School Sisters of Notre Dame 175th anniversary
By Delores Madlener
April 26, 2008
There really hasn’t been any time when women “had it easy.” The Victorian era was no exception when Caroline Gerhardinger was growing up in Bavaria. Wars had left her country destitute, with too many widows and orphans, illiterate and hungry.
It was an unlikely time to found a religious order, but at a very early age, under a priest’s guidance, Gerhardinger responded to the Holy Spirit. She chose Christian education of girls, who would some day become mothers, as the way to renew society. Her budding religious community, the School Sisters of [Our Lady] Notre Dame, numbered three, just 175 years ago. Poverty was one of its hallmarks.
Through perseverance, the order was approved by Pope Pius IX in 1865, and he allowed her, “Mother Theresa of Jesus,” and her successors, to govern their own congregation rather than be governed by local bishops.
She sent her sisters in twos and threes, like apostles, to rural areas seeking poor girls to teach and improve their lives. Through zeal and grade her foundation spread.
After just 14 years, Mother Theresa and five companions made the stormy voyage to America, eventually being welcomed by saintly Redemptorist Father John Neumann to teach in Baltimore. On the road again, Mother Theresa, at 50, and Sister Caroline Friess, 23, bounced and pitched by stagecoach and steamboat over 2,000 miles to arrive at the Mississippi River and expand their ministry.
The saga of the School Sisters of Notre Dame shows they continue to attract new members, open schools, orphanages, day nurseries and vocational schools, on both sides of the ocean. They pioneered in developing kindergartens and set up night schools to give working girls in factories a basic education.
They opened our local St. Michael’s School in Old Town in 1862, nine years before the Chicago Fire. Of their 14 teaching sites in the archdiocese, Academy of Our Lady on the South Side is probably the jewel.
In today’s cyber world with space stations, robotics and the search for artificial intelligence, the congregation continues Gerhardinger’s mission. Lifestyles have changed, with some sisters still in parish convents; others in smaller groups or with members of other congregations. At their core all recognize the importance of the Eucharist, devotion to Mary, prayer and striving for God’s will. Commitment continues to the needy, youth, women and those persecuted for justice sake. The sisters’ numbers are stretched, but they are ever a presence in Africa, Asia, Europe, North and Latin America.
Celebrations will be ongoing through 2008 to mark the order’s 175th anniversary. The School Sisters of Notre Dame Atlantic-Midwest Province is leading a pilgrimage to the founder’s birth and resting places, as well as other scenic and historic sites in Germany and Austria, Sept. 15-24. For more information, contact Michelle Creed at (203) 761-9732 before May [30].