Eleonore Margarete Weiss

For twenty years, Sister Maria Fidelis led a humble life at the Reutberg monastery as an organist and teacher. At the same time, she lived an intense mystical life with weekly visions of the Passion of Christ and the sorrows of Mary. On Good Friday 1919, she experienced a mystical union with Christ and offered herself as a victim soul. Afflicted by serious illnesses, notably laryngeal tuberculosis in 1922, she died with patience on February 11, 1923, at the age of 40.

The mystical life of Sister Maria Fidelis was only revealed at her funeral by her spiritual director, Father Johann Mühlbauer. The publication of her biography in 1925 spread her reputation for holiness. The diocesan informative process opened in 1936 in the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising. Her remains were transferred to the Reutberg monastery church in 1938, which became a place of pilgrimage. The diocesan process was closed in 1977 and the apostolic process opened in 1982.

On June 1, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her theological and cardinal virtues, conferring upon her the title of Venerable. Her cause for beatification continues under the direction of the postulator Pierluigi Cameroni, awaiting the official recognition of a miracle attributed to her intercession.

The spirituality of Maria Fidelis Weiss is based on the radical imitation of Jesus Christ, love of neighbor, and abandonment to the divine will. She held a deep devotion to the Eucharist and the Virgin Mary, and valued suffering experienced in union with Christ. Her tomb at the Reutberg monastery in Sachsenkam remains an active place of pilgrimage for many European faithful.