Sisters of St. Joseph of Northwestern Pennsylvania trace their history back to LePuy, France, in 1650 when six women were granted ecclesiastical approval by Bishop Henri de Maupas to organize a congregation without cloister and to dedicate themselves to laudable works of charity. Jean Pierre Medaille, SJ, a zealous missionary of LePuy, had presented the women's request for living a vowed life to Bishop DeMaupas, who, in turn, sought the approval of Rome.

The Congregation grew and spread throughout France until the French Revolution in 1789 when convents were closed; members were dispersed to their parents' homes; others were imprisoned and some were put to death. When order was restored, Cardinal Joseph Fesch called on Sister St. John Fontbonne to lead a newly established community at Lyons, France in 1807. Again the Congregation blossomed.

In 1836, it was Mother St. John who sent six sisters to America at the request of Bishop Joseph Rosati of St. Louis, Missouri. They lived in a log cabin convent in Carondelet, Missouri, where they taught the deaf and worked with Native Americans. Eventually, they expanded their work to other parts of the United States. Sister Agnes Spencer moved from Carondelet to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; then to Wheeling, West Virginia; to Canandiagua and lastly to Buffalo, both in New York, before being invited to the Erie Diocese by Bishop Josue Young.

It was May 24, 1860 when Sister Agnes, with three other Sisters, opened St. Ann Academy for Girls at Corsica, Pennsylvania. Two years later the Sisters moved to Frenchtown, then to Meadville, setting up Select Schools in both areas. In 1865 Mother Agnes used her own patrimony to purchase land with the intent of building an orphanage and convent. This plan went on hold when Bishop Young requested she open the first house of the Congregation in Erie--St. Vincent Hospital and Orphanage in 1865. Because of the need for a larger orphanage, the Sisters ultimately relinquished the hospital and changed the name to St. Joseph Orphan Asylum. In 1865 St. Joseph Hospital (renamed Spencer in 1877) opened in Meadville. The Sisters founded St. Vincent Hospital in 1875 and St. Mary's Home for the Aged in 1884.
Through the years, education became an important work for the SSJs. In 1892 they established Villa Maria Academy, grades 1 to 12, and in 1925 opened Villa Maria College the first women's college in the Diocese. The Sisters staffed many other elementary and high schools in the Diocese: 14 within Erie proper; 21 within the confines of the Diocese and 2 in Ohio.

As the Congregation moves toward the 21st Century, the Constitutions delineate the Sisters' present day Mission and Ministry: We are women who affirm our mission of unity of neighbor with neighbor and neighbor with God. . . Moved by his love, we commit ourselves to constant response to the ever changing needs of the world.
Since Vatican II, Sisters have been permitted to surface these needs and to suggest to the administration of the Congregation a ministry that they feel personally called to and for which they feel they have a special gift.
Hence, our Sisters are found today not only in the traditional works of education and health care on all levels but also in expanded areas such as: Diocesan Administration, Pastoral Ministry, Religious Education, Housing for the Elderly and Social Outreach Programs--a home for High Risk Babies, Homes for Women in Transition and a Shelter for Men. In the early 70's and into the 80's Sisters served in foreign missions: Ethiopia, Tanzania, Brazil, Israel and India. In the 90's a Sister spent time in El Salvador during her novitiate.

At present 182 Sisters of St. Joseph " live their ministry with a deep sense of sharing the mission of Jesus with an openness to further insights from the Holy Spirit, with an abiding trust that the Father who sent them will support them in what he has begun. " (Constitutions)