08 April 2006

Lentorama Saint of the Day: St. Julie Billiart

The founder of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, Julie had a life-long interest in education. As a teen she taught workers Bible parables during their lunch hour, and she would develop her order into one dedicated to the education of young Catholic women.

In her lifetime, Julie was also involved in hiding priests during the French Revolution and aiding the wounded and dispossessed during and after the Battle of Waterloo. She did much of her work while in poor health, including a 22 year span where she was completely paralyzed.

The Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur run Emmanuel College in Boston. They are a member of the Colleges of the Fenway (as is Wentworth), and when I worked at BU my office was in a building we were renting from Emmanuel. So it seemed fitting to go with Julie on her feast day.

2 comments:

The Grim Reaper said...

St. Julie, the patron saint of cruise directors.

Chris

Mark said...

Just as long as she doesn't get hooked on blow.

The wife reminded me yesterday that the order Julie founded runs our parish school, and that there's a statue of her in the back of our church. Score one for paying attention.

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