CHAPTER IV
UNITY IN DIVERSITY
“When your bones have already returned to dust, future generations will still bless the memory of Mother Kostka and her great spirit of self-sacrifice; ‘not because of the great deeds I have done, Lord, rather because I was able to labor for your glory and the good of my Congregation.’”
These beautifully prophetic words were spoken by Reverend Bartholomew Badalik, O.P., on January 16, 1928, at the solemn high mass celebrating the 25th jubilee of perpetual profession of Mother M. Kostka Bauer. (SJC, 1928, p. 1) The following chapters will attempt to assess her years as superior general from four vantage points: her efforts at developing greater unity among the members, her spiritual leadership, her administrative activities, and her final years in exile.
As has already been mentioned, one of the factors which led to the election of Mother Kostka as superior general in 1926 was the belief that she, above all others, would be able to achieve the unification of all Daughters of Divine charity, despite their diverse ethnic backgrounds and provincial divisions. The memory of the foundress, Mother Franziska Lechner, was gradually fading and her original charism was being forgotten. After all, by 1926, Mother Franziska had be dead thirty-two years. Many of the younger members of the Congregation knew little or nothing about her. Then, too, the division of the Congregation into provinces further separated the sisters from the Motherhouse. Now the practice of sending a sister from one country to another, from one province to another, was rarely practiced. The stationing of the sisters was carried out by the provincial superiors rather than the superior general. The need to know German as a prerequisite for entrance into the Congregation was gradually dropped. Nevertheless, in her circular of September 7, 1928, Mother Kostka encouraged all members of the Congregation to strive to learn the German language, so that all would be able to communicate with each other both orally and in writing. Besides, the knowledge of a second language is a general sign of education.! The task of unification was, therefore, a monumental one.
Mother Kostka decided that, before all else, a rekindling of love and devotion to the foundress was of prime importance. Immediately after her election, she asked Mother M. Ludovica Binder, provincial superior in Poland, to write the biography of Mother Franziska, with the assistance of Sister M. Donata. She hoped the work would be completed in time for November 21, 1928, when the sixtieth anniversary of the founding of the Congregation would be celebrated. In her circular of July 23, 1926, she announced that the work on the biography was to commence and asked all those sisters who had known and worked with Mother Franziska to send any information or human interest stories about the foundress to Mother Ludovica as soon as possible so that the work could progress.
In the spring of 1927 Mother Kostka, Mother Ludovica and Sister Donata traveled to Munich to visit the School Sisters of Notre Dame, among whom Mother Franziska had worked as a teacher for some years. (It is evident from the accounts in the general chronicles that no one at the time was aware of the fact that Mother Franziska had been a member of that congregation . They also visited the Deaf-Mute Institute where she had taught for a time. From Munich they went to Edling, the birthplace of Franziska Lechner. Mother Kostka took a number of pictures of the house where the foundress was born, the church where she had been baptized, and of the little village in which she had grown up. These photographs were to be included in the biography. With the permission of the current owners of the house, they placed a black marble memorial which they had had prepared in Munich on the outer wall of the former Lechner house. The plaque read:
In this house, on January 2, 1833, the Reverend Mother Maria Franziska Lechner was born, In 1868 she founded the Congregation of the Daughters of Divine Charity in Vienna and died on April 14, 1894 in the convent of Mariahilf in .Breitenfurt near Vienna. Erected by her faithful spiritual daughters. (GC, VII, p. 126)
From Edling, the trio went on to visit the shrine at A1tötting. Dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, this pilgrimage site had been one that Mother Franziska had sought out often, even after the founding of the Congregation. (GC, VII, pp. 126-127)
To make the production of the biography truly a congregational project, Mother Kostka asked all the provinces to contribute to the expense of publishing the book. In her circular of January 10, 1927 to the American province, she asked all the convents to make some special sacrifices in order to be able to give greater monetary aid toward the cost of printing. In the meantime, Mother Kostka contracted a sculptor to carve a marble bust of Mother Franziska. She also proceeded to collect all the existing possessions of the foundress for display in a suitable case in the Motherhouse chapter room.
Because World War I had made the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Congregation impossible in 1918, Mother Kostka was determined that the 60th jubilee celebration in 1928 would be a truly memorable occasion. Realizing that this event could serve as a great unifying force, Mother Kostka asked that each provincial superior, accompanied by some sisters if possible, should come to Vienna to participate in the jubilee.
