Sister Maria Dorothea

Sister Maria Dorothea     ND 3962      ⇒ PDF Download
(formerly Sr. M. Dosithea)
Ida Vaske

Maria Regina Province, Coesfeld / Germany

Date and Place of Birth:               October 8, 1925       Halen near Cloppenburg, Germany
Date and Place of Profession:     August 19, 1949       Mülhausen
Date and Place of Death:             February 26, 2015   Vechta, Salus
Date and Place of Funeral:          March 3, 2015          Vechta, Convent Cemetery

“My Lord and my God, you are my all”!

Sister Maria Dorothea‘s life was marked by the strong conviction that God was her all, that he worked everything to the good in her life. The foundation of her faith was laid in her family and in the rural environment.

Sister M. Dorothea, Ida Vaske spent her childhood and her youth in her big and ever growing family. She had 11 siblings, 2 brothers – one of whom died as a little child. Two of her 9 sisters entered religious life, like Sister Maria Dorothea: Sister M. Lazarina, SND (Paula Vaske, deceased in Rheinbach in 1982) and Sister M. Edelgund (Julia Vaske), who entered the congregation of the Franciscans of Mauritz.

On August 20, 1947, Ida was invested and received the name Sr. M. Dosithea, later she chose the name Dorothea. After her first profession, Sister M. Dorothea served with great commitment in the kitchens of different institutions for 25 years. During that time, she completed her formation as a housekeeper in Paderborn.

In 1974, a new chapter which was very important to her began in her life. Sister M. Dorothea became the receptionist in the Liebfrauenhaus and Liebfrauenschule in Vechta. With great circumspection, she managed to establish good contacts with the different groups of people. The teachers loved entering through the main entrance because they were greeted with a friendly “Good morning.” Feeling sick was no longer frightening for the students, because they were well taken care of with tea and biscuits. For the priest, who regularly came for lunch, she was a welcome interlocutor. The homeless could count on an encouraging word and on a good meal.

The people who came for the children’s mass on Sundays also loved entering through the main entrance and their eyes would first turn towards the receptionist’s desk.

During this time, she created many beautiful pieces of needlework which were often used as gifts on various occasions.

In 2002, Sr. M. Dorothea had to take leave of her beloved ministry for health reasons and she was transferred to Marienhain, the then provincial center. In 2004, she moved to the infirmary.

The slow loss of her eyesight was a severe restriction in her life. During the last years, she asked again and again, “Where am I?”

In the chapel, we often heard her pray, “My Lord and my God, you are my all. – Dear God, please, call me and let me be with you. – But I will accept your will.”

On February 26, God fulfilled her deep longing – she could peacefully come home to Him. We believe that God is now her all.