A Mission Forward

A Mission Forward The Life and Spirituality of St. Julie Billiart

Important Dates July 12, 1751 Birth and Baptism of Julie Billiart in Cuvilly, France February 2, 1804 Three women pronounced their vows in Amiens, France, becoming the first Sisters of Notre Dame: Julie Billiart (Congregational name: Sister Ignace) Françoise Blin de Bourdon (Congregational name: Sister St. Joseph) Catherine Duchâtel (Catherine’s health failed and she died 18 months later) February 2nd is celebrated as Founders’ Day April 8, 1816 Death of Julie Billiart May 13, 1906 Beatification of Julie Billiart, Celebrated as the official Liturgical Feast Day June 22, 1969 Canonization of St. Julie Billiart

A Mission Forward The Life and Spirituality of St. Julie Billiart

Table of Contents Page Introduction ………………………….…….…......………...1 The Beginnings………………....………………..….……...2 Resilience and Courage…………………......….….….....4 Françoise Blin de Bourdon.....................................6 Strength Through Shared Vision …………......….......8 Amiens: Joy and Sorrow………....……………….…......10 And Now……………………………………….…......……...14 Saint Julie Billiart ……………………………..……....…..15 Symbols and Characteristics of Notre Dame Mission and Spirituality ………………………...........16 Prayer………………………………………………………......23 Acknowledgement: The content that follows is informed by the work of Sister Magdelene Lawler, SNDdeN in Pathways to God’s Goodness; Sister Roseanne Murphy, SNDdeN in Julie Billiart: Woman of Courage, and Saint Julie Billiart: A Saint for Our Times by Sister Anna of the Sacred Heart McCarthy, SNDdeN, adapted from Rose of Picardy.

Editing: Meg Sharp and Sister Louise O’Reilly, SNDdeN Graphic design: Sister Terry Davis, SNDdeN Illustrations: pages 2, 3, 10, and 12 by Sister Genevive Coape-Arnold, SNDdeN; pages 5 and 8 by Sister Callista McEechan, SNDdeN Cover: Sunflower Field photo used with permission Copyright © 2023 by Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur

Introduction IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW THE FOUNDING STORY of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, and the spirituality in which it is rooted, in order to understand the Notre Dame de Namur mission in our world today.

This small book tells some of the essential story of St. Julie Billiart who, together with Françoise Blin de Bourdon, founded the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in 1804.

Julie’s wisdom and spirituality emerge through the circumstances that life deals her. Her origins are without wealth or privilege, and crippling ill health marked much of her young adult life. Although she was no stranger to contradictions, misunderstandings, and social and political upheavals, Julie’s legacy includes her deep belief in God’s goodness amid and despite the challenges of her life. She was a source of common-sense wisdom that marked her relationships and her work as an educator throughout her life.

She is an inspiration for us as we continue to carry her mission forward into our world today.

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The Beginnings CUVILLY IS A SMALL VILLAGE IN NORTHERN FRANCE. There, on July 12, 1751, Marie Rose Julie was born to the Billiart family, the seventh of eight children.

This was a family of deep faith and modest means. The Billiarts were surrounded by farmland and they worked their own plot of land. Julie’s father ran a small shop selling linens and Julie and her sister offered their skills in lacemaking to enhance his trade. Her family experience was positive, and Julie was close to her father throughout his life, helping to market cloth when his own health and responsibilities did not permit him to travel. When the family was robbed of some of its fabrics, plunging the Billiarts into near poverty, Julie rode on horseback to Beauvais to strike the best deal she could for what remained. She also took her place among the harvest reapers to further supplement the family income. Julie began her teaching in the fields, gathering with the workers during their break and sharing with them her school and catechism lessons.

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Paralysis began to invade Julie’s body when she was about seventeen years old. The onset of this is often attributed to what had become a strenuous lifestyle and a shock suffered from a violent act against her father. She soon needed the assistance of her niece, Félicité, in order to get about. By the age of thirty Julie was completely paralyzed.

She was to spend the next twenty-two years unable to walk and mostly bedridden, suffering fevers, chills and pain.

Despite such conditions and symptoms, that now would lead to a suspicion of multiple sclerosis, she maintained a cheerful and welcoming spirit to children and people from the village who came to her bedside.

Later in life, when Julie urged her companions to forge ahead with ideas, she would encourage, “Better mistakes than paralysis.” She had learned to appreciate the joy of being able to carry out even small tasks.

