Mother Maria Tauscher

Blessed Mother Maria Tauscher

Blessed Mother Maria Tauscher is remembered as the founder of the Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus, a religious congregation created to welcome, support and care for abandoned children and the most vulnerable members of society.

She was born on June 29, 1855 in Sandow, near Frankfurt on the Oder, today located in Poland, daughter of the Lutheran pastor Hermann Traugott Tauscher and Pauline van den Bosch. Raised in a Protestant environment, she converted to Catholicism in 1888, a decision that caused a painful break with her family.

After her conversion, Maria Tauscher also lost her job at a psychiatric clinic in Cologne and experienced years of great hardship. She worked as a cleaner and domestic servant in a convent in Berlin, living a simple life inspired by deep Christian faith.

During this period, she was deeply moved by the large number of abandoned children living on the streets because their families, burdened by poverty and work, were unable to care for them. She therefore decided to dedicate her life to helping the poorest and most vulnerable children.

In 1891, she founded in Berlin the “Home for the Homeless” (Heim für Heimatlose), dedicated to Saint Joseph. Over time, other sisters joined her mission and, following the Carmelite rule, adopted the name Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus.

German ecclesiastical authorities initially refused to recognize the new religious congregation. The sisters therefore moved to the Netherlands, where they established a novitiate in Sittard. In 1905, the headquarters of the order were transferred to Rocca di Papa, near Rome, and in the same year Pope Pius X officially recognized the congregation.

Mother Maria Tauscher served as superior of the order until her death on September 20, 1939, in Sittard. Her relics still rest today in the Dutch city.

The Order of the Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus quickly spread throughout Europe and later also to America and Africa. Today the congregation counts around 5,000 sisters engaged in educational, charitable and missionary works.

The beatification of Maria Tauscher took place in 2006 in the cathedral of Roermond, in the Netherlands, officially recognizing her life dedicated to charity and service to others.

Iconography: Blessed Mother Maria Tauscher is depicted wearing the habit of the Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus and holding a cross.

Feast day: September 20.

Patronage: Invoked as a symbol of charity, care, protection of children and Christian faith.