The Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada Consolidated Archives

Ministry

The School of Christ Radio and Television Broadcasts

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The Monsignor W. T. Flannery Radio and Television Broadcasts, known as the “School of Christ,” was a radio and television program that aired from 1939 to 1963. Founded by Monsignor W.T. Flannery, the radio broadcast was transmitted from the Chapel of the Sacred Heart Convent in London, Ontario encouraged by Sister Constance Dunn, as General Superior. The program made its debut on CFPL Radio in London, Ontario, on December 3, 1939. Named after a phrase from the writings of St. Augustine, the program’s stated purpose was to educate people about the true Catholic faith as a way of combating anti-Catholic prejudice. The 30-minute long program aired on Sunday afternoons and consisted of Msgr. Flannery providing catechetical instruction and a question and answer segment with schoolchildren. There were also musical performances by the “School of Christ Choristers” formed by Sister Mary Margaret Childs. The School of Christ Choristers consisted of a senior choir, of women aged 18 years and older, directed by Sister Mary Margaret Childs from 1939 to 1963, as well as a Junior Choir, known as the “Little Radio Choir,” composed of Grade 6 to 8 students, later directed by Sister Marie Brebeuf Beninger. Originally a local broadcast, the School of Christ became syndicated in Toronto, Chatham, and Windsor in 1940. Soon after, it extended into the states of Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and New York. At one point, the program was estimated to have had a potential listening audience of 10 million people, many of them non-Catholics. Starting in the mid-1950s, the programs were taped in advance and broadcast on CFPL-TV until 1963, when Msgr. Flannery retired.

Members of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph played an instrumental role in the formation and operation of the program. Sister Constance Dunn encouraged the formation of the program during her term as the Congregation’s General Superior. Sisters Marie Brebeuf Beninger, Mary Margaret Childs, and Maureen Dalton participated in the direction of the show’s choirs, while Sister Callistus Arnsby provided accompaniment. Although the primary forum for these choirs to perform was through radio and television, they also gave annual live concerts in a variety of venues, including London’s Grand Theatre, the auditorium at H.B. Beal Technical School, and Toronto’s Massey Hall Theatre in 1964.

Hospitals founded by London Sisters

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In 1868, shortly after their arrival in London, Ontario, the Sisters of St. Joseph founded Mount Hope to provide a home for Sisters, the elderly and orphans. It was renamed House of Providence, and continued to provide care for the elderly until 1966. The first hospital founded by the London Sisters was St. Joseph’s Hospital at the corner of Richmond and Grosvenor Streets in London. This ten bed hospital opened on October 15, 1888, and still located on this site. The facility, now named St. Joseph’s Health Care, has expanded to encompass the original hospital, St. Mary’s Hospital which opened in 1951, Marian Villa which opened in 1966, and the Lawson Research Centre which opened in 1983. Later, Mount Hope Centre for Long Term Care was opened on the site. In July 1993 St. Joseph’s Health Care Society formed in London, and the hospital was then transferred to a separate authority. Other healthcare institutions administered by the Sisters were found at different locations in London. The St. Joseph’s Hospital Detoxification Clinic opened in 1973 on William Street and was administered by Sister St. Patrick Joyce until 2005 when the province terminated its contract with St. Joseph’s Hospital. The Sisters sold the building and the Withdrawal Management Centre moved to the Centre of Hope operated by the Salvation Army in October 2005. The Family Medical Centre opened in 1969 on Platt’s Lane and is still in operation today, although under the authority of St. Joseph’s Health Care Society.

On October 15, 1890, the Sisters opened St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chatham, Ontario, which originally was a 16 bed hospital in the former old Salvation Army barracks. In January 1892, the hospital moved to a new site on King Street. In February 2018, the Chatham Kent Health Alliance formed, amalgamating Sydenham District Hospital, the Public General Hospital, and St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chatham.

In 1946, the Sisters opened St. Joseph’s Hospital in Sarnia, which was later renamed the St. Joseph’s Health Centre. In January 1998 the signing of the Strategic Alliance Agreement between St. Joseph’s Health Care Society on behalf of St. Joseph’s Hospital Sarnia and Sarnia General Hospital took place.  Ownership of the hospital was later transferred to the Lambton Hospitals Group.

