Maria Anna Brunner — a Legacy of Faith

A 19th-century lithograph of Mother Maria Anna Brunner

In just two years, Maria Anna Brunner turned a special calling from God into a unique congregation of women religious that's lasted more than 175 years and made its way from Switzerland to the United States and Latin America. Her faith was that strong, and her inspiration to others that profound. Today, we carry with us her devotion to Precious Blood spirituality and her dedication to helping others as we serve as faithful witnesses to God's love in our world.

Maria Anna Brunner's first vocation was as the matriarch of a large Swiss family that included six children. After her husband passed away and her children were grown, Maria Anna received a new calling from God during a pilgrimage to Rome. She was graced with an overwhelming awareness of God's love for her and for the world, shown through the outpouring of Jesus' blood. She took her newfound devotion to the Precious Blood of Jesus home with her to Castle Loewenberg in Switzerland. Here, in 1834, her Precious Blood spirituality, deep prayerful love for the Eucharist, and efforts to help the poor attracted other women seeking contemplative lives of service.

The grave of Mother Maria Anna Brunner in the Salem Heights cemetery, Dayton, Ohio

Mother Brunner died in 1836, but her ideals persevered as Sisters of the Precious Blood continued her ministries and devout Eucharistic prayer — living simply while reaching out to the less fortunate and offering reconciliation to the world in honor of Christ's selfless sacrifice. The Sisters arrived in America in 1844 at the invitation of Bishop John Baptist Purcell of Cincinnati, Ohio. Mother Brunner’s son, Father Francis de Sales Brunner, was the first non-Italian member of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood and its first missionary in the United States, reaching America in 1843. He was instrumental in bringing both Precious Blood congregations to the country; their first ministries in a foreign land.