On Friday June 23rd, 1797, the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a pact was signed which became a seed from which Sion grew. Turkenstein in a small village in the Voges Hills near Strasbourg. The Pact of Turkenstien was a commitment made by Abbe Colmar, Marie Therese Breck and Louise Humann who devoted their lives to the Christian instruction of young people and to the care of the sick. They placed this work under the protection of the Sacred Heart

Many years later, in the spirit of the Pact of Turkenstein, Louise Human, then living in Strasbourg opened her house to a group of philosophy students. Among these young people were Louis Bautain (who later founded the Sisters of St Louis) and Theodore Ratisbonne. (The founder of Notre Dame de Sion) Louise Human became the ‘Spiritual Mother’ of the group and was particularly influential on the faith journey of Theodore whom she baptised on Holy Saturday, 14th April, 1827.