Jan 17, 2021 | FORUM
The inhabitants of Brzezie stand with great trust at the tomb of Sr. Dulcissima, praying for intentions that, humanly speaking, cannot be resolved. The belief that Sister Dulcissima continues to help (as she promised) is still alive and gives spiritual wings to those who ask God through her intercession.
Regina, as she says herself, is still in a very close relationship with God’s servant. Sister Dulcissima never let her down and one night she dreamed of asking her not to stop praying.
Among the many favors she tells about, there is also a childhood experience that poignantly tells about the healing of her mother Lucia. This testimony confirms the fact that prayer has great power.
Certificate
In November 1956, my mother, Lucia became seriously ill. She was then 35 years old. At that time, there were five children at home, the youngest sister was 1 year old. Doctors gave no hope. The operation revealed a rupture and spilling of the gallbladder. Mom was all yellow, very quickly she had a very high fever of 40 degrees. She was taken to surgery. Despite the fact that her condition was really very serious, the doctor immediately decided that she needed an operation. Those were the years when there was no good medical equipment yet, it was difficult to diagnose what it was, but after surgery it turned out that my mother’s gallbladder ruptured with the first attack. It was very serious, my mother did not walk, but she remembered one moment when something or someone shook her, grabbed her and shook her. It was a breakthrough in this disease. After six months of hospital treatment, very emaciated, she was discharged from the hospital. We were counting on the fact that my mother might die.
At that time, the parish priest in Brzezie was Fr. Rudolf Adamczyk, who saw my father praying fervently in the church, approached him and told him: “Mr. Stawinoga, your wife is not going to die. We pray to Sister Dulcissima all the time. ” The doctor wanted to send my mother to the hospital in Wrocław for diagnostic purposes, but my father did not agree and said “I’m taking my wife home” to which the doctor replied: “but there is no help, your wife is already leaving.” Dad took Mum home and continued praying. After all this, my mother recovered quite quickly, and after five years my younger sister Maria was born.
A year has passed and my mother felt completely well, she decided to go to the doctor who treated her at the hospital to thank him for everything. When the doctor saw her, he got to his feet and said: “Are you alive? It’s a miracle”.
We know that our prayers have been answered. Sister Maria Dulcissima is the greatest treasure in our parish.
Prayer continues
In all our monasteries, we sincerely pray for the gift of beatification of the handmaid of God, Sr. M. Dulcissima Hoffmann. On the 18th day – each month – in the community in Brzezie, during the novena prayer, we read the intentions entrusted to us, which are sent by e-mail or by post.
We invite all readers of generalato.com to pray together.
Detailed intentions can be sent to the address [email protected], or: Sisters of Mary Immaculate, ul. Archbishop Gawliny 5, 47-400 Racibórz Brzezie. Poland.
Sr Maria Małgorzata Cur
Jan 14, 2021 | FORUM, NEWS
God decided to go to Jaszkotle. Again, it was different than what I thought or planned. Namely, after working at our Nursing Home in Żerniki, I asked God to save the Nysa from a pandemic. It was a purely selfish thought because the DPS in Nysa is dear to me and I remember working there with joyful heart. However, I knew that when Samuel’s sister, the current Director of this House, called, I would not refuse to help and I already knew what this work was about. And it happened. Sister Samuel called … And because I was already a bit ready and prepared for such information, I knew what to do. I only agreed with My Superior Sister that I would go to the Sisters’ house in Nysa earlier, and then I would start working in the DPS. What a joy I met when I received information on the spot in Nysa that Sister Dominika is also packing and she will be with me. I was calm. There will be Dominika, there is Samuel’s sister, Anna’s sister, I know the house, I know the children, … I breathed even more when the next day, Samuel’s sister announced that they had made it, our help in working with sick boys was no longer needed. On the same day, in the evening, the phone rang. From the Provincial Sister … OOO my first thought: “where else do we have DPS?” Not DPS but ZOL in Jaszkotle. A short communication message only to sister Dominika – “Are we going?” “We drive”!
