Mary Frances Schervier

Mary Frances Schervier, (; 3 January 1819 – 14 December 1876) was a German Catholic nun who founded the Poor Sisters of St. Francis. Schervier was beatified by Pope Paul VI in 1974.

Early life Frances Schervier was born on 3 January 1819 into a wealthy family in Aachen in the Kingdom of Prussia (present-day Germany). Her German father, Johann Heinrich Schervier, owned a needle factory and was the vice-mayor of Aachen. Her French mother, Maria Louise Migeon, ran a strict home environment.

By her early teens, Schervier wanted to join a religious order. However, Maria Migeon died In 1832 from tuberculosis; her two older daughters died in 1833. Schervier was forced to put aside her plans to run the household. Over the next few years, she developed an awareness of th desperate conditions of the poor and started helping them.

In 1837, some prominent women in Aachen started a society to help the poor; they asked Johann to allow his 19-year-old daughter to join them. Schervier started visiting sick people in their homes to nurse them. She also volunteered at Saint John's Kitchen, a meal center operated by Joseph Istas, the curate at Saint Paul Parish. She was deeply impressed by Istas' dedication to his ministry. Johann was unhappy with Schervier.s activities, fearing that she would introduce infectious diseases into their home. Johann died in 1845.

Third Order of St. Francis No longer tied to caring for her father, Schervier and four friends in 1845 joined the secular branch of Third Order of St. Francis, an group of lay people who followed the teachings of Francis of Assisi. The women moved into a house in Aachen, where they spent their time in religious exercises, household duties, and caring for the sick and poor. The women opened a food kitchen; they also brought female sex workers and women suffering from syphilis into the house. Relying entirely upon donations for support, the women experienced extreme poverty. By 1848, the Aachen branch of the Third order had 13 women as members. Schervier and 23 of her colleagues were invested as the Poor Sisters of St. Francis on 12 August, 1851. Schervier was elected as the mother superior.

United States During the 1850's, large numbers of Catholics immigrated to Cincinnati, Ohio, from the German states. As few of them spoke English, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati needed German-speaking sisters to operate hospitals, schools and orphanages. Archbishop John Baptist Purcell in 1858 asked the philanthropist Sarah Peter to find sisters for the archdiocese. On the advice of Pope Pius IX, she contacted von Geissel, who recommended speaking to Schervier.

With the beginning of the American Civil War in 1861, St. Mary's Hospital started receiving a large number of wounded soldiers. Schervier made her first visit to the United States in 1863 to visits the nuns in Cincinnati and help at St. Mary's Hospital. Schervier visited the United States in 1863, and helped her Sisters nurse soldiers wounded in the American Civil War.

After the war, Schervier in 1868 made a second visit to Ohio. She attended the dedication of a new hospital facility for St. Elizabeth's, which was now staffed by 12 Poor Sisters. Frances Schervier died in Aachen on 14 December 1876.

Legacy When Schervier died, there were 2,500 Poor Sisters worldwide.

Veneration

Beatification In 1934, the Vatican opened the canonization cause for Schervier. In 1969, Pope Paul VI proclaimed the "heroicity of the virtues" of Schervier and declared her "Venerable". In 1972, Paul VI, on appeal by Bishop Johannes Pohlschneider of Aachen, granted an apostolic dispensation that required the Vatican to only certify one miracle for Schervier's beathification.

In 1973, the "medically inexplicable" and sudden cure of Ludwig Braun from a life-threatening pancreatic and intestinal ailment was recognized as the miracle necessary for the beatification of Schervier. The decree recognizing the Braun miracle was signed in October 1973 by Paul VI. The pope beatified Schervier on 28 April 1974, in RomeI.

Candidacy for sainthood In March 1989, Thomas Siemers was in a hospital, comatose after suffering a massive brain hemorrhage. His prognosis was no recover. His wife Susan prayed a novena over a card bearing Schervier's image and asked for her intercession. Thomas awoke soon after this and was transferred to a rehabilitation center ten days later. He eventually regained his health.

In July 2008 the cause for Schervier's canonization was introduced in Rome by Tiziana Merletti, congregational minister of the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor, and Sister Katharina Maria Finken, S.P.S.F., superior general of the Poor Sisters of St. Francis.

In April 2009, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati opened the Diocesan Inquiry Process to gather evidence on the Siemers cure. It closed in December 2009. In March 2010, the Vatican opened up the documents from the Diocesan Inquiry in Rome.