Mother Almeda Schricker, SSND

Mother Theresa's favorite Marian shrine was Our Lady of Altoetting, a Black Madonna revered for more than 500 years. Photographer: Hildegard PolettyMother Almeda Schricker, SSND was General Superior from 1928–1955. Mary strengthened and guided her decisions as she responded to Hitler’s demands during World War II. Mother Almeda and her Council eventually moved to the Marian shrine in Birkenstein after the bombing of the Munich motherhouse and governed the congregation for a short time from the holy ground of this Marian shrine. At Birkenstein, Mary is pictured with a large mantel that offers love and protection to everyone. Like Mother Theresa and Mother Caroline, she saw Mary as the Superior of the congregation. An outline of her biography explores living a Marian life in wartime.

The School Sisters of Notre Dame in Germany created this artistic “family tree” commemorating the first 100 years of the congregation.

At right is an image of the piece in its entirety. The image below shows a close-up view of the lower third of the piece.

Each bunch of grapes is a different unit of the congregation with the grapes representing individual missions. Each grape is inscribed with the mission name and the date it began. The roots come from Mary and the sustaining “trellis” for the grapevine is the cross. Learn more about the artistic sketches and a prayer to be used with Family Tree

Mother Theresa's favorite Marian shrine was Our Lady of Altoetting, a Black Madonna revered for more than 500 years. Photographer: Hildegard Poletty

To learn more about Mary, explore the following options.
Mother Theresa of Jesus Gerhardinger, SSND Mother Caroline Friess, SSND Mother Almeda Schricker, SSND German Marian Statues Mother of the Church Janet Mikol, SSND Marie Dolorette Farias, SSND Sandra Spencer Judith Best, SSND Symbolism of the Grape Vine Return to Mary