First Centenary SND in Brazil

November 28, 2022

The Sisters of Notre Dame of the Holy Cross Province, Passo Fundo, and of the Our Lady Aparecida Province, Canoas, are celebrating the first Centenary of the Sisters of Notre Dame in Brazil and giving thanks to the Lord for His loving presence during these 100 years.

To commemorate this magnificent anniversary, the entire Notre Dame extended family is conducting numerous activities aiming to deepen our love for our tradition and our cultural heritage bequeathed by our German pioneer Sisters. These activities aim to promote and strengthen the living out of our Notre Dame charism, spirituality, and mission.

An important activity in the Centenary program is a novena celebrated on the 7th of each month remembering the day of the arrival of the pioneer Sisters in Passo Fundo. The novena, which began on September 7, 2022, is a time when sisters, collaborators, students, teachers, and other people connected to Notre Dame, pray and sing the wonders that the good God has worked in the Brazilian apostolic mission.

Another highlight of the Centenary is the Documentary: “In the Traces of the Good God, we are Writing our Story”, showing the religious and socio-educational legacy granted by the Sisters of Notre Dame. The sentiments of those watching the Documentary were in harmony with the warm emotions of those who welcomed our ten German missionaries to Passo Fundo on that cold early morning of June 7, 1923. The Documentary exalts the courage and selflessness of the pioneer Sisters who, crossing European borders, made of Rio Grande do Sul a fruitful place for the development of an educational project that remains alive, current, and innovative.

The Centenary is an invitation to remember and re-read the fascinating Notre Dame story in Brazil. May it also be a renewed impetus in the mission to proclaim God´s goodness and provident care.