In seventeenth century France, the Spirit brought together the Jesuit missionary Jean Pierre Medaille and a group of women who shared a compassion for their neighbours and a conviction that their own salvation, service to those in need, and proclaiming the glory of God were one and the same.
That same conviction shapes our work today. As the Congregation of Sisters of St. Joseph of Chambery, India, Private Limited, we carry the founding charism into contemporary India through education, health care, pastoral accompaniment and social outreach.
Six women of very different backgrounds gathered under the spiritual direction of Father Medaille to form a new kind of religious community — one with no property, no social prestige and no patron, but with an unbounded love for God and neighbour.
The works of mercy, carried out in the ordinary places where people live, learn, work and heal.
Schools, hostels and tuition centres across our provinces form young people in knowledge, character and service. Value education and the accompaniment of first-generation learners remain central to this work.
Hospitals, dispensaries and mobile clinics reach the sick and the suffering, while community health programmes carry basic care and awareness into villages that would otherwise go without.
De-addiction drives, women's empowerment groups, self-help collectives and the care of the elderly answer the needs that present themselves closest to home.
Catechesis, retreats, faith formation and the accompaniment of families are rooted in the spirituality of unity and communion that we received from our founder.
If every age has its own paradoxes, seventeenth century France in which we had our beginnings was certainly no exception. On the one hand, it was an age of hierarchy and order, a period dominated by classical harmony and external propriety. On the other hand, this century had seen thirty years of war (1618–1648) which left in its wake a population reduced to a struggle for existence. Widows and orphans, especially, suffered from famine, disease, and poverty.
In the midst of this misery, the Spirit brought together the Jesuit missionary Jean Pierre Medaille and a group of women who gathered in small groups to help one another in their quest for God and to reach out to the suffering people around them. The six who formed that first community — Francoise Eyraud, Claudia Chastel, Marguerite Burdier, Anna Chraleyer, Anna Brun and Anna Vey — differed widely in age, in learning and in circumstance, yet were united in a single purpose.
Our vocation is a call from God, heard, discerned and responded to in faith and in love. CSJ formation has its deep inspiration in the mysteries of the Trinity, Incarnation and Eucharist, and is always directed towards Christian discipleship and communion. It is an ongoing, dynamic, creative and progressive process that responds to the real challenges of today's world, the church and the congregation.
Initial formation moves through four stages — Pre Postulancy, Postulancy, Novitiate, and First Profession and after — each giving the person time and opportunity to listen, to question, to grow, and to respond freely. The Principal Formator is Christ; the role of the formee is to be open and allow herself to be led by the Spirit.
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The congregation's life and work in India is organised into four provinces — Pachmarhi, Nagpur, Nirmala and Tanmaya. Each is rooted in its own region and responds to the needs of the people around it, yet all four share one charism, one formation programme and one mission.
Whether you wish to know more about our ministries, our formation programme, or how to get in touch with a province, we would be glad to hear from you.
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