The international group of Daughters of Divine Charity that gathered in Vienna in November 1928 brought much joy and satisfaction to the heart of Mother Kostka. On November 20, His Excellency, Bishop Ernst Seydl bestowed the Apostolic Blessing which had been obtained beforehand by Mother Kostka from the Holy See on all the members of the Congregation throughout the world. In his talk to the sisters gathered in Vienna, the bishop remarked: The mustard seed which Mother Franziska planted in Vienna’s apparently barren soil has been made so fruitful by God that it has grown into a large tree which demands respect. There are Austrian, Hungarian, Czech, Polish, Slovak and American provinces, foundations in England and Brazil and most recently in Germany. The number of members is 1200.
On November 21, after the celebration of a solemn high mass in the Motherhouse church, all the sisters processed to the chapter room for the solemn unveiling of the bust of Mother Franziska and of the display cabinet containing her belongings. Then Mother Kostka distributed copies of the completed biography to each provincial superior and convent superior present. The evident joy of the sisters at seeing the bust of the foundress and her possessions brought tears to the eyes of Mother Kostka. Now, hopefully, the members of the Congregation would be unified through knowledge of Mother Franziska.
Truly, Mother Franziska was the focal point of the 60th jubilee celebration. On November 22, Mother Kostka, her assistants and the representatives from the various provinces and convents traveled to Breitenfurt where a solemn Requiem was celebrated in the chapel by Monsignor Joseph Enzmann, chaplain of the Refuge. After the liturgy, the entire assembly went in procession to the crypt, where the Libera was sung. (Memorial Booklet; GC VII, p. 147)
Time and again during her terms as superior general, Mother Kostka would encourage the sisters to honor and revere Mother Franziska and to pray to her. As 1932 drew to a close, she reminded the members of the Congregation that the 100th birthday anniversary of the foundress would occur on January 2, 1933. (Since that time, research into the baptismal registry in Edling has proven that, in fact, she was born on January 1.) In commemoration of this event, Mother Kostka asked that the day be celebrated in all the houses of the Congregation with a solemn high mass, if possible. She encouraged all to turn to the foundress in their troubles. Every other congregation with which she had become acquainted loved, honored and venerated its founder; we should be no different. After all, she reminded the sisters, “It is because of her that we are Daughters of Divine Charity.”
Acknowledging the many congratulations on the occasion of the diamond jubilee celebration which she received from all the provinces and individual sisters, Mother Kostka responded joyfully in her circular of December 1928. Expressing her happiness that the sisters liked the jubilee booklet, she commented that while its preparation had cost much in time, effort and money, all this would be more than repaid by the sisters’ loyalty and fidelity to the Congregation. “We owe a great deal of gratitude and respect to our Congregation which has supported us with so much love and raised us in the spiritual life.”
The spread of the Congregation into various countries had resulted in the translation of the title into different languages. This, in time, could serve as a divisive factor; with different names it would be difficult to recognize the sisters as members of one congregation. For a period of time, Mother Kostka prayed and thought about the matter and sought a solution to the question. Finally, she decided to utilize the fact that ours is a Roman (papal) congregation and found in the language of the church the answer to the dilemma. Her circular of February 29, 1928 informed the members of the Congregation: In order to provide for greater unity in our Congregation I have decided that all members when signing their names should use the Latin form of Daughters of Divine Charity: Filiae Divinae Cantatis, abbreviated F.D.C., regardless of the country in which they reside.
Early in her first term as superior general, Mother Kostka decreed that a brief biographical sketch be written about each sister at the time of her death in order to acquaint each member of the Congregation of the life and work of each sister. These would be sent as circulars to each convent where they were to be read in common and then filed, so that the memory of the deceased sisters could be lovingly referred to and guarded. Writing of this decision in her circular of September 15, 1926, she forwarded the biography of the first sister to be so remembered: Sister M. Mamerta Bleier, who died in Austria on August 30, 1926.
In September1927 Mother Kostka informed all the provinces that the Motherhouse was preparing a congregational necrology. This would be distributed to every convent of the Congregation. The book was to be kept in the dining room and the names of the deceased for the next day were to be read after the evening reading of the lives of the saints. This, too, would be another way of united prayer for the members of the Congregation who had died in various countries and continents.
