Venerable Alphonse-Marie Eppinger

Alphonse-Marie Eppinger, SDR; 9 September 1814 – 31 July 1867), born Elisabeth Eppinger, was a French Catholic nun and the founder of the Sisters of the Divine Redeemer. Eppinger's cause for sainthood was opened on 30 August 2005 and she was declared Venerable on 19 December 2011 after Pope Benedict XVI confirmed her life of heroic virtue. Pope Francis confirmed a miracle attributed to her in 2018; the beatification was celebrated in Strasbourg on 9 September 2018. Élisabeth Eppinger was born in France on 9 September 1814 as the eldest of eleven children to poor farmers. She suffered from various ailments during her childhood and was noted for her ardent faith in God. Her parish priest Jean-David Reichard (1796–1867) knew of her desire to establish a religious congregation and aided her in finding companions for her project. In 1846 she saw a vision of Jesus Christ and this began a series of ecstasies she soon became known as "the Niederbronn Ecstatic". But Reichard also learned of her ecstasies and felt obligated to inform his bishop of this. The Bishop of Strasbourg Andreas Raess heard of her from Reichard and met her in July 1848 to conduct tests and interviews with her while being convinced of her intentions to serve the ill and the poor. Raess also believed that God had called Eppinger for a special mission. Father Claude Ignatius Busson published a series of writings on her – three sets – from 1849 until 1853 in response to these ecstasies. On 28 August 1849, she founded the Sisters of the Divine Redeemer after renouncing her dream of joining the Sisters of Ribeauvillé; she became the congregation's first superior. Her order received diocesan approval around that time. She made her religious vows on 2 January 1850 in the religious name of "Alphonse-Marie". Eppinger placed her order under the patronage of Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori.