Counsels on the Inner Life  (10)

   What will the flames feed upon, but your sins? The more you spare
yourself now, and indulge the desires of the body, the more severe
will be your punishment hereafter, and the more fuel you gather for
the flames. In whatever things a man sins, in those will he be the
more severely punished (Wisd.11:17). Then will the slothful be spurred
by fiery goads, and the gluttonous tormented by dire hunger and
thirst. Then will the luxurious and pleasure-loving be plunged into
burning pitch and stinking sulphur, while the envious will howl their
grief like wild dogs.
--Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 2 Ch 1

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19 June – Blessed Maria Rosa/Margaretha Flesch FSMA
Also known as Margaret Flesch, Maria Rosa Flesch and Mother Rosa

 Religious Sister and Founder of the Franciscan Sisters of the Blessed
Virgin Mary of the Angels, Apostle of the sick, the poor, orphans,
spiritual writer, Nurse and Teacher. Margaretha assumed the new
religious name of “Maria Rosa” after she made her profession into her
own order and was its first Mother Superior and of which Order, she is
the Patron. Her feast is today, 19 June – the date of her solemn
profession – rather than the date of her death.

Margaretha Flesch was born to a poor oil-seed miller on 24 February
1826, in Schönstatt, near Koblenz, in Germany. She was the oldest of
seven. When her mother died in 1832 the family moved to
Niederbreitbach, in the hope of improving their financial situation. Margaretha’s father died when she was 16, leaving her and her
stepmother to care for her siblings. Since no social services for the
poor existed then, the family was left to fend for itself.

Margaretha worked as a day labourer, gathered and sold herbs and was
skilled in handicrafts. The needs of the people, especially orphans
and the sick were one of her major concerns, motivated as she was by
strong faith in God she felt called to serve the poor, the sick and
the helpless.

In Autumn 1851, Margaretha and her sister Marianne moved into the
small quarters at the Chapel of the Holy Cross in Waldbreitbach. They
lived parsimoniously, trusting God for their daily sustenance while
serving the poor and sick of the community. In addition to working as
a day labourer, Margaretha took in orphans and taught home economics
in some of the nearby schools.

In 1856, Margaretha was joined by two women who also felt called to
serve the poor and sick. In 1860, the local pastor invited them and
the orphans to move to premises in Hausen.

These premises proved totally uninhabitable. In the Spring of 1861
they were at last able to begin building their first house on
Waldbreitbach Chapel Mountain. It was to be their residence and a home
where they could care for the sick. On 11 November 1861, they moved
into their first “St Mary’s Home.” Her great devotion to Francis of Assisi since her childhood was instrumental in her founding her own Franciscan-branched order on 13 March 1863. During this time, Mother
Rosa also built an orphanage and a hospital.

On 13 March 1863, with two other women, Margaretha professed the
Evangelical Councils, publicly, in the Chapel of the Holy Cross. She
took the name of Maria Rosa. She was known henceforth as Mother Rosa,
the first Superior General of the Franciscan Sisters of the Blessed
Virgin Mary of the Angels.

Her Congregation increased rapidly. By 1878 there were 105 Sisters
serving in 22 mission homes. It was also in that year, that she ended
her term as Superior General. The Congregation thrived and when Mother
Rosa died on 25 March 1908 there were 900 Sisters and 72 mission
houses serving the sick and the poor, now spread as far as the
Americas and in many countries of Europe.
Mother Rosa died on 25 March 1906. Her order received the decree of
praise of Pope Pius X on 12 December 1912 – after her death – and
later received the full papal approval of Pope Pius XI on 30 April
1928.

“It is through service to others, lovingly given,” Mother Rosa said, “that we reach a special fulfilment and union with our Lord.”

In 1957, the cause for her Beatification was introduced in Rome. … Vatican.va

The decree on her writings was approved on 21 November 1980 and was
placed under the care of theologians so that the latter could
investigate her written works, in order to ensure that each of them
adhered to Church doctrine and did not contradict or oppose it.
Following this the diocesan process received ratification from the
Congregation for the Causes of Saints in 1999. The miracle needed for
her Beatification was investigated from 1998 until 1999 in Trier and
involved the healing of Monica Schneider in the evenings of 5 and 6
September 1986. The C.C.S. approved the process of completing its work
in 2001 and took possession of the boxes of documents for their own
evaluation. It did not receive the approval of the Pontiff until 2007.
Cardinal Joachim Meisner presided over the Beatification on 4 May 2008
on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI.

The current Postulator assigned to the cause is the Franciscan
Giovangiuseppe Califano.

https://anastpaul.com/2020/06/19/


“Do everything
out of love for God,
for God,
with God,
to get to God.”
--Bl Maria Rosa Flesch FSMA (1826-1906)

Saint Quote:
God overthrows the thrones of those who are disobedient to His law. My political views are those of the Our Father.
-- Saint Avitus of Vienne

Bible Quote:
For God formed man to be imperishable; the image of his own nature he
made him. But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world, and
they who belong to his company experience it.  (Wis 2:23-24 )


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Catholic Mother's Daily Prayer for the Children

O Mary, Immaculate Virgin and Sorrowful Mother,
commend our beloved children to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Who
refuses nothing to His Mother.

Holy Guardian Angels,
Pray for them.
St, Joseph, powerful patron,
Pray for them.
St. John, beloved disciple of the Heart of Jesus,
Pray for them.
St. Augustine,
Pray for them.
St. Anthony,
Pray for them.
St. Anne, mother of Mary,
Pray for them.
St. Monica
Pray for them.

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