Sister M. Richtrudis Haase

✝ Thursday, January 19th 2023

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The Lord is my shepherd, nothing will I lack. (Psalm 23)

In the 89th year of her life, the good and merciful God completed the life of our dear Sister M. Richtrudis on January 19, 2023.

Sister M. Richtrudis was born in Gronau on August 15, 1934. She grew up there in the circle of her family and attended the Buterland elementary school. She got to know and appreciate the Mauritz Franciscan Sisters at St. Antonius Hospital in Gronau. She was able to realize her desire to become a religious sister at the age of 22, when she entered the motherhouse in Muenster. On August 11, 1956, she entered our religious community. On May 3, 1959, she made her first profession.

She completed her nursing training at the St. Franziskus Hospital in Münster and later took the Ward Manager course at the Caritas Institute in Freiburg. After her first assignments in Ascheberg, Mettingen and Straelen, where she was able to gain practical experience, she specialized in marternity care and worked in the maternity wards in Suedlohn, Mettingen and Ahaus. There she was able to help many mothers to get to know and accept their newborn children.

Sister M. Richtrudis did not have stable health, so she had to give up the ward management in 1989. After that she took care of the older Sisters in Telgte, Kroge and Nordwalde. When her strength diminished more and more, she herself became a resident of the nursing station at St. Francis House in Nordwalde, where she was lovingly accompanied by the staff and the fellow sisters.

Sister M. Richtrudis was a calm and prudent fellow sister who enjoyed the prayer life of our Congregation. For many years she participated in the liturgy and served as lector and prayer leader. Especially during her times of illness and suffering, she knew that she was united with the suffering Savior. The good contact with her family was another source of strength for her.

We gratefully bid farewell to Sister M. Richtrudis. We remain united to her in prayer and in the celebration of the Eucharist.

On Monday, January 23, 2023, we will celebrate the Resurrection Mass for Sister M. Richtrudis at 10:00 a.m. in the chapel of St. Francis House in Nordwalde and then say goodbye to her at the parish cemetery, where she will find her final resting place.