The first circular she penned on May 13, 1926 before leaving for Brazil clearly set the tone that would epitomize Mother Kostka’s seventeen- year leadership of the Congregation. She wrote: “The health and good spirit of the Congregation will survive only if every single sister performs all her actions to that end...” She looked forward to the time when she would meet each member of the Congregation personally. She assured them that she did not want to be just a strict mother in times of trial; rather, she hoped to win their love so that she could lead them all more easily to the Divine Master. “The Motherhouse,” she wrote on December 27, 1927, “should be the center of our religious family, and every sister should think of it with joy and love, just as a child who is away from home gladly thinks of her home and would be happy if she had the fortune to come to the Motherhouse.”
On her frequent visitation trips to the various provinces, Mother Kostka began the practice of taking pictures of the convents, the sisters and their various activities. These photographs accompanied her as she went from convent to convent and would be produced at recreation time, when she would give a running commentary on each province and the admirable work done by the sisters. Through this method, Mother Kostka worked to form a common bond of knowledge and respect for the work being done by members of the Congregation, so that “...here and across the ocean we may be one heart and one soul.” In fact, this prayer for the Congregation which is said even today, was composed during Mother Kostka’s time in office.
At another time she would write, “We are a papal congregation which, thank God, is spread in many countries and two hemispheres, under the leadership of one mother who loves and embraces all her daughters, regardless of ethnic origin.” (February 4, 1928) Again in November 1933 she returned to the theme of international unity and the need to preserve it in order to achieve strength. While the Congregation consists of members from many nationalities, charity bonds us and makes us one. Each sister should love her own country without belittling that of another. There is a great difference between patriotism and chauvinism; the former is just, the latter leads to misfortune even in the Congregation.
One of the early practices of the Congregation which Mother Kostka hoped to utilize as a unifying bond was that of transferring sisters from one province to another. This right of the superior general had been greatly weakened through the establishment of separate provinces, each with its own provincial head. As was noted in the previous chapters, although Mother Ignatia Egger had used the privilege of moving sisters from one European country to another, all the sisters who left Hungary to help establish the American province had been volunteers. Remembering her own moves from Austria to Hungary, then to the United States and back to Austria, Mother Kostka was looking for the same spirit of willingness that she had exhibited during her religious life.
She was looking for sisters to go to Brazil, to England and to Germany, where a new establishment was being made; however, her attempts met with opposition, if not outright refusal. This attitude prompted her to write seriously to the sisters on July 7, 1930, “. . . to accept transfers in the proper spirit even if it means leaving homeland, home, surroundings .... love of God should be greater than the pain of parting; we can find God in every place, in every assignment.”
Mother Kostka was dismayed when she learned that some of the sisters considered a transfer from one province to another as a form of “exile”. In this same circular she reminded them, “We are one family, a papal congregation; therefore, we should not cling to one national viewpoint.” To emphasize the importance of being willing to go wherever one was sent, Mother Kostka informed the sisters that that year -- 1930 -— the Congregation had received an invitation to open a mission in China. She stated that she had been forced, albeit with a heavy heart, to refuse this great missionary opportunity because she had been unable to find any sisters ready to make the sacrifice.
Her constant pleas for unity, and a willingness on the part of the sisters to serve wherever the Congregation had need of them, finally bore fruit. In 1935, 1936 and 1937, Mother Kostka was able to report in her circulars that willing members had been found to go to Brazil where the need for additional sisters was greatest. Volunteers were found in Austria, Bosnia, the Czech Province and North America, who were ready to travel to South America. In fact, in her circular of January 10, 1937 she reported that the number of volunteers had been so great that she would have to review the list and decide who would be best suited for which mission.
In the 1930s, many members of the Congregation were celebrating various levels of their anniversary of profession. Although she had celebrated the silver jubilee of her profession in 1915, this had been an “unofficial” action. Mother Kostka celebrated the silver jubilee of her profession officially in 1928, reckoning from the time of her perpetual profession. In 1931 the Congregation reached a new milestone: three sisters, Sister Barbara, Sister Rose and Sister Gizella reached their diamond (60th) jubilee. The occasion was celebrated with great pomp at the Motherhouse. In her circular of November 30, 1931, Mother Kostka described very minutely the jubilee celebration, from the red covering of the pews in the church to the festive dinner which followed. She then stated that she wished jubilees to be celebrated in like manner in all the convents of the Congregation.
It was at this time that Mother Kostka made a major revision in the reckoning of the various anniversaries. Neither Mother Franziska nor Mother Ignatia had adhered to any particular time frame in which a sister was permitted to pronounce final vows. Mother Kostka herself had remained in temporary vows for thirteen years (1890—1903) for no apparent reason, and had officially celebrated her silver jubilee only in 1928, although she had already been a professed member of the Congregation for 38 years; therefore, she decreed that henceforth silver, golden, and diamond jubilees were to be calculated from the date of the first profession of vows rather than that of perpetual profession.
