School Sisters of Notre Dame: Transforming lives through education

Printer-friendly versionSend to friendThe School Sisters of Notre Dame continue to live out a legacy of education that transforms as they begin a yearlong celebration of the founding of their congregation 175 years ago. The SSNDs also are celebrating 150 years of service in the St. Louis Archdiocese. Opening the celebration will be a Mass Saturday, May 3, at the Shrine of St. Joseph, the School Sisters of Notre Dame’s first teaching mission in the archdiocese. The Mass, celebrated by Archbishop Raymond L. Burke, will begin at 6 p.m. at the shrine, 1220 N. 11th St. in Downtown St. Louis. All are welcome. Since their arrival in St. Louis in 1858, the School Sisters of Notre Dame have dedicated themselves to morally educate the whole person — head, heart and soul. They seek to instill in those they serve the desire to use their gifts for the good of others. American foundress Mother Caroline Friess, SSND, was during her lifetime responsible for establishing more than 265 schools in the United States and Canada. The congregation is credited locally with helping to establish the St. Louis Archdiocese’s parochial school system. George Henry, archdiocesan school superintendent, on behalf of the thousands of school children the sisters have touched through their ministry, thanked them "for all they have done to improve the lives of these children." "The School Sisters of Notre Dame have been a very important part of history here for 150 years. I can’t imagine the Catholic schools today being what they are if it were not for the contributions of these sisters and for the priority that they have always made education in the mission of their order," Henry said. The congregation has a particular calling to serve women, children and the poor. SSND archivist Sister Carol Marie Wildt said a priest once asked how he could get School Sisters of Notre Dame to teach at his school. She said he was told, "Tell Mother Caroline you are poor. " The congregation is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, who serves as a model. The order’s motto is "virtue and science," a twofold charge to live a moral life and to continue to grow in knowledge. The sisters’ lifestyle is based in faith, prayer and community living and grounded in poverty. Extreme poverty characterized the sisters’ early days and the people they served. "So many sisters have given their lives so that Catholics in the archdiocese could grow in faith and in knowledge," noted provincial councilor Sister Kathy Schmittgens, speaking on behalf of the SSNDs’ leadership team of the St. Louis Province. "We’re very proud and grateful for the contribution we’ve been able to make in the archdiocese. All of our sisters really love the people of the archdiocese. We’re grateful we’ve had this opportunity to share our gifts here." Today, the School Sisters of Notre Dame are 3,600 strong worldwide, with 500 sisters in the St. Louis Province. They minister in 36 countries on five continents. Humble beginnings, international in scope The congregation was founded in Bavaria in 1833 by Mother Theresa of Jesus Gerhardinger, who was made blessed by the pope in 1985. By 1847 SSNDs had arrived in the United States, coming at the request of bishops to educate German immigrant children. Eleven years later Mother Caroline, three sisters and a candidate came to St. Louis and took over the German girls’ school at St. Joseph Parish, now the Shrine of St. Joseph. (See related story below.) In short order, they were teaching the children of Polish, Irish, Italian, Bohemian and other families in addition to those of German descent. For instance, St. John Nepomuk was the first Catholic Czech school in North America in 1869, and it was established by School Sisters of Notre Dame. Mother Caroline also established one of the first African- American schools after the Civil War in Quincy, Ill., and another later in Kinloch. Notre Dame College in Baltimore, also established by the sisters and still in existence, was the first Catholic women’s college to grant degrees in the United States. Eventually Mother Caroline and her fellow sisters began more than 150 schools in towns along the Mississippi, Missouri and Osage rivers, a number of them rural schools to reach poor girls in villages and small towns. As just one example, in 1859 the School Sisters of Notre Dame began teaching at St. Francis Borgia School in Washington, where they continue to serve today. In the 1800s, girls had little to no access to education. "Our founders felt that if girls were educated, as mothers of families they would help to change and transform the family, and through that to change and transform society. And it certainly has happened in many areas," archivist Sister Carol Marie said. Mother Caroline fought hard and won a change in the sisters’ rule from Europe so they could teach both sexes to meet the