Partnership News. Prayer to St. Julie (sunflower reference) TWO SND HISTORY CHILDREN S BOOKS NOW AVAILABLE

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1 Partnership News May 2015 Vol. 3 No. 3 by the SND National Education Office May and June are filled with multiple activities at every school. Let s keep all our Partnership schools in our prayers until the end of the school year that all goes well and all are safe! Many schools have May Crownings or other tributes to Mary during May. Please forward pictures, descriptions, articles written to office@snded.org for publication on the website or in newsletters. TWO SND HISTORY CHILDREN S BOOKS NOW AVAILABLE Tania Viega Judar attended a school staffed by the Sisters of Notre Dame in Brazil. Her studies in children s literature brought her to the point of becoming an author. Sr. Elena Bini, from Tania s elementary school in Brazil, asked her to write a book for children on St. Julie Billiart. So she is the author of a children s book: Little Julie the sunflower girl. Tania has done book launches and activities with the children in several schools in Brazil. The book was first written in Portuguese and has been produced in English. Tania and her husband visited in February, bring a copy of the book. The cover and several pages are shown here to give you an idea of how bright and engaging the book is. Please let Sr. Donna Paluf dpaluf@ndec.org know by June 15 if you would be interested in getting a copy for your primary classrooms and/or library, or just to have out as a lobby coffee table book! I would have to order from the publisher in Brazil so would need to have at least 10 copies requested. The appropriate age listed is for the book is 6-10 years old, so seems to be primary/intermediate. The cost per copy would be between $12-$15. Cont. on page 2 Prayer to St. Julie (sunflower reference) Saint Julie, just as the sunflower keeps its face turned toward the sun, you always kept your heart and mind turned toward God. You showed your deep love for God in prayer and action. Even in the greatest sufferings and trials you used to repeat How good God is! And you meant it. Ask God to give me strong faith, Saint Julie. Help me to see his goodness in my life. I want to be like you. I want to spread the news of God s goodness and love for us wherever and however I can. I look forward to meeting you in heaven, where we ll enjoy this love and God s presence forever. Pray for me, Saint Julie. Amen. 1

2 The other children s book is the early story of the Sisters of Notre Dame in Germany: Hilligonde s Dream. Several years ago, Sr. M. Valerie Schneider, SND (writer) and Sr. Maresa Lilley, SND (illustrator) published: The story of God s dream placed in the heart of Hilligonde Wolbring, who became Sr. Maria Aloysia, foundress of the Sisters of Notre Dame. The book has been republished with illustrations that are photos of oil paintings. The book is more appropriate for the elementary level; for younger grades, read to students by the teacher. Below are photos of several pages where you can see the illustrations and how the story is told. The book is selling for $10 per book. If you wish to purchase for your library, classrooms, etc., again contact: Sr. Donna Paluf, SND dpaluf@ndec.org or and let me know how many books you would like. These books are available now. I can send them to you with an invoice for payment. 2

3 Jubilee Year of Mercy announced by Pope Francis Though the Jubilee Year of Mercy does not begin until the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on December 8, 2015, this theme of mercy may be something to integrate into your planning of next year s school theme or activities. There will be many resources coming out from the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops as well as your own diocesan websites. But as you plan appropriately for your school, here are a few quotes from Pope Francis that may help direct the planning: I am convinced that the whole church -- that has much need to receive mercy because we are sinners will find in this jubilee the joy to rediscover and render fruitful the mercy of God, with which we are all called to give consolation to every man and woman of our time, Francis said in announcing the year. Let us not forget that God pardons and God pardons always, the pope continued. Let us never tire of asking for forgiveness. The call of Jesus pushes each of us to never stop at the surface of things, especially when we are dealing with a person, the pope said later. We are called to look beyond, to focus on the heart to see of how much generosity everyone is capable. No one can be excluded from the mercy of God, Francis continued, repeating: No one can be excluded from the mercy of God! The church is the house that welcomes all and refuses no one, the pope said. Its doors remain wide open, so that those touched by grace can find the certainty of forgiveness. Many question in their hearts: why a Jubilee of Mercy today? Simply because the Church, in this time of great historical change, is called to offer more evident signs of God s presence and closeness. This is not the time to be distracted; on the contrary, we need to be vigilant and to reawaken in ourselves the capacity to see what is essential. The Holy Year must keep alive the desire to know how to welcome the numerous signs of the tenderness which God offers to the whole world and, above all, to those who suffer, who are alone and abandoned, without hope of being pardoned or feeling the Father s love. A Holy Year to experience strongly within ourselves the joy of having been found by Jesus, the Good Shepherd who has come in search of us because we were lost. A Jubilee to receive the warmth of his love when he bears us upon his shoulders and brings us back to the Father s house. A year in which to be touched by the Lord Jesus and to be transformed by his mercy, so that we may become witnesses to mercy. Here, then, is the reason for the Jubilee: because this is the time for mercy. It is the favourable time to heal wounds, a time not to be weary of meeting all those who are waiting to see and to touch with their hands the signs of the closeness of God, a time to offer everyone the way of forgiveness and reconciliation. Various Prayers -- St. Julie Billiart Prayer to St. Julie (for a special intention) St. Julie, through your great devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, you were miraculously cured and favored by many graces. By your powerful intercession, obtain for us above all, great trust in God in all difficulties of life, the strength to accomplish in all things the adorable will of God and the special grace we now ardently ask of you. Amen. Prayer from the Mass of St. Julie Almighty and eternal God, you called St. Julie Billiart to respond joyfully to the love of your crucified Son in dedicating herself to the education of the poor. Grant that her prayer and example may inspire us to respond with love to His Cross, in serving the needs of others with true goodness of heart. Amen. 3

