Venerable Clara Fey

Clara Fey (11 April 1815 – 8 May 1894) was a German Roman Catholic Nun and the founder of the Sisters of the Poor Child Jesus. Her life was dedicated to providing aid to the poor, with particular emphasis on education, first in Aachen and later in the Netherlands. A decree introducing her cause for beatification was issued in 1958 by Pope Pius XII, at which time she became titled a Servant of God. In 1991, following confirmation of her heroic virtue by Pope John Paul II, she was titled Venerable. Pope Francis confirmed a miraculous healing attributed to her intercession on 4 May 2017. Her beatification was celebrated in Aachen on 5 May 2018. Clara Fey was born on 11 April 1815 in Aachen, the fourth of five children of wealthy textile industrialist Louis and his wife Katherine. Louis was to die following a stroke in 1820, when Clara was aged five years. Fey studied under noted teacher Luise Hensel and became acquainted with Pauline von Mallinckrodt and Franziska Schevier. In her childhood she observed the poor conditions in her town and was resolved to aid the poor in their suffering more so because of the importance her mother placed on helping those less fortunate than herself. To that end she would later set up a school with some likeminded friends in Aachen in 1837 in order to cater to the educational needs of poor children. Fey's brother Andreas would go on to become a priest, later serving as the vicar of the Saint Paul parish in Aachen. On 2 February 1844, Fey established the Sisters of the Poor Child Jesus in Aachen, as a means of leading children to Jesus Christ and educating children in a religious environment. Around 1835 she started to read the works of Teresa of Ávila and professed a desire to become a Carmelite nun. In 1841, however, her spiritual advisor Wilhelm Sartorius motivated her to instead read the works of Francis de Sales for greater theological inspiration. Fey made her vows as a nun in 1850.