Reflection Reflect on your own beginnings: how have key events influenced your values?

Have you experienced a set-back that left you without energy or ability to do what you wanted?

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Resilience and Courage

BY THE TIME JULIE WAS THIRTY-EIGHT, she was living in a France torn apart by the Revolution. In 1790 the “Civil Constitution of the Clergy” was established and by 1792 there was an explosion of violence against the Catholic Church and its representatives. During the following years many clerics were arrested, and a great number were executed. It is estimated that in the months between 1793-94 the Reign of Terror took the lives of 50,000 people by guillotine, the sinister symbol of the Revolution. The de-Christianization of France followed rapidly. The traditional pastoral relationship between priests and the people was canceled in favor of functionaries of the state. It was only a short time before religious groups were also targeted.

This period caught Julie in its clutches; her years of paralysis, prayer and reading had honed her reputation in the region for unwavering faith.

Known also as a friend to some influential noblewomen, she was viewed as a threat by the anti-church and anti-aristocracy forces. She was hunted by the revolutionists. Once, Julie and Félicité’s friends covered them under a load of hay in a cart to escape imminent threats.

Julie had to be hidden by friends in the town of Compiègne at the height of the Reign of Terror, which claimed the lives of Carmelite friends who were arrested and taken to Paris to await death.

The violence of the time weighed heavily on Julie’s spirit. But God was at work: it was in Compiègne that Julie had her first recorded vision. She saw the cross of Jesus surrounded by a group of women dressed in a religious garb she had never seen, and a voice said, “These are the daughters I will give you in an Institute marked by my cross.” The cross was at the very heart of her daily living, so it comes as no great surprise that it should be

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the substance of her vision. She held onto this experience with wonder about how the future would unfold for a mostly paralyzed woman in such a dangerous time.

In 1794, Julie was taken to Amiens at the request of Madame Baudoin, a friend whose father and husband had been guillotined by the revolutionaries.

She believed Julie’s deep faith and caring spirit would help her to live with her suffering and loss. She rented an apartment in the Hôtel Blin de Bourdon in Amiens for herself and her three daughters and a room for Julie and Félicité. This lodging belonged to the brother of the Viscountess Françoise Blin de Bourdon and soon this refined lady would meet Julie.

Reflection Have you ever dealt with significant fear?

How did you move through your fear?

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Françoise Blin de Bourdon FRANÇOISE WAS BORN INTO THE ARISTOCRATIC BLIN FAMILY as Marie-Louise-Françoise on March 8, 1758. She was given into the care of her grandparents and raised in their beautiful country home. Françoise started her education at an early age with a governess. She later attended boarding school where she distinguished herself as a scholar in both secular subjects and those pertaining to Christian life. Raised mainly among adults in her childhood years, she was viewed as intelligent, well-spoken, witty and candid.

Françoise finished her studies at age nineteen and returned to her spacious family manor north of Amiens. She would accompany her grandmother on her charitable rounds of food distribution and other assistance to those who depended on the Blin family.

The attractive and intelligent Françoise was popular among her friends and enjoyed festivities of the French court. In 1784 she suffered two significant losses, the deaths of her mother and her maternal grandfather. She then took her place in the administrative duties of her grandmother’s estate but recognized in herself a desire for religious life.

The turmoil that brewed into revolution in France in the mid-1780s and on into the 1790s brought about the imprisonment of several family members. She and her grandmother escaped, hiding away in a loft of a village home. When calm was restored, they returned to the Gézaincourt manor, but the calm was short-lived. Although loyal villagers defended them against a mob, Françoise offered to go with them if they let her grandmother go free. Françoise was taken and imprisoned in Amiens in February of 1794.

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There she gave kind attention to those around her, sharing with them what visitors brought to her. Although the villagers of Gézaincourt intervened in support of Françoise and her family, she remained confined and learned that the scaffold awaited her.

With the end of the Reign of Terror that brought about massacres and public executions, hope was renewed for Françoise and her imprisoned family members. All were released and Françoise remained in Amiens to attend to some family business. There, she was introduced to Julie Billiart.

Reflection Consider the friends and companions who have influenced your life journey.

Can you recall a particular friendship or conversation with someone that changed your life?

