Sisters of Notre Dame (S.N.D.)

The Sisters of Notre Dame are an international congregation of women religious who serve the Church in eighteen countries on five continents.

They have ministered in California for over ninety years, bringing hope to the world through catechesis, pastoral ministry, education, healthcare, social ministries and missionary activity.

Hilligonde Wolbring founded the Sisters of Notre Dame of Coesfeld, Germany in 1850. Hilligonde lovingly embraced all of her students, but especially those who were poor or disadvantaged. She and her companion teacher, Elisabeth Kühling, experienced God’s goodness and provident care, and were impelled to pass it on to others. Gradually the young women discerned that their attraction to service was a call to religious life. Under the guidance of the Sisters of Notre Dame of Amersfoort in the Netherlands, they established a new religious family based on the spiritual heritage of St. Julie Billiart, foundress of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.

In 1924 eleven pioneer Sisters of Notre Dame came to Los Angeles, California from Cleveland, Ohio. Since then, the Notre Dame charism has flourished through the lives and ministries of the sisters of the California province.

In the Los Angeles Archdiocese, they sponsor La Reina High School in Thousand Oaks, Notre Dame Learning Center, a pre-school in Thousand Oaks, and Notre Dame Academy on the Westside. They are engaged in health care ministries both as nurses working directly with patients and as chaplains – ministering to both body and spirit for those in need at the University of Southern California Medical Center – Transplant Program, Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, Nazareth House, West Los Angeles, and California Hospital Medical Center. They also work toward Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation all year round, in everything they do, including their advocacy to stop human trafficking. ~sndca.org