The institute was founded in Amiens, France, in 1804, but the opposition of the local bishop to missions outside his diocese led to the moving of headquarters to Namur (in present-day Belgium), in 1809 (then occupied by Napoleon), from which it spread to become a worldwide organization.

Mlle Blin de Bourdon, who had received spiritual guidance from Julie for many years, defrayed the immediate expenses of founding the Congregation.

In the chapel of this house, at Mass on February 2, 1804, the two foundresses and their postulant, Catherine Duchatel of Reims, made or renewed their vow of chastity, to which they added that of devoting themselves to the Christian education of girls, further proposing to train religious teachers who would go wherever their services were requested.

The Fathers of the Faith (a group founded for Jesuits during the Suppression of the Society of Jesus) who were giving missions in Amiens sent to the sisters women and girls to be prepared for the sacraments.

The urgent need of Christian education among all classes of society in France at the time, led the foundresses to modify their original plan of teaching only the poor and to open schools for the children of the rich also.

The community lived under a provisional religious Rule based upon that which Saint Ignatius of Loyola wrote for the Jesuits, drawn up by Mother Julie and Fr.

Later and permanent foundations were made in Belgium: Namur, 1807, which became the motherhouse in 1809; Jumet, 1808; St. Hubert, 1809; Ghent, 1810; Zele, 1811; Gembloux and Andenne, 1813; Fleurus, 1814; and Liège and Dinant, 1816.

Some of the measures adopted to harass and destroy all teaching institutes were to compel them to remain in status quo, to hold diplomas obtained only after rigid examinations in Dutch and French by state officials, and to furnish lengthy accounts regarding convents, schools, finances, and subjects.

The most important work of Mother St. Joseph's generalate was the compiling and collating of the Rules and Constitution of the Sisters of Notre Dame.

She also drew up a system of instruction based upon that of St. John Baptist de La Salle for the French Brothers of the Christian Schools.

To give greater stability to the government of the institute, a general chapter unanimously approved extension to life-tenure for the office of superior-general.

Later in 1850, the political situation in Europe necessitated that the Amersfoort Sisters go to Coesfeld, Germany, to train two young women, Hilligonde Wohlbring and Elizabeth Kuhling, among others, according to the rule of St. Julie.

1825, d. 1907), the Sisters of Notre Dame, at the request of Leopold II of Belgium, took charge of the girls' schools in the Jesuit missions of the Congo Free State, where three houses were established.

The King of Belgium created Mother Aimee de Jesus a Knight of the Order of Leopold, and Sister Ignatia was accorded a similar honor after fourteen years of labor in the Congo.

After firmly establishing the institute in America, failing health caused Sr. Louise's recall to Namur, where she worked until her death in 1866.

1840, d. 1910) made three foundations and built the first chapel dedicated to Blessed Mother Julie in America, a beautiful Gothic structure in stone at Moylan, Pennsylvania.

Father de Buggenoms, a Belgian and superior of a small mission at Falmouth, felt the urgent need of schools for poor, Catholic children.

The Redemptorists having established a second English mission at Clapham, near London, and having asked again for Sisters of Notre Dame for a school, the community of Penryn was transferred there in 1848.

Among these English houses is the Training College for Catholic School-Mistresses at Mount Pleasant, Liverpool, the direction of which was confided to the Sisters of Notre Dame by the government in 1856.

At the request of the Scottish Education Department, the Sisters led by Mary Lescher opened the Dowanhill Training College for Catholic School-Mistresses at Glasgow in 1895.

With the inspiration of the Second Vatican Council, and with ecclesiastical approval, the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur updated their Constitutions in 1984.

[18][8] The great variety of ways they do this includes spirituality programs, legal aid, job training, and simply going around greeting people to bring them comfort and joy.