Aug 30, 2021 | HISTORY
It is 1954. At that time, I was at the post in Ścinawka Średnia. There were seven sisters in the community: six sisters dealt with the care of the sick in the health center, work in the delivery ward, care for the elderly in the center and work in the field, one sister was a sacristan.
I will remember August 2, 1954 for the rest of my life. It was the day we found out about the deportation. At 5:30 a.m. the military arrived in their cars to our house, at that time we were in the chapel. We had to pack right away, we had about 2 hours to do it. We were scared and didn’t know where they were taking us. We were packing up in a hurry. We felt panic and uncertainty. We asked the policemen where they were taking us, but the only answer we heard was that we were going “on vacation”.
We had to pack all our things: furniture and livestock (two cows, two pigs, chickens, ducks). They ordered us to take the Blessed Sacrament to the church. I would like to add that at that time the elderly who were with us in the health center were taken to another home.
A few hours after the arrival of the police, we were on our way to Wrocław. We were brought to our motherhouse, where we spent the night. The next day, they drove us to Karłowice (a district of Wrocław) to the Franciscan Fathers, where we stayed overnight. There we met our sisters from other institutions. The next day, we were loaded onto three buses marked “TRIP”. We still did not know where they were taking us and for what reason, so we tried again to ask the policemen who were guarding us, but we only received an answer that “we are going to our destination”, and later said that to Siberia. So we thought they would really take us there, and we prayed fervently for survival.
During the trip, we made a few stops in the woods for a short break. These stops were under the control of the security authorities because they were afraid that one of us would escape. We arrived in Otorowo in the evening of August 4, 1954. It was a convent of the Ursuline nuns, but for that time the sisters left their convent. When we arrived some of our sisters were there. There were 153 of us in total.
They told us to look for rooms and take places. They showed us a park nearby where we could take the cattle out.
For the first three months, we were dependent on the state authorities. The conditions were like in prison – we could not leave the camp grounds, beyond the gate, we were under the control of the police all the time, at the beginning there was no electricity, heating or hot water. Our food was very modest, the sanitary conditions were not the best, it was cramped (a dozen or so of us slept in one room).
There was a chapel in the camp, where we prayed together every day, morning and evening. The chaplain lived there and celebrated Holy Mass and evening services every day. In addition, we were under the spiritual protection of a local priest, dean from Pniewy, from the convent of the Ursuline nuns.
After 3 months, we were ordered to work for the state under the supervision of officials under the so-called productivization. Sewing rooms were created and I was ordered to sew in the piece, shift and band system. We sewed underwear, shirts, pajamas, chutes, we embroidered “tabs” for railway uniforms as well as hats and caps that I sewed. We were tearing the feathers. We worked from 7 am to 4 pm with an hour break. We worked all the time under the supervision of the guards. We received money for the work, thanks to which we could survive until the camp was dissolved.
During our stay in Otorowo, we had no contact with our family or people from the area, because the camp was closed. Some of us worked in state farms during harvesting, digging, grooming cows, pigs, spreading manure, it was work performed only under the control of security office officers.
There were secular officials working in the camp, who dealt with supplies and issued us passes.
On December 8, 1954, in camp conditions, we celebrated the centenary of our Congregation. Throughout this time, religious vows and anniversaries were normally held.
At the end of 1956, the civil authorities of the Szamotuły district informed us about the dissolution of the camp and the possibility of returning to the place of our previous stay. So I returned to my post in Ścinawka Średnia.
During our absence, our house was still a health center with a delivery room. Initially, we only received one room, we had to recover the next rooms with great effort, because they were inhabited by lay workers. The caretaker of the house turned out to be particularly unpleasant, even cruel, who stubbornly refused to leave the premises.
The rooms we recovered were devastated, dirty, there were bugs everywhere (all rooms had to be decontaminated). We had to renovate everything ourselves because nobody wanted to help us. We worked day and night to bring the house back into a state of living. This work affected our health, but we thanked God every day for being with us, for giving us the strength to bear it all.
