Loving Village

The Sisters of St. Joseph began their Georgia orphanage ministry in Savannah back in 1867 when they arrived from France via Florida. Nine years later, in January 1876, these pioneer women established their orphanage for boys in the middle Georgia town of Washington. For almost one hundred years the ministry of the sisters to needy, homeless boys continued. Girls from broken homes were sent to the sisters at St. Mary’s Home in Savannah. Between both of these institutions, Catholic orphaned children received the care and affection they needed.

In the early 60s, it became obvious that the children needed much more than the little town of Washington could offer. Travel to Atlanta, a distance of 100 miles, was becoming more frequent. The emotional and specialized needs of the modern broken family were also a factor in the proposal, frequently made, for a new facility.

The Village of St. Joseph, a direct successor to the old homes in Washington and Savannah, opened its doors to boys and girls in June 1967. It is a modern residential treatment center helping emotionally disturbed children and their families. Situated in southeast Atlanta, this center, still in the hands of the Sisters of St. Joseph, works to mend the lives of broken families living in our complex society.

Mending

With only 50 cents in the pockets of their habits and 10 beds for patients, St. Joseph’s Infirmary was opened on Baker Street in Atlanta by the Sisters of Mercy in April 1880. Atlanta was then a city of 37,000 people. St. Joseph’s was its first hospital.

Thanks to the service of the sisters and the generous response of the citizens, the tiny hospital grew and buildings were added. Dr. R.D. Spalding donated a surgical wing and operating room at the turn of the century. The Haverty family furnished wards and generously assisted the ministry of the sisters down through the years.

The growth continued as diagnostic outpatient clinics were added, along with a complete School of Nursing. In 1953 a $4 million addition was opened. However, the technological era of the sixties and seventies demonstrated to the hospital trustees that proper patient care demanded new space and new facilities. The decision to move outside the city was made.

On March 18, 1978 the new 300 bed St. Joseph’s Hospital was opened on Peachtree-Dunwoody Road. It is a medical facility particularly noted for its cardiac and cardiovascular services.

The Sisters of Mercy who came to Atlanta in 1880 were originally founded in 1829 by Bishop John England in Charleston, S.C. They came to Savannah in 1845 to assist at St. John the Baptist parish and found St. Vincent’s Academy. At the request of Bishop William Gross, the nursing sisters arrived in Atlanta on April 21, 1880.

Consoling

Mother Rose Huber, one of the founders of the Hawthorne Dominican Order, opened the Home for Incurable Cancer in Mercy 1939. The house where all the well-known mercy and love began had been a Hebrew orphanage going back to 1870.

“It looked like the home was sitting there waiting for us,” said Sister Loretta Purcell, who came to the Atlanta foundation in April 1939. “The dormitories became our wards and it suited us fine. We even had enough room to have wards for black people. Segregation was the law and we had to obey it at the time. But we changed as quickly as we could. We have only one goal--to serve the victims of incurable cancer.”

Down the years, the Dominican Sisters have continued the service on Washington Street within walking distance of the Atlanta Stadium. In 1973, a brand new hospital was opened and the free service of charity goes on. Today the Cancer Home continues to serve the victims of incurable disease.

Praying

The Sisters of the Visitation of Holy Mary, an enclosed order of contemplative women, moved to the site of their present monastery in Snellville on Oct. 7, 1974.

They had come to Atlanta from Toledo, Ohio in July of 1954 and began their Georgia community in the Asa W. Candler mansion on Ponce de Leon Avenue, now owned by Fernbank Science Center.

The very first house of the order was begun in Annecy, France.

Mother Francis de Sales Cassidy, the foundress of the Georgia house, was a native of Macon. Sister Mary Eulalia Carper was the superior at the time of the Snellville move.

The Snellville Monastery of the Visitation now houses 13 sisters and one postulant. Mother Mary Caritas Batista is the present superior.

The sisters spend their days in prayer and the making of the Eucharistic hosts that are used by the Archdiocese of Atlanta.

Their monastic home is open to women for retreats and the sisters welcome women considering entry to their order to live their life of prayer and contemplation.