Hi! I’m Brother Emilie Joseph! I’m currently a Novice for the Order of Franciscan Clareans. I am a dispersed hermit /Anglo-Catholic friar practicing ministry in the Midwest United States. While I am ordained, and authorized to, I don’t regularly preach. In Saint Francis’s Rule of 1221 (Chapter 12) he instructs his friars, “All the brothers, however, should preach by their actions”. My primary ministry is to the LGBTQ community, and those in various need within the area of my hermitage.
My religious name, Emilie Joseph, comes from that of St. Emilie de Vialar, who was born in Gaillac (France). In 1832 she founded, in this same town, a missionary Congregation: the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition. This name evokes the apparition of the angel to St. Joseph as related in Mt. 1, 20-24. Like St. Joseph, the Sisters of her Congregation try to contribute to the realisation of God’s saving plan for humanity by witnessing that God loved the world so much as to give Their only begotten Son.
I came into this vocation at an older age, after I retired from working in a county jail for over twenty-four years. I wanted to serve the Church as an advocate for those who don’t have someone to speak up for them. The Order of Franciscan Clareans gave me that opportunity. When I became a Hermit, I thought I would have little to do outside of prayer and study and rarely interact with the public, my Superior immediately proved that thought wrong. Honestly, there are times, I don’t have time in the day to say one of the Offices of my Breviary. As I said, it’s rare for me to preach, but I will post reflections on this page from time to time. Please feel free to reach out to me at Demonradio@icloud.com
May you be blessed
Brother Em
Brother Emilie Joseph, OFC 