Sister M. Bernreda

Born: August 13, 1936
Entrance: January 31, 1959
Professed: October 28, 1961
Died: August 14, 2025

He who gives us flowers and herbs called his “flower friend” and fellow sister, born by the name Antonia Fastermann, Hospital Sister of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis, to him.

“Be praised, my Lord, through our sister Mother Earth, who feeds us and rules us, and produces various fruits with colored flowers and herbs.”

(Canticle of the Sun)

Sister M. Bernreda was a true Franciscan who made the Canticle of the Sun her life’s song. We knew her as a true flower lover. In all the convents, you could tell that Sister M. Bernreda was there by the floral decorations in the chapel and in the house. We especially remember her 26 years in Seppenrade. The flowers in the convent garden and on the Sisters’ graves bloomed much larger than elsewhere. When asked about this, she said that you had to talk to them and give good fertilizer to the roots. In winter, she grew the flowers in the greenhouse and then planted them in the spring. People came from near and far to admire her garden.

In addition to being a nurse, Sister M. Bernreda was also a dietitian and head of the kitchen in Dorsten for 18 years. She then completed the annual seminar for senior sisters in Göttingen and became the assistant to the superior in Gladbeck and Oberhausen-Osterfeld and herself superior in Liesborn.

In Seppenrade, she was finally able to turn her hobby of gardening into her main profession. She was put in charge of the garden. She also took over the driving service for the Sisters and contributed her beautiful singing voice to the convent’s prayers.

When the convent in Seppenrade was dissolved in 2021, she moved to St. Franziskus House in Nordwalde as a senior citizen. By then, she had exhausted her strength, so she lovingly allowed herself to be cared for by the staff of the nursing station until she gave her life back into God’s hands on the afternoon after her 89th birthday.