Making known God’s goodness

By Jennifer Williams
Staff correspondent
The Catholic Review - Baltimore

Two hundred years ago in the city of Amiens, France, near the end of the French Revolution, St. Julie Billiart and co-foundress Francoise Blin de Bourdon established a congregation which was dedicated to the education of the poor.

Today, two centuries later, the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur continue to carry on the mission of St. Julie, ministering on five continents.

“Our whole heritage is responding to the times and what’s going on in the times and we are continuing to do that today,” said Sister Paula Laschenski, S.N.D., of the Chesapeake Province of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.

The Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur have served in the Archdiocese of Baltimore since 1912. This year the three Maryland provinces (Chesapeake province, Maryland province and Base Communities) will kick off a year of celebrating their 200th anniversary with a Mass Feb. 1 at 3 p.m. at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen, Homeland. Bishop W. Francis Malooly, western vicar, will be the celebrant.

The first Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur came to the United States in 1840 and settled in Ohio. The Sisters then established themselves in California, eventually moving east, attending to the needs of an incoming immigrant population.

In carrying out their mission to “teach people what they need to know for life,” the Sisters established schools such as St. Ursula in Parkville and Maryvale Preparatory School in Brooklandville as well as many others throughout the archdiocese. In 1947, they founded Villa Julie College as a one-year medical secretarial school.

“I was taught by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur at St. Ursula’s school in the 1950’s,” recalled Bishop Malooly. “Many of my teachers — Sister Veronica Murphy, Sister Catherine Cress, Sister Ellen McCloskey and the principal Sister Marguerite Schaefer — are still with us. They were excellent educators. I have always had the greatest respect for them and admiration of them. Now in their senior years they continue to set a wonderful example for all of us. I was honored when they attended my ordination as a bishop.”

Today, the Sisters teach and minister as pastoral associates and directors of religious education in several Catholic schools and parishes in Maryland, as well as at one nursing home.

In 1975, Sister Sarah Fahy, S.N.D., founded the Julie Community Center in Southeast Baltimore, which continues to address the health, housing and everyday problems of the neighborhood people. Another active ministry is the Notre Dame AmeriCorps, founded by Sister Katherine Corr, S.N.D., in 1992.

Volunteers in the program (which is a public/private partnership between Notre Dame volunteers and the government agency AmeriCorps) give a year of service to address various community needs.

Following the charism of their order to proclaim the goodness of God has led the Sisters in many different directions.

Sister Rosalie Murphy, S.N.D., of the Chesapeake province became the first director of the Diocesan Office of Collegial Services in the archdiocese and was awarded the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Medal in 1990.

Sister Mary Julie Gill, S.N.D., of the base communities founded St. Veronica’s Head Start Center in Cherry Hill in 1970, and the afternoon program which provides early learning opportunities for children has continued to thrive.

Sister Catherine Phelps, S.N.D., has been at Trinity School in Ellicott City for 34 years, 29 as principal and the last five as president.

“I just feel so privileged to be living at this time,” Sister Catherine said. “We have been carrying on the work of our foundress for this long and will I’m sure for many more years and it says to me that God has given his blessing on our work.

“One of the things that stands out in the life of our foundress is she was always able to read the signs of the times and respond to them and while our teachers initially taught in the classroom and still do, there are also new ministries such as catechetical work, work in community development and service in different parish ministries.”

The order is also aware of its need to promote vocations and at the national level has formed a vocations team with a member from each of the U.S. provinces.

“We’re trying to develop a sense among ourselves to renew in ourselves the importance of inviting women,” said Sister Edithann Kane, S.N.D., a co-leader of the Chesapeake Province of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur and delegate for religious for the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Sister Edithann, a native of Philadelphia, said she was inspired by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur who taught her.

“They were very ordinary, very simple and very human and something about that appealed to me,” she said. “I kind of can’t imagine belonging to an order other than the SNDs. I can’t imagine another way of life.”

E-mail Jwilliams@catholicreview.org.