Blessed Rosa Flesch

Maria Rosa Flesch (born Margaretha Flesch, 24 February 1826 – 25 March 1906), was a German religious sister in the Roman Catholic Church. She founded the Franciscan Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Angels, whose first Mother Superior she was. Flesch tended to the poor and to the ill as well as orphaned children before becoming a religious sister and also oversaw the construction of both an orphanage and a hospital. Flesch also had practical experience in nursing and worked as a home nurse and a nurse to children. Her beatification was celebrated on 4 May 2008. Her feast is 19 June, the anniversary of her profession. Margaretha Flesch was born in 1826 in the German Confederation to Johann Georg Flesch and his wife. Her mother died in 1832 and her father re-married not long after this. She also had seven siblings after her and had three half-siblings from her father's second marriage; one sibling was Maria Anna while one stepbrother was Giles. The death of her mother saw them move elsewhere to Niederbreitbach as a chance to improve their economic fortunes. The death of her father in 1842 forced her to work hard to provide for her stepmother and her siblings. It was around that time she self-taught herself nursing. In the autumn of 1851 Margaretha left her parents' house and moved with her sister Maria Anna into one of the two hermitages in the Kreuzkapelle on the Wied between Waldbreitbach and Hausen. Conditions in the unheated dwelling during snowy winters were harsh. Between 1852 until 1863 she worked in sewing in different schools but also worked as a nurse at the homes of clients and worked with orphans. In 1850 she met the pastor Jakob Gomm and had her first contacts with the Franciscans around this time. Her devotion to Saint Francis of Assisi was quite strong since her childhood. In 1862 she first met James Wirth and soon after built an orphanage and a hospital.