S.M. Borgia Drobina
Jun 30, 2021 | HISTORY, NEWS
Ordination of the presbyterate
Throughout his priestly life, Fr. Johannes Schneider followed the patron of the Wrocław cathedral both in terms of fidelity to his vocation and flawless priestly chastity. As his biographer, Fr. J. Schweter, thanks to his unblemished priestly chastity, “enjoyed the full happiness of a priestly vocation and had a heart full of compassion for the poor victims of passion and seduction.”
The day of priestly ordination was recognized by Fr. Johannes Schneider as the most important in his life. The goal he had pursued continuously for 12 years and which he had to pay with many sacrifices was finally achieved. Priestly ordination opened for him the possibility of fulfilling his vocation as a priest but also as a defender of the weakest and morally endangered and the founder of a new religious congregation. He never treated the priesthood as an opportunity to raise his social status or start a career.
He celebrated the first Mass on July 2, 1849 in the Wrocław cathedral in the 14th-century St. Mary’s chapel. Sermon during Holy Mass primition was delivered by his compatriot, Fr. Dr. Johannes Klein (1818-1890) vicar from Ścinawa, bachelor of canon law and member of many scientific societies. Fr. Schneider admired his older friend from school days. The primitions were very modest. It is also significant that they took place in Wrocław, and not in the family parish in Rudziczka. Probably the reason for this could be the situation in the neo-presbyter’s home parish. Former parish priest and great protector of Johannes Schneider, Fr. Antoni Hoffmann died in February 1847, and the parish after his death was managed by an administrator, unknown to him. Only on February 24, 1851, Rudziczka received a new parish priest in the person of Fr. Wilhelm Vogt. It also seems that Fr. Johannes Schneider also later, as a priest, did not identify strongly with his family parish. This can be proved by the record of Fr. Walter Schwedowitz, priest of Rudziczka in the years 1921-1945, author of a monograph on six parishes of the Prudnik deanery, including Rudziczka. He does not mention Fr. Johannes Schneider among the priests from the parish in the nineteenth century, but included his short biography at the end of his book, in which he presented Fr. Schneider as a priest from the Rudziczka parish and the founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of Mary Immaculate. This fact may indicate that the author forgot to mention Fr. John in his book or that this figure was not strongly identified with the parish in Rudziczka.
Vicar in Wiązów
The first institution of Fr. Johannes Schneider was a parish in the town of Wiązów in the district of Strzelin. He worked in the church of St. Cross, St. Peter and Paul and St. Jadwiga – the patroness of Silesia.
To Wiązów, Fr. John Schneider hit most probably as a result of the interference of the rector of the Alumnate, Fr. doc. Dr. Joseph Sauer, who could have solicited that Fr. John worked in his native parish, finding him fit and able for this position. Fortunately for Fr. Schneider was that his first parish priest, Fr. Franz Elpelt was a priest very zealous and sensitive to the practical solutions of the then emerging problems related to the so-called a social issue. During his stay, Fr. John Schneider in Wiązów, the parish had about 3,500 believers. The zeal of Fr. Franz Elpelt made Fr. Schneider on the issue of solving the problems of poor people, especially the moral poverty among working women. In the town of Wiązów, many girls worked in a cigar factory. At that time, they fell into all sorts of addictions and bad company. Fr. Schneider organized meetings for them on Saturdays and Sundays, which were an opportunity for working girls to integrate with their peers and were a safe and valuable meeting environment. The young vicar Schneider cared for their fair entertainment and for deepening their religious and moral knowledge. A large number of female servants also worked on estates in fifteen rural centers belonging to the Wiązów parish. Dependent on their employers, they were often exposed to demoralization.
Fr. Johannes Schneider wanted to sensitize them to the matters of sacramental life, nurturing the life of prayer. With the help of his parish priest, with whom he got on well, he also influenced their parents and educators. In this field, he found help from the teacher and conductor of the parish choir – Depene. He took care of the level of church singing in the parish and encouraged young people to zealously participate in the services.
