International Centre of the Sisters of St. Joseph: March 2021

The Sisters of St. Joseph have had a presence in Saint-Vallier, France, since 1683 when two sisters responded to the call of Monseigner Jean-Baptiste de la Croix Chevrière, archbishop of the diocese and count of Saint-Vallier, to help staff a small hospital that he had just founded. The sisters soon afterward opened a small school for young girls without families. In 1829, the Church recognized the sisters as teachers and charity workers.

During the French Revolution (1789-99) the sisters were somewhat protected by the townspeople since they were nurses and not teachers in the schools. Their services in the hospital were badly needed.

City Hall

In 1901 and 1904, France instituted the Combes laws, which secularized the country. Schools operated by the Church could no longer be run by the Church, so the sisters who were teachers lost their ministries. Sister Thérèse de Jésus (Cécile Drolet), of Quebec, Canada, suggested to then-Superior General Mother Saint-Claire, that the sisters come to Canada. On August 17, 1903 twelve Sisters of Saint Joseph landed in Saint-Jean-Port-Joli to a welcoming population. They took charge of the village school there and opened a novitiate in Quebec in 1905. In 1911, they bought a house on Chemin Sainte-Foy, which became their motherhouse. Vocations were flourishing so they enlarged the motherhouse in 1914 and in 1915 built a new chapel. A larger, more imposing chapel was dedicated on March 19, 1927. In 1953, the motherhouse was established in Quebec and in 1958, the sisters responded to the Church’s call to found a mission in Haiti.

In Canada, the sisters devoted themselves to education in the primary and secondary schools until 1948 and then expanded their ministries to the care of the sick. The Quiet Revolution of the 1960s and 70s created a secular, state-run welfare government in Quebec. It took over education, health care, and social services which had been provided by the Catholic Church. The sisters were now integrated into these works. Today, some sisters still live at the 19^th century Victorian-style motherhouse, and the sisters have expanded their presence to five continents.

History of Saint-Vallier, France

As far as ancient history is concerned, the area around Saint-Vallier was inhabited by a Gaulish tribe called the Allobroges. The Romans conquered Gaul in 103 BCE and this area became a Roman province in 27 BCE. The Romans built the town of Ursuli on the Rhone River in what would later be known as Saint-Vallier. In the 9^th century a wall was built to fortify the city. During the Middle Ages, Saint-Vallier and the lands around it became part of a feudal society ruled by lords and counts. The city served a meeting place for the second crusade in 1147, the third crusade in 1188, and the seventh crusade in 1248.

In the second half of the 16th century during the Wars of Religion, the Huguenots found shelter in Saint-Vallier. A Franciscan convent was founded here in the 17th century and a hospital in 1669.

The church was dedicated first to Saint Stephen by the priory of the order of Saint-Augustin, which was submitted to the abbey of Saint-Ruf in 1364 and replaced in 1779 by a college of five priests.

Industrial activity developed in Saint-Vallier in the 18th century, and the town has since been a small working-class city.

On February 8, 1791, Napoleon Bonaparte passed through the Saint-Vallier with his brother, Louis. He wrote his travel impressions here, in the form of reflections on love.

In 1789, the discovery of a kaolino-feldspathic sand quarry opened up an industry that made steel cooking and chemical utensils and eventually diversified to the production of electrical insulators, tiling, inkwell, sinks, and funeral articles. Some people attest that 19^th and 20^th century factories in Saint-Vallier produced industrial sandstone that created fine opaque enameled stoneware, called "porcelain with fire". The 19^th century also saw milling, weaving, and silk spinning companies established near waterways. These industries were largely comprised of women and children.

In 1850, the first French train line from Paris to Marseille was started and gave Saint-Vallier a station even though the tracks cut the town in half. The first train passed through on April 16, 1855. A subsequent line called the Galaure tramway opened on October 29, 1893, and linked Saint-Vallier to the departmental railways of the region.

Saint-Vallier was the scene of battle during the Second World War. On November 11, 1942, German tanks rolled through the city, and several resistance actions took place during the years of the war. The railway was targeted and destroyed by the Americans on August 16, 1944, and many locals were killed. Most of the southside of town was destroyed, and a commemorative monument with names of the victims was later erected for this tragedy.

As of 2018, the city of Saint-Vallier has 3,937 residents.

We had a chance to visit the inside of the church. Here are some of the more outstanding features of this old church.