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Strength Through Shared Vision FRANÇOISE CONFESSED HERSELF TO BE initially repulsed by the sick woman who had to be fed and cared for and who had an inability to speak clearly. However, it was not long before the kindly Françoise was attracted to the spiritual depth of Julie, and she enjoyed helping to care for her.

During 1794-1795, Françoise began to realize the call of God to her through this invalid. She and Julie developed a quality of friendship which was to carry them through many more dark days. Julie committed their friendship to God, as in a later letter to Françoise: “My dear good friend, let us keep our two hearts closely united to those of our good Jesus and his blessed Mother. Tell all [the sisters] that I keep them in my heart. . . . I am all yours and theirs in God.” Julie’s image of God took shape and her spirituality deepened through her friendship with Françoise. She became extremely important in Julie’s understanding of and relationship with God who was “so very good,” as she said so often. Julie saw deep goodness and spirituality in Françoise and her affectionate nature grew and drew out her more reticent friend. Together they were part of a little group of women who were quietly at work with local priests and others who supported and encouraged them to teach. Julie’s own schooling, natural teaching ability and strong spirituality emerged in this time.

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During the many days in Amiens, Julie and Françoise grew closer and began to envision the beginnings of a religious Congregation. Two priests, Père Thomas and Père Varin, were very encouraging and supportive of them.

But the stay in Amiens did not last. The food riots of 1795 caused further disturbance and in 1797 the period known as the ‘Little Terror’ began.

When Père Thomas was almost captured by revolutionaries in June 1799, Julie had to flee again to the countryside outside Amiens. It was there that her health began to improve somewhat, although she remained crippled.

She and her friends gathered the local children into a school of sorts, and they improved their own education with the help of Père Thomas. He was a Doctor of the Sorbonne and took it upon himself to educate in scripture, Christian doctrine, history, and arithmetic the small band of women that gathered with Julie and Françoise. So, Julie was as well versed in the scriptures as one could be, given the circumstances of the time. Julie also owed much to her childhood lessons from school and the parish priest in her native village of Cuvilly and, in later life, to Françoise.

The two found themselves in agreement over the many hopes that they had of leading a truly religious life. Then Napoleon Bonaparte overthrew the revolutionary government at the end of 1799. His Concordat with the Vatican in 1801 meant that the French Catholics could once again practice their faith in public. Thus, the two friends returned to Amiens, having been urged to come back to provide catechesis to those who had been deprived of the sacraments for ten years.

Reflection How has a close friendship been a strength for you?

In what particular ways do you cultivate friendships?

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Amiens: Joy and Sorrow JULIE, FRANÇOISE, AND CATHERINE DUCHÂTEL made an Act of Consecration on February 2, 1804, in Amiens, thus becoming the first Sisters of Notre Dame. At first, all seemed to go well. The work they chose was education, especially for impoverished girls. In May of the same year, Julie was in a week of intensive prayer with Père Enfantin, who was convinced that she would do an important work for God’s people. In the middle of a nineday novena he directed her, in faith, to stand and take one step, and then another. Her body and spirit responded, and a miraculous cure from the paralysis which had gripped her for twenty-two years became complete.

Julie, now age 53, stood erect in the France and the Church of her time.

The sisters and their friends began missions of catechesis to re-establish the faith. After a successful mission in Amiens, Julie and a companion set out for Saint-Valery-sur-Somme to help catechize hundreds of people.

Françoise remained behind in Amiens to help form new members joining the growing Congregation. Julie never failed to write to Françoise when she was away. Their letters survive and testify to their strong friendship, deep spirituality, and mutual commitment to educate the poor and to train teachers.

Françoise’s inheritance helped them to move their mission forward in accord with their shared vision. Julie traveled well beyond the diocese of Amiens, going to Ghent and Namur and to other French towns to open schools and to receive the women who wanted to make their home in Notre Dame.

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In December 1804, a new bishop was appointed to Amiens. From the first, he was impressed by the work of the Sisters of Notre Dame. However, that changed.

He wanted them to remain only in his diocese and he became annoyed

by Julie’s absences even though Françoise was always present. The bishop appointed a new confessor to the sisters who agreed with his views. Père de Sambucy strongly disapproved of Julie’s journeys to other dioceses where bishops were eager to employ the Sisters of Notre Dame to re-establish the Church and basic education after the disruption of the revolutionary years. He became vehement in his criticism of Julie and held her in little regard, knowing that she came from humble origins. He was more in awe of Françoise because of her nobility and more cultured education. He and the bishop sent Françoise to Namur to become the superior of the new community there, thinking that by separating the foundresses they would be able to mold the new Congregation in Amiens to their own liking. They also wanted Françoise to endow the diocese of Amiens with her inheritance and had constrained her to leave her income behind.

