The congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Cluny has approximately 2600 sisters in 57 countries, 30 provinces, 418 communities across 5 continents, working in education, health, evangelization and social action.
May 12th Foundation Day
In the hearts of Cluny Sisters around the world today there is a great joy and deep gratitude for the charism that has been given to the congregation and the mission that has been entrusted to them since the beginning.
- to know and do the Holy Will of God through discernment and total availability
- to sow seeds of hope and compassion reaping a harvest of liberation and justice
- to be a sign for our world through community life... a place of personal growth, spiritual support, conversion and pardon, discernment, shared mission and caring.
- to be grounded in prayer and contemplatives in action... celebrating and nurturing our relationship with God in many different ways.
The Beginnings
Anne Marie Javouhey, born on November 10, 1779 in a village in Burgundy, heard the Spirit’s call to proclaim God’s love for all persons without distinction of race, religion or social status, throughout the five continents.
In 1804 Pope Pius VII, visited France for the coronation of the emperor Napoleon, and stopped in Chalon-sur-Saône. Anne and her three sisters had an interview with him and he encouraged them in their vocation. As other young women joined them, Anne went to the Bishop of Autun who advised her to draw up a Rule of Life and then apply to have Statutes for the young Society. The Emperor approved these on December 12, 1806.
On May 12, 1807, nine young women pronounced their vows of religion before the Bishop of Autun in St. Peter’s Church, Chalon. "Now we are religious!" wrote Sister Anne Marie who from now on could give free rein to her dynamic spirit. The Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny was born.
Permission was granted to the newly formed congregation to use the Autun seminary which had become national property. There young girls were educated and trained for manual work. Wounded soldiers from the war in Spain returned to France in large numbers and the Sisters became nurses at their bedside. After three years the congregation and works had grown and another house was needed. Anne Marie’s father, Balthasar Javouhey bought for his daughters the former Recollets Convent in Cluny. Soon the name Cluny, linked to that of the Sisters of St. Joseph, would be known in the five continents.
Today, May 12th, Cluny Sisters and their collaborators in mission around the world celebrate their MISSIONARY CALL that began in 1807 with so few and so simply in response to the needs of the time and the urgings of the Holy Spirit – a remarkable Pentecost Moment in the Church and the World. Today …
Anne Marie’s Charism lives because her daughters,
from every race and nation and tongue,
have but one heart and one soul and continue in the Church
the work the Lord entrusted to her. (Rule of Life)
Happy Foundation Day, Sisters!
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