St. Julie Billiart 
Françoise Blin de Bourdon 
Notre Dame de Namur Cross
Brief History of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur
The Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur were founded by Julie Billiart and Francoise Blin de Bourdon in Amiens, France, in 1804. Julie named her Congregation the Sisters of Notre Dame (Our Lady) as an expression of her love for Mary, woman of faith, who rejoiced in the glorious mystery of salvation and in God’s mercy to the poor.
The spirit of the Sisters was one of Simplicity, Obedience and Charity, and their desire was to dedicate themselves to the poor of the most abandoned places (Rule of 1818).
Julie and Francoise established schools for the gratuitous instrument of poor children to prepare them for the duties of their state in life and for the sacraments (Rule of 1818).
It was Julie’s vision and hope that her sisters would go throughout the world, proclaiming God’s loving care for all peoples.
The SNDs first came to Africa when a small group of sisters from Belgium arrived in Zaire in 1894. Today there are Sisters of Notre Dame in Congo-Kinshasa, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Zimbabwe and South Sudan. The sisters also work in Brazil and Peru in South America, Nicaragua in Central America, and in the USA, as well as in Europe-Belgium, Britain and Italy and in Asia – Japan.
In Nigeria today the Sisters continue to dedicate themselves to the education of the poor through a variety of ministries: formal education in Nursery/Primary and Secondary schools, Primary health care, Development education/empowerment through micro finance and work in Justice and Peace, Parish ministry and catechesis.
