St. Joseph, Lover of Poverty

Depending on the Lord for all, that is what St. Joseph was able to do. That is the essence of the virtue of poverty. It allows one to be free of those things which prevent one from seeing that God necessarily sustains that which he creates. This virtue provided St. joseph the freedom to listen to and respond to the will of the Lord. Thus, when he had to take Mary, pregnant with child, to Bethlehem to register for the census, a lowly stable was the only shelter available to them. In this place of poverty, the Savior was born, and in the silence of that holy night Mary and Joseph adored him. The word through whom all things were made was born into the world in a place of poverty now made rich by His presence and that of Mary and St. Joseph.

When asked to leave for Egypt in the middle of the night, St. Joseph, trusting that the Lord would provide, got up and left with Jesus and Mary and the necessities needed for the journey. The Lover of Poverty demonstrated once again the freedom to leaving all in the hands of the Lord in order to respond generously to him.

The Sisters of St. Joseph take a vow of poverty. Looking to the example of St. Joseph, Lover of Poverty, they entrust themselves to the providence of the Lord. Living a life in which all things owned in common gives each sister, like St. Joseph, the freedom to respond to the Lord with a generous heart by trusting in His great care for each one of them.

1957 Stained Glass in St. Joseph Chapel
The stained-glass windows that grace the St. Joseph chapel are a wonderful treasure. On a sunny day when the windows are illuminated filling the chapel with vivid color, one can almost feel transported to another time and place. The windows were made in France and were installed in 1957 by workers who came over from France! Images from the life of St. Joseph are captured within these magnificent windows, giving the retreatant, as they did the students and sisters from the past, a glimpse into the simple life of the man who is called the Lover of Poverty.