Saint Maria Katharina Kasper

Mary Catherine Kasper, A.D.J.C. (German: Maria Katharina Kasper) (born Katharina Kasper; 26 May 1820 – 2 February 1898) was a German Catholic Religious Sister and the foundress of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ. Kasper entered the religious life later in her life despite having harbored a desire to become a religious sister for a very long time. It did not materialize earlier due to aggravating circumstances such as Kasper's poor economic status and the deaths of both her father and her brother. Moreover, due to the secularization under Napoleon, no female religious orders existed in her region. Her dedication to the poor and the will was noted during the course of her life and she dedicated herself to this work with great zeal. Kasper's canonization process launched in the 1940s and on 4 October 1974 the investigations into her cause were accepted by the Holy See for further study and she was granted the title of Venerable; Pope Paul VI beatified her not long after on 16 April 1978. Pope Francis confirmed her canonization which was celebrated on 14 October 2018. Maria Katharina Kasper was born on 26 May 1820 in Dernbach (now part of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate in western Germany) as the third of four children to the devout peasants Heinrich Kasper and Katharina Fassel . Her father had four daughters from his first marriage with Anna Margaretha Hannappel . Her siblings were Peter, Christian and Joseph. In her childhood she liked to read and placed a particular emphasis on the Bible and The Imitation of Christ. Kasper attended school in her hometown (from age six to fourteen though frail health often kept her at home) and helped in her parents' potato patch while also doing household chores such as spinning and weaving. To the children she sang songs and often told them stories. Kasper also worked in the fields and one such job she was entrusted with was the splitting of stones for road construction in the areas around the field.