God wanted it … We were sure of that … But always for something … Why?
We went how we could do, we did and we came back. The space is only a dozen or so days … And so much has happened … Especially in me! In my heart, in my conscience, in my perception …
God wanted so, “chose …” so that I could “choose …” always for something, ultimately for me … I received a hundred times more.
So what could God give me for such a short stay among children? Children who are very sick and at the same time very happy. Suffering and yet smiling. Wounded, yet full of trust …
Sometimes, when I had a free time after work, I would take a child in my arms and walk with him, talking to them without much sense. But often, too, I would just hug these children and think about their parents. I thought differently … sometimes only with reproach … I looked into their eyes … How I would like to photograph them … keep in mind … leave it …
I got back home. I asked for a moment just for me. I wanted to rest… But it was not only about rest, as it turned out. I met myself. I heard it softly, and then loudly and louder and louder … Why do they not want them … I want Jaś, Mateusz … etc. I WANT! It’s not that God. They don’t want… for a million different reasons. And I…
Motherhood is one of the most wonderful Gifts of God … it is some form of Divinity in a fragile human being. I gave up… gave away… I chose… several years ago. What could I know about this when I was twenty. Theoretically only. The real choice did not come – just now. Choosing Life for Life … These sick little creatures are left for me today … They are my motherhood and prayer for me today. They are … like pearls for the world.
The house in Jaszkotle, the house in Żenikach, Nysa and all our other houses, where we have sick people, left behind and devoted to us, are enclaves of good in this world where “choice, not prohibition” sounds different to me.
S.M. Daniela Gumienna
Jan 11, 2021 | NEWS
“How beautiful it would be if each of us could say in the evening: today I made a gesture of love towards the other”
Pope Francis
While the world is engulfed in a pandemic, where we constantly hear about restrictions and the statistics break new records, I decided to appeal to my friends on the social networking site Facebook and invite them to the “A cup full of sweets” campaign. For many years I have been working in the Nursing Home in Racibórz, where 170 mentally and nervously ill people live. From February, residents are forbidden to leave the house, and visiting their relatives is also difficult. In November, our home “visited” Covid. It made my head come up with the idea that this “SWEET MUG” would make Christmas more enjoyable, sweeten life, bring a lot of joy and show the residents that someone remembers about them in such difficult pandemic times.
The action was received with great interest in the first days and I was sure that it would have a happy ending. In the second week of Advent, we already had our first cups – and even Christmas packages. I was touched that so many people joined the action, from children from kindergarten and school, through students, parish groups, office workers and simply our friends. It was with great emotion that we received two large packages from our Center in Klenica as well as from Sisters and Friends from Wrocław – Żerniki. None of us expected such a result, so we collected 748 cups! The kindness and devotion was so great that we shared the cups with other institutions:
SPOKOJNA PRZYSTAŃ – The Baborowie Nursing Home
- Mother’s House “Maja” in Racibórz – Miedonia
- Nursing Home in Gorzyce through contact with P. Sylvia from Pstrążna,
- Association of the Friends of Men “Tęcza”
- Open Heart Association for Children in Kuźnia Raciborska, Samborowice, Cyprzanów
- Ziarenko Community Center in Branice
- Nursing Home run by the Congregation of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary in Kietrz
- Multifunctional Care and Educational Center in Pogrzebień
I would also like to thank my Community, and especially Sr Particia, for their commitment and support for this great field of goodness.
