At Compiegne, servants of Mr Camus, the manager of Gournay, abandon Julie in courtyard of an inn.

Unable to walk and not knowing anyone, she receives the hospitality of a charitable family. But her reputation as a devotee is dangerous in a city that favors the Revolution, and to evade her pursuers, she is forced to change hiding places five times in a three years.

Totally paralyzed and lonely, she lives united to God who reveals her mission: She sees a group of sisters,in a religious habit she has never seen before, gathered around Jesus on the cross.  The features of the sisters are so clear to her that she is later be able to identify actual persons she has seen in the vision.  At the close of this experience she hears the words:

"BEHOLD THE SPIRITUAL DAUGHTERS WHOM I GIVE TO YOU IN THE INSTITUTE WHICH WILL BE MARKED BY MY CROSS." 

No place records the places Julie stayed in Compiegne, but perhaps one charitable family who gave her refuge was the ladies of Chambon, living on rue des Grandes-Stables.

Mgr. Lamarche met Julie in 1793 and wrote: "she offered herself as a victim to God continually ... her prayer was almost continual...."

The Wall of Names

In the Heritage Centre is an architectural attempt to capture the essence of Julie's Founding Vision.  It is a black wall that lists names of women who made Vows with the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur--from February 2, 1804 forward.