One of the first congregational devotions fostered by Mother Franziska was that to our Mother Most Admirable. Her picture graced the high altar of the Motherhouse Church, the candidates were dedicated to her in a special way, and the early members had been encouraged to turn to her in all their needs. The devotion, however, had begun to fade with time. The Holy See had granted to the members of the Congregation the privilege of gaining 300 days indulgence upon recitation of the aspiration “Mother Most Admirable, pray for us” three times. Yet the devotion continued to dwindle. Mother Kostka encouraged the sisters to renew this special devotion. In her circular of December 30, 1935 she reiterated the fact that Mother Franziska had dedicated the Congregation to our Mother Most Admirable from the very beginning and asked that the devotion be once more fostered. She asked that a picture of Our Lady under that title be displayed in every chapel and in the community room of every convent, novitiate and candidature. Pictures, if unavailable, could be obtained from the Motherhouse. Once more, August 5 was to be celebrated with solemnity as one of the important feasts of the Congregation. All were reminded that a plenary indulgence could be gained on that day by praying three Hail Mary’s before the picture and saying “Mother Most Admirable, pray for us.” The frequent recitation of the foregoing aspiration would also bring much spiritual blessings on the sisters.
Her circulars were the means by which Mother Kostka hoped to foster the spirit of unity among all the members of the Congregation. Hence, she described her visitations of the various provinces in great detail. If there were political or financial problems somewhere, she asked the sisters to pray in a special way for the suffering province. Wherever she went, especially when lodging in convents of other religious orders, she took the opportunity to learn from them methods which they utilized for greater bonding among the sisters. Thus it was that in 1936, after visiting the mother house of the Congregation of Notre Dame in Canada and seeing their unique congregational photo album, Mother Kostka decided that this could serve our congregational unity as well. She asked every province to send a photograph of each sister with perpetual vows to the Motherhouse. These would be compiled into a photograph album which would encompass the entire Congregation around the world--a real family album!
To foster unity with the Motherhouse, sisters of the various European provinces were encouraged to spend their vacations at the cradle of the Congregation in Vienna or at one of the nearby convents. From here, they could visit the grave of the foundress and the scenes of the first days of the institute. Hopefully, such visits would rekindle love and loyalty to the foundress and to the Congregation.
The ravages of World War I, the post-war depression, as well as the political instability of the new Austrian government had dire effects on the Motherhouse and its community. In various circulars, Mother Kostka referred to the strained circumstances and asked for prayers. By 1938, she was forced to ask for more than spiritual assistance. In her circular of May 31, 1938, she informed the sisters that the future of the Motherhouse was in jeopardy unless the provinces came to its assistance. Supported principally through solicited contributions, they had now been forbidden by the government to continue collecting these alms. The monies realized from tuition, the kindergarten and music lessons were minimal; it would be impossible to support the community on this meager income.
“The candidature or the novitiate cannot be disbanded; this would deprive us of new members and the work of our beloved foundress, Mother Franziska, which was accomplished under such adverse conditions 70 years ago, would be destroyed. We have here the largest number of old and infirm sisters who sacrificed their lives and strength in the service of the Congregation.”
Mother Kostka counted on the generosity of all the members to be willing to make sacrifices-- to be ready to do without little conveniences--so that the superiors would be able to send funds to the Motherhouse to help with the payment of the many debts which endangered their future. Before Easter, 1938, the nearer convents and provinces were even asked to send ham and eggs so that the sisters in the Motherhouse could have a little Easter joy. And the mother was not disappointed; the children came to the aid of their suffering sisters. For a few years, until the outbreak of World War II, the provinces sent whatever they could to assuage the poverty of the Motherhouse. The general chronicler would write, “From all sides numerous signs of sympathy and assistance came, clear indications that we were one--here and across the ocean.”
