FEAST OF BLESSED MARY OF THE DIVINE HEART
A life centred on Jesus
and love for His Heart
On the strength of this love, for which she abandoned a highly prestigious social position, the life of Blessed Maria Droste was characterised by an exceptionally active and solid apostolate, rooted in a contemplative and mystical dimension.
Darfeld Castle (Münster) where he lived with his family
Maria Droste had to dig deep into her heart in search of a well in the desert, so that she would not dry up in the multiplicity of daily tasks.
The extraordinary mission of his life, however, was the appeal to Pope Leo XIII to consecrate the human race to the Sacred Heart as asked by the Lord Jesus in his interior conversations. On her deathbed, on Friday 8 June 1899, in Oporto, after receiving two copies of the encyclical, sent by the Pope himself through the Apostolic Nuncio in Portugal, she died at three o’clock in the afternoon while the sisters were about to begin the triduum with the celebration of First Vespers of the Sacred Heart.
His life bears witness to the fact that integrating contemplation and action is a daily task and a permanent challenge for each of us.