Note 21 — Chapter XXIV · SISTERS OF ST. JOSEPH.

The fiftieth anniversary of the foundation in Philadelphia of the Sisters of St. Joseph was celebrated May 5, 1897, at the Mount St. Joseph’s Novitiate, in Chestnut Hill. About ninety priests from Philadelphia and adjacent dioceses were present, and the venerable Monsignor Cantwell, who, with Bishop O’Hara, of Scranton, was the only one then living who extended the hand of welcome to the three Sisters who came from St. Louis fifty years previous, was among the guests. There were present also about two hundred visiting Sisters from the various Catholic institutions in the city and several from Rochester, N. Y., and Flushing. L. I. Archbishop Ryan made a brief address of congratulation to the pupils and the community. He said that forty-five years ago he knew the Sisters of the St. Louis Community, and that he had watched their astounding growth with much interest. He paid a glowing tribute to the beneficence and charity of the community, and prayed that God would cause them to prosper in the future as He had done in the past.