DROSTE ZU VISCHERING, MARIA (MARIA of the Divine Heart). - Religious of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, born into a noble family in Münster on 8 September 1863, died in Porto (Portugal) on 8 June 1899, held in the esteem of holiness. Having become a religious, she zealously promoted the consecration of the human race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, writing several times to Leo XIII, who later granted the persistent prayers of the servant of God. She offered herself as a victim of love and reparation.
Her cause for beatification was introduced on 28 November 1941.
Bibl.: L. Casle, Suor Maria del Divin Cuore, 2nd ed., Torino 1929; AAS, 34 (1942), pp. 41-43. Silverio Mattei