Françoise Blin de Bourdon was born into a family of
nobility on March 8, 1756, at her grandmother’s chateau in Gezaincourt, France. She
had the advantages of an excellent education and was formally introduced into French
society at the age of 20. She was at ease with the rich, the powerful and the aristocratic
elite.
Françoise was indifferent to her parents’ hopes for her marriage and declined
several splendid offers. As a young woman, she took over the administration of her
grandmother’s chateau and extensive estate, responding with kindness and charity to
the needs of her tenants.
When the French Revolution erupted, Françoise, her father and her brother were
incarcerated along with hundreds of other prisoners. Daily she read the smuggled,
published names of those destined for the guillotine. She saw the Blin de Bourdon names
slated on the dreaded list for July 29, 1794, but, in God’s Providence, the
executions were canceled by the fall of Robespierre just two days before that date.
After her release from prison, Françoise went to her brother’s townhouse in
Amiens. There she met Julie Billiart, a paralyzed peasant woman from Cuvilly. A third
escapee from the French Revolution, Father Antoine Thomas, was also welcomed to the Blin
town house. This was the beginning of the small community which, in 1804, would find Julie
and Françoise making their first vows as Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. At the age of 48,
Françoise Blin de Bourdon dedicated her life to God, joining this simple country woman
with whom she had developed a strong friendship and whom she recognized as her spiritual
mother.
 |
| Françoise meets
Julie Billiart at Amiens. |
Françoise brought many personal gifts to the young Congregation: her profound belief in
God’s Providence, her education, her intellectual and spiritual insights, and her
wealth which she used to establish the fledgling community. She chose to live in poverty
for the rest of her life for the good of the Congregation. As co-foundress, Françoise
was
known as Mother St. Joseph and served as the second Mother General from 1816 until her
death in 1838.
In
her new biography, "The Story of the Co-foundress of the Sisters of
Notre Dame", Jo Ann M.
Recker, SNDdeN, reveals the story of Françoise Blin de Bourdon
(1756-1838) who, along with her close friend and spiritual advisor St.
Julie Billiart, was co-foundress of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.