Then, during one of Julie’s absences, the bishop and Père de Sambucy usurped her authority and placed in charge a very young and impressionable sister who would implement their views. The priest envisioned a cloistered community like the ones that had been common before the Revolution. Julie and Françoise, however, wanted educated women who would not be constrained by cloister, but would have the freedom to travel in order to carry the Gospel wherever there was opportunity. This was their vision for the community.

When Julie returned to Amiens, she found herself barred from her own community and the diocese! Eventually she was given the bishop’s permission to return to the community but her stay there was to be limited.

It soon became clear that he wanted Julie to disregard all the houses that had been established outside the Amiens diocese. Things came to a head when Père de Sambucy influenced the bishop to dismiss Julie from Amiens 11

when she left to open a foundation in Namur. “You have finished your business here, Mère Julie,” he said, “now you may go and do it elsewhere.”

Julie surely took comfort in recalling a special moment on February 2, 1806, at Amiens. Julie was gathered with the Sisters, and she began to sing the words of Simeon from the liturgy of the day: “. . . my eyes have seen the glory of Your salvation” and she was transformed before them, overcome with joy! There is a tradition that it was on this occasion that Julie foresaw the spread of the Congregation. Her commitment to the apostolic vocation of the sisters was enhanced through this vision experience; she was convinced that her sisters would be a “light of revelation” going across the seas to other parts of the world. This gave her courage and confidence to resist the constraints which the Bishop of Amiens wished to impose on the new Congregation. She trusted her insight and was firm in carrying out the mandate of her own religious experience. The Bishop of Ghent confirmed this conviction when he said on several occasions, “Mère Julie, it is your vocation to go anywhere in the world; you are not made to stay in only one diocese.”

Then, an unexpected opportunity arose when the bishop in Namur invited Julie and Françoise to come there with all the sisters. In return he would give them the freedom to go wherever they were needed, so valuable to him was their work of education. Their decision to go to Namur came with great peace and also sadness.

On January 15, 1809, Julie left Amiens for Namur. The sisters went in deep, snowy winter on a journey that took them several days. Françoise, who remained in Amiens to see to financial affairs and regain her income, soon followed.

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Difficulties continued in Amiens. Despite a promise to the sisters that anyone who wished could follow Julie, the Bishop and Père de Sambucy changed their minds. They tried to exert pressure on some of the younger women to stay behind when Julie and Françoise left with the others for the congregation’s new home in Namur. Several sisters remained but most joined them there.

Their arrival in Namur was indeed a homecoming. God was to favor the Congregation there, and so successfully did the sisters become part of their new location, that they became known as the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.

Julie walked and traveled many roads in France and beyond, founding communities of her sisters and schools for orphaned and young girls, so often deprived of education at the time.

Reflection In what ways have you faced adversity?

What experience has given you confidence and courage?

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And Now JULIE DID NOT LIVE TO SEE THE FULL FLOWERING of her Congregation throughout the world. Her life slipped away in 1816 before the pioneering journeys of her Sisters to North, South and Central America, to other parts of Europe, and to Africa and Asia.

Those journeys have led Notre Dame through more than two hundred years of fidelity to Julie’s mission to share God’s goodness and to stand with those made poor, and to a vision of education that continues to confront the boundaries and inequities of our own time. Now, through technological advances, we can experience worldwide relationships and deepened understanding of our responsibility to care for one another, our earth home and its resources. To uphold justice and peace, to address the inequities that leave people impoverished or marginalized, to give witness to God’s goodness is the call to Notre Dame in this time. The challenges—and the blessings—continue.

You are the light for the world. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. They put it on a lampstand where it can shine for everyone in the house. In the same way, your light must shine before all. (Matthew 5:15) Let us pray more and more that the Kingdom of God may spread everywhere in the hearts of all. The harvest is great but there are no laborers. Let us work at becoming good laborers!

The good God will give you grace and light to know what is right at the time. St. Julie

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Saint Julie Billiart ON JUNE 22, 1969, THE CHURCH RECOGNIZED the significance of the foundress of the Congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.