4 Schools Honor Mary at May Crowning NDA TOLEDO, OH May 1st could not have been more beautiful and reverent. It was a special day to honor NDA s patroness, Mary as we celebrated May Crowning/ Notre Dame Day. Hundreds of flowers were collected to adorn Mary. Senior Amy Ohlinger crowned her with a gorgeous ring of flowers. After the celebration, the flowers were arranged and tied with ribbons to be donated to local nursing homes. We at NDA are Bold, Brilliant, Beautiful and Oh so Blessed! NDA PARK HILLS, KY On Friday, May 1, the NDA community gathered as a school community to honor Mary by crowning her their Queen. As is the NDA tradition, the honor of Crowning May goes to a senior. All seniors are invited to submit a reflection about Mary and how they have viewed her as a role model. This year the honor of crowning Mary went to Shannon Wilson with the honor or carrying Mary s crown in procession going to Brittney White. Samantha Darpel, Rosemary Plunkett, Abigail Kennedy and Hailee Scheper made up the honor guard. All 6 of these young ladies showed great devotion and appreciation for our Blessed Mother in their reflections. You can read Brittney White s reflection below. At fourteen years old, Mary, the Mother of God, was able to make a life altering decision which saved the world. How amazing! I can tell you with confidence that many girls who attend Notre Dame, including myself, desire to change the world in some way, whether it be through politics, research, or religion. Personally I desire to change the world with my religion, to try and make the world as God intended it to be when He first instructed Adam and Eve. I want to inspire people to come to know God in their lives, just as Mary did when she brought the Son of God into the world, She knew nothing about raising a child, she didn t know why God was calling on her for this task, but she did it and had so much faith in His plan, Behold, I am the handmade of The Lord, be it done unto me according to thy word. I can remember very few of the serious decisions that I had to make as a fourteen year old, yet nothing could ve ever compared to the gravity of Mary s yes to God. NDA Students - Park Hills, KY Students arrange flowers for donation to local nursing homes. Such a young girl with a great deal of faith! She knew that God had a plan for her and she entrusted her well being to Him without a second thought. That is what I desire, that trust, love, the committment to God. I want to be so faith filled and trusting in God that when I know He s calling to me I ll go and do for Him whatever He wants. This school dedicated to Mary has made me realize the importance of Mary s yes, and I can only hope to be so willing like she was. Why is it that we are so afraid of how God wants to use us in this world? Do we fear that the road we ll take is one we won t like? Yet He has provided for all those that He has called to do His will and He will not cease to guide us through this life. Cont. on page 5 4

5 Mary is a beautiful role model for all women. She is graceful, strong, courageous, faith filled, everything a woman should strive to be. As young girls it is important for us to have a role model so rooted in faith and goodness, with the world telling us today we must be aggressive and dominant, it s hard for us to be tender with those outside of our little Catholic bubble. The beauty of who women were meant to be is found through Mary, for she is the New Eve, she is the woman who has set the standard for other women, and I want to reach that standard. I strive to gain the beauty that Mary holds, her grace is so captivating, and her role as a mother so inspiring. Mary is the mold of the virtuous woman, and while I am flawed, nothing could be more humbling and honorable than being a part of the crowning of Mary. She is my spiritual mother, everything I want to be, and everything I would want my daughter to be should I have one in the future. Mary helps me to see the role I play as a woman of faith, someone who isn t afraid to trust in God or afraid to allow God into their daily lives Golden Apple Recipient: Meghan Meyer, Religion & Social Studies, Our Lady of Victory School, Washington, D.C. OLV s own Meghan Meyer won a Golden Apple Award from the Archdiocese of Washington. Out of 1,200 teachers in the diocese only ten receive this prestigious award. We are so proud of you Miss Meyer! In the classroom she employs best practices and differentiator lessons to meet the needs of her diverse learners. The middle school students that Megan teaches come from a wide variety of social economic backgrounds. She strives to build upon the strengths of both their skills in their areas of challenge. ~ Rosanne Weber, Art Teacher I often think Ms. Meyer has discovered the secret of alchemy. Everything she touches turns to gold and she s absolutely deserving of a Golden Apple award. ~ Rev. David M. Fitzpatrick, Pastor During the five years that I ve had the pleasure of working with Meghan, I ve benefited so much from her support of Catholic Identity at Our Lady of Victory, and from her gift of being able to make everyone laugh. Teachers congregate in Meghan s room at the end of the day to be around her because whatever may have happened during the day, we all know Meghan will be able to help us see the lighter side and make us laugh often at ourselves. She is truly gifted and one of the most enduring aspects of Meghan is that she has no idea how exceptional she is as a teacher and catechist. She s the real deal. ~ Sheila Martinez, Principal Meghan Meyer 5

6 It s Not Too Late. SND Education Summit, June 18-20, 2015 Join Your Friends and Colleagues at the Inaugural SND Education Summit! As of May 1 st 130 participants from across the U.S., Tanzania, Uganda, and India are registered to attend. You won t want to miss out on this opportunity to: Explore an educational 20/20 Vision Forward, enriched by the SND Educational Vision. Resources and ways to put into practice our shared Educational Principles. Celebrate our Marian tradition and encounters with God s Goodness and Provident Care through shared story and prayer in the world of today. Exchange and take home new insights and best practices to lead, educate, resource and sustain A Vibrant Future. Experience a celebration of community. AND Take a chance on taking home an amazing door prize or even becoming a millionaire. Go to and the Summit 2015 tab for Summit information, program and registration. Visit Your New Website! Check out for Information, Resources, News and Events for and about the SND Education Partnership. Take advantage of the opportunity to put your school or center in the website SPOTLIGHT. 6