Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Bourg

The Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Bourg grew out of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Lyon which had been disbanded during the French Revolution. The Sisters of Saint Joseph was revived as a congregation in 1807 at Lyons, during the Napoleonic regime through the efforts of Mother Saint John Fontbonne. In 1819 a daughter house was established in Bourg, which became an independent congregation in 1823. In 1977 the United States provinces of the Bourg congregation separated to form the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Medaille. In 1996 the Bourg congregation re-joined the founding congregation of Lyon, as part of the latter's European Province.

The Congregation of Saint Joseph is a Roman Catholic order of women founded in Le Puy, France by the Jesuit Jean-Pierre Médaille and accepted by the bishop, Monsignor de Maupas, on October 15, 1650. The Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph was disbanded during the French Revolution, but The revived in 1807 at Lyons, during the Napoleonic regime through the efforts of Cardinal Fesch and the devotedness of Mother Saint John Fontbonne.

In 1819 a foundation from the mother house in Lyons was established in the Diocese of Belley under the leadership of Mother Saint Joseph Chaney. In 1823 the sisters of the diocese formally separated from Lyons. They became a new independent diocesan congregation under the leadership of Reverend Mother Saint Benoit Cornillon and direction of Bishop Alexander Devie.

In 1854 sisters were sent from Bourg to establish a house at Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, in the Diocese of Natchez. In 1863 a novitiate was opened at New Orleans. After establishing a central house in New Orleans, Louisiana, the Sisters extended their ministry to the poor and suffering of Louisiana and Mississippi, opening schools, hospitals and an orphanage.

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