Congregation of St. Joseph

Launch the media gallery 1 player

As Sisters of St. Joseph, former students, graduates, teachers and Principals of St. Francis Xavier School and members of the parish we remember:

• Sr. Imelda’s 1^st Grade Bungalow.
• Purchasing chocolate milk and donuts after 1^st Friday Mass at Hank’s (also known as The Cottage Deli, and later My Grandpa’s Store).
• Paying seat money (10 Cents) at Sunday Masses.
• Playing Red Rover on the playground and having the priests who watched us from the rectory reports us to Sr. Margaret (Principal).
• The children awaiting the black bus which brought the Sisters to teach school.
• The two processions each year, one for the feast of St. Francis Xavier and a boy dressed as St. Francis and the other a girl dressed as St. Therese and in March for the Novena of Grace.
• Assigned adoration hours for Holy Thursday.
• Holy Thursday Procession where the girls dressed as angels said the verse “Praise, Benediction, Adoration and love, be to Our Lord Jesus Christ in the most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar and dropped rose petals.
• The required Sunday Children’s 9:00 a.m. Mass- Sisters present.
• Msgr. O’ Brien held class with the 8^th graders each week.
• Memorizing the Baltimore Catechism
• The penny candy counter in the basement of the 1^st grade bungalow. The 8^th grad girls sold the candy at recess (10:15- 10:30) and at lunch.
• We had church envelopes- the totals given were published 3x a year. Tuition was $1 a month.
• The weekly bulletin was called “The Voice”.
• Basketball games and practices were held and Fenwick High School.
• Mrs. Huebner taught elocution.
• School plays were held twice a year.
• The number of daily Masses attended were written on our report cards.
• Fr. Ed Hosty teaching Religion class and testing students using a ¼ sheet of paper asking 3 questions, the 3^rd being, “What is the name of the sacred vessel that holds the hosts? It must be spelled correctly, including a capital C.”
• Fr. Hosty taking the kids iceskating to Gilbert Park in his station wagon.
• Palmer Method of Handwriting was taught.
• Every Thursday at 2:30 we had Benediction and after we had to practice hymns for 9:00 a.m. mass with Sr. Delores and George Sterbens. During Lent we had Stations of the Cross on Friday.
• When building the “NEW SCHOOL” which opened in 1949 the attendance was ½ day, grades 2,4,6,8 had school from 8:20- 12:20 and 12:30- 4:30 for grades 1,3,5,7 during construction.
• Holy Days of Obligation and St. Joseph’s day were “free days.”
• The excitement of going through the tunnel from the school to the church if it was snowing or raining for processions, 1^st Communion, etc.
• In the last few years the school expanded their curriculum to include Service Days.
• The school received the honor of being named a National Blue Ribbon School in 2013.
• St. Patrick’s Day dinner where Sr. Ricardo, CSJ and Monsignor O’Brien played a duet on the violins, and the children sang All Hail to St. Patrick.
• Sr. Imelda’s 1^st Grade Christmas play.