Like Germany, Like America

Some of the new foundations in Covington corresponded to the beginnings of the congregation in Coesfeld. Besides teaching, sisters took over orphanages in Cold Spring, Kentucky and in Bond Hill, Ohio. In 1877 the sisters were introduced to St. Aloysius Orphanage. The speaker on this occasion “thanked” his Excellency Count Bismarck whose expulsion of the Sisters of Notre Dame brought them to America.

It was at this time that the superior general, who had been forced to leave Prussia, arrived in Covington. Mother Mary Chrysostoma had come to America for good. She soon saw that the congregation was no longer a seedling but a tree with strong roots.

When the last sisters expelled from Germany arrived on August 26, 1877, it was obvious that a larger center had to be made, one that could handle all the sisters during vacation months and a place for infirm sisters. Since Cleveland had the more favorable location, that would be the center for the congregation in America. The solemn profession of four novices and the investment of three postulants by Bishop August Többe on March 20, 1878, marked the close of the three-year history of Covington as the temporary center of the congregation in the USA.