Sister Maria Walburga

Sister Maria Walburga             ND 4733                     PDF Download
Maria Hentemann

Maria Regina Province, Coesfeld, Germany

Date and Place of Birth:                November 05, 1930   Damme-Osterfeine, County Vechta
Date and Place of Profession:     April 23, 1957             Mülhausen
Date and Place of Death:              April 14, 2017             Mülhausen, Infirmary
Date and Place of Funeral:           April 20, 2017             Mülhausen, Convent Cemetery

Sister Maria Walburga, Maria Hentemann, was the second child born to Bernard Hentemann and his wife, Johanna, in Osterfeine, County Vechta.  With her seven siblings, she spent a happy childhood and youth that were marked by the down-to-earth Catholicism of the Oldenburger Land and a life close to nature on her parental farm. So it was natural for her to stay at home after completing basic primary and secondary school, and to help with joyful commitment with the many daily tasks in the house and on the farm.

At the same time, however, she felt the wish to enter religious life and to dedicate her life to God. On May 25, 1954, she entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Notre Dame in Mülhausen. In the beginning, she felt very homesick and thought she would not be able to stay in Mülhausen. But when she was allowed to assist in the garden, in the fields, and in the stable, she overcame her homesickness and silently and gently continued her journey during all her years of religious life.

Sister Maria Walburga spent almost all her life in active ministry at the provincial center in Mülhausen, where she completed all her tasks with great commitment, care, and friendliness.   She was a woman who listened, who did not talk much, and who was very attentive and welcoming towards all the people with whom she lived and worked. The following excerpt from the text “Adsum,“ by an anonymous author, describes very well how we experienced Sister Maria Walburga:

Being ready means doing what the hour demands.
It means accepting with a good will.
I will see whether you are ready, not by your words, not by your deeds,
but by your attitude towards life, perhaps by your look.

This readiness to embrace God’s will characterized her life and embellished it, even when illness and old age gradually weakened her strength and she kindly and gratefully accepted all the necessary help.

Sister Maria Walburga remained in close contact with her big family all her life. For them, their aunt was the one who prayed for them, to whom they could entrust their concerns, and who listened attentively when they visited her.

We are grateful for her life with us and for her silent acceptance of her infirmities and suffering.

In the night before Holy Friday and only days before her Diamond Jubilee, she gave her life back into God’s hand, and God let her participate in His resurrection.