THE NORMS were handwritten by Mother Frances between March and October 1883. They are notes, a first draft of the rules for the Sisters of the Catholic Teaching Society, which Mother Frances sent to Fr. Jordan. Later, Fr. Pancratius Pfeiffer numbered them from numbers 102 to 115, thus continuing the list of letters that Mother Frances had written to Fr. Jordan in the period between 1883 and 1885. The General Archives of the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother holds copies of the original Norms. There are 83 handwritten pages, accompanied by an introductory page written in pencil by Fr. Pancratius Pfeiffer that reads "First Draft of the Rules for the Sisters of the Catholic Teaching Society; Written by Sr. Streitel; Written by others (some corrections by the hand of the Reverend Father)”.

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These Norms contain 14 topics concerning religious life. They express, with very concrete instructions, the ideals and lifestyle that Mother Frances desired for the sisters. The Norms follow the numbers assigned by Fr. Pancratius Pfeiffer. To facilitate reading and use of the text, each number and subject is divided into paragraphs, identified by letters of the alphabet.