In Alberta, the Sisters opened several hospitals in small, rural communities, first in Stettler in 1926 at the requrest of Archbishop H. J. O’Leary. The hospital was in a neglected state and the Sisters attempted to improve it over two years, but due to bigotry in the area, had to withdraw in 1927. They went to Galahad next, where they opened St. Joseph’s Hospital in a former teacherage as they awaited construction of a proper facility, which finally opened in September 1928 and was administered by the Sisters until 1978. After this, they opened the Killam General Hospital in 1930 which became part of the Killam Hospital Complex, including the Flagstaff Beaver Auxiliary Hospital in 1963. The latter closed in 1992. Following another request from Archbishop O’Leary, the Sisters went to Rimbey in 1932 to operate St. Paul’s Hospital for the Archdiocese of Edmonton until 1949, at which point the hospital ownership and management came under the authority of the local lay community.

In 1967, the Sisters opened a clinic, the Zana Consultario, in Chiclayo Diocese, Peru, which they operated until 1975 when due to many factors, including difficulties with the authorities, the clinic closed in 1975.

Since the beginning, at Mount Hope and the House of Providence, the Sisters saw a great need for health care services, especially when no others were providing it. Over time, the government became more involved and more lay people obtained qualifications in management and clinical practice. The Sisters then relinquished their administration of health care facilities that they had founded and administered, and turned to working in individual ministries, in pastoral care in hospitals, and still with the poor, for whom they ministered from their first days in London, Ontario.

The Detox Clinic

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In 1971, a group of citizens in London met to discuss setting up a detoxification clinic. Sr. Mary Doyle, of the Sisters of St. Joseph, chaired the group which included representatives from hospitals, social service agencies, the Addiction Research Foundation, the police, the Salvation Army, and Mission Services. It was planned as a department of St. Joseph’s Hospital to ensure access to the emergency department. Funding was secured from the provincial government. St. Joseph’s Hospital would administer the clinic, while the Addiction Research Foundation would plan services. The Board of St. Joseph’s Hospital appointed Sr. St. Patrick Joyce as the Director of the newly founded St. Joseph’s Hospital Detoxification Clinic in 1973.

The clinic opened on September 13, 1973 at 331 Dufferin Avenue, attached to the Addiction Research Foundation at 477 Waterloo Street. The clinic contained 20 beds for men, with the objective of providing a hospitable environment in which the alcoholic could be detoxified without medication. The resident was given fruit juice or coffee, showered, got in pajamas, and was encouraged to sleep it off. Nourishing meals were served. The clinic had 11 trained staff members, and access to the 28-day program at St. Thomas Addiction Unit and the four-month program at Quinton Warner House, as well as to Alcoholics Anonymous. There were beds, a reception area, living rooms, and laundry and kitchen services. It was a place to dry out, to sleep, to have a meal, and to find a sympathetic listener and services. Staff planted the desire in residents to want to change their lifestyles through individual or group interaction. Three days after admission, the resident could have seizures or hallucinations, in which case he was kept in the observation area and watched, and if necessary, taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital emergency department and kept until his condition stabilized. Less than 5% of residents required hospital treatment.

From 1973 to 1979, the detox clinic handled the highest number of admissions in the province: more than 20,000 admissions reflecting about 3,600 individuals since many were repeat visits. The residents came from all walks of life, and ranged in age from 15 to 84 years, with about 20% having full time jobs. The average stay was two days. Sr. St. Patrick made the point that detox clinics deal with chronic drinkers and their success rates cannot be compared with treatment centres. She explained that detox clinics dry people out in preparation for treatment centres which would reject chronic alcoholics without this preparation. She argued that detox clinics free up hospital beds and are thus the least expensive way to treat chronic alcoholics. From 1972 to 1976, 24 of the detox clinic residents had remained sober for two years, and 65 residents for one year, a success rate that no one could argue with.

In September, 1979, the detox clinic moved to a mansion built by William Spencer, a founder of Imperial Oil, in 1856. The building was located at the corner of Queens Avenue and William Street in London. It had originally been taken over from the Knights of Columbus by the Sisters of St. Joseph in 1949, and run from 1951-1965 as Fontbonne Hall, an orphanage. From 1965-1972, it had housed Vanier Children’s Services, and then Internos, a home for teenaged girls run by the congregation. In 1977, it served as a residence for women attending university and classrooms for St. Joseph’s School of Music. With the move of the detox clinic, the building was renovated to house alcoholic men and women in one half of the house, and women in need in the other. Renovations were completed on March 6, 1980, and 534 Queens Avenue became a refuge for women in need, while 471 William Street became the new detox centre. The facility, now called the Withdrawal Management Centre, could accommodate 20 men and three women, and had a round- the- clock staff of ten men and women. Sister St. Patrick’s dream to help female alcoholics came true, and her patience was rewarded when one woman she worked with for 16 years was finally able to stay sober for one whole year.

