A Quick Look at the Founding History
Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis
Stevens Point, WI
In 1901, Sisters Mary Clara Bialkowski and Felicia Jaskulski, former School Sisters of St. Francis (SSSF) from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, together with 44 other SSSFs, committed themselves to become a new congregation, the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis. The new congregation was founded in Stevens Point, Wisconsin. The mission of this new order was to teach the children of Polish immigrants in the Midwest. Rev. Luke Pescinski, pastor of St. Peter Parish in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, Rev. Stanley Nawrocki, pastor of St. Mary of Perpetual Help in Chicago, Illinois, and other pastors were instrumental in founding the new Polish order of teaching sisters. On July 1, 1901, Rt. Rev. Sebastian Messmer, Bishop of Green Bay, authorized the new congregation “to assume the work in small and poor schools.”
Pictured above: Original St. Joseph Motherhouse in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, before the modification of the 4th floor and roof in 1959 (Left); Mother Felicia (Right)
Artifact Spotlight
Early Register and Name of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis Congregation
Copy of a page from the first vital statistics of the founding congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph, TOSF. Written in the hand of Mother M. Felicia Jaskulski, one of the two founding sisters, in her personal notebook ( 5 ¾” x 3 ¼” x ¼”), which contains a list of the members at that time and the year each sister was vowed as a consecrated religious.
The name of the congregation at its inception was listed as the “Polish Sisters of St. Joseph,” referring to the ethnicity of the order in May 1902. The name of the Order changed twice following the Articles of Incorporation.
January 5, 1925 – The Order of Sisters of St. Joseph
March 15, 1945 – The Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis, the name under which the congregation was registered with the Sacred Congregation for Religious.