As a young curate, Fr. Schneider spent all his time working and helping those in need who were close to him.
Vicar in the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Piasek Island
After two years of work in Wiązów, On September 9, 1851, Fr. John Schneider was sent to work in the parish of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Piasek in Wrocław as a vicar. He took the place of Fr. Dr. Franz Lorinser, whom Bishop Bishop Dr. M. von Diepenbrock appointed priest in Alumnat. In 1851, the parish of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Wrocław had about 1,500 faithful.
The appointment of Fr. John Schneider to the position of vicar in the parish of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Piasek in place of Fr. Dr. F. Lorinser, who was one of the most outstanding priests of the Wrocław diocese of his time, testifies to the fact that the bishop of Wrocław, Prince Cardinal Dr. Melchior von Diepenbrock, learned about his intellectual, spiritual and organizational skills. At that time, very talented priests, headed by Fr. doc. Dr. Józef Wick (1820-1903).
Fr. John Schneider first worked at the side of Fr. Franz Hoffmann, who was formally the parish priest in the years 1848-1852, and from November 12, 1852, Fr. Józef Wick. The appointment of Fr. Wicka for the post of parish priest in the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Piasek was the last nomination of Prince Cardinal Dr. Melchior von Dipenbrock. Fr. doc. Dr. J. Wick took over the parish on January 4, 1853. At that time, the parish priest of the parish of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Piasek administered the parish of St. Michael the Archangel.
Father Johannes Schneider, as a vicar, established a very cordial cooperation with Fr. Robert Spiske, founder of the Sisters of St. Jadwiga (1859), who worked in this parish from June 20, 1848, also as a vicar (from September 2, 1851 to January 18, 1852, he was the administrator of the parish of St. Michael in Wrocław), and from January 18, 1852 . was the curator of this parish.
The first parish priest, Fr. John Schneider, Fr. Franz Hoffmann was a conflict and tragic figure. He did not work long in the parish of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Piasek. On March 16, 1852, he was suspended, and five months later dismissed by Cardinal Melchior von Dipenbrock, with whom he had unpleasant disputes.
Fr. Schneider not only did not have the slightest disagreement with his brothers in the priesthood, but was also able to establish very fruitful cooperation with the newly appointed parish priest, Fr Józef Wick and Fr. Robert Spiske. He made a good team in pastoral work with them. At the same time, thanks to this cooperation, he could learn about the ways of solving problems related to the spiritual and material poverty of the society at that time.
Fr. doc. dr hab. Józef Wick was not only an outstanding priest and learned preacher, but also a talented social activist and organizer. He belonged in Germany – next to August Reichensperger and Fr. Wilhelm Emmanuel von Ketteler – to the promoters of the Vincentian movement. He took part in 1848 – alongside Silesian priests,John Baltzer, Henryk Förster and Franciszek Wittke – in the first congress of German Catholics in Mainz. After returning from Mainz, on 11 November 1848, he organized a congress of Silesian Catholics in Wrocław. In the years 1848-1849, Fr. doc. Dr. Józef Wick created about 120 Catholic organizations with the headquarters in Wrocław. On his initiative, among others, the Union of the Catholic East, the Catholic Craft Union, the Boarding House for Children, and the Catholic Library in Wrocław were established. In Germany, the Vincentian movement had an impact on the establishment of women’s organizations that looked after sick women, abandoned children, and girls at risk of prostitution. St. Vincent de Paul fought against tabloid literature, organized savings banks, libraries, and promoted good religious literature among the poor. They were the nucleus of the Catholic Action in Silesia.
On the principles of the Society of the Conference of St. Vincent de Paul, the Union of Catholic Married Women and Virgin Mary under the invocation of St. Jadwiga included about 3,000 female members. It was dominated by teachers and educated people. Thanks to the good formation of this Association, provided by Fr. Robert Spiske, these women have mastered the plight of the poor people in the city; because they took care of sick people, prisoners, and neglected children. From this Society emerged in 1859 the female congregation of the Sisters of St. Hedwig of the Blessed and Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God, based on the rule of St. Augustine for the Third Order.
