Campus Tour with Sr. Roseanne Murphy, 1:45 p.m., Meets at the library, Join one of NDNU’s premier historians for a fascinating tour of the NDNU Campus. Learn about the history of Ralston Hall, the sisters’ early beginnings here, and the story behind each of NDNU’s buildings. There was only three of us including a faculty member.
Sister Roseanne Murphy was very knowledgeable, and I enjoyed the tour very much!
We started off the tour with the peace pole located by the chapel. I never seem to realize it's existence until today. The peace pole says "May peace prevail on Earth" in different languages of the different continents that the congregation is in. Sr. Roseanne said that the congregation is located in 5 of the 7 continents of the world (Africa, South America, England, Peru, etc.) Next we stood in front of Saint Julie Billiart's statue with a child, and she briefly detailed her life. It was interesting to know that Sr. Roseanne Murphy wrote a book on Saint Julie Billiart's called WOMAN OF COURAGE. The book is available in the Library to read. What I heard about St. Billiart was that she was born in Cuvilly (reasons for the name of the building cuvilly), France. She founded the Congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame in 1804. After her cure (she was paralyzed for 30 years), she dedicated her life to educating children. She opened a total of (54) schools during her lifetime. I am not sure if the number is correct. Well the story goes:
She was in France at the time of the Revolution. There was a decree of the new revolutionary government that wanted control of the Catholic Lands and to take away the hierarchy away from the church and keep it from the government. She was forced into hiding because she was being hunted down. A wealthy individual hid her and her niece (I forgot her name) at a chateau in the countryside. She was paralyzed during this time so it must have been difficult. When people found out where she was hiding, they went to the town and started a huge bonfire. They wanted to put St. Billiart on a blanket and put her over the fire saying, "We will make her dance" in reference to her medical situation. The groundskeeper (whoever was there a father and son) even though they were sympathetic to the cause, they hid St. Billiart and her niece in a cart of HAY and wheeled them through the town while the people were getting ready to go and storm the house. What a miraculous escape that was!
Before you enter the chapel, there are three crests up above the doors. One for the community and one for the college. Lilys represents Francoise Blin de Bourdon (the other founder), and roses represent St. Julie Billarts because her name was MARIE ROSE JULIE.
The tour then continued into the chapel. Each of the SCULPTURED glass in the chapel was carved by Gabriel......I didn't catch the last name. The windows are not STAINED glass. The first glass on the left when you enter the chapel is the Wise Virgins/ Foolish Virgins- both waiting for the bridegroom. Symbol of the one who is wise enough for Christ's coming. Opposite the Wise Virgins is St. Julie. She was purposely placed there because she is the wise virgin that waited for God to tell her what to do. She had a vision/dream of Christ on the cross surrounded by sisters (dressed like nuns) and she heard a voice saying, "I give you a congregation marked by the cross." She was in her late forties and couldn't take care of herself. Felicity (her niece) had to sell lace to feed them. She trusted that God would show her the way.
Sister Roseanne Murphy was very knowledgeable, and I enjoyed the tour very much!
We started off the tour with the peace pole located by the chapel. I never seem to realize it's existence until today. The peace pole says "May peace prevail on Earth" in different languages of the different continents that the congregation is in. Sr. Roseanne said that the congregation is located in 5 of the 7 continents of the world (Africa, South America, England, Peru, etc.) Next we stood in front of Saint Julie Billiart's statue with a child, and she briefly detailed her life. It was interesting to know that Sr. Roseanne Murphy wrote a book on Saint Julie Billiart's called WOMAN OF COURAGE. The book is available in the Library to read. What I heard about St. Billiart was that she was born in Cuvilly (reasons for the name of the building cuvilly), France. She founded the Congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame in 1804. After her cure (she was paralyzed for 30 years), she dedicated her life to educating children. She opened a total of (54) schools during her lifetime. I am not sure if the number is correct. Well the story goes:
She was in France at the time of the Revolution. There was a decree of the new revolutionary government that wanted control of the Catholic Lands and to take away the hierarchy away from the church and keep it from the government. She was forced into hiding because she was being hunted down. A wealthy individual hid her and her niece (I forgot her name) at a chateau in the countryside. She was paralyzed during this time so it must have been difficult. When people found out where she was hiding, they went to the town and started a huge bonfire. They wanted to put St. Billiart on a blanket and put her over the fire saying, "We will make her dance" in reference to her medical situation. The groundskeeper (whoever was there a father and son) even though they were sympathetic to the cause, they hid St. Billiart and her niece in a cart of HAY and wheeled them through the town while the people were getting ready to go and storm the house. What a miraculous escape that was!
