The Catholic Church has beatified the woman religious who founded the Sisters of the Redeemer. The congregation's work in the U.S. has evolved and expanded to become the present-day Holy Redeemer Health System of Huntingdon Valley, Pa., with a hospital and a network of outpatient and long-term care facilities and a transitional housing program for homeless mothers and children.
Clergy celebrate the beatification of Mother Alphonse Maria Eppinger at a Mass at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Strasbourg, France. Strasbourg is near the town of Niederbronn, where Mother Eppinger was born and where she lived much of her life. She died in 1867.
At the start of this year, Pope Francis attributed a healing miracle to Mother Alphonse Maria Eppinger, a step that officially concluded the decades-long process of study to determine her eligibility to be considered for sainthood. The beatification took place during a Sept. 9 ceremony at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Strasbourg, France, with Cardinal Angelo Amato presiding. Mother Eppinger now is called "blessed."
Sr. Anne Maria Haas, CSR, is province leader of the Sisters of the Redeemer in Meadowbrook, Pa. She said that while the hope is that Blessed Alphonse Maria Eppinger one day will be canonized a saint, "our main desire is to — through the witness of her life — give people hope."
Precocious spirituality
The Redeemer sisters' founder was born Elisabeth Eppinger on Sept. 9, 1814, in the village of Niederbronn, in the Alsace-Lorraine region of northeastern France. The eldest of 11 children in a peasant family, she immersed herself in prayer and meditation from an early age, according to a website supporting her beatification. People were drawn to her as a mystic, and she began to welcome dozens of visitors each day while still living in her parents' home.
Eppinger felt called to religious life. Her spiritual director encouraged her to found her own community rather than join another, in light of her special spiritual gifts, according to the beatification website. Frequently ill and weak during her childhood — she had been bedridden for extended periods as a youth — she gained great empathy for the ill, particularly those who were impoverished. She wished to be part of a congregation devoted to providing care to the sick in their homes — an unusual calling at that time.
With the blessing of the Diocesan Bishop of Strasbourg, in 1849 she founded the Congregation of the Daughters of the Divine Redeemer as an order devoted to prayer, sacrifice, service and care of the poor, children and the sick. She took the name Sr. Alphonse Maria. In time, she came to be called Mother Alphonse Maria.
Expanding ministry
During her lifetime, the congregation spread its ministry to France, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria and Hungary evolving into five congregations.
In 1924, a dozen sisters from the German branch traveled to the United States to expand their ministry. In time they established a presence in various states including New Jersey and Pennsylvania, ministering to the poor and sick. Their charism and work would be a foundation for the Holy Redeemer Health System.
Sainthood cause
The Sisters of the Redeemer marked her beatification Sept. 23 with a Mass celebrated by Bishop Michael Fitzgerald, auxiliary bishop of Philadelphia. Sr. Haas said, "It is meaningful to us that her life story, because of the beatification, is becoming known worldwide. People desperately need the good news of such a story of faith. Blessed Alphonse Maria led such a simple life, yet was profoundly holy, and her holiness drove her to those most poor, sick and marginalized.
"It was in the faces of vulnerable people where she most vividly saw the face of Christ," Sr. Haas said.
Copyright © 2018 by the Catholic Health Association
of the United States
For reprint permission, contact Betty Crosby or call (314) 253-3490.