On May 22, 1979, our Lord reiterated his wish
to see a community of Nuns be established, as Servants of his Most Holy
Mother.
One year later, on March 19, 1980, the first feminine religious vocations
would start their Postulate as Servants of Our Lady and receive, the
same year, their holy Habit.
Very soon, more vocations arrived: vocations from every walk of life,
every age, answering our Lord's call on August 14, 1981:
"Young men, young ladies,
the young and the not so young, may nothing stop you, may nothing trouble
you, may nothing turn you away from your vocation. Join me at Le Fréchou,
in the religious family I have wanted, and which is dear to me
",
united by a common desire to work in the Lord's field.
A foundation that does not drive
its roots from ordeals and the cross would not be solidly established.
Hardship soon visited Fraternite Notre Dame, with the premature death,
on January 31, 1981, of one of the first nuns, Sister Marguerite Marie
of the Heart of Jesus.
Because new vocations joined Fraternite
Notre Dame, its Founder and Superior General, Bishop Jean Marie was
able in the 80s to set up social and charitable actions: all of which
were based upon great principles found in the Gospel, that are charity
and love of one's neighbor.
Let us mention here, among other
initiatives, the organizing of summer camps for the youth, creation
of a printing shop to spread the Messages from Our Lady of Fréchou,
construction of a Seminary, opening of a school, erection and consecration
of the Chapel of Our Lady of Frechou, Liberator of the Souls in Purgatory,
thus responding to the Message given by Our Lady on March 14, 1979.
During the 1990s, Fraternite Notre
Dame expanded on the international level, with the opening of religious
and humanitarian Missions on four continents. When seeing the physical
and moral distress of the poor, the starving, the sick (especially those
afflicted with HIV and AIDS), prisoners and orphans,
Bishop Jean-Marie
wished that Fraternite Notre Dame's members be at the service of all,
as instruments of peace and mercy. Then were opened soup kitchens and
weekly food pantries in Paris, New York, Oulaanbaatar (Mongolia) and
Chicago, allowing most destitute people to get at least a decent, daily
meal.
The sick have not been forgotten
either: visits to the sick in hospitals, assistance to those affected
with AIDS, opening of a hospital for the poorest of the poor in Mongolia;
and also humanitarian convoys to benefit those victimized by war in
Rumania, Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Rwanda, etc.