Hilligonde Wolbring, Foundress of the Sisters of Notre Dame
Hilligonde Wolbring was born in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, on January
9, 1828. When she was four years old, her father, Otto Arnold Wolbring, died.
Two years later, her mother, Elisabeth (Möring) Wolbring, remarried.
She was seven when her mother died. Then her father’s family brought
Hilligonde to live with them in Stenern, Westphalia, Germany. When it was
time to attend elementary school, Hilligonde became a boarder in nearby Bocholt
in the home of Hermann Hüsener. Trained in the methods of Father
Bernard Overberg, Dr. Hüsener became Hilligonde’s foster-father and trusted
advisor. With his encouragement, she prepared for admission to the Royal
Teacher Training Seminar for Women in Münster. After completing her
studies in 1848, Hilligonde began teaching in the girls’ school at
St. Lambert Parish in Coesfeld, Westphalia.
In 1848 and 1849 all of Europe was suffering great economic and social
distress. During that terrible winter in Coesfeld, Hilligonde began to care
for a child in her class whose father was unable to look after her. Many
children were enduring harsh conditions, and Hilligonde wanted to do more.
She told her friend and colleague, Elisabeth
Kühling, about her plans.
When they approached the young priest at their parish, Father
Theodor Elting,
for advice he suggested that their work could be more stable and lasting
if they were to become religious sisters. The Bishop of Münster, Johann
Georg Müller, commissioned Father Elting to begin negotiations with
the Sisters of Notre Dame of Amersfoort, Netherlands, about coming to Coesfeld
to begin the religious formation of Hilligonde and Elisabeth.
Meanwhile, Father Elting rented a house on Süring Street, and in October
1849 Hilligonde and Elisabeth began to care for seven neglected children
there. At the end of the year Father Elting was able to acquire more permanent
housing, purchasing a large former convent in Coesfeld, St. Annathal, with
funds raised for the purpose by Bishop Müller. Hilligonde, Elisabeth
and the children moved into their new home on April 2, 1850.
On June 3, 1850, three Dutch Sisters of Notre Dame of Amersfoort arrived
at Saint Annathal. On October 1, Hilligonde and Elisabeth began their
formal training for religious life and received new names, Sister Maria Aloysia
and Sister Maria Ignatia, to symbolize their new way of life. When the
Amersfoort sisters returned to their homeland after five years, the religious
institute
of the Sisters of Notre Dame in Coesfeld had a growing community.
Sister Maria Aloysia was part of the first group of sisters who came to
the United States in 1874, as a result of the religious oppression of the
Kulturkampf
in Prussia. She was a teacher at the sisters’ first American school,
St. Peter Parish in Cleveland, Ohio. Later she taught at Saint Mary Parish,
Toledo, Ohio, and then spent six years in Delphos, Ohio, where the sisters
both taught school and took care of elderly people. In 1886 she moved to
Mount Saint Mary in Cleveland, where she was able to realize her dream
of caring for at-risk children. In 1887 she also became the superior there,
giving her responsibility for the local community of sisters, for the sick
sisters and for the farm. Sister Maria Aloysia died at Mount Saint Mary
on
May 6, 1889, and is buried in Saint Joseph Cemetery, Cleveland.
