Foundation Day 2021
Every year on October 24, the congregation celebrates Foundation Day
On October 24, 2021, we celebrate 188 years as the School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND) while remembering the strength and commitment of our foundress, Blessed Mary Theresa of Jesus Gerhardinger. Blessed Theresa established the congregation in 1833 in Neunburg vorm Wald, Bavaria. Just 14 years later, she responded to a call to open schools in North America.
Having accompanied Blessed Theresa to New York in 1847, Mother Caroline Friess was instrumental in the growth and expansion of SSND throughout North America and in turn, SSND missions reaching as far as Africa, Asia and Latin America. Like Blessed Theresa, Mother Caroline wrote many letters to sisters, filled with affection and down-to-earth advice, revealing the heart of a compassionate servant leader.
For Foundation Day 2021, sisters from the collaborative provinces of Africa, Atlantic-Midwest and Central Pacific sent in photographs that reflect Mother Caroline’s spirit of hope and possibilities that still exists today. We’ve combined these photos with inspirational quotes from Mother Caroline’s letters into this celebratory video. Happy Foundation Day!
Talitha Kum: Anti-trafficking network of Women Religious
School Sisters of Notre Dame in Ghana share who we are and our stand on human trafficking in partnership with Talitha Kum: Anti-trafficking network of Women Religious.
Read more about the origins of the School Sisters of Notre Dame by visiting the following websites:
Gerhardinger.org SSND.org SturdyRoots.org