In 1863, the parish priest Fr. Wick founded the periodical “Breslauer Hausblätter” transformed into the daily “Schlesische Volkszeitung”. Therefore, in this newspaper there is an extensive posthumous article about Fr. Schneider!
The work of Fr. Johannes Schneider in the parish of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Piasek and contacts with the above-mentioned priests constituted an important pastoral formation. He prepared him for the tasks of the great Apostle of mercy and priest. In the parish of the Blessed Virgin Mary, he gained the opinion of an excellent preacher, confessor and organizer. In this situation, it seems natural that Fr. Schneider was chosen to find another new association.
Pastoral care in the parish of St. Matthias
Successor of Prince Cardinal Melchior von Diepenbrock (+1853), Prince Bishop Dr. Heinrich Förster, on April 3, 1854, appointed Fr. John Schneider as a guardian in the parish of St. Matthias.
In 1853, this parish had 3,975 Catholics, while the parish of the Blessed Virgin Mary had approximately 1,500 Catholics over the years 1851-1853.
After the death of the parish priest, Fr. Jonathan Hoffmann (+18 January 1857), Fr. John Schneider became the administrator of this parish. When Fr. Dr. Franz Lorinser withdrew in 1858 from his work as a priest in Alumnat, Prince Bishop H. Förster appointed him on July 5, 1858 – as an elder priest of Fr. Schneider parish priest of St. Matthias. Fr. J. Schneider became the guardian again, although in fact it was he, not Fr. Dr. F. Lorinser who was mainly concerned with the spiritual affairs of the parishioners. He accepted this external degradation in a spirit of obedience without any sign of any objection. Fr. Dr. F. Lorinser was a passionate scientist and devoted himself to research and literary work. Fr. F. Lorinser served as the parish priest until November 14, 1869. On this day, Prince Bishop Henrich Förster appointed Fr. Dr. F. Lorinser a member of the Cathedral Chapter and released him from the duties of the parish priest of St. Matthias. From 11 November 1869 until his death, the duties of the parish priest of St. Maciej was performed by Fr. Jonn Schneider.
Work in the parish
As a parish priest, he restored the parish church, renovated four altars, the pulpit, the tabernacle and the painting in the main altar. Most of the repairs were carried out by the Wrocław company of Karl Buhl, with whom Fr. John arranged the work and signed contracts.
Fr. John Schneider as the parish priest of St. Matthias administered the Church of the Holy Name of Jesus in Wrocław, which, as a result of the liquidation of the Jesuit Order in 1773 and the secularization of Silesian monasteries in 1810, passed – along with the college – to the administration of the municipal authorities. Until 1819 it was the university and gymnasium church, and then the parish church of St. Matthias. Fr. John Schneider embellished the interior of this temple and carried out numerous renovation and restoration works there as well. He started these works in 1872. Before these repairs, the Church of the Holy Name of Jesus was – due to the lack of repairs – in a pitiful condition.
In 1869, when he was appointed parish priest of St. Matthias counted 5,850 Catholics. There were two churches on its territory: St. Matthias and the parish church of the Holy Name of Jesus. In 1876, in the parish, apart from Fr. J. Schneider were five priests. Fr. John Schneider was a very hardworking and energetic priest.
His duties as a parish priest were not only focused on the restoration and renovation of the temple. He was a very active priest, initiating many prayer and formation groups, organizing the spiritual life of the parish and taking care of many different groups existing in the parish.
It seems that such an intense priestly and pastoral life completely filled the activities of Fr. Schneider, but this is only an impression, because at the same time he led and organized help for girls in the association and devoted a lot of attention to the new religious community that was emerging on his initiative.