It was possible to see emotion in the eyes of the residents that there was someone who remembered them. In the second half of January, a Mass will be celebrated. for the benefactors of our Advent adventure …
Sr. Joanna
Jan 11, 2021 | POSITIVE IMPULSES
Criticism from others cannot be avoided. The first positive side is that there are honest people around. But then comes about the content of criticism and effect of criticism on us. If we are hit by criticism, it is an indication that we base principally our self-esteem on the opinion of others. And that we do things without conviction. When you face criticism, concentrate on the specific subject of criticism and not on you. Don’t take the criticism out of the context. Don’t let the criticism threaten your self-esteem. Take a moment to look to your opinion of yourselves and all the good in you. You are more than this criticism. What you are depends on how you deal with the criticism. Take the good in the criticism and make it an instrument for your betterment. Deal with it as a menu card offered to you in a restaurant!
Don Giorgio
Jan 10, 2021 | HISTORY
The small village of Mieszkowice (Ditmannsdorf), where the Servant of God, Fr. John Schneider’s house house was located in Upper Silesia. In the period of his life, this territory was part of the Kingdom of Prussia. This state, in turn, was part of the German Confederation in the years 1815-1866. From 1871 country of the German Empire.
Already in 1464, the parish church of St. George. After the Reformation, it was assigned to the neighboring, 3 km away. parish church in Rudziczka and from that time until now it has been a subsidiary church.
In 1819, the village of Mieszkowice had only 812 inhabitants. Within 25 years, the town grew in terms of the number of inhabitants – in 1845 there were 218 houses with 1,246 inhabitants in Mieszkowice, including 480 Catholics. Catholics were therefore a minority among the Evangelicals. Rudziczka, where the parish church was located, was inhabited mainly by Catholics. From 1821, the priest of the Roman Catholic parish in Rudziczka was Fr. Antoni Hoffmann, who until his death was a dean and a zealous priest who took care of the spiritual life of parishioners. He also cared for social issues and education in his parish. Undoubtedly, it had an impact on the lives of the parish inhabitants of that time, including the Servant of God, Fr. John Schneider.
The population in the village made a living mainly from agriculture. Most of the land in these areas were concentrated in the hands of large landowners. Usually, a peasant farm of several plots, usually built on barren soil, could not feed a peasant family. The benefits to the nobility, the state and the Church were so great that they drove the peasant into a debt trap. Therefore, first of all, the poorest class of peasants, to which the family of the Servant of God belonged, recruited hired workers or earning extra money in another profession.
Father of the Servant of God, Johannes Georg Schneider, born in 1797 in Mieszkowice. At the age of 24, on September 30, 1821, he married Katharina Krämer, who was four years older, from the village of Łąka, 10 km south of Rudziczka. They received this sacrament in the church in Mieszkowice. The mother of the Servant of God, Katharina Krämer, worked as a servant before her wedding. They both came from poor farmers’ families. At the time of concluding the sacrament of marriage, Johannes’s father and the grandfather of the Servant of God were already dead. The young couple lived in Mieszkowice in an initially rented small house, covered with thatched roofs, standing by the road to Szybowice. They had no land of their own. Thanks to hard work and a frugal lifestyle, the Schneider family managed to buy the house in which they lived. Their first child (Servant of God Fr. John) was born in January 1824, his mother Katharina was then 31 years old. Two more daughters were born in 1827 and 1832. The father of the Servant of God initially worked as a butcher, but his earnings were insufficient to support a family of five. Later he was employed as a laborer on the parish farm in Rudziczka and in winter he went to the spinning farms. Mother was also a model of diligence. Apart from many household and upbringing duties, she worked in various households where possible, supporting a modest home budget. In the discussed period, the earnings of a farm worker were shaped, depending on the season and local conditions, from 4 to 7 silver groszy a day for men and from 2 to 3 for women. Thus, the weekly earnings of a man – a mercenary in the farm were around 1 thaler. The total income of the Schneider’s family should be estimated at 80-120 thalers per year, which is approximately 16-20 thalers per person on average. It was a modest sum, from which it was not easy to meet even the basic needs of the family. The price of rye was 2 thalers for half a bushel (1 bushel is about 54 liters), and for 1 pound of bread (1 pound is about 400 grams) you had to pay 1 thaler or more. If we assume that the daily portion of bread per person was 1 pound, then it was impossible to support a family of five from the income obtained by the hired labor in the farm. Potatoes were a bit cheaper and they were the basis of food for the Schneider family and people with a similar social status in Upper Silesia. To support the family, both parents and children had to apply for various additional jobs. It turned out to be especially difficult for Katharina’s mother. Running a house, raising children and working hard to pay were often beyond her strength.
