About Us

Our Community Symbol

The Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph the Worker was founded by Bishop Richard H. Ackerman and Mother Ellen Curran on June 1, 1973, in the Diocese of Covington, Kentucky, and is of Diocesan right.   It was approved by the Holy See on May 1, 1974.   The Congregation began with eighteen professed Sisters, who desired to live religious life in accordance with the authentic teachings of Vatican Council II:  scheduled prayer life, times of silence, religious authority invested in a superior, community life, church related apostolate, and the public witness of a religious habit.

  As a new congregation in the Church, the Sisters chose the title “Sisters of St. Joseph the Worker” because the Church had instituted the feast of St. Joseph the Worker just a few years before in 1955.  Our patronal feast is celebrated on May 1st.

Some of the Sisters at Krohn Conservatory, in Cincinnati, OH

The Sisters have as their special purpose the worship of God, with a special devotion to the Holy Eucharist, and the sanctification of each member through total consecration to God by means of the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty and obedience.  We daily strive to live our charism of simplicity, self-sacrifice, charity, and loyalty to the Magisterium of the Church. 

Our community symbol, a censer, symbolizes the continuous burning out and offering up of ourselves in the love and service of Christ.  In that spirit, each Sister has made her own the community motto: “HERE I AM, LORD, I COME TO DO YOUR WILL.” 

To learn more about us, visit our website at www.ssjw.org