From its beginning in France in 1842, the congregation of Notre Dame de Sion quickly spread to Turkey, Jerusalem, England, Romania, Costa Rica, Egypt, Tunisia, Italy, Brazil, Austria, Australia and Hungary. At the invitation of the Dominican Fathers, the sisters of Sion arrived in North America in 1892 to Lewiston Maine, and also later to Auburn and Brunswick, Maine. They opened thriving schools and had religious instruction for hundreds of children and adults, mostly French Canadians in Maine. However, since the Dominicans had not sent teachers for the boys, they left Maine with 60 young sisters who had entered in the 12 years. more... See more text