Foundressess Week

During Foundresses Week there were many activities and things to celebrate like music, games, arts & crafts, raffle prizes, and a taco car. There were many tables set up by student assembly as well as a blood drive. However, I did not attend these events. I did learn about the foundresses through the readings about Julie Billiart and Francoise Blin de Bourdon. In the readings it related the Foundresses back to the French Revolution and how that war affected the lives of the Foundresses. Francoise was from an aristocratic family and by the age of six attended an elite boarding school run by the Benedictine nuns. Her school was close to her estate. Her grandmother exposed her to the poor people and their struggles, which was most of the French population at the time. At the age of 16, she returned back home and prepared for her debut in French society.

Julie Billiard's lifestyle was different, she lived in the village of Cuvilly and was apart of the low class. She was able to afford a basic education because her father owned his own business. She helped the rest of the kids learn what she learned in school. When Julie was 16, her father's shop was robbed so she had to get a job to help support her family. She had become very stressed which contributed to her muscular disorder. She was bedridden and suffered from paralysis but she continued to teach in spite of this.

Eventually both women were taken to Amiens, where Julie and Francoise met for the first time. Over time the women became friends and on February 2, 1804 Julie and Francoise founded the Sisters of Notre Dame.

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