Sister M. Josefa

Born: March 13, 1938
Entrance: February 4, 1961
Professed: October 28, 1963
Died: April 25, 2026

St. Joseph, patron of the dying, accompanied our Sister on her journey to her eternal home, Sister M. Josefa, née Josefa von Wulfen, Hospital Sister of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis.

St. Joseph, we honor you, for God chose you to be the foster father of His Son.

(Prayer from the monastic tradition)

Sister M. Josefa came from Hollenstede in the Bersenbrück district to join our congregation. She grew up there on a farm with her siblings. Two of her siblings died in childhood, and her mother died suddenly of heart failure shortly before she entered the Congregation. Temporarily, Josefa had to take over the household. At the age of 23, she was able to enter our Congregation. She received the religious name Sister M. Ascelina at her investiture, which she later exchanged for her baptismal name, Josefa.

Sister M. Josefa trained as a nurse and housekeeper, working in several hospitals and the congregation’s own facilities. In 1998, she completed a course in pastoral care for the sick and elderly. This enabled her to expand her nursing ministry to incorporate the pastoral element.

As she herself said, Sister M. Josefa spent her happiest years, from 2007 onwards, in Lingen-Biene where she took on domestic duties in a small convent. The Sisters had grown close, forming a kind of small family unit. When the convent had to be dissolved in 2022, they returned to Münster together and moved into St. Heriburg House. Sister M. Josefa also had a good relationship with her family and always looked forward to their visits. Sister M. Josefa’s great passion was music. She played the trumpet, sang in the choir and led Breviary prayers, using her beautiful singing voice.

We bid Sister M. Josefa a grateful farewell. Like her mother, she, too, died suddenly of a heart disease. In prayer and in the celebration of the Eucharist, we remember her and remain united with her in sisterly love.

Our special sympathy goes out to her family and to the surviving Sisters of the former convent in Lingen-Biene, Sister Angela Maria and Sister M. Emilianis. Sister M. Ancilla will be waiting for her in heaven.

On Wednesday, April 29, 2026, we will bid farewell to Sister M. Josefa at the Resurrection Mass at 2 p.m. in the Motherhouse Church and then accompany her to her final resting place in the Sisters’ Cemetery. Afterward, we can share our memories of her over coffee at the Motherhouse.