Before you enter the chapel, there are three crests up above the doors. One for the community and one for the college. Lilys represents Francoise Blin de Bourdon (the other founder), and roses represent St. Julie Billarts because her name was MARIE ROSE JULIE.
The tour then continued into the chapel. Each of the SCULPTURED glass in the chapel was carved by Gabriel......I didn't catch the last name. The windows are not STAINED glass. The first glass on the left when you enter the chapel is the Wise Virgins/ Foolish Virgins- both waiting for the bridegroom. Symbol of the one who is wise enough for Christ's coming. Opposite the Wise Virgins is St. Julie. She was purposely placed there because she is the wise virgin that waited for God to tell her what to do. She had a vision/dream of Christ on the cross surrounded by sisters (dressed like nuns) and she heard a voice saying, "I give you a congregation marked by the cross." She was in her late forties and couldn't take care of herself. Felicity (her niece) had to sell lace to feed them. She trusted that God would show her the way.
- The 2nd glass on the left: is the Annunciation with flames going to Mary saying "be done unto me."
- The 3rd on left. The glass is "Our Lady of Sorrow" and you can see her tears on the glass.
- 4th window on left-Virgin crushing the head with the heel. God's hand is above her head and it means that through her we can conquer evil.
- 5th window- From a prophecy " I will send a virgin with a child." The anchor is a symbol of hope and it is on the bottom right of the glass
- Opposite the fifth window- Is our lady of Pentecost, where the flame came to all the apostles
- Next window- Woman head is crowned with 12 bright stars. Book of Revelation talks about the monsters that will devour her child (Monsters are WAR, HUNGER)
Cross on the back wall with circle - It is called Celtic cross. Name comes from Ireland because they worship the sun. Chapel was open in 1962
7. The wedding feast. Shows Mary with her back to Jesus. She tells him "Son, they have
no more wine." Jesus tells the Stewart to go to the well and fill the jugs with water.
Sr. Roseanne Murphy said the window gave her a new point of the meaning behind it at one point in her life, "Sometimes in life we are happy, tired, exhausted doing ordinary things. We may not even know that we are participating in a Miracle and not even know it!"
8. Next window- Young Mary goes to see the older Elizabeth. Elizabeth had knew that
Mary was pregnant even though she was too young in her Pregnancy to see physically.
The back windows represented strong women. Esther was a Jewish married to a King. Bad guy wanted to wipe out all the Jews, and eventually, she won the king over, and the bad guy was killed. Another window has Issac's bride REBECCA with two rings above her head. She pretended to worship the true God but had her idol dolls on the side. Did she represent married women? Another window was of Judith, and she was in mourning garbs when she was met with Holofernes. He was trying to get rid of all the Jews. She tricked him into having dinner several times, and she got him drunk, and she cut his head off with his sword.
The woman in the middle is from the book of Proverbs and a wise woman. She is beloved of her husband and spun her cloth. She was the ideal wife, bride. They are all interesting women.
It was customary in those days for women who became sisters to change their name for
- A symbol of putting on new life
- They took on new names to hide their background. They were all sisters and were all the same and it worked for them
Sr. Roseanne mentioned then that Roseanna is not her birth name. She is a twin, Anne is her sisters middle name and Rose is her mother's name. Even when she had a chance to change it, she kept it till now.
She took us to the Ralston Hall and gave us an in-depth History of the Ralston Family. William Chapman Ralston owned this building and it was his summer home where his children and wife were kept. He was a rich a powerful man in California. He also opened the Bank of California. His financial empire collapsed and he died the very next day. There are mysteries surrounding his death still til this day.
We next were introduced to the Grotto of Saint Bernadette Soubirous.
She is best known for seeing the apparition of the Immaculate Conception. I didn't even know that this place existed in the corner because it is hidden from plain view. There are statues depicting the apparition in the garden. I felt very peaceful standing in the garden.
That was the end of the tour. Sr. Roseanne Murphy was kind enough to give us a sheet with the names of the buildings, where the name was derived from and what the building serves as now.
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