the great Mississippi. thatched and desolate. Through its cracks the blizzard moaned, and at its door the wild wolf often howled. But the Sisters came to teach, and they lost no time in making ready for their loved task. On November tenth, one week after their arrival, the first Saint Joseph’s Academy opened its doors to students in the Vestry of the Old Log Cabin Church on Bench Street. The record of struggle, development and progress that followed would require a volume in itself. Every story of pioneer life reads like a legend. It fascinates, it thrills, it inspires, it shames us. Poverty, indifference, hardship, labor, stubborn circumstances failed to dim the vision of our God-loving Sisters, who passed their spirit on to their successors. Seventy-five years of faithful service, and of generous clinging to high ideals are crystallized in forty-five convents, thirty-nine parochial schools, three academies, five hospitals, two orphanages and one college. May God speed and bless the work in the future as in the past, and may all who follow the Lamb under the banner of Saint Joseph prove as generous in His service as were the valiant pioneer Sisters. I 12 1

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AS THE slanting rays of the Jubilee Sun steal ■L through our western windows, they leave a feeling of reverence and veneration for the Sisters who brought our work in Minnesota to its present happy condition. Valiant women were they. Women of granite mold, with strong minds, great hearts, deep faith, and willing hands. Although none of the original band are left to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee, our two Senior Sisters. Mother Seraphine Ireland and Mother Jane Frances Bouchet. both former Provincials. knew them, shared their life and labor, saw them pass, one by one. and saw others come in gentler times, to take their places. These dear Sisters form a link between the far past and the near future—between God and the present workers in the field. With hands uplifted, they daily plead that the zeal and charity of the community they so love may bring countless souls to the Feet of Christ.