Through the vowed life we live our baptismal consecration more fully. Sisters
of Notre Dame make a lifelong commitment to God, the Church and our community
through the vows of chastity, poverty and obedience. A call to vowed life
is an invitation to allow God to love through us. In the context of a religious
community, with Mary as our model, we strive daily to answer "yes" to
God's ever-new call. In our efforts to be faithful to our vows, we are
sustained by the prayers and support of our sisters.
Chastity: Loving God Alone
Through our vow of consecrated chastity, we enter into a deeply personal
relationship with God that calls us to make Christ and his message the
center of our lives. By this vow we remain celibate (unmarried), placing
our love for God above every other love. Within our religious community,
our love for Christ and others unfolds and deepens, freeing us for the
mission of Christ.
Poverty: Living Simply
Through our vow of poverty, we gradually learn to accept our limitations
and to live a simple lifestyle without desiring to accumulate material
possessions or prestige. Our vow of poverty frees us to devote our talents
as well as our personal and communal resources to those in need. Following
the way shown to us by Jesus, a way so well understood by our foundress,
Sister Maria Aloysia, cofoundress, Sister Maria Ignatia, and our spiritual
mother, St. Julie, we devote ourselves to people who are poor with special
love, always ready to witness that all people are the children of God.
Obedience: Being Available for Mission
Our vow of obedience enables us to answer God's call to participate in the
mission of Jesus. Just as the community has been called by God for a specific
mission within the Catholic Church, we as individuals within that community
are called to build up the body of Christ through our prayer, presence
and ministry with and for others. Through community and personal discernment,
we learn to hear the voice of the Father sending us as Jesus 
was sent,
to bring the good news of the Gospel to the people of our time. With generosity
and confidence in the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we go where we are missioned
to minister to those in need.
"One of the things that strengthens me most is participating
in rituals of blessing and missioning, especially the opportunity for
reconciliation
of any brokenness that may have occurred. I never come away dry-eyed."
