Founder of the Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate (1860-1943)
Her life
+ Maria Joefa Carolina Brader was born Kaltbrunn, Switzerland. Raised in a pious family, she was an intelligent child and received the best education her parents could provide and they had high hopes for her future prospects.
+ Maria Josefa ultimately discerned a call to religious life and entered the Franciscan convent of Maria Hilf in Alstatten in 1880, receiving the religious name “Maria Caridad (Charity) of the Love of the Holy Spirit.”
+ Sister Maria Caridad worked as a teacher and, in 1888, traveled with five other sisters of her community to serve as missionaries in Chone, Ecuador. She worked as a teacher for five years there, before being sent to Tùquerres, Colombia.
+ To more effectively serve the needs of the missions, she established a new community: the Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate. First made up of Swiss girls who wanted to missionaries, the community soon welcomed women from Colombia and throughout Latin and South America. The sisters emphasized education for themselves and their students and were known for their dedication to praying for anyone in need.
+ Blessed Maria Caridad died in Pasto, Colombia, in 1943. She was beatified in 2003.
To learn more about the Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate, visit: https://franciscansistersofmaryimmaculate.net/
Quote
See God’s will in everything, and do His will with joy, out of love for Him.”—Blessed Maria Caridad
Prayer
O God, who raised up blessed Maria Caridad in your Church to show others the way of salvation, grant us, by his (her) example, so to follow Christ the master, that we may come with our neighbor into your presence. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(from The Roman Missal: Common of Holy Men and Women—For Educators)
Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.
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