Julie Billiart

1751-1816 18th century Feast day: April 8

Unshakeable trust in the goodness of God, held even through the ordeal of the body.

Who was Julie Billiart?

A Picardy peasant, paralysed for twenty-two years then healed at fifty-six, she founded the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur through the Revolution and exile, devoted to educating poor girls. Her whole life fits into one phrase she repeated endlessly.

In their own words

Ah, how good the good God is.

Her constant phrase, Letters

Trust, love, total abandonment into the hands of God: this is our strength, our support.

Words attested by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur