St Joseph Academy - Sajoscript Yearbook (Columbus, OH)

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S A N D A L P H 0 N The Foundation of the Sisters of Notre Dame, Namwr Minus VVINKEL Graduate LESSED JULIE BILLIART, the foundress and first Superior General of the Sisters of Notre Dame was born July 12, 1751, at Cuvilly, a little village in France. To this poor unknown peasant girl we are indebted for the congregation of religious educators now spread to the four corners of the world. The greater part of her remarkable life was spent in the little village where she was greatly admired for her piety and rapid progress in spirituality. When twenty-two years of age, a nervous shock occasioned by a pistol shot aimed at her father, brought on paralysis which confined her to her bed, a helpless cripple, for twenty-two years. After this tragedy she spent most of her life making laces and linens for the altar and gathering about her the village children to whom she taught catechism. About this time, the storm clouds of political, religious and social unrest burst over Julie's beloved France. The invalid's staunch adherence to her faith brought down en her head the wrath of men who were animated by an intense hatred of all that was dear to her. To escape her persecutors, Julie tied to Amiens where she met Francoise Blin de Bourdon, Countess of Gezain- eourt, in religion Mother St. Joseph, who became her co-laborer in a great work. Naturally Francoise, the noblewoman, was not at first attracted to the helpless peasant, but by degrees she learned to admire and love her. Before long a group of young and high-born ladies gathered round the bedside of Julie, who taught them how to lead the inner life. Although they attended all the exercises some element of stability was lacking, because one by one they all dropped away until only Francoise remained. At Amiens, August 5, 1803, Julie and Francoise, in obedience to Pere Varin, took a house in Rue Neuve, the cradle of the Institute. Here they de- voted themselves to the formation of a religious community, and the education of eight little orphans. The members lived under a provisional rule, based upon that of St. Ignatius, and drawn up by Mother Julie and Pere Varin. This rule was approved by the Bishop of Amiens in 1805. The distinguishing char- acteristics of the Institute were established by the Foundress from the very beginning. She did away with the distinction between choir Sisters and lay Sisters, but this perfect equality of rank did not prevent her from placing each Sister in the work for which her capacity and education best suited her. The first regular schools of the Order were opened in August, 1806. Pupils flocked into the classrooms almost immediately. The urgent need of education among all classes of people led Mother Julie to open a school for the rich also. Simplicity, largeness of mind and freedom from petty feminine weak- nesses marked the training of the higher class, but the poorest and most for- saken always remained her cherished portion. In 1807, Mother Julie, exded from her native France, established the Mother-Ilouse of her Institute in the Episcopal City of Namur, Belgium. At the time of her death in 1816, the Congregation which had been approved by imperial decree, numbered many members and had foundations in many parts of Belgium. The establishments in France proved to be but temporary. Mother St. Joseph, the eo-Foundress, succeeded Mother Julie as Superior General. During her generalate, the Order passed through the most critical period of its existence, owing to religious persecutions by the King of the Netherlands. Iler tact and strength saved the Institute and gained for her the page eighteen