During its years in operation, the detox centre at William Street had over 3,300 client visits per year. It provided a haven for intoxicated people who were not allowed into shelter beds, and a place for alcoholics to dry out before treatment. While the clientele was mostly male, 10% were female. In 2005, the province terminated its contract with St. Joseph’s Hospital. The Sisters of St. Joseph sold the William Street building in September, 2005, and the Withdrawal Management Centre moved to the Centre of Hope operated by the Salvation Army on October 31, 2005.

A longer version of this article by Mary Grace Kosta was originally published in the London and Middlesex Historical Society Newsletter, Spring 2020.

London and Region Associate Community, Then and Now

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By Sandy Bell-Cameron

Joseph lived his life simply and humbly. He was a dreamer, with a deep and abiding faith in God’s visions.

The Associates had their official beginning in 1987 when Chapter approved the movement toward having an Associates program. In 1988, Sr. Doreen Kraemer was appointed by Council to be the Director of Associates. The “Medaille” group of Associates was formed in 1989 in Sarnia, and group members celebrated their Charism Commitment Ceremony (now Charism Connection Ceremony) in 1991. The same year, Sr. Doreen published the first edition of Bridging, the Associate newsletter. The first Associate retreat was in 1992 at St. Joseph’s–on-the-Lake in Kingsville with the theme “Charism.” In 1993 Sr. Janet Zadorsky formed the Associate group in Peru, “Un Milagro de Amor.” In 1995 a liaison was chosen by each group as a leader within the group and to support communication between groups, and with the Congregational Leadership and the community.  Also in 1995, the Associate Directors’ Committee of the Canadian Federation expanded its membership to include an Associate from each of the six congregations. In 1999 the Associates sponsored and hosted the Region III Conference “Widening the Circle of Love: New Millennium Challenge.”

Sister Doreen Kraemer
Sister Doreen Kraemer

In 2000 an endorsement process was used to select a “Core Team” (now Core Circle) with five members to assist with administering the Associates.  A core team writing committee began work on an Associate Handbook. In 2001 the first Annual Associate Business meeting (now known as the Annual General Gathering) took place in Chatham; an annual Associate fee was introduced to support ‘ownership’ of and financial management of the Associates. In 2001 an editorial team for Bridging was formed with their first edition issued in 2002. Early in 2002, an endorsement and discernment process called forward two “Animators” to assist Sr. Doreen forming the first “Animating Team” (now Animating Circle).  In 2003 the Associate pendant/pin was designed by an Associate. In 2003 Associates were invited to be collaborators with the Sisters of an emerging dream of a Spiritual Ministries Network and in 2007 the dream became a reality with both Sister and Associate members. In 2005 the animating team and Sr. Doreen worked on ways of sharing responsibilities including procedures for forming new groups. From the beginning until she left her formal Associate ministry in June 2010, Sr. Doreen discerned the vision for the Associates and initiated and nurtured shared leadership.    

Sister Janet Zadorsky
Sister Janet Zadorsky

In 2010 Sr. Janet Zadorsky was asked by the Congregational Leadership Circle to be the “CSJ Associate Mentor.” Until completing her ministry as mentor in 2017, Sr. Janet’s role was to guide the Associates towards independence as an Associate-led community. She accomplished this in part by creating templates for leadership retreats, ceremonies, rituals, an Annual General Gathering, and the endorsement process. Sr. Janet and Sr. Nancy Wales along with Associates’ input created a Seekers Program for individuals interested in the Associates, with PowerPoint presentations and resources on CSJ history, spirituality, mission and ministry, charism, maxims and the Associate program. Sr. Janet fully supported the evolution to independent Associate leadership and mentorship.

In May 2017 two Associates accepted together the new role of “Associate Mentors.” This was a time of being midwives for the future with continued positive growth for the Associate community. Following completion of the Associate mentors’ terms, four current and past animator circle and core circle members stepped forward in November 2019, one from each region, and formed an “Associate Leadership Circle” to fulfil the role and responsibilities of the Associate mentor(s).  Over time, leadership roles have changed to be more fluid, collaborative and consultative with the leadership circles working closely together and calling on and supporting one another in leadership tasks, events, and retreats. Currently (in 2022), the London and Region Associate Community has 140 Associates in 18 groups within the four regions of Windsor / Chatham / Kingsville / Maidstone (4), Sarnia (4), Simcoe / Woodstock (3), and London / St. Thomas / Grand Bend (5). One group is in Zana Valley, Peru and one is a virtual group. There are eight Sisters who are also Associates either as an active member or praying member. In closing, as an Associate community in the Joseph family, may we continue to pray communally and in our own hearts that like Joseph, we may live our lives simply and humbly, rooted in the charism of Love, listening for and responding to God’s call within our own day.

