Maria Droste zu Vischering
| Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart (Droste zu Vischering) | |
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Portrait of Blessed Sister Mary of the Divine Heart, countess of Droste zu Vischering and Mother Superior of the Good Shepherd Convent in Porto, Portugal.
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| Blessed / Religious of the Good Shepherd / Messenger of the Sacred Heart of Jesus | |
| Born |
September 8, 1863 Münster, Germany |
| Residence | Erbdrostenhof Palace (birth); Castle of Darfeld (childhood); Convent of the Good Shepherd Sisters in Porto (until her death) |
| Died | June 8, 1899 (aged 35) Porto, Portugal |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church |
| Beatified | November 1, 1975, St. Peter's Square, Vatican by Pope Paul VI |
| Major shrine | Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Ermesinde) |
| Feast | June 8 |
| Patronage | Priests and devotees of the Sacred Heart of Jesus |
Sister Mary of the Divine Heart (Münster, September 8, 1863 – Porto, June 8, 1899), born Maria Droste zu Vischering, was a person of old German nobility (Uradel) and Roman Catholic nun of the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, best known for having influenced Pope Leo XIII to make the consecration of the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Pope Leo XIII himself called this solemn consecration "the greatest act of my pontificate".
Maria Anna Johanna Franziska Theresia Antonia Huberta Droste zu Vischering was born with her twin brother Max on September 8, 1863, solemnity feast of the Nativity of Our Lady, in the Erbdrostenhof Palace, in Münster, a city in the North Westphalia region, Germany, the daughter of one of the most wealthy and noblest German families who distinguished themselves by their fidelity to the Catholic Church during the persecution of the Kulturkampf – her parents were Klemens Heidenreich Franz Hubertus Eusebius Maria, the count Droste zu Vischering, and Helene Clementine Maria Anna Sybille Huberta Antonia, the countess of Galen. Because of the fragility of her health, Maria was baptized immediately at birth.
Maria Droste zu Vischering spent her childhood with her family in the Castle of Darfeld, near Münster, and was a child full of life. Her mother said that "She doesn’t mind her dress. She is running into the mud, jumping into the wet grass and the bushes until she is so dirty that she has to change every stitch.”
Maria was taught at home by governesses. On April 25, 1875, Maria and her brother Max, received First Communion. In April 1879 Maria continued her education at the boarding school of the Sacré-Coeur Sisters in Riedenburg in Bavaria. While there, she heard a homily on Psalm 45 where it says, “Listen, my daughter, ... forget your father’s house..., the king will fall in love with your beauty…” Maria decided that she should become a religious. During the spring of 1879, while listening to a particular devotion of one of the sisters to the Heart of Christ, Maria Droste zu Vischering reached an important conclusion: "I began to understand that without the spirit of sacrifice the love of the Heart of Jesus is merely an illusion".
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