The Sisters of Notre Dame

Julie Billiart	Hilligonde Wolbring   Elizabeth Kühling		Bernard Overberg

In 1849, two young teachers in Coesfeld, a town in the North Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany, began
providing a home where neglected children could be loved and cared for while they attended school. On October 1, 1850, Hilligonde Wolbring, as Sister Maria Aloysia and Elizabeth Kühling, as Sister Maria Ignatia, foundress and
co-foundress, took another step as they began their religious novitiate. In them the Spirit of Reverend Bernard Overberg would blend with that of St. Julie Billiart, whose religious Rule they adopted. And so the Congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame of Coesfeld was born.

Since its founding, the Congregation has grown to its present membership of 2200 sisters ministering worldwide
in eighteen countries: United States of America, Nicaragua, Brazil, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, England, India,
South Korea, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, China, the Philippines, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and Mozambique. In the United States there are four provinces: Toledo, Ohio; Covington, Kentucky; Thousand Oaks, California; and Chardon, Ohio.

The charism, mission and spirit of the Sisters of Notre Dame are captured in the following phrases:

• CHARISM ~ a deep experience of God’s goodness and provident care
• MISSION ~ witnessing God’s goodness and provident care to others
• SPIRIT ~ joyful simplicity ~ trusting God-centeredness ~ caring love