Our Founder Bishop John Aelen was ordained a priest on 21 December 1878 for the Congregation of the Mill Hill Missionaries, England. His immense faith in God was rooted in these inspiring words of St. Paul: "Hope will not disappoint us" (Romans 5:5). His faith empowered him with missionary zeal and the desire to bring people closer to God. This missionary zeal brought Bishop John Aelen to our sacred soil who reached India in 1879 along with four of his companions. In 1881, Bishop John Aelen was appointed parish priest of St. Andrew’’s Church, Vepery, Chennai- 600 112, South India, by Most Rev. Dr. Joseph Colgan, the then Archbishop of Madras. Fr. John Aelen was ordained a bishop on 2 February 1902. He was appointed Co- Adjutor Bishop of Madrs in order to assist Archbishop John Colgan. At the death of Archbishop John Colgan assumed the pastoral leadership of the Archdiocese of Madras Archbishop on 17 February 1911.

The Founding Spirit

Bishop John Aelen was not an ordinary priest. He had Spirit-inspired theological vision of not only addressing the spiritual needs of his people; but he also expressed a keen concern about every dimension of human life. He said: "My mission is a very large one and I'm busy morning till night". Hence, his Missionary Enterprise and Spirituality were far-reaching and holistic. It is this theological vision and missionary zeal that motivated him to found the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters St. Joseph on 19 March 1887. He entrusted the congregation to the patronage of St. Joseph. In view of this, St. Joseph's Convent was established at Vepery, Chennai 600 112, within the vicinity of St. Andrew’s Church.

Bishop John Aelen had a spiritual depth and a compassionate heart to understand the cry of the poor and the agonizing pain of the marginalized. It must be underscored in Golden Letters that Bishop John Aelen founded the congregation to liberate the socially discriminated people of his times called the PANCHAMAS. He had a burning zeal and a blazing hope to offer them an alternate way of life and to evoke in them a consciousness of self-dignity and self-respect that would eventually promote a sense of radical equality among the people. He was convinced that this process of liberation could be initiated through education. Hence, he started a school with the singular purpose of liberating women and girl children at Vepery" This intentional liberative process became the Founding Spirit of our Congregation as prophetically described in these words:

‘Towards Integral Liberation in Solidarity with the Oppressed and the Downtrodden with singular Emphasis on Women and Girl Children.’

The Foundation

Every great journey begins with a small-baby step. On 21st February 1883, three aspirants Rosammal, Rasammal and Antoniammal joined the Congregation. Bishop John Aelen looked forward to a big harvest. In the beginning, Bishop John Aelen requested Msgr. Francis Jean Marie Laouenan,. Bishop of Pondicherry to send four sisters from the congregation of Franciscan sisters of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, Pondicherry to help him. Three sisters, under the leadership of Mother Kanickai Mary were sent to support Bishop John Aelen in his new and daring venture. The first three candidates made their First Profession on 19 March, 1887- the Solemnity of St. Joseph. In order to mark the beginning of a new way of life, Rosammal was named as Sr. Mary Francis, Rasammal was named as Sr. Mary Gertrude and Antoniammal was named as Sr. Mary Josephine. The Eucharistic Celebration at the First Profession was solemnized by His Grace, Most Rev. Dr. Joseph Colgan, the Archbishop of Madras at St. Andrew's Church, Vepery. Bishop John Aelen witnessed this celebration with joy and fulfilment as this marked the birth of "The Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph". Since that Grace-filled moment of a humble beginning the congregation has grown over the decades. Mother Kanickai Mary left for Pondicherry in the year 1887 itself and the FSJ Congregation began to function independently.

It has been considered for several years that the founder of the congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph was Most Rev. Joseph Colgan, the Archbishop of Madras in 1887. It is only on the occasion of the centenary celebrations of our congregation the absence of the written documents to substantiate this fact was deeply felt. As there was just a brief reference to Fr. Aelen, we held on to the tradition of Bishop Joseph Colgan as founder till the light of revelation about the founder of our congregation came to dispel the darkness of ignorance.

Help came from the unexpected quarters. The New Leader issue of 7th February 1988 brought to our notice by Fr.S.J.Anthonysamy, Scripture Scholar, Sacred Heart Seminary, Poonamallee, a well-wisher of the congregation both surprised and delighted us. The reason was the details found in the lengthy article titled,” The Mill Hill Missionaries in India”. The various services rendered by the Mill Hill Missionaries during a period of nearly 60 years in Madras, were listed in it, one of which was a statement about the founding of the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph by Fr. John Aelen in 1883. When we contacted the author of this essay he directed us to Fr. Dalziel MHM. He inturn acknowledged that he had obtained the information from Fr. Jim Borst MHM. The search continued. On encountering Fr. Jim Borst many facts were disclosed.

Responding to our many queries, Fr. Jim Borst sent an extract from the 1975 issue of ‘Mill Hilliana’. The news letter written by Bishop Simeoni, The prefect of the Congregation for the Propagation of Faith in Rome. The letters written by Fr. John Aelen himself which directly refer to the origin and the purpose of our congregation. These letters have been retrieved from the Mill Hill archives in England by Fr. Jim Borst in 1988. On the 13th of November the same year, Mother General Mary Cyrilla and the Assistant General Mary Venantia recieved the letters from him at Nav Sadana , a pastoral institute in Varanasi. “I make a gift of this treasure to your congregation” said Fr. Jim Borst,” handing over the documents to them. The next stage of our search found us in the archives of the archdiocese of Madras – Mylapore where we found the details about the origin of our congregation in the Annual Directories.