At Ingenbohl near Schwyz in Switzerland, Blessed Maria Theresia (Anna Maria Katharina) Scherer, virgin, who was the first to govern the Sisters of Charity of the Holy Cross.
Lifespan: 1825–1888
Beatified: 29 October 1995 by Pope John Paul II
Memoria liturgica: 16 June
“Obedience is the most direct path to reaching the summit of perfection.”
Maria Theresia, in the world Anna Maria Caterina Scherer, daughter of Carlo and Maria Sigrist, farmers, was born on 31 October 1825 at Meggen in the Canton of Lucerne, Switzerland.
At the age of seven she was left without a father, and was cared for by other relatives until she was sixteen. Her natural intelligence led to her being sent to study in Lucerne with sisters dedicated to the care of the sick in the city’s hospital; there she had to summon her inner strength to overcome an innate repugnance she felt at contact with patients, especially those unable to care for themselves.
But God’s designs are inscrutable. During a pilgrimage to the shrine of Einsiedeln she felt within herself the call to religious life, and then came the decisive encounter: on 5 October 1844 with the Capuchin father Theodosius Florentini, founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of the Holy Cross of Ingenbohl, which she joined with the intention of working alongside him in his apostolate — for which reason she is regarded as co-foundress.
On 27 October 1845, in the chapel of the convent of Wurmsbach near Zurich, Caterina Scherer pronounced her vows together with four other founding companions of the new Congregation, taking the name Sister Maria Theresia. On 5 February 1855 the founder Father Theodosius Florentini died suddenly, and all the responsibilities and concerns that the founding work demanded fell upon her.
In 1857 she became Superior General at the motherhouse of Ingenbohl, and committed herself to putting the Rule into practice. The Rule prescribed: “The Institute of Ingenbohl shall concern itself with the education and instruction of youth from the cradle through professional formation, shall care for the poor and the sick, the abandoned, orphans, and the unfortunate of every kind and description, and for prisoners.”
Her great vitality brought fame and importance to the Congregation, which soon became known beyond Switzerland; works of social care and assistance arose throughout Europe. At her death at Ingenbohl on 16 June 1888, there were 422 houses with more than 1,500 sisters. Her tomb in the church of the motherhouse is the destination of continuous pilgrimage, with testimonies of graces received through her intercession.
She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 29 October 1995.