Marie-Théodore Ratisbonne

Marie-Théodore Ratisbonne, N.D.S., (December 28, 1802 – January 10, 1884) was a French Jewish convert to the Catholic Church, who became a priest and missionary and who later founded the Congregation of Our Lady of Sion.

[2] At the age of 22, Ratisbonne gained the acquaintance of a local Catholic, Louise Humann, who was a catechist and active in works of charity.

After his own sudden conversion, Alphonse had proposed to his brother the founding of schools for providing a Christian education to Jewish children.

The Sisters arrived in Jerusalem in 1856, while he sought to purchase the ruined Church of Ecce Homo to serve as their home.

The Sisters then devoted their lives to hastening the "fulfilment of the promises concerning the Jews and the Gentiles" while avoiding all proselytism through the education of girls regardless of creed.

[4] On his deathbed, Ratisbonne received the Last Sacraments from the Archbishop of Paris, Joseph Hippolyte Guibert, and a final blessing from Pope Leo XIII.