At the Vatican in Rome, Pope Paul VI declared to all the world Julie’s holiness of life and her legacy of making known God’s goodness, given to her religious Congregation and to others who claim her as foundress and inspiration for the Notre Dame de Namur mission. Sisters, Associates, Mission Volunteers, alumni, administrators, faculty, students, staff in all Notre Dame schools, colleges, universities, clinics, and care centers, celebrate Julie’s legacy of faith and spirituality.

Julie was a woman who understood the importance of a sense of a mission and believed in the effectiveness of both women and men to further the Gospel and have an effective role in the church and society. She was a woman who took action in confronting, through the ministry of education, the inequities of her time. She recognized the need for the human rights of life, liberty, and equality of persons, proclaimed in her embrace of the poor in the aftermath of the French Revolution. Julie demonstrated the power and presence of a loving and caring God in her person and in the women who have followed her as sisters. She sent them out to people “in the most abandoned places,” to give them tools to change lives and to alleviate poverty through education. Her charism is expressed in her words: “Oh! How good is the good God.” Her vision speaks through her sisters and their colleagues to other generations in the 21st century.

Reflection What inequities concern you and how do you address those concerns?

What is at the heart of your own sense of mission in Notre Dame?

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Symbols and Characteristics of Notre Dame Mission and Spirituality

THE CROSS

Throughout her years of contemplative prayer and physical pain, Julie looked to Jesus and the image of his cross for support and inspiration. Both were sources of strength amid suffering, contradictions, and obstacles. Her vision of “an Institute marked by the cross” came to fruition as a community formed around her and the work of education began to flourish. She and Françoise trusted in, and acted in response to, the prompting of the Spirit despite challenges.

To embrace the mission of Julie is to trust God’s goodness and in the mystery of life and death and suffering as inevitable in our lives. The path through this mystery is not one a person travels alone but in communion with others.

“Let us stand fast, however bad the weather, however strong the wind may be; the good God will grant us the grace to profit by it. . . .Nothing causes trees to be more strongly rooted than great winds. . . .” St. Julie

Reflection What image gives you a sense of support and reassurance?

Who, today, is “on” the cross given their circumstances?

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PREFERENCE FOR THE POOR

Julie urged her sisters to remain in solidarity with, and in service to, the poorest and the most deprived wherever this was possible. She wrote in 1808 to one of her sisters: “I beg you again: take the poor, only the poor, the very poorest little girls who cannot pay you anything. Gather them in, as many as you can, because we exist first and foremost for them. They are the blessing of our Institute.”

Today, her sisters continue to identify areas of concern in our world, collaborating with groups and individuals in ministries to those in the greatest need. Along with the sisters, present day colleagues embrace the challenge of Julie’s words: “We exist only for the poor. . . .”

Reflection In what ways does the Notre Dame ministry of which you are a part stress the need to serve others?

How do you, in your own life, reach out to those in need?

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GOODNESS

Julie’s spirituality was imbued with a deep faith in a creating, loving and good God. She believed that God’s goodness is one sure truth, rooted as it is in the biblical narrative about the origins of Creation: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. . . and saw that it was good.”

Although she was paralyzed and suffered for many years, Julie was full of praise for the One who continues to create all beings in goodness.

This belief was contrary to the stern views which were prevalent in her day. It was a remarkable insight for a woman of her time and given the circumstances she endured; it is a belief that many struggle to understand in our present reality. Yet this belief in God’s goodness is deeply imbedded in the life, mission, and ministries of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur to this day.

Julie is in the company of a long line of biblical characters, including the psalmists, who saw God in terms of goodness: What return can I make to you, God, for all your goodness to me? Psalm 116 God is kind and full of compassion, slow to anger, abounding in mercy. How good you are O God, to all, compassionate to all your creatures. Psalm 145

Reflection How has God’s goodness been manifested in your own life?

What are the wonders of nature that most remind you of God’s goodness?

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SIMPLICITY

Julie was always sincere, clear, open with her God. Her prayerfulness was never ‘showy’; rather, it was a cycle of contemplation and ministry, always drawing her to God and to the needs around her.

