Maria-Theresia Bonzel

Maria Theresia Bonzel was an impressive female figure in the Catholic Church of the 19th century. She was born in Olpe on September 17, 1830 , and baptized Regina Christina Wilhelmina; she was called Aline.

Despite a secure standard of living in a wealthy family, she began early to develop a vigilant sense of the many needs around her.

Firmly rooted in the Catholic faith, marked by an intense prayer life and a deep love for Jesus Christ, she felt a responsibility to help those in need.

Together with like-minded people, she founded a religious community, which received its ecclesiastical confirmation from Bishop Konrad Martin of Paderborn on July 20, 1863, as the Cooperative of the "Poor Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration at Olpe."

Her ideal of life was to live poorly like St. Francis in order to be free for the worship of God and the service of Christ's brothers and sisters. She founded an apostolic and charitable religious community, but she did not want a secular charity or a party to care for the poor, but a community that saw in "adoring and tackling" its two main tasks.

From the beginning, it introduced Eucharistic adoration of God as an obligatory task that would permeate and shape the apostolate, the fulfillment of daily vocational work. Initially, she undertook the care and education of neglected children, a task that was particularly important to her.

With the spread of the religious community in Germany and North America, of which she was the director until her death, she was able to take on other charitable activities such as outpatient and inpatient nursing, care of the elderly, education of young children and of girls in sewing schools and high schools . During her work, she was able to gather more than 1,500 sisters around her and inspire them with wise leadership for her ideals.

Maria Theresia Bonzel died on February 6, 1905 in the Olper Motherhouse. All who knew her experienced her as a unique personality who, deeply anchored in God, radiated infinite goodness and human kindness.

On November 10, 2013, she was received into the circle of the Blessed of the Catholic Church in Paderborn Cathedral.

Here you can find all information about the beatification: Link to the Archdiocese of Paderborn