Sisters of Notre Dame

This post concerns a handout outside of the normal textbook, the link which can be found here: https://whspring2020.blogspot.com/2020/02/handout-for-tuesday-february-11.html

It was very interesting to me to read the story of how the Sisters of Notre Dame was established, especially as it was this group that established the college campus that I currently attend.  I was especially interested in the fact that the two co-founders of the order, Julie Billiart and Francoise Blin de Bourdon, came from drastically different backgrounds.  Julie came from a rather humble upbringing, the daughter of a shopkeeper.  While most members of France's Third Estate owned very little land, her father owned not only the shop, but some land as well, assets which gave him more means than an average member of his social class.  Because of this, he was able to afford Julie a basic religious education.  Through her education, she came to believe that the status quo was unfair, and sought about remedying it by bringing her own lessons to the children too poor to afford such an education, sparking a passion of educating poor children that would endure throughout her life.  After her education was complete, she began working in the fields to help support her family.  The combination of physical strain from the hard labor, and emotional stress brought on by the attempted murder of her father, led to the onset of multiple sclerosis, which left her bedridden at the age of 22.

Meanwhile, Francoise, the daughter of two wealthy landowners, had lived a life of privilege until the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror, during which she was spared from being executed only by the overthrow of the revolutionary government itself.  Even before this, however, she had long shown inclinations towards religion rather than what seemed to her a frivolous, useless life.  In 1794, one of Julie's followers took up residence at Francoise's family's house and rented a room for Julie.  The following winter of 1794-1795 marked the beginning of a friendship between the two women, with the thoughts that they shared during that time forming the core mission of the Sisters of Notre Dame.