“First of all, you must maintain an irreproachable religious and moral conduct, especially within the family, and practice a healthy austerity in life. Let the other classes be aware of the patrimony of virtues and gifts that are your own, the fruit of long family traditions.” (Pius XII, 1958 allocution to the Roman Patriciate and Nobility)
Countess Maria Anna Johanna Franziska Theresia Antonia Huberta Droste zu Vischering at age 15. Darfeld Castle, the home of the Droste zu Vischering family. This illustrious and ancient Catholic family of Münster, Germany, has distinguished itself since 1271 by services to Church and country. A Painting of Darfeld Castle in 1860 by Alexander Duncker. Photo of (Countess Maria) Blessed Sister Mary of the Divine Heart, Mother Superior in the Convent of Good Shepherd in Porto, Portugal.
The lofty values of virtue, culture, refinement, and education found in uncountable noble families have produced praiseworthy fruits of heroism and sanctity throughout the centuries.
Just recently, Portugal rejoiced over the beatification of Countess Maria Droste zu Vischering. She spent the last years of her life as a religious in the Bom Pastor convent in Oporto, where she died on June 8, 1899.
Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira, Nobility and Analogous Traditional Elites in the Allocutions of Pius XII: A Theme Illuminating American Social History (York, Penn.: The American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property, 1993), 41
