Karolina Gerhardinger

Description

Blessed Karolina Gerhardinger, S.S.N.D. (20 June 1797 – 9 May 1879) (also known as Mother Maria Theresia of Jesus) was a German Roman Catholic religious sister who founded the School Sisters of Notre Dame. Gerhardinger served as an educator in Bavaria until the establishment of her order which provided free education to the poor and soon expanded in Europe.

The canonization process for Gerhsrdinger was opened in 1952 under Pope Pius XII when she was declared a Servant of God. Pope John Paul II declared her Venerable in 1983 and beatified her on 17 November 1985.
Gerhardinger was born in Bavaria on 20 June 1797 as the sole child of Willibard and Franziska Gerhardinger.

As a young woman, her parish priest encouraged Gerhardinger to become a teacher, as did the Bishop of Regensburg, Georg Michael Wittmann. She commenced her training as a lay teacher at the local monastery of the Canonesses Regular of Notre Dame, founded by Peter Fourier, C.R.S.A., in 17th century France for the free education of poor girls. She developed her skills as a teacher at the monastery until it—-like all monastic communities—-was closed in 1809, after Bavaria had been occupied by the Napoleonic army. By 1812 she had secured a teaching accreditation and began teaching at a girls school in Regensburg. In 1815 she asked Wittmann for guidance on entering the religious life. Unable to pursue this religious calling, however, she taught at that school from 1816 until 1833.

In 1828 the Bavarian government reached an accord with the Holy See, which allowed religious communities to re-establish themselves. Gerhardinger eventually decided to begin an order of her own, devoted to Christian education of poor children. She took as her model the Constitutions of the Augustinian canonesses, but adapted to a more flexible way of life than that required by their enclosed life.

Gerhsrdinger moved in with two companions to start living the religious life on 24 October 1833 – this saw the formal establishment of the Poor Teachers Sisters of Notre Dame, commonly called the School Sisters of Notre Dame. There were initial complications for official recognition but King Ludwig I granted them approval for a monastic cloister in March 1834. She made her religious vows in the Saint Gallus chapel in Regensburg on 16 November 1835 and assumed the name of “Maria Theresia of Jesus”. She accompanied five religious in 1847 to the United States to assist the many German immigrants who were starting new lives there in great numbers, often without a command of English. The order received initial approval on 21 January 1854 and full approval from Pope Pius IX in 1865. From 1850 the order spread to England and other European nations.