With gratitude for Sr. Doreen’s Associate History Line and the support of Associates in preparing this “Then and Now” summary.

170 years of caring for the sick, elderly, and poor in the diocese of Hamilton

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On April 19, 1852, at the request of the Very Rev. E. Gordon, Vicar General of Hamilton and with the approval of Bishop de Charbonnel, the only Bishop in western Ontario at that time, three Sisters of St. Joseph came to Hamilton from Toronto. They opened their first convent on Cannon and McNab Streets. Here the Sisters ran a private elementary school and cared for orphans until 1857. In 1854, there was a cholera epidemic, followed by an outbreak of typhus. The Sisters were placed in charge of immigrants stricken with the disease and housed in railway sheds. On April 19, 1856, the congregation became independent from the Toronto congregation.

In 1861, the Sisters opened St. Joseph’s Hospital in Guelph in an old farmhouse. This was the sixth hospital in Ontario and the first opened in Canada by the Sisters of St. Joseph. Later, in 1862, a larger building was built and added on to in 1877. In 1888, because of a diphtheria epidemic, an isolation cottage, known as a “pest hut” was built behind the hospital. The original buildings were later used for the House of Providence which began operating in 1861 until 1959 when residents were moved to St. Joseph’s Home. In 1959, the Sisters unveiled St. Joseph’s Home in Guelph, and residents were moved from the House of Providence to the new building which contained a wing for the chronically ill. The programs and services were delivered in conjunction with St. Joseph’s Hospital. In 1984, the hospital and home amalgamated as St. Joseph’s Hospital and Home changing its name to St. Joseph’s Health Centre Guelph in 2001.

From 1861-1899, Sisters received nursing training by example only. In 1897, Sisters Martina Long and Leo Cass went to Mercy Hospital in Kalamazoo, Michigan to learn about their nursing program, and then, in 1899, founded the School of Nursing in Guelph. The first graduating class in 1902 consisted of seven Hamilton Sisters and two London Sisters, and the first lay student enrolled in 1904. In 1948, a new school of nursing was opened, and its last class graduated in 1974 when nursing schools in Ontario were taken over by community colleges.

In 1878, the Sisters took charge of St. Vincent De Paul Society home on Bay Street in Hamilton for the care of the poor.  After one year, the residents were transferred to the House of Providence which the Sisters opened in Dundas. This same year also saw the beginning of the House of Providence annual picnic on August 2. After a fire in 1900, it re-opened in 1902. Much later, in 1970, the Sisters opened the new St. Joseph’s Villa in Dundas, which replaced the House of Providence.

In 1890, the Sisters opened St. Joseph’s Hospital in Hamilton. Throughout the early years, the Sisters held positions in all areas of the hospital and were aided by lay workers beginning at the turn of the century. The staff battled major diseases from whooping cough, diphtheria, smallpox, measles, and mumps. After a full day attending to the sick, the Sisters did the laundry, prepared food, did housework, and kept records. The quality of care was the same for all. Quite often, it went beyond medical care. One Sister used to take it upon herself to borrow flowers from those who had plenty and make up little bouquets for patients who had none. There is an anecdote concerning a young man who was returned to his room after chest surgery. Later that night, in a state of delirium, he ripped out the drainage tubes connected to his chest, jumped out of bed, and escaped from the hospital. In a pouring rainstorm, Sister Lioba O’Dwyer chased after him, eventually jumped in a passing taxi and caught the patient and brought him safely back to the hospital. A plan for a new St. Joseph’s Hospital was approved in 1944, and the new hospital opened in 1947, and occupied most of the block from Charlton Avenue to Mountain Boulevard. which was renamed St. Joseph’s Drive in 1958. In 1962, a new St. Joseph’s Hospital building officially opened, with grants from the federal and provincial governments, a $1 million commitment from the Sisters, and a capital grant from the City of Hamilton, along with donations from the public.

In 1911, the Sisters acquired the home of Adam Brown and used it as a nurses’ residence and training school. The first students Sister Gerard, and Ada Egan, enrolled that year. They were followed at intervals by seven more young ladies, with the first graduation of nine nurses from St. Joseph’s School of Nursing taking place in 1915. In 1899, Undermount, the John Young property on John Street South was purchased, and in 1922, a new residence for the nursing school was opened at this location. In 1947, the Woods estate on the corner of Mountain Boulevard and James Street was purchased and converted into additional residence accommodation and known as Marygrove. Another residence called Oakbank was also located on James Street. Later, in 1963, the Sisters opened St. Joseph’s School of Nursing, Fontbonne Hall (until 1972). Sisters served as directors of the school, nursing education teachers, and nursing administrators from 1911 to 1972. By 1950, 1,100 nurses had enrolled, and 790 had graduated. They served in the battlefields in both World Wars.