Fulfilling so many tasks and responsibilities can only be possible when you put yourself and your time at the total disposal of God, when you serve Him and do not look for your own interests.
sr. Sybilla Kołtan
Feb 5, 2021 | HISTORY
Helena Hoffmann was born two days before Popielec, on Monday, February 7, 1910 in Zgoda (Eintrachthütte), in today’s Świętochłowice district. She was the first child of Albina and Józef Hoffmann. Helena’s father was Józef Hoffmann, born on September 9, 1886 in Gąsiorowice (Gonschiorowitz). Historian, Fr. Joseph Schweter, CSsR, described his nationality as German. Józef was a Silesian from today’s Opole region, probably a traditional one, who spoke both German and Polish. Her mother was Albina Jarzombek, born on December 31, 1889 in Świętochłowice (Schwientochlowitz), to a family with a Polish orientation. In 1912, from this marriage, Reinhold was born – Helena’s younger brother. In 1916, the girl began studying at the 7-grade Public General School in Zgoda. As a schoolgirl, she was distinguished by a cheerful disposition and many abilities. Good memory and sharp mind allowed her to quickly learn both German and Polish; She also did not avoid Silesian dialect. Helena liked to learn, she easily gained new skills, she belonged to the theater club. From an early age, she liked to pray, appreciated the value of sacramental, often attended the Eucharist, and also had a passion for adoration and to the Blessed Virgin. The encouragement of her first confessor, parish priest Fr. Edward Adamczyk, to build a “chapel” in her heart for the Savior became for Helena the key to understanding her inner life.
Hoffmann’s first Holy Communion was made on May 5, 1921. After the celebration of the First Holy Communion, Helena, while digging in the field, came across a medallion depicting a nun holding a cross and roses. She didn’t know who it was. But – vaguely – she remembered that before her first confession she had dreamed of a similar figure and that she had been strengthened then. A little later, the girl in one of the religious magazines saw a photo of the same character. In one of Helen’s dreams she introduced herself to St. Teresa of the Child Jesus and from then on she systematically accompanied her in spirit. St. Teresa of Lisieux suggested her intentions to pray and to offer herself to God. In her dreams, she gave Helena, and later S. M. Dulcissima, spiritual guidance, inviting her to persistent prayers and sacrifices for the Church, Marian sisters and priests.
Helena Hoffmann entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Mary Immaculate in 1927. As a postulant, on October 23, 1929, in the Motherhouse in Wrocław, she received veil. Then she took a new name: Maria Dulcissima, received the habit and a white veil. She lived with other novices in the novitiate house in Nysa. In both cities, then located in Germany. In the novitiate, S.M. Dulcissima took up an interior struggle, accepted suffering as a gift, and continued to enjoy the “visitation” of St. Teresa of Lisieux. An important role in accompanying her in her illness was played by the spiritual director, Fr. Wincenty Groeger and S. M. Lazaria Stephanik SMI, a qualified nurse from Gliwice, who often witnessed her spiritual visions and meetings with the Blessed Mother, the Child Jesus, St. Teresa of the Child Jesus, The Guardian Angel, or the mystic Teresa Neumann from Konnersreuth in Bavaria. Immersing herself in prayer absorbed Sr. M. Dulcissima, while a deep and strong desire for union with God opened her paths to mystical meetings with her Bridegroom.
- M. Dulcisisma Hoffmann arrived at the religious house in Brzezie – a village on the Oder near Racibórz – on January 18, 1933. There she made herself known as a merciful Samaritan woman who accepted the requests and sufferings of people, offering them to God. The words: “Souls, Jesus, give me souls!” Became her favorite prayer! (…). Yes, I want to save souls, not so that anyone knows about it, but only you, my [Saint] Guardian Angel and Saint. Teresa “. In Lent of 1935, the Lord Jesus rewarded her total devotion to the mystery of the cross with the privilege and the felt charism of stigmata on her arms and legs, and soon also on her heart. St. Teresa of Lisieux accompanied her and said: “You must recreate Jesus completely in yourself.” The matters of the Church and the Congregation became very close to her heart. She prayed earnestly for the Holy Father, priests, men and religious women, the sick and the dead. Endowed with the gift of intercessory prayer and foreseeing history, she offered her sufferings in the current needs of the ecclesial community, both local and universal. She had ecstatic visions of the persecution of the Church in Germany and Bohemia; she experienced the attacks of the devil. The “Bride of the Cross” foretold the coming war, social unrest, and famines; heralded the coming plagues and diseases related to humans and animals. Mystical experiences led her to readily accept penance at all times for the sins of not only lay people but also priests and religious. Physically weak, immobilized in free pace.
