Sisters of Our Lady (SND)

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The founder of the “Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady” St. Julie Billiart

The Sisters of Our Lady ( Latin : Congregatio Sororum Nostrae Dominae , French : Sœurs de Notre Dame , abbreviation : SND ) are a congregation under papal law in the Roman Catholic Church . They were founded in 1804 by Saint Julie Billiart in Amiens ( France ). The main task of the religious community today is the upbringing and education of young people. The motto is: "Ah, qu'il est bon, le bon Dieu" ( German : "How good is the good God").

Foundation of the Congregation

Billiart found a home in Amiens and began founding the congregation of Sisters of Notre Dame in 1804 . The aim was to educate young women. The dispute between the French Emperor Napoleon I and Pope Pius VII resulted in the founder being expelled from France in 1809. She found her new home in Namur ( Belgium ) and established the congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Namur here . Mother Julie's intention was adopted by other congregations; today there are still three independent religious societies, including:

German Congregation

The teachers Hilligonde Wolbring and Lisette Kühling , who taught at the Coesfeld girls' school, developed the idea of ​​founding an independent congregation together with chaplain Theodor Elting. In their preparatory work, the two pedagogues came across the religious order in Amersfoort. After a lengthy request, the sisters from Amersfoort sent two members to Coesfeld, who in 1850, together with the postulants Hilligonde and Lisette, set up the community. On behalf of the bishop, Kaplan Elting accompanied the construction and promoted the spread in Germany. The Kulturkampf in Prussia forced the sisters to leave Germany in 1874 and move to North America. In 1888 they were able to return and built the new parent company in Mulhouse near Grefrath on the Lower Rhine.

In 1941 the work of the sisters was interrupted by the Hitler dictatorship , the secret state police confiscated the mother house and expelled the sisters. After the end of the war, Mulhouse became the center of the order again. The congregation spread rapidly, in other countries in Europe and overseas . In 1947 the motherhouse with the Generalate was moved to Rome .

In Germany the congregation was divided into three provinces:

  • the Westphalian province with the provincial house of Kloster Annenthal near Coesfeld,
  • the North German Province with the Provincial House Marienhain in Vechta and
  • the Rhenish Province with the Provincial House Grefrath-Mulhouse .

In January 2008 the three Provincials were united to form the “Maria Regina Province Coesfeld”.

The main focus of the Congregation's activities was and is on educational and social institutions. The sisters founded or took over numerous schools, children's homes, kindergartens and training centers in which they themselves taught, raised and supervised. They ran the Liebfrauenschulen in Cologne (until January 1, 1989) and Vechta (until August 1, 2013). From 1918 to January 1, 1982, they were responsible for the Theresienschule in Berlin , the only Catholic girls' school in the GDR for decades.

As in many similar congregations, the number of sisters in this community has declined sharply in recent decades (lack of young people). Therefore, the work of the sisters in many educational and social institutions had to be given up. Looking back in the media and in publications, however, we always know of a self-sacrificing, selfless and passionate commitment of the sisters for those entrusted to them.

Way of life

The women religious live and work in communities, they do their work in the service of the Church . The sisters do not live in an enclosure and are not bound to a predetermined house. The women religious consider the Word of God in the Holy Scriptures to be the foundation of the order and the direction for shaping life . As Sisters of Notre Dame stands them the Blessed Mother particularly close. The guiding principle for the work of the sisters is the mission to go to the people: "I want to go all over the world to teach these poor little creatures ... what their soul is worth". (Julie Billiart, letter 56)

organization

Starting from the German delegation, the congregation expanded into an international religious community. Today it has around 2500 members in Europe, North and South America , Asia , Oceania and Africa . The General House has been based in Rome since 1947. The generalate consists of the general superior and her five international general assistants.

There are three levels of leadership within the international congregation:

  • The Superior General, supported by her assistants, heads the entire congregation; she is elected for a six-year term;
  • The provincial superior directs and coordinates the work of a provincial superior , she is also elected for six years and can be confirmed for three more years;
  • The local superior leads the lives of the sisters in a house, she cares about the community and makes sure that nobody is hindered by overload in their professional life.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Karl Höber: People and Church. Catholic life in the German west . Fredebeul & Koenen, Essen 1935, p. 431.
  2. ^ Allegonda Jacoba Maria Alkemade: Vrouwen XIX. Geschiedenis van negentien religieuze congregaties, 1800–1850 . Malmberg, Hertogenbosch 1966, p. 68.
  3. ^ William Michael Hargis: Covington's Sisters of Notre Dame . Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, SC 2011, ISBN 978-0-7385-8230-6 , p. 7.
  4. ^ The story of almost 83 years of the Liebfrauenschule in Cologne. Part 2: 1945-1999
  5. ^ History of the Theresa School