(GC, VII, p. 365)
The Anschluss -- unification of Austria with Germany -- which was forced upon Austria by Adolf Hitler in March 1938 further endangered the welfare of the Motherhouse and its community. Utilizing her prerogative of transferring sisters as she saw fit, Mother Kostka informed the rest of the congregation on December 12, 1938, that she had transferred the young sisters from Austria to various provinces. Sister M. Fidelia Weninger who, as a novice, was one of the four sisters sent to Brazil in February 1939 as a result of that decision, remembers that none of the general assistants wanted Mother Kostka to send the sisters away, especially to Brazil. When she finally convinced them that in Austria they could not earn their daily bread, they reluctantly agreed to the transfers. Sister Fidelis, as a novice, along with Sister Aquilina Eibel, Sister Armella Lechner and Sister Hedwigis Witkowska went to South America, Sisters Leonore Mohl and Imelda Andre were sent to North America. At the same Sister Hubertine Resseguier was sent to England, Sisters Salvatora Schimpach and Theonitta Balko were transferred to Jugoslavia; Sister Silvia
Pescha and Sister Honoria Eichler went to Hungary, while Sisters Anysia Nitsche and Melitta Howorka joined the Czech province. These, she thought, would be free from the dangers that were looming on the horizon; they would also be able work and help support the Motherhouse.
Although she left Vienna in April 1939, never again to return, until her death, Mother Kostka attempted to maintain contact with all her spiritual daughters through circulars and personal correspondence. Though separated, the family remained in touch.
The outbreak of World War II in September, 1939 further hampered her attempts to maintain the unity she had labored so assiduously to cultivate and foster. On February 19, 1940, she would write: “Although I am far across the ocean, I feel certain that we all belong together, that we are building a lovely spiritual family which is strongly bound in the hardest hours by the bonds of love.”
This desire to keep the members of the Congregation united remained with her until the moment of her death. As she lay dying on June 16, 1943, Mother Kostka would leave for her daughters the greatest legacy: the death wish of a loving mother. “I beg you always to work together in love and unity. Be of one heart and soul and remain united with the Motherhouse.”
UNITY IN DIVERSITY
“When your bones have already returned to dust, future generations will still bless the memory of Mother Kostka and her great spirit of self-sacrifice; ‘not because of the great deeds I have done, Lord, rather because I was able to labor for your glory and the good of my Congregation.’”
These beautifully prophetic words were spoken by Reverend Bartholomew Badalik, O.P., on January 16, 1928, at the solemn high mass celebrating the 25th jubilee of perpetual profession of Mother M. Kostka Bauer. (SJC, 1928, p. 1) The following chapters will attempt to assess her years as superior general from four vantage points: her efforts at developing greater unity among the members, her spiritual leadership, her administrative activities, and her final years in exile.
As has already been mentioned, one of the factors which led to the election of Mother Kostka as superior general in 1926 was the belief that she, above all others, would be able to achieve the unification of all Daughters of Divine charity, despite their diverse ethnic backgrounds and provincial divisions. The memory of the foundress, Mother Franziska Lechner, was gradually fading and her original charism was being forgotten. After all, by 1926, Mother Franziska had be dead thirty-two years. Many of the younger members of the Congregation knew little or nothing about her. Then, too, the division of the Congregation into provinces further separated the sisters from the Motherhouse. Now the practice of sending a sister from one country to another, from one province to another, was rarely practiced. The stationing of the sisters was carried out by the provincial superiors rather than the superior general. The need to know German as a prerequisite for entrance into the Congregation was gradually dropped. Nevertheless, in her circular of September 7, 1928, Mother Kostka encouraged all members of the Congregation to strive to learn the German language, so that all would be able to communicate with each other both orally and in writing. Besides, the knowledge of a second language is a general sign of education.! The task of unification was, therefore, a monumental one.
Mother Kostka decided that, before all else, a rekindling of love and devotion to the foundress was of prime importance. Immediately after her election, she asked Mother M. Ludovica Binder, provincial superior in Poland, to write the biography of Mother Franziska, with the assistance of Sister M. Donata. She hoped the work would be completed in time for November 21, 1928, when the sixtieth anniversary of the founding of the Congregation would be celebrated. In her circular of July 23, 1926, she announced that the work on the biography was to commence and asked all those sisters who had known and worked with Mother Franziska to send any information or human interest stories about the foundress to Mother Ludovica as soon as possible so that the work could progress.
