A Letter in Thanksgiving for 150 Years of SND in the US from Sr. Mary Shauna Bankemper
On August 4th 2024, the Covington Region gathered to thank God and to celebrate the arrival of the first Sisters of Notre Dame in the United States. Their arrival was both a blessing for the Sisters of Notre Dame and the people of the United States and a heartache for the Sisters and people in Germany. On June 15th, 1872, just 22 years after our founding in Coesfeld, Germany, a law was established by the German government forbidding members of religious congregations to teach in the schools.
On March 24th, 1874, the sisters in Aldekerk, Prussia were the first to receive the letter of dismissal. By June 19th, the first eight sisters, including Mother Maria Chrysostom, superior general, and Sister Maria Aloysia, foundress, boarded the SS. Rhine to begin their journey to the United States where they had previously received requests from Bishop Gilmour of Cleveland, Ohio and Bishop Toebbe of Covington, Kentucky (Bishop Toebbe’s sister was a member of the Sisters of Notre Dame). The first group of sisters spent two weeks crossing the Atlantic Ocean and arrived on July 4th, 1874, in New York Harbor.
We celebrated the foresight of the community risking to branch out to new fields of labor for the immigrant Church, for the courage of the German sisters who willingly left home, family, and motherland to travel to a foreign country, and in gratitude for the Church of the Diocese of Covington, KY for welcoming the Sisters of Notre Dame to minister in their parishes, schools, orphanages, and healthcare facilities during these 150 years. Mother of God Parish and School was SND’s first place of ministry in the Covington Region.
The 150th celebration was a blessed experience for over 250 people in attendance. It was amazing how all came together so beautifully. The liturgy was inspiring, the program was beautiful, the catering and refreshments were wonderful, the ambiance was inviting, and the camaraderie was out of this world!
This celebration was a truly communal event – one to be remembered for years to come!
Sr. Mary Shauna Bankemper, SND
