Blessed Alphonse Marie and her Sister’s Respond to the Epidemics

Holy Father Francis says that “the crisis of the coronavirus pandemic affects all of us: both rich and poor. He talks about the descent to the reality of the inconspicuous saints, especially those who stand in the front line in the battle against the coronavirus, trying to help the sick.

We can also include among these inconspicuous saints our Foundress, Blessed Alphonse Marie Eppinger, who founded our Congregation in the time of devastating epidemics in 1849, in spa town of Niederbronn, Alsace, France.

She was called – literally – the inconspicuous saint by Swiss Protestant theologian Walter Nigg. Once, when he briefly visited a cloister, he saw her picture. She caught him so much that he devoted his talent to her and wrote a little book about her. He states in it that he is convinced of her sanctity, although she is inconspicuous. Why?

She left the work, which has existed for 170 years and it is still current. Even today, her Sisters stand by beds of the sick, regardless of rank or religion, simply, they serve everyone indiscriminately.

We live in a time when the coronavirus pandemic still threatens us. We look for a way to survive, to help, to be close to those who are affected, and to pour into them a hope.

Thus acted also Bl. Alphonse Marie in the fight against the devastating epidemic, shortly after founding the Congregation.

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