St Joseph Academy - Sajoscript Yearbook (Columbus, OH)

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SANDALPHON approval and admiration of many, even that of King Williaili himself who made her one of his subjects. Iler most important work was the compiling' and eollating of the present rules and constitution of the Sisters of Notre Dame. She left an explanation of the rule and tl1e particular rule of each office. Thus every wish of Mother J ul ic has been faithfully preserved even to the least deta.il. Time and experience have brought additions to those first constitutions, but none of the fundamental articles have ever been changed. . Mother St. Joseph was twice re-elected Superior General, the term being fixed at first for ten years. To add greater stability to the Order, a general chapter was eonvoked which was to settle by ballot the question Cf life-tenure. The assembly voted unanimously in the affirmative. Mother St. Joseph died in 1838 in the twenty-third year of her generalate. Mother St. Joseph is successor was Mother Ignatius who rendered invaluable services to the Institute during the persecution of King XVilliam. She died early in tl1e fourth year greneralate, but net before she had Stlllt tl1e first colony of Sisters ff Notre Dame to America. 4 I 'l'uE CRADLE OF THE INs'rI'rUTE IN AMERICA The Sisters of Notre Dame in America GERALDINE ZACK Graduate N the nineteenth of October, 1840, the ship Eliza Thornton, with a few Sisters of Notre Dame on board, entered the harbor of New York. Soon Sister Louis de Gonzague, the Superior, and her seven companions stood for the first time upon American soil. After thanking God for the safe page nineteen

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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

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SANDALPHON journey, they immediately wrote an account of their voyage to their Reverend Mother at Namur, Belgium. The news of their safe arrival brought great joy and relief to the Sisters at the Mother-House, for they had heard that the Eliza Thornton , with all its passengers, had been lost. Since the means of travel were not numerous, and transportation neither so convenient nor so rapid as it is today, it took the Sisters eleven days to reach their destination-Cincinnati, Ohio. Ilere they were kindly received by Bishop Purcell, at whose request they had left their native land and crossed the sea. Ile placed them under the kind care of Sisters of Charity, with whom they remained until a suitable residence could be found for them. About the middle of November, Sister Louis de Gonzaguc rented a small house on Sycamore Street, but this location proved unsatisfactory. Not far from the little house in which the Sisters first resided, stood an elegant home, the Spencer Mansion, formerly owned by a Methodist minister. The property, located on Cano Street, known now as Sixth, besides being noted for its beautiful garden which con- tained many rarc plants and trees, was an historic spot, remarkable in the annals of Losantiville, which name was later changed to Cincinnati. The estate was purchased for the Sisters at a very reasonable figure from Mr. Jonah Lawrence, to whom it then belonged, and by Christmas the little community was comfortably settled in more spacious quarters. . In this place, now affectionately called the cradle of Notre Dame in America , the Sisters opened their school, January 6, 1841. To it came children from the most prominent families in the city, and within a few months their number reached sixty. While at first the Sisters were greatly handicapped because of their insufficient knowledge of the language-Sister Louise being the only one among them who could speak English fluently-this apparent obstacle to their success soon dwindled into insignificance. They were excellent teachers, besides being French ladies. In 1843, the community was overwhelmed with grief on hearing of the death of Mother Ignatius. She was succeeded by Sister Marie Terese, who immediately sent three more Nuns to America to assist those already laboring there. As the rapid growth and development of the work in Cincinnati necessitated more spacious quarters, the property adjoining the convent was secured by the community. The success of the Sixth Street establishment encouraged zealous pastors to ask for Sisters to labor among the children of their parishes. Hence it came about that the Sisters' activities extended to different parts of the city, where they taught in many parochial schools. In April, 1845, six more religious came from Europe to help satisfy a few of the many demands for Sisters which kept coming in from various parts of Ohio. Soon after their arrival in the city, Sister Louis de Gonzague was transferred to Toledo, Ohio, where a new house was founded under her supervision, and Sister Louise was made Superior of the Sixth Street community. Three years later Sister Louise was made Provincial Superior of all houses which might branch out from the first foundation in Cincinnati. About this time Father De Smet, S. J., was laboring among the Indians in the West. He felt the need of Sisters in their great work, and being a Belgian, he appealed to religious of his native land for the desired assistance. Eight zealous Sisters of Notre Dame went at his request to distant Oregon. Hard- ships untold and seeming failure awaited the valiant Missionaries in this far away country. However, in spite of difficulties and disappointments they con- tinued to labor earnestly in this sterile land until the Right Reverend Bishop Alemany of San Jose, summoned them to the larger and more fruitful fields of sunny California. page twenty