Daughter of an oil-seed miller, the oldest of seven children. When her parents died, Margaretha worked as a day labourer to help support her siblings. In 1861, she and her sister Marianne moved into quarters at the Chapel of the Holy Cross in Waldbreitbach, Germany, trusting God for their daily bread and working with the poor and sick, caring for orphans, and teaching home management at local schools. Other women were attracted to the work and formed the foundation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Angels. Margaretha took her vows in her new congregation in the chapel of the Holy Cross on 13 March 1863, taking the name Sister Mary Rose. Mother Rose spent the rest of her life as superior of the Sisters, and by her death there were 900 sisters in 72 mission houses serving the sick and poor.