Sister Catherine Sean Croghan, CSJ, and patient at St. Mary's Hospital, Amsterdam, NY, Courtesy of Albany Province

In 1650, six ordinary women, under the guidance of Jean Pierre Medaille,SJ, joined together in community under the patronage of St. Joseph in LePuy, France. They were neither educated nor wealthy, but worked to support themselves by making lace, a common trade in southern France.

This community, without cloister or habit, devoted themselves to the needs of ordinary people, living among them and offering their lives in service to these dear neighbors without distinction. They dedicated themselves to the "practice of all the spiritual and corporal works of mercy of which woman is capable and which will most benefit the dear neighbor."

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