It seems that the Holy Spirit is doing something new and very important at this moment in history, calling us all to recognize the wider community of people gifted with the grace, or charism, for expressing God's inclusive love in our immediate environments and in our world. During the past century, Boston welcomed two new ways to live the charism and mission. The first Associates gathered in 1986 and annually renew their commitment if they wish. The first Agregee candidates began formation in 2017 and professed their lifelong vow in 2019.

Agregee (ah-greh-zhay) is a French word meaning "attached to." This form of relationship dates back to 17th-century France when the Sisters of St. Joseph were founded. In fact, in the earliest documents, the term Agregee is used quite loosely to describe participants in a community scattered throughout Southern France.

Agregees with the Boston CSJs today are single Catholic women called by God to the Agregee Relationship. Their prayer lives and active discernment have led them to freely respond to and apply to live their dynamic relationship with God in and through the mission, spirit, and spirituality of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston.

They are desirous of being one with a Congregation that is dedicated to the profound love of God and neighbor without distinction. They seek to be in communion with vowed women who commit their lives to the mission of Jesus "that all may be one," and they desire to share the communal life inasmuch as they are able. They participate actively in the larger circle of the charism with Associates and Partners in Mission.

They express their commitment through a lifetime non-canonical vow. They "vow to God fidelity to the charism with the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston in the spirit of the Gospel." Through this vow, they are participants in consecrated life.

Together, as Sisters, Associates, Agregees, and Partners in Mission, we strive to be faithful to the grace of the Charism which impels us in the Mission of Unity.