“Our mission is to proclaim the good news, directing our entire lives toward that oneness for which Jesus Christ was sent.”
School Sisters of Notre Dame continue to live the vision of Foundress Blessed Theresa Gerhardinger in a variety of ways. Our sisters share the stories of their work and ministry.
For nearly 40 years, Sister Irene Mary Pryle has served not only the Our Lady of Hope/St. Luke school community but also the Dundalk, Maryland community.
“We’ve always felt a responsibility to the community,” said the school principal. “The community has supported us, so we support the community.”
As a pre-teen, Sister Patricia Ferrick, SSND, envisioned her future as a jet pilot or possibly a Maryknoll missionary doctor in some remote area.
However, after meeting School Sisters of Notre Dame for the first time at St. Saviour High School in Brooklyn, New York, she recalls being so inspired that she decided in her junior year to enter the congregation after graduation. It would be more than 20 years before she would realize her childhood dream for missionary work and ministering to the sick, although not in the way she had envisioned.
A Canadian School Sister of Notre Dame, Barbara Paleczny, PhD, SThD has lived in South Sudan for the past eight years. She is a member of Solidarity with South Sudan which was founded by religious communities who send sisters, brothers and priests from around the world to live and work together there.
Her ministry includes teaching at Solidarity Teachers’ Colleges and teaching others to give workshops in healing from trauma and providing psychosocial support.
Each day Sister Jane Cayer walks the halls of School Sisters of Notre Dame history. She teaches English at Institute of Notre Dame in Baltimore, Md.
“It’s such a traditional place and where our community started and I felt the desire to follow that,” Sister Jane said.
Sister Jane was first introduced to the School Sisters of Notre Dame and her love of learning at Saint Jerome school in Baltimore. Her passion and desire to become a sister was evident to her family.
As the oldest of six children, Sister Doris Kresslein was the first to attend the Institute of Notre Dame in Baltimore. However, the school and the Schools Sisters of Notre Dame were well known to her extended family.
“All of my cousins went to IND,” she said.
While at IND S. Doris knew she needed to pursue the path of religious life.
“You just feel it and know it,” she said. I graduated from IND in June of 1938 and entered that August.”
St. Jerome’s University President and Vice Chancellor Katherine Bergman hosted a gathering for religious in the Hamilton Diocese. Bishop Douglas Crosby, OMI, recognized and celebrated the support and contributions of women and men religious in his diocese. Blessed with a weather-perfect day, the outdoor barbecue took place on Resurrection Manor’s patio in Waterloo, Ontario.
Sisters Mary Dooley and Katherine Kinnally were honored for their ministry, and presented with the Pope Francis Encounter Award on April 20, 2017. The leadership award, presented by Catholic Charities Interfaith Health and Wellness Program of the Diocese of Palm Beach, recognizes those whose efforts enhance the quality of life of people in need.
An influential teacher at the Institute of Notre Dame set S. Joannene Merendino on her path to becoming a sister and a teacher.
“I was taught by nuns at IND,” she said. “I actually only took German class because the nun who was teaching it was such a wonderful teacher.”
Eleven sisters from Villa Assumpta made a pilgrimage to Saint John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, June 6. The shrine is a place of prayer and reflection. A guided tour of the Redemptor Hominis Church and Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary Chapel was informative and enjoyable. Sisters had an opportunity to venerate a first-class blood relic of John Paul II and participate in the 12 p.m. Mass.
