Maria Theresia Scherer
Swiss nun (1825-1888)
Feast: 16 June (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Anna Maria Katharina Scherer was born at Meggen, Lucerne, on 31 October 1825 to farming parents; her father died when she was seven. Sent to study with nursing sisters in Lucerne, she had to overcome a natural revulsion at contact with the helpless sick.
As Mother Maria Theresia she co-founded the Sisters of Mercy of the Holy Cross of Ingenbohl, for the schooling of children in rural and mountain areas and for the sick, the poor and those in need.
The miracles
The Dicastery's biography does not describe the miracles approved in the cause.
Why that counted as sanctity
A farmer's daughter who overcame her own revulsion to serve the sick and the poor.
- Dicastery for the Causes of Saints - biography: Maria Theresia Scherer
- Wikidata Q117573 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Maria Katherina Scherer (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.