Bernarda Heimgartner
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Venerable Bernarda Heimgartner |
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|---|---|
| Religious | |
| Born |
26 November 1822 Fislisbach, Aargau, Switzerland |
| Died | 13 December 1863 (aged 41) Menzingen, Zug, Switzerland |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Attributes | Religious habit |
| Patronage | Sisters of the Holy Cross of Menzingen |
Bernarda Heimgartner (26 November 1822 – 13 December 1863) – born Maria Anna Heimgartner – was a Swiss Roman Catholic professed religious and the co-founder of the Sisters of the Holy Cross of Menzingen. Heimgartner founded this order alongside Theodosius Florentini in 1844 and served as its leader until three months before her death. She had become a professed religious of the Sisters of Divine Providence in 1843 and made her vows in 1844 before establishing her congregation.
Heimgartner's cause for sainthood commenced in 1952 under Pope Pius XII after being titled as a Servant of God. Pope John Paul II confirmed she had lived a life of heroic virtue and named her as Venerable on 26 March 1994.
Maria Anna Heimgartner was born on 26 November 1822 in Switzerland as the fourth of six children of Heimrich Josef Heimgartner (1788–1836) and Anna Maria Trüb. Her father died in 1836 when she was fourteen and this forced her to assume greater home duties. Her maternal uncle – Karl – served as a church pastor.
Her initial education spanned from 1829 until 1837 in Fislisbach and then served as a nurse for children in Baden from 1838 until 1840. In 1840 – on the advice of her priest and confessor Theodosius Florentini – she received training as a teacher from Capuchin nuns.
She studied from 1841 until 1844 with the Ursulines in the German city of Freiburg in the Breisgau region. She entered the novitiate of the Sisters of Divine Providence in 1843. Heimgartner made her religious profession on 16 October 1844 in Altdorf in the name of "Bernarda" while relocating on 17 October 1844 to Menzingen.
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