Moving through paralysis, suffering from headaches, she fainted, but was able to pray for hours and offer her sufferings as compensation for sins. On Holy Thursday, April 18, 1935, she made her perpetual vows in the monastery chapel of the Brzezie.
Sr. M. Dulcissima Hoffmann trusted in God’s mercy to the end. Reconciled with God’s will, she died in Brzezie on Monday, May 18, 1936, four days before the Ascension of the Lord. This twenty-six-year-old girl came out to meet the Bridegroom with a burning lamp (Mt 25: 1-13). She joined Him at the appropriate hour in her beautiful life, in which she kept watch by her commitment to do good. Moreover, she was wise and prudent.
She found her burial place in the old church cemetery. The funeral of the “Bride of the Cross” became a manifestation of faith. The people of Brzezie, dressed in white on the day of the funeral, were convinced that their “holy nun” had died and immediately took the earth from the tomb, believing that this “relic” would protect them, their families and the houses in which they lived from all evil.
In 2000, her mortal remains were exhumed, secured and placed in a sarcophagus near the Brzeg parish church of the holy apostles Matthew and Matthias. The beatification process at the diocesan level of S. M. Dulcissima Helena Hoffmann began on May 18, 1999 in Katowice – exactly on the 36th anniversary of her death – and was completed after 20 years also on May 18, 2019 in Brzezie. From that day on, the matter of her sanctity of life was investigated by the Roman postulator – Dr. Giovanna Brizzi. For us, the “Bride of God” keeps pointing to heaven and interceding for us if we ask her to. It’s worth it.
Sr. M. Małgorzata Cur SMI
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/
Nov 17, 2020 | HISTORY
The Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a special memory for the Congregation, not only because of our Marian spirituality, but because of the miracle of salvation years ago our sisters experienced in the first days. In the 1870s, our Congregation was only “putting up the first steps”. It wasn’t actually a religious congregation yet, and it was recognized by the bishop for the church association. The Founder, John Schneider tried very hard and he did a great deal to ensure that the small community of women devoted to God would finally be recognized by the Church and approved as the new Congregation. This beautiful dream was meeting him however, with constant resistance and refusal from the Church authorities.
The political situation at that time was also not conducive to the creation of new monastic communities. On the contrary! State of Prussia, where the first community of our congregation was established, began an intense fight with the catholic Church at that time. This policy was called “Kulturkampf”. It was mainly about limitation influence and total subordination of the Catholic Church to the state. It wasn’t an armed fight, but mostly administrative. The rights and activities of the Church were limited by introduction of state laws. The most famous are the so-called “May Acts” of 1873, when it was in May that a new act came into force almost every day for some time restricting the normal functioning of the Church. Education was interfered with and appointment of clergy, disciplinary penalties, or the way it was supposed to be carried out withdrawal from the Catholic Church. Repression quickly followed . Many of the dioceses in Prussia were left empty, some bishops were imprisoned, and many priests were urged to disobey their superiors. It became such repressions to our Founder, who openly took the side was also affected. Ecclesiastical authority and fidelity to one’s bishop were deprived of the right to receive payment by the state to parish priests. In the following years,new subsequent legal regulations were introduced. It was not for him to collect funds as severe as the law that entered into force two years later, in May 1875 on the liquidation of monasteries. According to the new regulations, could stay in Prussia only orders and congregations that took care of the sick, and also those subjected have been subject to numerous restrictions. All Other religious communities had to leave the country.Initially, it seemed that this provision would not apply to the young community founded by Fr. John Schneider, because despite his best efforts, the congregation officially had not been approved. It was only at this point that the sisters and their Founder could read God’s plan in the adversities they encountered before. For 14 months they managed to survive in difficult conditions, explaining in the offices the lack of an official approval. It was not until September 8, 1876 that the government began to control the Foundation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to see if it is not acting as a religious congregation. The inspection started around 4:00 p.m. and lasted until 10:00 p.m.
