News and Events: St. Joseph the Worker feast day

This week will be a quiet one until the end of the week, when things will get busy again.  On Friday we have a group of 6th, 7th and 8th graders and their teacher coming to spend time at the convent.  They will join us for a spiritual talk given by one of the sisters.  They will also pray with the community, have dinner and help out with yard work.  So they will  see what life as a Sister of St. Joseph the Worker is like.  For some of them it might be the beginning of their vocational journey. You never know when you will hear the call of God.  The important thing is to keep listening and asking  what is His will for you.

A group of volunteers helping the sisters with yard work.

On Saturday a few of the Sisters are going to Louisville for a Women's Day of Recollection at Guardian Angels Church, Louisville KY.  It will be given by the Fathers of Mercy and is sponsored by Catholic United for Life.  If you are in the area we would love to see you there.  Father Ben Cameron will be the speaker and he always gives wonderful reflections. We hope to see you there.

The community when we celebrated our 25th anniversary in 1999.

Then Sunday is the big day for our community.  It is the feast of St. Joseph the Worker. It is our feast day as a community.  We will have a beautiful mass where we will renew our vows.  It is a simple ceremony but so full of meaning.  St. Joseph himself was quiet and simple so we try to follow his way of doing things.

News and Events: Sister Mary Rosalie

I would like to introduce you to Sister Mary Rosalie Higdon.  She was one of the Sisters who joined with Mother Ellen in founding the Sisters of St. Joseph the Worker.  She was born in  Louisville, KY to David Higdon and Mary Ida Greenwell. She was one of 4 daughters  and was also the sister of Sr. Margaret David Higdon, another Sister of St. Joseph the Worker. She entered the convent on September 23, 1928. 

Sister Mary Rosalie in her room at Taylor Manor.

After completing her Novitiate, Sister Mary Rosalie became a teacher and spent many years teaching in various school, primarily teaching the elementary grades.  She also worked as a sacristan and directed the laundry at St. Thomas Orphanage in Anchorage, Ky and Georgetown Hospital in Washington, D.C.  

Sister had a talent for arts and craft, particularly embroidery.  She as able to take a small picture the size of a postage stamp and enlarge it using graph paper to make her own embroidery pattern.  She had a natural gift for picking colors and stitches that enhanced her craft work.  Her embroidered pictures were her own creation and they were works of art.  Because of her skill with embroidery and her interest in crafts, she was assigned to teach craft classes in the early 1970's.  

One of Sister's embroidery projects. 

When the Sisters of St. Joseph the Worker reopened Saint Joseph Academy,  Sister Mary Rosalie came out of retirement to teach full time.  When she retired from teaching in the early 1980's, she worked as a teachers aide and adviser for the full time teachers.  

When her health began to fail she moved to Taylor Manor Nursing home and was assigned as sacristan.  Father Brinker, the chaplain at the nursing home, loved to say that he always knew where Sister Mary Rosalie stood on any issue because she always spoke her mind.  During her later years she continued designing and embroidering her own creations.  She loved her life as a religious.  When she wasn't in her room working on her craft work, you would find her in chapel interceding before God for the community and for those needing her prayers.     She died at Taylor Manor in 1993.