May 1st - St. Joseph the Worker
Sister Simon shares her experience living in our St. Joseph Convent in Calgary, Canada, where our sisters run a private daycare.
------
I didn’t know much about our Calgary house before moving to Canada just over three years ago. One of my first discoveries was that the house and the chapel were dedicated to St. Joseph. I found it very fitting. St. Joseph, the head of the Holy Family, cared for Jesus and Mary during their life in Nazareth. He provided stability and protection to Mary and the Divine Child. Jesus grew up, prayed, and worked alongside him.
Here in Calgary, a group of sisters lives a simple life, caring for and educating the young children at the daycare right here at our convent. We start every day in the chapel, praying together and entrusting our lives and ministry to God’s care and to the intercession of Our Lady and St. Joseph. In the morning, when our students arrive, we also pray with them, reading Bible stories and explaining the life of Jesus and the mysteries of our faith in simple terms. We pray for their families and any intentions they may have. Although they come from various cultures, traditions, and denominations, here, they learn and play together at the feet of Our Lady’s statue. We do our best to ensure they are safe, happy, healthy, and prepared for “the big school” when the time comes for them to leave us.
I believe our life here at St. Joseph’s house in Calgary is, in many ways, not different from life at St. Joseph’s house in Nazareth. While certainly not free from small struggles and uncertainties, it is a joyful and peaceful life, filled with prayer and work, children’s laughter, and trust in God’s Providence. I am grateful to the first sisters who arrived here from the Provincial house in 1968 for their wise decision in choosing the house and chapel’s name. It was not a difficult choice: they arrived in Calgary on March 18th, and the house was blessed on the 19th, the Solemnity of St. Joseph! From the beginning, he has taken our home under his care.
I strongly encourage you, whatever your vocation and the nature of your household, to entrust your own family and home to the care of this quiet, strong, and dependable saint. God trusted him with His own Son and the Blessed Virgin. St. Joseph took good care of them, and he will do the same for you and your loved ones!
