SPRINGFIELD – Every weekday morning around 10:30, the kitchen at 577 Carew St. comes alive with the smell of fresh coffee, as women sit to share baked goods across a big table and talk business.
They’re all sisters, but this is a different sort of family.
The Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield is no longer accepting new members into the religious community, where the median age is 83. But this sisterhood remains powerfully engaged with what’s happening in the community they and their predecessors have served since 1880.
This Sunday, they’ll mark an even bigger milestone – the founding of their order in Le Puy, France, 375 years ago – with a liturgy at 2 p.m. at Sacred Heart Church, at 395 Chestnut St., in Springfield.
At its peak, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield had over 1,0