needs in a missionary world. This had a direct impact on the growth of parochial schools in St. Louis. Later, Mother Petra Claver Pfeiffer worked with the first diocesan superintendent to help set up the parochial education system and offered a certification test for teachers, religious and lay, at the motherhouse. The motherhouse, whose formal name is Sancta Maria in Ripa or St. Mary on the Bank, first took shape in 1895. The year before the sisters had bought for that purpose 21 acres for $21,000 on the Grand View estate in Lemay overlooking the Mississippi. In 1897, a junior college was begun there to educate the sisters and later, laywomen. Called Sancta Maria in Ripa College, it was renamed in 1924 Notre Dame Junior College. It was affiliated with St. Louis University until 1954, when it became a senior college. Notre Dame College was accredited by North Central in 1960 and closed in 1977. Young women pursuing a vocation as an SSND went to high school at Sancta Maria in Ripa High School, also on the motherhouse grounds. In 1934, area pastors and parents petitioned the sisters to open the high school to lay students, which they did. The high school operated in the motherhouse’s north wing until the 1950s when Notre Dame High School was built on the motherhouse grounds. Present and future In addition to St. Louis, which is the second-largest province, the School Sisters of Notre Dame currently have five other North American provinces. They are headquartered in Wilton, Conn.; Dallas; Mankato, Minn.; Milwaukee; and Waterdown, Ontario, Canada. Conversations are ongoing about reconfiguring the provinces, though no timetables have been set, noted provincial councilor Sister Kathy. The provinces already do much together, she added, and meet regularly. The congregation values its unity, in keeping with congregation foundress Blessed Theresa’s desire that "all be one." The foundress, archivist Sister Carol Marie said, "felt very, very strongly that the person who is in leadership should be a woman because a woman would understand a woman." To this day the sisters are directly accountable to their superior general in Rome, a woman,rather than local bishops. "We’re united throughout the world under one head." Members, she said, see themselves as School Sisters of Notre Dame in totality though spread worldwide. As for the future, the SSNDs will continue to focus on education that transforms, working with people whose needs are not met. They wish to work particularly with those who have unmet educational needs, especially immigrant women, Sister Kathy said. The congregation also is looking at the aging of its sisters and how they can continue to be engaged in ministry. The youngest member in the St. Louis Province is in her mid- 40s; the oldest is 102. The median age in the province is 69. So many "have so much to give" Sister Kathy said. While some can no longer be full-time teachers, they may be able to tutor and work with students who can’t learn in a more traditional setting or need one-on-one help. Another major thrust for the School Sisters of Notre Dame is overseas mission work. "We’re looking at places where maybe nobody else wants to go," Sister Kathy said. Countries where SSNDs in the St. Louis Province have served over the years are Sierra Leone, Africa; Honduras, Japan, India, just to name a few. The SSNDs in the United States also are concentrating on a "call to contemplation as a way of life," something that came out of their 2002 general chapter. The most recent general chapter, which took place in 2007 in Brazil, set the focus on internationality, "really looking at the blessing and the gift that we have being an international congregation and how we make decisions and share resources across the world." The School Sisters of Notre Dame also are seeking ways to deepen understanding about the Eucharist, Sister Kathy said. These may include talking to other faiths and within the archdiocese about the Eucharist and how it should be celebrated, and "looking at the gift of Jesus in Eucharist, and what does that say to us about how we need to be for each other in the world." The future may look different than before as the sisters are involved in many different kinds of ministries. But they all have an educational basis. Today they serve in such areas as social justice, criminal justice, spiritual and retreat guidance, health care, hospice work, preschool through college teaching, directors of religious education, parish ministry, chaplains, librarians, tutors, musicians, artists, liturgical fabric designers and liturgists. Sister Carol Marie praised "the spirit that we’ve gotten from those who’ve gone before us. I think we have inherited a tremendous gift, and it’s our challenge to give that gift to others. We hope to continue to spread the Good News and to carry out the mission as we move into the future."

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