Feast 18 May | Name Blandine Merten | |
 | ||
Venerated in Trier and by Ursulines order Beatified 1 November 1987, Vatican City, by Pope St. John Paul II Died May 18, 1918, Trier, Germany | ||
Blandine Merten
Blessed Blandine Merten (born Maria Magdalena Merten; 10 July 1883 in Duppenweiler – 18 May 1918 in Trier), is a German member of the Ursulines order and religious teacher, who spent her entire life educating young people.
Contents
She was beatified on 1 November 1987 by pope John Paul II. In liturgy, she is commemorated on 18 May.
Biography
Maria Magdalena was the ninth of eleven children born into a farming family. Between 1902 and 1908 she taught children in a secular environment but at the age of 25, she decided to join the Ursulines of Mount Calvary (near Ahrweiler), initially to teach and to deepen her understanding of religion. She eventually took her vows in 1913, taking the name of sister Blandine of the Sacred Heart.
She led a simple life, devoted to the children entrusted to her, associating action and contemplation with the huge devotion she felt towards the Eucharist.
She died of tubercolosis at the age of 35 years and she was buried at the Basilica of St Paulinus at Trier.