Sister Maria Miralda   

Sister Maria Miralda                     ND 6176                      PDF Download

Maria Louis

Maria Regina Province, Coesfeld Germany

Date and Place of Birth:                  27 February  1936    Aachen
Date and Place of Profession:       09 July            1968   Coesfeld
Date and Place of Death:                19 March        2023   Coesfeld, Kloster Annenthal
Date and Place of Funeral:             28 March       2023   Coesfeld, Convent Cemetery

Maria Louis was the daughter of Peter Louis and Elisabeth Louis, née Ostlender. After completing basic primary and secondary school, she started an apprenticeship as a retail saleswoman in a grocery store. After that, she continued working as a saleswoman. In between, she completed a one-year course in home economics in Switzerland. She was no stranger to housekeeping activities because her mother fell ill at an early age and Maria had to do the housework. After her parents had passed away in 1959 and 1960, she also had to take care of her two younger brothers.

At that time, she was preoccupied more and more with the thought of realizing her long-cherished wish to work in a children’s home. When her brothers did their military service, she started work as an assistant in a group of boys at Vinzenzwerk Handorf on 1 February 1962. She had learnt to deal with boys with her brothers. Since her abilities were noticed, she could be released for training as a home educator in October 1963. After that, she continued working at Vinzenzwerk with the Sisters of Notre Dame.

This gave rise to the wish to become a religious sister herself. In 1965, she started her novitiate in Coesfeld. After her profession, she returned to the children’s home in Handorf, where she ministered until the age of 65. Her engagement for the children was unlimited. With a deep faith and a lot of practical sense, she mastered many problems. Her understanding of the situation of the children was also unlimited. Until her death, she had contact with the former residents of the home and was happy to assist them in various life situations.

When she left her ministry in Handorf, she went to Warstein to assist the sisters there with the closing of the convent. In 2002, she came to the Liebfrauenstift in Münster where she provided for the well-being of the sisters in the kitchen. When this convent was also closed in 2011, she moved to the students‘ hostel in Münster. This house had to be completely renovated. So Sister M. Miralda was transferred to Kloster Annenthal in Coesfeld in 2019. In the course of the years, her strength was waning and she moved to the nursing wing. As recently as February, she was happy that the leukemia that had broken out in her had come to a halt. Unfortunately, health problems came again. She decided that care in the house would be sufficient and prepared for death. “I am ready,” she said. On Sunday, 19 March 2023, the 50th anniversary of her final vows, she passed away in the late evening.

Her motto was, “Ask yourself with everything whether it can please God like this, you must cosult with Him in all deeds.“ Sister M. Miralda has lived her life according to this motto. God was the center of her life, and she was happy to follow His advice, trusting in His help all her life. We believe that it now pleases God to call Sister M. Miralda home into His eternal glory.