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 Today,
the Congregation of the Sisters of St Joseph of Lyons number
nearly 1,000.
We serve in
15 countries and have
203 houses throughout the world. The
congregation has four provinces, Maine,
Mexico,
India and the
Province of
Europe. The province of Europe is made up of the
Lyons Congregation in France and the congregations of Bourg
and Bordeaux. When Bourg and Bordeaux merged with Lyons in
1996, it was decided that the term “Province of France”
should be dropped because Bourg had two provinces that were
not in France. They were Switzerland and Belgium. All felt
that the term “Province of Europe” would be more
appropriate. Bourg was once a part of the Medaille
Congregation. It was a unanimous decision of both Medaille
and Bourg to separate in 1977 and that the separation was in
the best interest of both congregations at that time. The
former general superior of Bourg Annie Falcon said,” the
decision to separate was a sad one for everyone, but at the
time, Bourg did not have a global vision.” This vision only
surfaced in 1989 when Bourg actively sought to merge with
Chambery and later voted to merge with Lyons.
 The
congregation also has five regions: England-Ireland,
Greece,
Lebanon,
Egypt, and
Africa.
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 The
congregational cross
of the Sisters of St Joseph of Lyons
can
be seen around the world.
The two angles with chiseled edges:
V the top one evokes for us the Trinity of heaven
V
the bottom, the Trinity of the earth
The
focal point between both “Trinities” is realized in Jesus:
V
through the Incarnation, He binds heaven and earth
V
through the cross, He is Saviour
The
other two angles (shadow and light) symbolize:
V
the
Paschal mystery of death and life
The
inscription on the back “that they may be one”, in Aramaic
V
reminds us of our charism of communion
As each
sister has traveled throughout the world,
she carries the
cross on her person and the meaning in her heart.
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