“Julie named her Congregation the Sisters of Notre Dame as an expression of her love for Mary, woman of faith who rejoiced in the glorious mystery of salvation and in God’s mercy to the poor.” (Constitutions #8)
“We strive to grow ‘in the spirit of Mary, the virtue of Mary, the strength and power of Mary’.”(Constitutions #50)
St. Julie Billiart founded the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur to make known God’s goodness, especially among the most impoverished and abandoned people in the world. Today, Sisters of Notre Dame work with refugees in London, street children in Nairobi, immigrant farm workers in Florida, AIDS orphans in Zimbabwe, the homeless in Haiti… and always, with women and children, who are among the most vulnerable.
We work to enable people living in poverty. We help them to obtain what is rightfully theirs by changing unjust structures. We believe that education in varied forms is the best way to accomplish this goal.
Recognized as outstanding educators, thousands of Sisters of Notre Dame have taught children and adults over the years on five continents. Although many Sisters continue to staff schools, others have chosen to work with the homeless, AIDS patients, the elderly poor — and countless others in need of help. All these ministries have one aim: to proclaim in our time, as St. Julie did in hers, that God is good!
