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Mission & Ministry

Sister Martha HowickOur first Sisters came to teach children and minister to the sick.  Within twenty years of our arrival in the Erie Diocese, there were more than two thousand children under our instruction.  We established Villa Maria Elementary school, Villa Maria Academy and Villa Maria College as well as staffed numerous schools over the years, including Harborcreek School for Boys.

Next, the care of orphans and of the sick was undertaken, first in Meadville and then in Erie with the establishment of Spencer Hospital in Meadville (now the Meadville Medical Center), Saint Vincent Health Center and St. Joseph’s Orphanage.  Our care extended to the needs of the elderly with the establishment of Saint Mary’s Home of Erie, Education and healthcare remain important works, though our presence today has moved beyond hospitals and classrooms and includes a variety of other social works and ministries such as St. Patrick Haven, the Sisters of St. Joseph Neighborhood Network, Rural Ministry, Erie DAWN and others.  We are involved in pastoral, social justice and liturgical ministries in Catholic parishes, global mission projects, outreach to the elderly, rural ministry, campus ministry, youth ministry and numerous other projects and efforts.

 

Along with our Associates, we continually strive for unity of neighbor with neighbor and neighbor with Mary IreneGod.  

We are women who affirm  
    our mission of unity
    of neighbor with neighbor
    and neighbor with God.

Our mission is rooted in the
    mission of Jesus Christ
    the same mission
    which continually unfolds in the Church.

    That all may be one, as you, Father
are in me
and I in you
    I pray that they may be one in us.
            John 17:21

Through a profound and radical response to the Spirit
    we fulfill this mission by searching out
    and undertaking whatever ministry
    may best bring about this unity.
Moved by the love of the Spirit
    we commit ourselves to constant response
    to the ever changing needs of the world.

~