This simplicity made her flexible in her interpretation of religious practices. “I don’t want to see you taken up with all kinds of special devotions and practices,” she would say, “they would be useful for some people, but not for you.” Her view was not popular at a time when devotions proliferated in the Church, sometimes to excess. “Follow the action of the Holy Spirit within you, humbly and faithfully!” Julie did encourage frequent prayer, reading and study to be well equipped for the rigors of religious life and the work of education.

Possessing simplicity in the way Julie understood it enabled a responsiveness to God’s spirit and to changing times and needs; it meant an attentiveness to God, and the inspiration that flows from that.

THE SUNFLOWER

For Julie, the sunflower was a symbol of simplicity, with its large flower that turns toward the sun in the course of the day: “Simplicity resembles that beautiful flower called the sunflower which follows the sun and ever turns towards it. So too, the mind and heart of the one who possesses simplicity is always turned towards God for life and living warmth.”

The sunflower is also a symbol for her work of education—seeding the mind and spirit with faith and knowledge, nurturing what is planted in minds and hearts, and trusting in healthy growth.

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Reflection Can you identify moments, spaces in the day, which lend themselves to contemplation—taking a moment to glance out a window or sitting quietly and really noticing?

In what ways do you recognize that you are responsive to God and others in your day?

COURAGE

To live with debilitating illness and paralysis and to seek safety again and again in the time of revolution took courage. It took courage to hold on to an inspired vision of the Congregation in the face of strong opposition from the bishop of Amiens and others. “Courage, . . . a great spirit, solid values! That is what we need in our century.” And in our own time, this grace is still very much a need.

Reflection When have you faced contradictions that challenged your deep-set beliefs or hopes?

Recall a time when you responded to a situation with courage.

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LIBERTY OF SPIRIT

It is clear that Julie and Françoise were persons who were willing to take risks. Doing so was always marked by prayer, practicality, fidelity to vision, and the reality around them. For Julie, liberty of spirit was shown in flexibility and openness, an acceptance of criticism and engaging the struggles of opposition. She encouraged a liberty of spirit and courage to face the challenges of the times that, in turn, would yield and reveal goodness.

Reflection What was a time you took a significant personal or ministryrelated risk?

What benefits came through such a step?

PRAYER AND THE SPIRIT OF MARY

Julie had an inner attentiveness similar to what we hear in the annunciation story in the gospel of Luke. Like Mary, she responded to the promptings of the Spirit with a generous heart. Julie sought to proclaim the great goodness of God who “looks upon the lowly.” She named her sisters after Mary, Our Lady, “Notre Dame,” the woman of faith who rejoiced in God’s goodness.

Reflection When in your own life decisions do you believe you responded to the promptings of the Spirit of God? When have you felt the Spirit speaking to you through another?

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EDUCATION

(adapted from Sister Mary Linscott, SNDdeN To Heaven on Foot)

There was great need in Julie’s time for congregations who would devote themselves to the work of making the hope of education for the poor a reality. The Congregation Julie founded, with a central government and free from enclosure and its monastic obligations, made such a hope possible. Her letters and her instructions to the young sisters reveal many of her educational ideas. Julie was a practical educator but also saw education as a sublime work; it was a privilege to be engaged in it. She put religious instruction first, but she insisted too on hard, serious intellectual work and on steady effort to acquire practical skills. “What is necessary to equip the children for life” was Julie’s summary of her objective.

One of Julie’s main concerns was the teacher. So important did she consider the training of teachers that it was a fourth vow in the early days of Notre Dame, and it still remains the great means of promoting the work of the congregation. “You do more good by training one good teacher than by looking after a multitude of boarders,” she said.

Julie’s advice that education is “the greatest work on earth,” requires that teachers understand that education involves the whole person. Studies, both religious and secular, and adequate time had to be given to each as a matter of justice.

Reflection What quality in your own teachers did you most appreciate?

When have you felt rewarded for “teaching” another through your work?

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Prayer Good and gracious God, you inspired in St. Julie a willingness and a passion to bring your goodness into the world.

As we look back on the risks that she took, on the crosses she bore, on the many times she had to begin anew, let us draw on her enduring spirit, her faith, her joy and her strength.

Crosses in the form of challenges, both small and large, mark our world, our work, and our path today.

Remind us, O God, to listen and to act upon the early inspiration of Julie. May we move her mission forward to serve those who are without access to education and resources. May others come to know your goodness and your love, infused in all that may challenge us.

We pray this trusting in your goodness and love, O God. Amen.

St. Julie, pray for us.