In the spring of 1927 Mother Kostka, Mother Ludovica and Sister Donata traveled to Munich to visit the School Sisters of Notre Dame, among whom Mother Franziska had worked as a teacher for some years. (It is evident from the accounts in the general chronicles that no one at the time was aware of the fact that Mother Franziska had been a member of that congregation . They also visited the Deaf-Mute Institute where she had taught for a time. From Munich they went to Edling, the birthplace of Franziska Lechner. Mother Kostka took a number of pictures of the house where the foundress was born, the church where she had been baptized, and of the little village in which she had grown up. These photographs were to be included in the biography. With the permission of the current owners of the house, they placed a black marble memorial which they had had prepared in Munich on the outer wall of the former Lechner house. The plaque read:
In this house, on January 2, 1833, the Reverend Mother Maria Franziska Lechner was born, In 1868 she founded the Congregation of the Daughters of Divine Charity in Vienna and died on April 14, 1894 in the convent of Mariahilf in .Breitenfurt near Vienna. Erected by her faithful spiritual daughters. (GC, VII, p. 126)
From Edling, the trio went on to visit the shrine at A1tötting. Dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, this pilgrimage site had been one that Mother Franziska had sought out often, even after the founding of the Congregation. (GC, VII, pp. 126-127)
To make the production of the biography truly a congregational project, Mother Kostka asked all the provinces to contribute to the expense of publishing the book. In her circular of January 10, 1927 to the American province, she asked all the convents to make some special sacrifices in order to be able to give greater monetary aid toward the cost of printing. In the meantime, Mother Kostka contracted a sculptor to carve a marble bust of Mother Franziska. She also proceeded to collect all the existing possessions of the foundress for display in a suitable case in the Motherhouse chapter room.
Because World War I had made the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Congregation impossible in 1918, Mother Kostka was determined that the 60th jubilee celebration in 1928 would be a truly memorable occasion. Realizing that this event could serve as a great unifying force, Mother Kostka asked that each provincial superior, accompanied by some sisters if possible, should come to Vienna to participate in the jubilee.
The international group of Daughters of Divine Charity that gathered in Vienna in November 1928 brought much joy and satisfaction to the heart of Mother Kostka. On November 20, His Excellency, Bishop Ernst Seydl bestowed the Apostolic Blessing which had been obtained beforehand by Mother Kostka from the Holy See on all the members of the Congregation throughout the world. In his talk to the sisters gathered in Vienna, the bishop remarked: The mustard seed which Mother Franziska planted in Vienna’s apparently barren soil has been made so fruitful by God that it has grown into a large tree which demands respect. There are Austrian, Hungarian, Czech, Polish, Slovak and American provinces, foundations in England and Brazil and most recently in Germany. The number of members is 1200.
On November 21, after the celebration of a solemn high mass in the Motherhouse church, all the sisters processed to the chapter room for the solemn unveiling of the bust of Mother Franziska and of the display cabinet containing her belongings. Then Mother Kostka distributed copies of the completed biography to each provincial superior and convent superior present. The evident joy of the sisters at seeing the bust of the foundress and her possessions brought tears to the eyes of Mother Kostka. Now, hopefully, the members of the Congregation would be unified through knowledge of Mother Franziska.
Truly, Mother Franziska was the focal point of the 60th jubilee celebration. On November 22, Mother Kostka, her assistants and the representatives from the various provinces and convents traveled to Breitenfurt where a solemn Requiem was celebrated in the chapel by Monsignor Joseph Enzmann, chaplain of the Refuge. After the liturgy, the entire assembly went in procession to the crypt, where the Libera was sung. (Memorial Booklet; GC VII, p. 147)
Time and again during her terms as superior general, Mother Kostka would encourage the sisters to honor and revere Mother Franziska and to pray to her. As 1932 drew to a close, she reminded the members of the Congregation that the 100th birthday anniversary of the foundress would occur on January 2, 1933. (Since that time, research into the baptismal registry in Edling has proven that, in fact, she was born on January 1.) In commemoration of this event, Mother Kostka asked that the day be celebrated in all the houses of the Congregation with a solemn high mass, if possible. She encouraged all to turn to the foundress in their troubles. Every other congregation with which she had become acquainted loved, honored and venerated its founder; we should be no different. After all, she reminded the sisters, “It is because of her that we are Daughters of Divine Charity.”
Acknowledging the many congratulations on the occasion of the diamond jubilee celebration which she received from all the provinces and individual sisters, Mother Kostka responded joyfully in her circular of December 1928. Expressing her happiness that the sisters liked the jubilee booklet, she commented that while its preparation had cost much in time, effort and money, all this would be more than repaid by the sisters’ loyalty and fidelity to the Congregation. “We owe a great deal of gratitude and respect to our Congregation which has supported us with so much love and raised us in the spiritual life.”
