Sister M. Lutbalda Drüken

✝ Sunday, February 11th 2024

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It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
(Saint Francis of Assisi)

The Lord, merciful and gracious, completed the life of our dear Sister M. Lutbalda née Rita Drüken, Hospital Sister of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis.

Birth: May 23,1936
Entrance: August 9, 1957
First vows: May 3, 1960
Eternal life: February 11, 2024

Sister M. Lutbalda was born in Lohne, as the daughter of the stone mason Engelbert Drüken. Here, she grew up here with her four siblings. After leaving school, she trained as a housekeeper in St. Arnold, where her aunt lived as a Mauritzer Franciscan Sister. She followed her into the Congregation in 1957. After completing her nursing exam, Sister Lutbalda worked as a ward sister and surgical nurse in Lingen, Harsewinkel and Recke. In 1986, she completed her geriatric nursing studies in Munich. She then moved to Gronau-Epe and Friesoythe. In 1990, she returned to her home town in Lohne and provided the patients in the hospital with good books.

In 2008, Sister M. Lutbalda suffered a serious heart attack, after which she had to be ventilated for several weeks. This changed her life and led her into an even deeper relationship with God.

At her request, Sister M. Lutbalda moved to St. Anna-Stift in Kroge as a senior citizen in 2015. She worked in the house as much as her strength allowed after her serious illness. In recent times, she longed for heaven and often wondered, when a Sister had died, whether God had forgotten her. He had not forgotten her. He fulfilled her wish on Sunday afternoon. In the morning, the Sisters found her unconscious in her bed. As an emergency patient, she was taken to the hospital in Vechta, where she returned her life into God’s good hands in the presence of her Sisters.

Gratefully we say farewell to Sister M. Lutbalda. In prayer and in the celebration of the Eucharist, we remember her and remain as Sisters united with her.