“Our mission is to proclaim the good news, directing our entire lives toward that oneness for which Jesus Christ was sent.”
“We Remember, We Celebrate, We Believe” was the theme filling the days that 24 golden jubilarians shared from June 16-18 at Notre Dame of Elm Grove. This unique gathering included sisters from the Central Pacific and Atlantic-Midwest Provinces, as well as two classmates who are now members of the Province of Latin America and the Caribbean and the Province of Africa.
Sister Virginia Brien, SSND is a retired sister at Villa Assumpta in Baltimore. Several years ago at one of the Solidarity prayer experiences, she felt an urging to reach out and serve others who are materially poor.
When she walks the halls of the Institute of Notre Dame (IND), Sister Patricia Murphy feels right at home. That’s because she first stepped into IND’s building in 1958.
“I had School Sisters in elementary school and had two siblings already at IND,” she said. “I never thought to attend another school. I knew it was a great school.”
She’s not a student anymore but she still spends her days on IND’s campus. Sister Patricia now helps other women realize their passion at the Caroline Center, a workforce development center-located in what used to be the convent of IND.
In March 2001, St. Ann’s Catholic Church in West Palm Beach, Florida initiated an outreach center for services to homeless women and men thanks to the efforts of School Sisters of Notre Dame Carleen Cekal and Mary Oliver Hudon.
Sister Caritas Wehrman, SSND teaches Conversational English at St. Therese Catholic Mission Church in Chicago
As a retired Sister at Notre Dame Convent in Waterdown, Ontario, Sister Pauline Girodat doesn’t seem to have enough hours in the day for her many ministry activities.
In addition to her prayer ministry, she practices many corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Daily she feeds one of the sisters in the health care area of the building, and she also takes a turn at being a Eucharistic Minister to the sisters in health care. Frequently she transports sisters from the health care floor to other events within the building.
Sister Limeteze Pierre-Gilles, SSND made her perpetual profession of vows as a School Sister of Notre Dame in 2016 in Baltimore.
Born and raised in Haiti, Sister Limeteze started thinking about religious life at a very young age. After joining her family in Florida, she met SSNDs who were working with homeless men and women. That encounter, combined with her curiosity about a picture she had seen of the SSND foundress with two girls, influenced her to start thinking again about religious life.
For eight years, Sister Celine Marie Flynn, SSND has ministered at a Bereavement/Grief Program at Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Wilton, CT. Celine makes contact with the family of one who has passed away by sending a letter of condolence and inviting them to the monthly bereavement meetings.]
