Joe Causes Conversion and Religious Vocation

Yesterday marked the 200th Anniversary of the death of Sister Frances Margaret Allen. Now, it was not that long ago when I was asking the question that you probably are asking right now... Who in the world was Sr. Frances Margaret Allen?

A couple weeks ago, I came across this article that shared the story of Sr. Frances Margaret. Long story short, she was a convert to Catholicism because Joe appeared to her, and as a result entered the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph, who are still doing ministry today (although I'm sure it looks a bit different from the times of Sr. Frances Margaret).  If you want more of the story, you can check out pages 487-490 of The History of the Catholic Church in the New England States published in 1899.

A little trivia... According to the New Catholic Encyclopedia, she was "the first woman of New England birth to become a nun." How cool is that! The first woman of New England birth to become a nun is attributable to Joe's influence. Something to keep in mind as we should pray to Joe for an increase of converts and religious vocations.

Some more trivia... Less than one hundred years after her death, St. André Bessette would begin the process of starting the Oratory of St. Joseph just on the other side of Mount Royal in Montreal where Sr. Frances Margaret was a nun.