CSJs have deep devotion to their silent patron

The chapel in St. Paul where the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet have traditionally prayed and made vows isn’t named for their patron, St. Joseph, but they say St. Joseph’s spirit has been with them during important events there.

In the 170 years since their arrival in St. Paul, Jesus’ earthly father has silently guided and protected the community and their many ministries. Our Lady of the Presentation Chapel, located near St. Catherine University, “is our sacred space, and so many of the sisters received the habit in that chapel, many of us made our vows in that chapel, our funerals are celebrated in that chapel,” said Sister Carolyn Puccio, who is celebrating 60 years in the community and serves as delegate for consecrated life in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Rather than reciting many devotions to St. Joseph, the sisters’ relationship with him is more interior. “That’s who we are,” Sister Carolyn said. “He is our patron, we look to him for guidance, for protection.”

Dedicated in 1927, the Spanish Renaissance-style brick chapel, with white oak décor, seats about 200, according to the sisters’ archives. It features a stained-glass image of Mary’s presentation in the Temple in Jerusalem. Though less used during the COVID-19 pandemic, the chapel remains a place for spiritual events and the funerals of sisters, their consociates who live their mission, and others, said Sister Cathy Steffens, who entered the community in 1962 and is a member of its leadership team.

Devotion to the Holy Family was fairly new around 1650 when the Sisters of St. Joseph were founded in Le Puy, France. The new community cared for plague victims, and St. Joseph’s association with a happy death may have inspired the local bishop to choose his name for them, Sister Cathy said.

In 1853, two years after four St. Joseph sisters arrived in Minnesota from Carondelet, Missouri, to form the congregation’s St. Paul Province, they also cared for the sick during a cholera epidemic. The sisters converted their log school, formerly the first St. Paul cathedral, into a temporary hospital.

Now, as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are felt in underserved communities, the sisters are providing support and resources through their ministries St. Mary’s Health Clinics and Learning in Style, said Sister Jill Underdahl, who professed vows in Our Lady of the Presentation chapel in 2001 and who co-directs the sisters’ young adult ministry, Celeste’s Dream.

In all the ways they’ve served, the sisters’ mission has been to move toward the love of God and neighbor without distinction, she said.

Before COVID-19, the sisters showed their love for St. Joseph on his March 19 feast day by celebrating the Eucharist and commemorating jubilees in their chapel, singing songs about him, and reading Scripture and their documents, Sister Jill said. During the pandemic, they’ve celebrated at nearby Carondelet Village senior living facility where many retired sisters live.

Often present at community events is a roughly 10-foot-tall, full-bodied St. Joseph puppet, which Sister Underdahl animated for about 12 years. Through an opening in the costume, she saw sisters’ “intuitive, meditative and inspirational” devotion to their patron.

“When I witnessed that I thought, ‘That’s what it looks like after a lifetime of focus, celebration, wondering, prayer and companionship,’” Sister Jill said. “It’s not devotion in a pious sense, it’s devotion in a relational sense.”

Editor’s note: This is ninth story in a monthly series of 10 places in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis with connections to St. Joseph.