Sister Maria Restituta

On October 29, the Catholic Church remembers Sister Maria Restituta, born Helen Kafka. The daughter of a shoemaker, she was born in 1894 and grew up in Vienna Austria. She joined the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity at the age of 20 and took the name of Maria Restituta, an early Christian martyr.

She began working as a surgical nurse in Austria at the age of 25. When the Germans occupied Austria, she became an opponent of the Nazi regime. They ordered her to remove the crucifixes she had hung in each room of a new hospital wing. She refused to do so and was arrested by the Gestapo on Ash Wednesday in 1942. She was sentenced to death for “aiding and abetting the enemy in the betrayal of the fatherland and for plotting high treason”.

During her imprisonment, the Nazis offered to release her is she would abandon her order, but she refused to do so. She was beheaded on March 30, 1943. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on June 21, 1998.

Today, as we remember Sister Maria Restituta, let us also read these words, found written on a piece of wrapping paper in the Ravensbruck concentration camp:

Lord, remember not only the men and women of good will, but also those of ill will. But do not only remember the suffering they have inflicted on us; remember the fruits we bought, thanks to this suffering: our comradeship, our loyalty, our humility, the courage, the generosity, the greatness of heart which has grown out of all this. And when they come to judgment, let all the fruits that we have borne be their forgiveness. – Anonymous.

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You can find it here (even though I have some conflicts about Halloween)