Born
Soultaneh Maria Ghattas on 4 October 1843 to a Palestinian family in
Jerusalem, she spent her whole life working among the poor of Palestine. Her early education was at a school in Jerusalem founded by the
Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition. At the age of 9, she received the
sacrament of Confirmation. When she was 14, Ghattas joined the
Congregation of St. Joseph of the Apparition as a
postulant. Just before her 17th birthday, she received the holy
habit of the Religious of St. Joseph of the Apparition and the name, Marie-Alphonsine. In Bethlehem, she received several apparitions of Mary directing her to found a Palestinian congregation known as the "Sisters of the Rosary." In 1880 seven young girls prepared by Joseph Tannous, priest of the
Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, received the religious habit of the new foundation from the hands of Patriarch Bracco. That same year, Ghattas received a dispensation from Rome to leave the community of the Sisters of St. Joseph and entered the new congregation. She received the habit from the hands of Bishop Pascal Appodia, auxiliary and patriarchal vicar, on the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, 7 October 1883. ==Beatification==