Our Sisters

School Sisters of Notre Dame continue to live the vision of Foundress Blessed Theresa Gerhardinger in a variety of ways. Below our Sisters share stories of their work and ministry.

A Visit with Sister Paulette Doyas, SSND

It's a beautiful Tuesday in March at Stella Maris near Baltimore. Sister Paulette Doyas, SSND, welcomes her first-time guest, rolling a state-of-the-art office set-up away from the bed. Despite residing in an assisted living community, Sister Paulette continues to serve as a part-time, remote assistant in NDMU registrar's office.

Life in Community at Villa Assumpta

Enjoy this wide-ranging roundtable conversation with Sisters Betty Orr, Mary Frances Angermaier, Francita Hobbs, and Carleen Cekal about their lives and experiences in the 1st floor independent living space at Villa Assumpta.

You, Too, Can Starburst!

Do you miss one of your friends at an AMSSND site, but it is too far to travel?  We’ve put iPads with Facetime at each of our nine major sites (Ozanam, Stella Maris, Villa Assumpta, Watermark, Waterdown, Marian Village and Resurrection Life).  So, who are you going to call first?  And second?

Villa Assumpta Sisters Enjoy Nun Study Presentation

Dr. Margaret (Maggie) Flanagan visited Villa Assumpta recently to provide an update on the ongoing Nun Study. It includes 678 SSNDs, 75 to 107 years of age, who agreed to participate in the research. 

Contemplative Response to Winter - to Lent

During Lent I typically strive/desire to embrace the message in the liturgical readings on Ash Wednesday: to pray, fast, and give alms, asking God to create a new heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit in me.  

Listen Each New Time

I find Lent a challenge. How do I keep to the good things I intend to do this year? As in all things, I pray to follow the example of Jesus who was led by the Spirit to the desert. 

The "God of No Matter Whatness"

Recently, when I heard Father Greg Boyle talk about his work with gang members in Los Angeles, he talked to them about the “God of no matter whatness.” He said, "This God dissolves the toxicity of shame and fills us with tender mercy.”

Prodigal Mercy by Sister Delia Calis

By Sister Delia Calis, SSND

Oh Son, do you not yet trust my love for you?

You are always with me and everything I have is yours.

I need you to shepherd with my heart – my love, compassion.

Lent Collage Graces Bulletin Board at The Watermark

Creating the community bulletin board at The Watermark is a prayerful, artistic process for Sister Justine Nutz, SSND. Using scraps of paper, fabric, yarn, pictures, words, and other items, her evocative designs invite reflection. Her 2024 Lent board also recalls the Paschal Mystery.

Lent in a “Post-Covid” World

As we approach Lent, I wonder what will come. Will we be able to celebrate together? Will we face another Covid outbreak as family and friends come to visit?  

Living into Prophetic Witness of Universal Communion

Every year, we celebrate the same feasts, often with the same liturgical readings.  What can we do to ensure that our journey is a spiral and not a circular treadmill?  How is God near to us this Lent in ways that will call us to be fully alert and attentive?

A Stella Maris Snowflake Party

“It snowed last night. It snowed last night!” The Notre Dame Prep Middle Level students sang the fun winter song to the Sisters at Stella Maris. They added hand movements to their song.  This was just one of several activities that the students and Sisters engaged in during the “Snowflake Party” organized by the NDP Middle Level Campus Ministers on January 30. 

Pajama Day and Vocations

February 1st was Pajama Day at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Academy in Jamaica, New York. I know this because I was invited to give a vocation talk to the girls in grades 5-8 as part of Catholic Schools Week.
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