Divine Mercy Sunday at the Notre Dame Center in Thousand Oaks was a day of celebration in more ways than one for the Sisters of Notre Dame.

Not only did the Sisters host an Open House for the public to get to know them, it was also a celebration of their 30 years in the center --- their provincial home next door to La Reina High School --- that was dedicated by Cardinal Timothy Manning in 1980.

It was a particularly special moment for Sister of Notre Dame Francelia Klingshirn, who literally helped build Notre Dame Center and was among its founding residents. On April 11, Sister Francelia, now in her 90s, was all smiles as she and the Notre Dame community greeted old friends and first-time visitors --- and recalled the building process that began in the mid-1970s.

'He had a job for me'

The Sisters of Notre Dame had come to Los Angeles from Cleveland in 1924, and served in numerous parish schools throughout the archdiocese, establishing Notre Dame Academy in West Los Angeles in 1949.

In 1959 a new Spanish-style novitiate was blessed for the sisters on rural property they had purchased two years earlier in Hidden Valley, adjacent to Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village. The specific area was known as Rancho La Pilarica, a name given by the ranchland's owner, Joseph Breen, after his visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of the Pillar in Saragossa, Spain.

On this property, the Sisters operated Pilarica College, a two-year liberal arts school whose degree earners include Sister Mary La Reina Kelly, current president of La Reina High School (which the Sisters opened in 1964, three years after the California Province was established). Then in the 1970s, said Sister Francelia, "We made the decision to move and began to show our property in Hidden Valley --- and to draw up plans for the new buildings at the same time."

Real estate developer and business mogul David Murdock eventually bought the property. "When the deal closed," chuckled Sister Francelia, "he joked that he had a job for me when I was finished with our project since I had been so insistent about the price."

'It was fun'

In relocating to their new provincial house next door to La Reina High School, the Sisters moved in stages, as buildings were ready. One day while Sister Francelia was working on the construction site with the contractor, a worker pointed to the stacks of furniture and books in storage there and asked her who guarded the property at night. Alerted to the risk of theft, Sister Francelia made an immediate decision that she and two other sisters would move in that night.

"We didn't have cell phones then," she said, "but I found a phone somewhere and called Sister Joann and asked her and Sister Cornelius to come over."

All they had were their blankets, pillows, a change of clothes and flashlights, but that night the three sisters took up residence at Notre Dame Center. Workmen set up their beds in recently completed bedrooms. The sisters ate and used the bathroom facilities at the convent above La Reina High next door.

"It was fun," said Sister Francelia. "We worked in Hidden Valley during the day and came back here at night."

After completely moving into their new home, the sisters used a parlor and then a classroom as their chapel for daily Mass, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, morning and evening prayer. Construction of the new chapel continued.

Cardinal Manning blessed the new buildings on December 7, 1980 and Sister Francelia lit the new sanctuary candle. "We were home," she said.

Expanded ministry

As they continue to serve in education ministry, the Sisters of Notre Dame --- founded in Germany in 1850 --- also serve in parish ministries, while supporting missions around the world (notably Uganda), and actively participating in the Human Trafficking Awareness Campaign.

In Thousand Oaks, the sisters (now numbering 61 in California, about half of them living in Thousand Oaks, and 2,300 worldwide) operate Notre Dame Learning Center, a pre-K program for children ages 33 months to five years. The Learning Center was one of the showcases of the recent open house, along with tours of cloistered areas of the residence to show how women religious live in the 21st century.

The influence of Sister Francelia, a former provincial superior, can be felt in every building of the 50,000-square-foot center behind the high school, starting in the lobby. "We wanted Mary to greet everyone, and I love flowers so Sister Mary St. Ann designed a planter for our reception area along with the mosaic art that you see," she said.

A few years ago, Sister Francelia placed her silk flower arrangements into the planter near a statue of Mary because the live plants didn't thrive.

"The sisters don't put vases in front of Mary anymore in order to protect the formica," she smiled. "That's the eleventh commandment."

For information on the Sisters of Notre Dame, call (805) 494-3243. For information on Notre Dame Learning Center, call (805) 494-0304.