Maria Katharina Kasper

Maria Katharina Kasper was born on 26 May 1820 in Dernbach (now part of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate in western Germany) as the third of four children to the devout peasants Heinrich Kasper (Dernbach, 30/12/1773 - Dernbach, 26/01/1842) and Katharina Fassel (Bilkheim 14/12/1785- Dernbach, 20/03/1848). Her father had four daughters from his first marriage with Anna Margaretha Hannappel (1776 - Dernbach, 23/10/1814). Her siblings were Peter, Christian and Joseph. In her childhood she liked to read and placed a particular emphasis on the Bible and The Imitation of Christ. Kasper attended school in her hometown (from age six to fourteen though frail health often kept her at home) and helped in her parents' potato patch while also doing household chores such as spinning and weaving. To the children she sang songs and often told them stories. Kasper also worked in the fields and one such job she was entrusted with was the splitting of stones for road construction in the areas around the field. Kasper often traveled to a Marian shrine and took fellow children there too. At an early age resolved to consecrate her life to God. During adolescence Kasper worked in the fields to support her parents, while her vision of a vocation grew clearer as she worked. On January 26th 1842 her father died and in the same year one of her brothers died whilst on his way back from trading in the Netherlands; their deaths splintered the household. Her step-sisters received her father's estate. She and her mother were forced to leave their home; Their poor economic condition aggravated the situation. They rented a room at the home of Matthias Müller and she did weaving for a meager living to support herself and her mother. Her mother died sometime after this which left Kasper alone but free to pursue her call to the religious life. ==Career==

She wanted to become a nun but not in a pre-existing religious congregation. She wished to combine the contemplative spirit of Mary with and active life of Martha in the service of God. This would have meant leaving her home region, as there were no women's religious orders present due to secularization. Yet there were still (male) members of these orders (from formerly existing monasteries) living in her area, e.g., Franciscans and Cistercians in nearby Montabaur. Due to their presence and also their ongoing religious activities their spirit lived on. Kasper encountered this not only in Montabaur but also during her stay in Limburg. With the help of other locals and family, she built her own little house in Dernbach which became the first house of the community. The first local girls, who helped her to nurse children and the sick in the village, lived at their respective family homes. The activities of her group did not go unseen, particularly as their activities grew. The local mayor made a public announcement about the group, gave them some guidelines, and asked the villagers to make donations to them. Also the priests from neighbouring Wirges and Montabaur were informed. They probably passed the information to Peter Joseph Blum the Bishop of Limburg, who Kasper also visited. In time, some of the girls from the village moved into Kasper's house, and also women from other villages. What began in 1845/46 as a dedicated but loose circle, now needed larger premises. It also became an association dedicated to entering organized religious life and would form the basis for the religious congregation that Kasper would create. ==Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ order==

On 15 August 1851 Bishop Blum received the first vows of the group in Wirges church. ==Death==

Kasper suffered a heart attack on 27 January 1898 and died in Dernbach motherhouse at dawn of the Feast of the Presentation (2 February 1898). She was buried at the sisters' private cemetery near to the motherhouse. Her remains were transferred to the order's motherhouse chapel in 1950. From their first placing in a vault they were due to the beatification (1978) transferred into a shrine-casket placed underneath the altar. ==Legacy==

Her order now operates, besides Germany in countries across the world such as Brazil, Great Britain, India, Kenya, Netherland, Nigeria and Mexico. At her death in 1898, there were 1725 religious in 193 houses, but in 2008 they numbered 690 religious in 104 houses. The United States Motherhouse for the PHJC's is in Donaldson (Plymouth), Indiana. ==Canonization==

The beatification process began in Limburg in an informative process that opened in 1928 and was closed less than a decade later in 1935. Kasper's spiritual writings were approved by theologians on 27 November 1937. The formal introduction to the cause came on 3 February 1946 under Pope Pius XII and Kasper became titled as a Servant of God. ==References==