The government delegate examined all the premises, realized the life of the foundation and the members who ran it. Then he questioned Father Schneider and every sister separately. The inspector asked insightful questions and then made a long report.
The atmosphere during the inspection and questioning was very serious, but before that leaving the Foundation, our founder had the courage to ask for the opinion of the controller, how long he thinks it will take to get the result of the investigations and what it is supposed to be. The inspector’s response was disturbing, the ex officio decision was to come within four weeks, and in his opinion the plant will have to be dissolved, while the sisters should leave this place. After over twenty years of building this foundation, which was supposed to be a new religious congregation, it seemed that this great effort was undertaken over and over again, with patience and trust in God, trying to strengthen the community of sisters was over. Given the unfavorable times, it was easy to fall into pessimism and hopelessness. However, in such great difficulties, both the Founder and the first sisters always had a positive attitude. The adversities happened as inspiration for even more intense activities! In the days following Inspector’s visit, Fr. Schneider undertook correspondence with government offices in which tried to prove and convince that the Foundation was not subject to the law on the dissolution of religious orders.
However, he and his sisters were afraid that this might not be enough, because similar communities and houses in Prussia just ceased to exist. Something else had to be done.
At that time, about 230km in the town of Filipowo in the Czech Republic, a way from Wrocław, a new pilgrimage site was becoming known. In 1866, therefore ten years earlier, Our Lady appeared there, to a simple girl Magdalena Kade healing her from many serious and incurable illnesses from which she had suffered for years. Place of apparitions,of the girl’s room in Filipów, began to be the destination of many spontaneous pilgrimages for people suffering from serious diseases and difficult life situations. It was in that time a place of living worship of Mary and many miraculous favors received by her intercession. So it seemed natural that this is where sisters should go to pray for the grace of saving the young religious community and the work to help women who had arisen through such toil. Sister Superior Matylda z and a few sisters went on a pilgrimage to Filipów and spent eight days there in prayers. At that time, there was no church at the apparition site (it was built only 9 years later), so the sisters went for Holy Mass in the church, more than 2 km away. During this eight-day prayer, Mother Matilda made a promise to Mary that each year the sisters of the Foundation of the holy Virgin Mary will make a pilgrimage to Filipów if the Mother of God will hear their prayers and will keep the Foundation from dissolution.
Immediately after returning, the Foundation received the following government letter: “Based on the results of the survey conducted on September 8 this year. In the house of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the so-called sisters of Mary Immaculate, in connection with the Act of 31 V last year concerning orders and congregations of the Catholic Church, after the trial, gentlemen,the minister of the interior and the minister of worship decided that the so-called Sisters of Mary Immaculate can remain. This positive response in such difficult times was for our Founder, and for the first community of sisters a sign of God’s Providence and Mary’s protection over the new congregation. Since then, M. Matylda, and later her successor and subsequent generations sisters, kept in their hearts the memory of saving the Congregation and made pilgrimages every year to Philipov to give thanks for the graces that the Lord bestows on the community of sisters and their works. Yes it was un interrupted until the First World War. New order in Europe, political changes and territory after the war prevented the sisters from easily crossing the border with the Czech Republic, where it was located in Filipowo, but the sisters did not want to give up this beautiful tradition only because of political difficulties. Therefore, they decided to change the place of pilgrimage and continued their annual thanksgiving pilgrimage in Bardo Śląski, where there is a statue of the Mother of God, the Keeper of Faith. In the sanctuary in Bardo in 1926, in the presence of the Superior General,sr. M. Klotilda, there was a solemn dedication of Congregation to the Mother of God. After Another war and political turmoil made the sisters for some time again not able to continue their thanksgiving pilgrimage. Today is a tradition the pilgrimage to Bard on the Feast of the Presentation of the Mother of God is still upheld and let us hope that even this year we are going through endurance because of the many pandemic limitations, even a small group of sisters will manage to make a pilgrimage to the throne of Mary. Through her holy hands, we thank God for saving our congregation, but also for the care and many favors we experience to this day.