Sister Mary Grace Stevens served as hospital administrator from 1954-1960, and from 1963-1970. Those who remember her always describe her as a visionary and brilliant administrator. In the early 1960s, she met with the architect to discuss plans for the new Fontbonne nurses’ residence. When the architect suggested the Sisters could save money by not installing sinks in the nurses’ rooms, Sister Mary Grace pounded her fist on the table and declared, “…we are not going backward. We are going forward. We have had sinks in the nurses’ rooms since 1922!”

In 1923, the residence on Charlton Avenue East, formerly owned by Mr. and Mrs. G. H. Bisby, was purchased, and converted to a maternity hospital, known as Casa Maria. The department of obstetrics which had opened in 1912 was transferred here. The first of four sets of twins born here, the Shoope twins, made their appearance on March 25, 1925. Casa Maria was demolished in 1950 to make way for a new 100 bed maternity wing.

In 1916, the Sisters of Providence in Kingston purchased land with the intent of opening a hospital in Kitchener, but when they were unable to fulfill this goal, the Sisters of St. Joseph bought the land from them. In 1924, the Sisters established St. Mary’s Hospital followed by the opening of St. Mary’s Hospital School of Nursing, with its first graduates in 1927 (until 1972). In 1959, the hospital became known as St Mary’s General Hospital.

In 1955, the Sisters opened St. Joseph’s Hospital in Brantford (until 2001 when it became a long-term care facility). This was followed in 1957 by the opening of St. Joseph’s Training Centre for Registered Nursing Assistants in Brantford (until 1980).

In 1957, Sr. Cleophas Fischer was appointed Ontario’s first Hospital Press Officer.

Before 1950, the hospitals were owned and operated by the Sisters. In the early days, people could not always pay for health care and so payment sometimes took the form of produce! In 1959, the Ontario Hospital Insurance Plan came into effect and provided insurance for Ontarians and payment for hospital treatment, which meant both that hospitals were now paid for the care they provided and more government involvement.

In 1964, Mother Alacoque Hayes began to bring hospital administrators together with the General Council of the congregation to discuss common issues. These quarterly meetings encouraged collaboration across the hospitals and homes run by the Sisters. In 1972, the first meeting of Board chairmen and chief executive officers with the Council was held to educate the Boards of their relationship to the Sisters of St. Joseph. In 1980, a Lay Advisory Committee started to provide business expertise to the Council. In 1981, Boards of Trustees, senior management, and Sisters in all the hospitals and homes were invited to a workshop to learn about the Sisters’ charism and begin a process of identifying their mission in healthcare. The Sisters in Hamilton were one of the first congregations to begin this process of mission education which is now considered vital to the ongoing life of Catholic hospitals and homes.

In the early 1940s and 1950s, advisory boards were started to help with fund raising and the construction of expanding facilities. These later became, in 1968, Boards of Trustees which took responsibility for the operation of each hospital and home. The first Board of Trustees was formed in 1968 at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Hamilton, and in 1969 St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation was set up with a lay executive director. In 1988, it was decided to separately incorporate the hospitals and homes from the Motherhouse.

Mention must be made of the lay women who assisted the Sisters. At St. Joseph’s Hospital in Hamilton, the hospital women’s auxiliary, which was started in 1945 by the Catholic Women’s League, held an annual tag day that helped reduce the building debt and helped build a new laundry. As well, the auxiliary raised funds through Valentine dances at the Royal Connaught, and membership teas at the nurses’ residence. The members of the auxiliary volunteered at the information desk during hospital visiting hours, visited patients with books, helped with sewing, supplied linens, furnished rooms, and helped purchase equipment.

Over the years, Sisters served in many roles in the hospital including as chief executive officers, nursing administrators, business administrators, medical record librarians, dietitians, pharmacists, laboratory technicians, in the accounting departments, in hospital chaplaincy, in pastoral care services, as occupational therapists, in palliative care, in therapeutic counselling, in laundry services, and as X-ray technicians.

Sources:

The Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada Archives. Hamilton. Healthcare Box 3.

The Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada Archives. Hamilton. Histories Box 1.

Diocese of Hamilton. (1943). The Sisters of St. Joseph Of The Diocese Of Hamilton.

St. Joseph’s Health Centre Guelph. The History of St. Joseph’s Health Centre Guelph, retrieved from St. Joseph’s Health Centre Guelph

Sisters of St. Joseph. (1950). 1890-1950. Sixty Years. History Of St. Joseph’s Hospital And School Of Nursing.