Servant of God Fr. Johannes Schneider was born on January 11, 1824. He was the first child of Johannes George and Katharina Schneider. Already on January 13, in the octave of the Epiphany feast, the priest from Rudziczka Antoni Hoffmann baptized him in the church in Rudziczka and gave him the names – Johannes George. This double name, Hansjörg, was very common in that area – it was also used by the father and grandfather of the Servant of God. Still, he called himself not just John. The godparents were Johann George Hoheisel (according to a friend of the Father’s Servant of God), and Katharina Nitsche, both from Mieszkowice, and as the third Maria Eichner, from a village called Łąka, two hours back, from which the baptized mother also came .
God’s servant had two younger sisters. In 1827, Anna Rosalia (Rosina) Schneider was born, who was baptized on March 5 of the same year. from the hands of Fr. Antoni Hoffmann. On February 3, 1846, she married Johann George Sauer in her hometown village Mieszkowice and moved from her father’s house. Her son, one of four siblings, became a teacher in Upper Silesia, her granddaughter entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Mary Immaculate in 1934.
The second sister of the Servant of God, Maria Johana Schneider, was born on June 27, 1832, and a day later she was baptized in the parish church in Rudziczka. On February 8, 1847, she married George Graber, a laborer in a large parish farm in Rudziczka, and moved from her family home to her husband. At the time of marriage, Maria Johana was only 15 years old. Such an early marriage was certainly influenced by the premature death of the mother. The widower Johannes Schneider remained with two daughters, ages 17 and 12. He married the older one two years after his wife’s death, and the younger one the following year. The marriage of Maria and George had four sons and one daughter. Out of five siblings, as Fr. Josef Schweter emphasizes, a historian and chronicler dealing with the life and activity of the Servant of God, in 1934, only one son, Augusto Graber, lived in Rudziczka, who was 76 years old at the time.
The Servant of God Johannes Schneider was not closely associated with his siblings. He did not have the opportunity to spend his childhood with his sisters. Both were younger than him by 3 and 8 years, which in the case of the youngest Maria Johana was a big age difference. The relations between them were certainly also determined by the sex of their siblings, and thus the interests and duties that they had to perform as children. Moreover, young Johannes left his family home at the age of 13 to study in Nysa, and with this event the shared childhood of the Schneider siblings ended. The servant of God Johannes, far from being overly attached to his relatives, however, always had a tender heart for them, supporting them when needed.
From an early age, little Janek had the features of a prudent and mature child for his age. He imitated his hard-working parents with great love and respect. Their trustful devotion was imprinted deeply in the child’s disposition. Fulfilling the commandment to honor father and mother in the Schneider’s family was not only the children’s duty, but it flowed from natural relationships based on love and responsibility. Deep respect and gratitude always accompanied Father John for those who surrounded him with care and love in their childhood. Never either was he ever ashamed of their poverty and deprivation. From his family home he brought out a deep religiousness that distinguished him also in his adult life. The Schneider family was regarded as zealous Catholics who were involved in the life of the parish. This is evidenced by, among others good contact between the Father of the Servant of God and the parish priest at the time. The example of authentic faith and prayer at home influenced Father Schneider’s religious attitude from an early age and was certainly a support in his adolescence, when, away from his relatives, he gained knowledge in a gymnasium in Nysa, and then during his studies in Wrocław.
S.M. Sybilla Kołtan
See also:
https://generalato.com/en/duplicated-duchowosc-i-charyzmat-wiernosc/
