Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart

Mary of the Divine Heart (Münster, 8 September 1863 – Porto, 8 June 1899), born Maria Droste zu Vischering, was a German noblewoman and religious sister of the Catholic Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd. She is best known for having influenced Pope Leo XIII to consecrate the world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Pope Leo XIII called the solemn consecration "the greatest act of my pontificate". She was beatified by Pope Paul VI in St. Peter's Square on 1 November 1975. Maria Anna Johanna Franziska Theresia Antonia Huberta Droste zu Vischering was born with her twin brother Max (Maximilian Droste zu Vischering) on 8 September 1863, the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the Erbdrostenhof Palace, in Münster, the capital city of Westphalia, Germany. She was a daughter of a wealthy, noble German family, which distinguished itself by its fidelity to the Catholic Church during the persecution of the Kulturkampf. Her parents were Klemens Heidenreich Franz Hubertus Eusebius Maria, the count Droste zu Vischering, and Helene Clementine Maria Anna Sybille Huberta Antonia, the countess of Galen. Because of the fragility of her health, Vischering was baptized immediately at birth. Maria Droste zu Vischering spent her childhood with her family in the Castle of Darfeld, in Rosendahl near Münster, and was a child full of life. Vischering was taught at home by governesses. On 25 April 1875, Maria and her brother Max received their First Communion. In April 1879, Vischering continued her education at the boarding school of the Sacré-Coeur Sisters in Riedenburg, Bavaria. While there, she heard a homily on Psalm 45: "Listen, my daughter, and understand; pay me careful heed. Forget your people and your father's house, that the king might desire your beauty". Vischering decided that she should become a religious. While at school, she contracted pneumonia and, shortly before her 18th birthday, returned home to recover.