Marie Louise De Meester

Mother Marie Louise De Meester, M.C.R.S.A. (Roeselare, Belgium, 8 April 1857 -- Heverlee, Belgium, 10 October 1928), founded the Missionary Canonesses of St. Augustine in Mulagumudu, then British India. They are now known as the Missionary Sisters of the "Immaculati Cordis Mariae" or Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (I.C.M.), an international religious institute serving in the fields of social and pastoral work, technology and medicine.

As a teenager, De Meester studied to become a teacher and proved to be a competent and kind teacher who was admired and respected by her students. She then decided to leave the school where she taught to be able to serve the poor. On May 4, 1881, she joined the Canonesses Regular of Ypres, Belgium, at the medieval Abbey of Notre Dame de la Nouvelle Plante, to fulfill her calling.

In the 1880s the abbey received an appeal from a Catholic priest in the city of Mulagumudu, then in the British Raj, for help in administering an orphanage. De Meester felt that this was an opportunity to serve for which she had longed. With the permission of her superiors she left Belgium, accompanied only by an enthusiastic volunteer novice of the community, and set sail for India. The pair arrived there, only to find that the priest had died during their journey. Though she lacked the understanding and support of the local bishop, Mother Louise and her companion took charge of the orphanage and began to care for the children it housed.

To find support in their work, new members of the community were recruited, including local women. To allow for the formation of a sustainable community, De Meester saw that separation from Belgium was needed, otherwise candidates would have to travel to Europe for their religious formation as members of the Order. As a result, in 1897 she established a new religious institute called the Missionary Canonesses of St. Augustine.

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