The spread of the Congregation into various countries had resulted in the translation of the title into different languages. This, in time, could serve as a divisive factor; with different names it would be difficult to recognize the sisters as members of one congregation. For a period of time, Mother Kostka prayed and thought about the matter and sought a solution to the question. Finally, she decided to utilize the fact that ours is a Roman (papal) congregation and found in the language of the church the answer to the dilemma. Her circular of February 29, 1928 informed the members of the Congregation: In order to provide for greater unity in our Congregation I have decided that all members when signing their names should use the Latin form of Daughters of Divine Charity: Filiae Divinae Cantatis, abbreviated F.D.C., regardless of the country in which they reside.
Early in her first term as superior general, Mother Kostka decreed that a brief biographical sketch be written about each sister at the time of her death in order to acquaint each member of the Congregation of the life and work of each sister. These would be sent as circulars to each convent where they were to be read in common and then filed, so that the memory of the deceased sisters could be lovingly referred to and guarded. Writing of this decision in her circular of September 15, 1926, she forwarded the biography of the first sister to be so remembered: Sister M. Mamerta Bleier, who died in Austria on August 30, 1926.
In September1927 Mother Kostka informed all the provinces that the Motherhouse was preparing a congregational necrology. This would be distributed to every convent of the Congregation. The book was to be kept in the dining room and the names of the deceased for the next day were to be read after the evening reading of the lives of the saints. This, too, would be another way of united prayer for the members of the Congregation who had died in various countries and continents.
The first circular she penned on May 13, 1926 before leaving for Brazil clearly set the tone that would epitomize Mother Kostka’s seventeen- year leadership of the Congregation. She wrote: “The health and good spirit of the Congregation will survive only if every single sister performs all her actions to that end...” She looked forward to the time when she would meet each member of the Congregation personally. She assured them that she did not want to be just a strict mother in times of trial; rather, she hoped to win their love so that she could lead them all more easily to the Divine Master. “The Motherhouse,” she wrote on December 27, 1927, “should be the center of our religious family, and every sister should think of it with joy and love, just as a child who is away from home gladly thinks of her home and would be happy if she had the fortune to come to the Motherhouse.”
On her frequent visitation trips to the various provinces, Mother Kostka began the practice of taking pictures of the convents, the sisters and their various activities. These photographs accompanied her as she went from convent to convent and would be produced at recreation time, when she would give a running commentary on each province and the admirable work done by the sisters. Through this method, Mother Kostka worked to form a common bond of knowledge and respect for the work being done by members of the Congregation, so that “...here and across the ocean we may be one heart and one soul.” In fact, this prayer for the Congregation which is said even today, was composed during Mother Kostka’s time in office.
At another time she would write, “We are a papal congregation which, thank God, is spread in many countries and two hemispheres, under the leadership of one mother who loves and embraces all her daughters, regardless of ethnic origin.” (February 4, 1928) Again in November 1933 she returned to the theme of international unity and the need to preserve it in order to achieve strength. While the Congregation consists of members from many nationalities, charity bonds us and makes us one. Each sister should love her own country without belittling that of another. There is a great difference between patriotism and chauvinism; the former is just, the latter leads to misfortune even in the Congregation.
One of the early practices of the Congregation which Mother Kostka hoped to utilize as a unifying bond was that of transferring sisters from one province to another. This right of the superior general had been greatly weakened through the establishment of separate provinces, each with its own provincial head. As was noted in the previous chapters, although Mother Ignatia Egger had used the privilege of moving sisters from one European country to another, all the sisters who left Hungary to help establish the American province had been volunteers. Remembering her own moves from Austria to Hungary, then to the United States and back to Austria, Mother Kostka was looking for the same spirit of willingness that she had exhibited during her religious life.
She was looking for sisters to go to Brazil, to England and to Germany, where a new establishment was being made; however, her attempts met with opposition, if not outright refusal. This attitude prompted her to write seriously to the sisters on July 7, 1930, “. . . to accept transfers in the proper spirit even if it means leaving homeland, home, surroundings .... love of God should be greater than the pain of parting; we can find God in every place, in every assignment.”
Mother Kostka was dismayed when she learned that some of the sisters considered a transfer from one province to another as a form of “exile”. In this same circular she reminded them, “We are one family, a papal congregation; therefore, we should not cling to one national viewpoint.” To emphasize the importance of being willing to go wherever one was sent, Mother Kostka informed the sisters that that year -- 1930 -— the Congregation had received an invitation to open a mission in China. She stated that she had been forced, albeit with a heavy heart, to refuse this great missionary opportunity because she had been unable to find any sisters ready to make the sacrifice.
