Getting to know our origins

The group meeting for the seminar, "From Chambéry to the world", is living a profound experience of pilgrimage. The first days were spent visiting the following places:

• Brioude, where the path between the mountains and the snow-covered fields provide a notion of the experiences Father Médaille had moving from one location to another to evangelize in the winter. In the old town, the sisters visited the Basilica of Saint Julien, a 4th century Roman martyr. It a true fortification, built in Roman style, between the 11th and 14th centuries, with abstract stained glass and polychrome windows.  It has few significant statues. 
• Saint Flour, where the view of the upper town, built on rock, and the lower town, with its tortuous streets, hark back to Medieval France and to the wars and revolutions of the time. The group was welcomed and guided by two sisters of Saint Joseph, and they then toured Saint Flour. Father Médaille spent six years there.  He was the youngest in his religious community and fulfilled several roles.
• First kitchen: this site is situated in the historic centre of Le Puy, next to the Notre Dame Cathedral of the Annunciation of Le Puy. The group was welcomed by the Sisters of the Saint Joseph Institute and was led by Sister Simone Saughes to the location where the first Sisters of St. Joseph shared life and mission. Sister Simone emphasized: "more than a building, this physical environment keeps alive the spirit of humility and simplicity of the first Sisters."
• Church of the College: located in the historic centre of Le Puy, it was built by the Jesuits in 1618 and remains virtually intact. In the community nearby, Father Médaille spent 11 months. The Group had the opportunity to participate in the Eucharistic Celebration.
• Martyrdom Square: at the time of the French Revolution there was a guillotine used for public execution of those opposed to the regime in the historic centre of Le Puy, where today you can see a large tree.  This site reminds the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the death of five sisters, two in Le Puy and three on Privas, and the dispersion of the Congregation.
• Monistrol: in this small town during the French Revolution, Mother Saint Jean Fontbonne and other Sisters remained faithful to the Church of Rome, and for this reason, were expelled. They spent 13 years hidden in forests and with their families. The French Revolution was a blow to religious congregations and to the entire Church.
  
• Saint-Étienne: history tells us that in this city, there was a group of 12 women, "les Filles Noires," well known for their black habit, austere lifestyle and practice of charity. Mother Saint Jean Fontbonne was called to guide this group, which, on July 14, 1808, received the habit of the Sisters of Saint Joseph, refounding the Congregation.  Religious freedom returned to France at the end of the French Revolution, and religious congregations spread again throughout the country.

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