RATISBONNE (FRATELLI). — I. «Théodore-Marie, b. at Strasbourg on 28 Jan. 1802, d. in Paris on 10 Jan. 1884.
Son of a Jewish banker, a jurist, baptized in 1827, ordained priest in 1831, he spent several years in the Seminary of Strasbourg and from 1840 lived in Paris. There in 1843 he founded with his brother Alphonse the Congregation of the Daughters and Missionaries of Our Lady of Sion.
Among his many works, the best are: *Histoire de St Bernard et de son siècle* (2 vols., Paris 1840; 11th ed. 1893); *Manuel de la mère chrétienne* (ibid. 1859; 11th ed. 1894); *Nouveau manuel des mères chrétiennes* (ibid. 1870; 22nd ed. 1896); *Méditations de St Bernard sur la vie présente et future* (ibid. 1864); *Le Pape* (ibid. 1870); *La question juive* (ibid. 1868).
II. — ALPHONSE-MARIE, brother of the preceding, b. at Strasbourg on 10 May 1812, d. at Ain Karim (near Jerusalem) on 6 May 1884.
Lawyer, banker, freethinker, he grew more hostile to Catholicism after his brother’s conversion. But on 20 Jan. 1842, in Rome, in the church of Sant’Andrea delle Fratte, he experienced the celebrated vision of Our Lady of the Miracle, which led to his conversion. Ordained priest in 1847, he belonged for a time to the Society of Jesus, from which he withdrew with the permission of Pius IX in order to join the Congregation founded by his brother. In 1855 he went to Jerusalem, where in 1856 he founded for the Daughters of Our Lady of Sion the convent of the Lithostrotos or Ecce Homo. He remained in Jerusalem until his death, except for a brief stay in Rome out of devotion to Our Lady of the Miracle, to whom he owed his conversion.
Principal works: *Conversion de M. M.-A. R., racontée par lui-même* (Le Mans 1842); *Lettre de M. M.-A. R. sur sa conversion* (Lyon 1842); *Inauguration du sanctuaire de l’“Ecce Homo” à Jérusalem* (Paris 1842).
- See pl. XXII.