The Sisters revere especially the following patrons:

St Joseph ~ is the one called by God in the Gospels to take Mary as his wife and become the foster father of Jesus. He is the one who took his pregnant wife to Bethlehem for the Roman census, who with her suffered the indignity of being turned away because there was no room in the inn and who witnessed the birth of Jesus.  In a response to a warning in a dream he took the Child and His mother to Egypt and returned only when told by God to do so.  He brought his family back to Nazareth where he worked to provide for them as a village carpenter.

For the Sisters of St Joseph and people generally, he is the symbol of faith, perseverance, fidelity, courage, trust, hard work, hiddenness and close union with the Son of God and his mother Mary.  He is the patron of work and of a happy death.  He is the “just man” of the Scriptures.  From experience he knows what it is like to be a refugee, to look for work in a foreign land, to care for a family life.  He is a powerful friend to all those who seek his help.

The feast of St Joseph is celebrated on the 19^th March.
The feast of St Joseph the Worker is 1^st May.

Blessed Mary MacKillop ~ Beatified by Pope John Paul II January 19^th, 1995, Mary MacKillop is Australia ’s first proclaimed saint.  Born in Melbourne in 1842, she with Fr Julian Edmund Tenison Woods co-founded the Congregation of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart in Adelaide in 1867.  She was a woman of incredible courage of prayer and faith, who knew suffering and adversity and yet who, convinced of her calling, persevered in charity to the end of her life, a truly inspirational Sister of St Joseph .

Her feast is celebrated on 8^th August when she died in Sydney in 1909.

Fr Julian Edmund Tenison Woods   ~ Together with Blessed Mary MacKillop, Fr Woods founded the Sisters of St Joseph at Adelaide in 1867  With Mary MacKillop, he sent the first three Sisters to Perthville in 1872.  When the newly formed diocesan group of Sisters of St Joseph came into being at Perthville in 1876, he was there, directing the Sisters and rewriting their rule.  He was an experienced missioner and widely regarded as a scientist and geologist with many published articles and books.  He was committed to spreading the message of Jesus. He died in Sydney in 1889.  He is regarded as a powerful intercessor for the Sisters of St Joseph.

The anniversary of his death is celebrated on 7^th October.

Congregation Feasts are celebrated in accordance with our Josephite spirituality and tradition and include:

The Feast Of The Sacred Heart ~
In the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Sisters experience the selfless, warm heart of a God made man.   Fr Woods wrote that our love of Jesus should be “sensible and complete”.  He often said “He (Jesus) should have all of our hearts, and they are for him alone”. The loving Heart of Jesus was for him the model of patience, gentleness and charity, the reason for suffering lovingly endured, and the basis for the courage and confidence that he was forever urging on his spiritual children. In his teaching he brought home the fact that God is Love.   He dedicated the Institute at Perthville to the Sacred Heart.  The Sisters continue to celebrate God’s overflowing compassionate love in the Eucharist, in the special Feast of the Sacred Heart and in lives lived with a generous, loving spirit and concern for every person. 

The Feast Of ST J ohn The Baptist ~ 24^th June
Fr Woods saw St John the Baptist as a pillar of the Holy Family in the work of the Incarnation and most dear to the hearts of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.  Fr Woods asks us to trust St John the Baptist’s wonderful light as a patriarch and prophet and to pray for his spirit of penance.  This saint “prepared the way” for Jesus and is a model for us in our mission of proclaiming Jesus to the world around us.

The Feast Of The Visitation ~ 31st May
Mary, the Mother of Jesus, has a special place for the Sisters of St Joseph.  Fr Woods had wonderful devotion to her and his letters usually began with the heading “Sweet Mother, I’m trusting in you.”  He had great devotion to Mary, Mother of Sorrows.  He saw in Mary, a real mother who cared for her children,  a wonderful advocate, a person whom one can trust absolutely filled as she is with the love for her Son and love by her son.  The Sisters are encouraged to have similar devotion to Mary and to celebrate the Feast of the Visitation as a very special feast, commemorating Mary’s love, kindness and willingness to help others in her visit to her elderly cousin Elizabeth. 

PERTHVILLE FOUNDATION DAY
This is celebrated on 16^th July and commemorates the day when Srs Teresa MacDonald, Sr Joseph Dwyer, Sr Hyacinth Quinlan and Miss Ada Braham arrived at Queen Carlotte’s Vale (Perthville) to begin the first foundation outside South Australia .

FEDERATION DAY
s celebrated on 28^th July, commemorating the day when official approbation was given in Rome for the establishment of the Australian-New Zealand Federation of Sisters of St Joseph with Head Houses at Perthville,Wanganui, Goulburn, Lochinvar and Hobart.

Celebrations
Besides celebrating the feasts above, the Sisters celebrate Sisters’ Silver, Golden and Diamond Jubilees of Profession, significant birthdays, anniversaries and special events of the liturgical year.  These are occasions for the Sisters to gather with warm friendship and good cheer.