Sr. Barbara Fiand, SNDdeN
January 16, 1940 – December 30, 2025
Livestream and recording of Mass and memorial.
In the early days of World War II, on January 16, 1940, Barbara Fiand and her identical twin sister Theresia were born to German parents Wilhelm Friedrich Fiand and Elizabeth Hoegner Fiand in Soerabaja on the Island of Java in British-controlled Indonesia. They were baptized in Ecclesia Sacris Cordis Jesu in Soerabaja. When only two-months old, their father was sent to an internment camp in India, and the family’s home and resources were taken. Mrs. Fiand, her two-year-old daughter Johanna and the twins were taken into custody and placed under house arrest. In December 1941, they and other women and children, who were German citizens, were taken as refugees to Japan where the small family survived. This experience is chronicled in a book written by Barbara’s twin sister, Theresia Quigley, entitled I Cry for Innocence.
The family was reunited in Germany in 1947. Barbara and her sisters remembered their five years in Germany as the happiest of their childhood because their family was together. Evenings were spent singing together and listening to stories read by their father. The girls took music lessons on various instruments. On Sundays the family hiked in the countryside.
In April 1952, Wilhelm emigrated to Montreal, Canada, and was employed as a chef. In October 1952, Elizabeth and the girls joined him, and in December 1953, Wilhelm died of cancer. Childhood ended for Barbara and her sisters. Once again, Elizabeth was their sole care-giver and supported them as a seamstress. The family deeply appreciated the support from their parish priest and from the sisters who taught them in the parish school. When the girls became teenagers, they found small ways to supplement their mother’s income.
During high school, Barbara felt called to religious life. Inspired by her high school teachers, the Sisters of St. Anne of Quebec, she entered their congregation on April 8, 1958. After completing her initial formation and her undergraduate degree in education, she taught in both elementary and high schools. While she grew as a teacher, the changes in religious life motivated her to leave the congregation in 1968. For the next 11 years, Barbara taught in secondary schools in Montreal, specializing in Religious Studies and serving as department head for eight of those years.
Moving to Chicago, Barbara received a master’s degree in philosophy from DePaul University in 1974. While pursuing doctoral studies at DePaul, she found housing with the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur living at Julie House in Chicago. After four months of living with the sisters, her deep calling from God was reignited, and she began the process of entering the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. After completing her doctorate in philosophy, she entered the congregation in Cincinnati in 1980, professed her first vows in 1982 and her final vows in 1985.
Barbara’s ministry with the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur began as a professor at the Athenaeum of Ohio where she taught seminarians and future lay ministers for 17 years. She also taught at the College of Mt. St. Joseph and Xavier University in Cincinnati, and at The University of Dayton. After a writing sabbatical in 1999, she became a Research Professor of Spirituality in the Institute of Pastoral Studies and adjunct faculty at Loyola University, Chicago, and at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.
A philosopher, theologian, author, spiritual director and a woman of deep faith, Barbara dedicated herself to speaking, workshops, retreats, consulting, and writing from 2010 to 2022. Because the formation of religious was of great interest to Barbara, she gave presentations to intercommunity novitiate programs in Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati and Philadelphia, to the Religious Formation Conferences in the US and Canada, to formators in England, Scotland and Wales and to leadership conferences in the US, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand among others.
Through workshops, retreats, twelve published books, and numerous other publications, Barbara profoundly impacted countless seekers of God, fostering freedom in thinking, loving, and relating to God. Her courageous words of wisdom impressed the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur in the U.S. as well as the spiritual lives of women and men religious and of others throughout the world.
Some of Barbara’s impact is expressed in the following comments from retreatants.
“Very prophetic. I found her affirming my views on what it means to be a Catholic in today’s world.”
“Very open, challenging, stretching, opening to hope-filled thoughts. Thank you for your great spirit of love, openness and wisdom.”
“A breath of fresh air” “Teaches from the heart!” “So much wisdom and knowledge”
“Excellent theology of the vows… and excellent sense of humor. People were affirmed and liberated by your message.”
Barbara’s friend, Kay Brogle, shared the following reflections. “In addition to Barbara’s very busy life of writing and her schedule of speaking engagements, there was another side to Barbara. She loved to sing and had a beautiful voice. She was artistic, enjoyed whittling small wooden figures and coloring beautiful mandalas. She taught herself to play the flute and took quiet time with reflective music and a vibrating 'singing bowl,' which I blamed Barbara for bringing down the ceiling of my apartment. Barb loved nature, walking in it and spending time at the oceans’ edges. She had a beautiful smile and a great laugh ...which we all shall miss.”
Barbara’s nephew summed it up. “Much like her twin Theresia, they were a force to be reckoned with and loved at the same time.”
Barbara was preceded in death by her sisters, Theresia Fiand Quigley and Johanna Fiand Methot. Surviving are several nieces and nephews, all living in Canada.
May Barbara rest in the peace of our loving and good God!
“My God, what thanksgiving can repay so many blessings!”
St. Julie Billiart - Letter 402
List of publications on request to the Archives of the Ohio Province Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur – Cincinnati, Ohio