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Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart
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Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart

Good Shepherd sister and Porto superior tied to the 1899 consecration to the Sacred Heart

Rank
Blessed
Kind
Mystic, Religious
Life
1863 – 1899
Era
19th century
Feast
8 June
Countries
Germany, Portugal
GermanyPortugal

Life story

Maria Droste zu Vischering was born on 8 September 1863 in Münster, Germany, with a twin brother, Max, into a wealthy family of counts. She grew up at Darfeld Castle and was taught at home by a governess. In April 1879 she began school with the Sacred Heart sisters at Riedenburg, where she first felt a call to religious life.

On 21 November 1888 she began her novitiate with the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd at Münster. She received the habit on 10 January 1889 and took the name Mary of the Divine Heart. In the mid-1890s she was sent to Portugal and became mother superior of the Good Shepherd convent in Porto.

She reported visions and messages from Jesus urging devotion to the Sacred Heart and the Eucharist. According to the sources, she (through her confessor) asked Leo XIII to consecrate the human race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In 1899 Leo XIII issued the encyclical Annum Sacrum, set the consecration for 11 June 1899 and called it the greatest act of his pontificate.

She died in Porto on 8 June 1899, three days before the consecration. Her body is exposed in the Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus at Ermesinde, Portugal. Paul VI declared her Venerable on 13 February 1964 and beatified her on 1 November 1975. Her feast day is 8 June. She has not been canonised.

Works and witness

  • Began her novitiate with the Good Shepherd Sisters at Münster on 21 November 1888
  • Became superior of the Good Shepherd convent in Porto in the mid-1890s
  • According to the sources, asked Leo XIII to consecrate the world to the Sacred Heart
  • Died in Porto on 8 June 1899
  • Beatified on 1 November 1975

Saints from the same country

Saint Ambrose, Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), Saint Bruno of Cologne

References

  • CatholicSaints.Info, “Blessed Maria Droste zu Vischering”, catholicsaints.info/blessed-maria-droste-zu-vischering/
  • Catholic Encyclopedia, “Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd”, newadvent.org/cathen/06647c.htm

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.