In 1845, a group of young German women began the Congregation of the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood of O’Fallon, Missouri in Steinerberg, Switzerland because their native Germany was hostile to the formation of new religious congregations. Magdalena [Mother Theresa] Weber and Rev. Karl Rolfus are revered as their founders. They were founded as a contemplative order dedicated to prayer, simple tasks, and devotion to the Most Precious Blood of Jesus.