Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary
The pledge:
Holy Mary, Immaculate Virgin, Mother of God, I choose thee this day to be my Queen, my Patroness, my Advocate and Mother and I firmly resolve never to desert thee and never to say or do anything against thee and never to permit others to do anything against thy honor. Receive me therefore, I pray thee, for thy devoted servant forever; assist me in all the actions of my life and forsake me not at the hour of my death. Amen.
On May 1, 1835, St. Catherine Laboure, in the Burgundy region of France, told her Spiritual Director of a revelation she had from the Blessed Mother to create the Sodality as we know it today. Less than 100 years later, a branch of that organization was established here at St Joseph’s in the early 1920’s. The Sodality is now the oldest organization still in existence in the parish and growing. The Ladies of the Sodality devote themselves to a strong and faithful prayer life and service to the parish and the community. The rosary is prayed every Sunday and prior to funerals on the statue of “Our Lady of Grace” side of St Joseph’s church. The mysteries are rotated on Sundays depending on the day, so that all 4 mysteries are said within a particular time frame. On the first Sunday of May the Sodality processes in to church to crown the statue of our Lady. The ladies wear white with blue sashes and their heads are covered to show outwardly their devotion to the Blessed Mother.
Today the Sodality, as we fondly call it, includes daughters and grand-daughters of charter members. These are just a couple of examples, the first prefect was Katherine Crawford, and Margaret Hinson was a secretary in the 1950’s. Historically, on the rolls of the membership of the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary are many saints, among them, St Giovanni Battista de Rossi, the Vincent de Paul of Rome, St. Peter Claver, the apostle of slaves and St. Bernadette of Soubirous of Lourdes, just to name a few.