Beginning in 1958, Sisters of Notre Dame from Germany and the United States authored a series of books that would eventually become valuable resources for use within the Congregation. The series in English is entitled In Our Lady’s Household and consists of 7 different volumes. Each book narrates the life story of one or more of our Sisters including our foundress, Sister Maria Aloysia, and our co-foundress, Sister Maria Ignatia, as well as other Sisters significant in our history – Sister Mary Girolama, Sister Mary Ferdinand, Sister Mary Anthony, Mother Maria Anna, Sister Maria Modesta, Sister Maria Bernarda and others.
Since these books were published “in-house” with small typeset and limited copies, it has been difficult for some Sisters to access them. Recently, at our Congregational Formators’ Conference held in Rome in April 2019, the Formators expressed an interest in having these volumes made available to our sisters in formation throughout the Congregation. Thanks to the generosity of several of our Sisters in the United States, the English volumes are now being transcribed into Word documents. This way they can be uploaded to our Congregational website’s SND Resources section to make them available to all the English speaking Sisters throughout the Congregation.
The seven volumes in the In Our Lady’s Household series are as follows:
Volume I Biographical studies of some Sisters of Notre Dame – Lives of Sisters Mary Girolama Lehmkuhl, Mary Ferdinand Zweidinger and Mary Anthony Honeck
Volume II Lives of Reverend Mother Maria Anna Scheffer Boichorst, Sister Maria Aloysia Wolbring and Sister Maria Ignatia Kühling
Volume III In the Vineyard of the Lord – Growth and Fulfillment – Life of Sr. Maria Modesta Toebbe
Volume IV Teacher of Teachers; the biography of Sister Maria Bernarda Perger
Volume V Sister Mary Evarista Harks – Life and Times
Volume VI Three memoirs: Sister Mary Odila Miller, Sister Mary Bertilda Hillenhinrichs, and Sister Mary Fortunata Horning
Volume VII Remembering Sister Mary Agnes Bosche
Currently, Volumes I, II, III, IV and V are available in the SND Resources section of the Congregational website. The other volumes are in the process of being transcribed, as well as the small book Soli Deo and other more recent books on some of our missionaries, including Sister Mary St. Thomas Fitzerald and Sister Maria Alexandra Nolte.
Sister Joanne Mary Frania (Toledo), who transcribed Volume V, the life of Sister Mary Evarista, enjoyed learning more about Sister’s life and ministry. Sister Joanne commented, “Sister Mary Evarista was an amazing, faith-filled pioneer in the Congregation in the United States serving as Provincial Superior of the Cleveland Province for 25 years.” Other Sisters who assisted with this project were Sister Mary Rosellyn Theisen (Toledo), Sister Mary Jo Szpila (Toledo), Sister Carol Ann Mary Smith (Toledo), Sister Mary Charleen Hug (Toledo) and Sister Mary Joanne Wittenburg (Thousand Oaks). Thank you, Sisters, for assisting us in bringing these wonderful resources to life again.
Make sure to check out these and so many other resources on our Congregational website at snd1.org!
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