Today, the Congregation is much larger than it was in the first years of its existence, our communities live and evangelize in different parts of the world. Not only by coronavirus, but also simply by the long distances between some communities and the sanctuary in Bardo or not through sickness and age all the sisters can take part in this beautiful continuing pilgrimage of thanksgiving for generations, but we can make this day our thanksgiving together!
We thank God together for His favors towards the Congregation and we can thank ourselves everywhere, even thousands of kilometers from Bard. May this day of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Virgin Mary be for our entire Congregation and all our loved ones an opportunity to express their gratitude in prayer for so many graces,and what happened to us thanks to God’s grace.
Sr.M. Sybilla Kołtan
Aug 16, 2020 | HISTORY
Sr. M. Luka Spengler was one of the sisters who witnessed the move of the Generalate to Rome in 1970 and the early days there.
In the following text she tells from her memories:
Our trip to Rome began at the end of July 1970. We, Sr. Genovefa and I, first took the interzonal train from Berlin / West to Frankfurt / Main. We had to change there. Sr. Kuniberta joined us in Frankfurt, who had broken off her vacation to help with this not easy undertaking. We had a lot of luggage and it was not so easy to keep track, not to forget or lose any luggage. It was a long journey to Rome and we were glad when we finally drove into Rome.
We were supposed to be picked up there by sisters from another congregation, but no one was there. We had no choice but to wait, because we neither knew the language nor did we have money. And it was very hot!
After a long wait, the sisters finally came (I don’t remember which community they belonged to) and fortunately they spoke German. They took us to their house and there Mother Gertrud, the General Treasurer Sr. Florina and the General Assistant Sr. Doris, who had arrived by plane, were waiting for us. We stayed with the sisters for one night. The next morning the Vicar General Sr. Maria and Sr. Edda Krüger arrived in Rome by car from Berlin. Together we then drove to La Storta. There we had rented a house on the premises of the Dillinger Franciscan Sisters, which was to become the seat of the general government for two years.
The house we found was completely empty. The furniture transport from Germany was supposed to arrive in the course of the morning, but did not arrive until evening. So we had no choice but to wait in the Roman heat. We didn’t have anything and at least I got a chair from a nearby stable so that Mother Gertrud could sit on it. The rest of us sat on the steps and waited.
When the furniture transport finally came, it was late and we unloaded everything and only set up the beds for Mother Gertrud, Sr. Maria, Sr. Florina and Sr. Doris. The rest of us slept on the mattresses we had put on the floor. We didn’t put all the furniture up until the next day.
Until we (Sr. Genovefa, Sr. Kuniberta and I) took the train back to Germany, we stayed in Rome for about 3 weeks and experienced the early days and initial difficulties first hand. It started with shopping. La Storta is a bit outside of Rome and the nearest shops were far away and there was no bus. Mostly it was Sr. Doris who did the shopping and she was often taken away by Italian soldiers who were probably stationed nearby.
The Dillinger Franciscan Sisters, on whose grounds we now lived, were also very hospitable to us. They did a lot of farming and gave us fresh milk and eggs every morning. We were also able to take part in the Holy Mass there every day.
Language was a big problem in the early days. None of us spoke Italian. There were some misunderstandings, but they often made us laugh. For example, an electrician came into the house. It was hot and he always spoke of caldo, caldo. The nurse would always say, no, it’s hot. But we didn’t know that “caldo” means “hot” in Italian and that we always only understood “cold”.
Looking back, I can say that it was a difficult but also a very nice time and today I am grateful that I was able to help with the beginnings of our Generalate in Rome
Sr. Luka Spengler