Her constant pleas for unity, and a willingness on the part of the sisters to serve wherever the Congregation had need of them, finally bore fruit. In 1935, 1936 and 1937, Mother Kostka was able to report in her circulars that willing members had been found to go to Brazil where the need for additional sisters was greatest. Volunteers were found in Austria, Bosnia, the Czech Province and North America, who were ready to travel to South America. In fact, in her circular of January 10, 1937 she reported that the number of volunteers had been so great that she would have to review the list and decide who would be best suited for which mission.
In the 1930s, many members of the Congregation were celebrating various levels of their anniversary of profession. Although she had celebrated the silver jubilee of her profession in 1915, this had been an “unofficial” action. Mother Kostka celebrated the silver jubilee of her profession officially in 1928, reckoning from the time of her perpetual profession. In 1931 the Congregation reached a new milestone: three sisters, Sister Barbara, Sister Rose and Sister Gizella reached their diamond (60th) jubilee. The occasion was celebrated with great pomp at the Motherhouse. In her circular of November 30, 1931, Mother Kostka described very minutely the jubilee celebration, from the red covering of the pews in the church to the festive dinner which followed. She then stated that she wished jubilees to be celebrated in like manner in all the convents of the Congregation.
It was at this time that Mother Kostka made a major revision in the reckoning of the various anniversaries. Neither Mother Franziska nor Mother Ignatia had adhered to any particular time frame in which a sister was permitted to pronounce final vows. Mother Kostka herself had remained in temporary vows for thirteen years (1890—1903) for no apparent reason, and had officially celebrated her silver jubilee only in 1928, although she had already been a professed member of the Congregation for 38 years; therefore, she decreed that henceforth silver, golden, and diamond jubilees were to be calculated from the date of the first profession of vows rather than that of perpetual profession.
One of the first congregational devotions fostered by Mother Franziska was that to our Mother Most Admirable. Her picture graced the high altar of the Motherhouse Church, the candidates were dedicated to her in a special way, and the early members had been encouraged to turn to her in all their needs. The devotion, however, had begun to fade with time. The Holy See had granted to the members of the Congregation the privilege of gaining 300 days indulgence upon recitation of the aspiration “Mother Most Admirable, pray for us” three times. Yet the devotion continued to dwindle. Mother Kostka encouraged the sisters to renew this special devotion. In her circular of December 30, 1935 she reiterated the fact that Mother Franziska had dedicated the Congregation to our Mother Most Admirable from the very beginning and asked that the devotion be once more fostered. She asked that a picture of Our Lady under that title be displayed in every chapel and in the community room of every convent, novitiate and candidature. Pictures, if unavailable, could be obtained from the Motherhouse. Once more, August 5 was to be celebrated with solemnity as one of the important feasts of the Congregation. All were reminded that a plenary indulgence could be gained on that day by praying three Hail Mary’s before the picture and saying “Mother Most Admirable, pray for us.” The frequent recitation of the foregoing aspiration would also bring much spiritual blessings on the sisters.
Her circulars were the means by which Mother Kostka hoped to foster the spirit of unity among all the members of the Congregation. Hence, she described her visitations of the various provinces in great detail. If there were political or financial problems somewhere, she asked the sisters to pray in a special way for the suffering province. Wherever she went, especially when lodging in convents of other religious orders, she took the opportunity to learn from them methods which they utilized for greater bonding among the sisters. Thus it was that in 1936, after visiting the mother house of the Congregation of Notre Dame in Canada and seeing their unique congregational photo album, Mother Kostka decided that this could serve our congregational unity as well. She asked every province to send a photograph of each sister with perpetual vows to the Motherhouse. These would be compiled into a photograph album which would encompass the entire Congregation around the world--a real family album!
To foster unity with the Motherhouse, sisters of the various European provinces were encouraged to spend their vacations at the cradle of the Congregation in Vienna or at one of the nearby convents. From here, they could visit the grave of the foundress and the scenes of the first days of the institute. Hopefully, such visits would rekindle love and loyalty to the foundress and to the Congregation.
The ravages of World War I, the post-war depression, as well as the political instability of the new Austrian government had dire effects on the Motherhouse and its community. In various circulars, Mother Kostka referred to the strained circumstances and asked for prayers. By 1938, she was forced to ask for more than spiritual assistance. In her circular of May 31, 1938, she informed the sisters that the future of the Motherhouse was in jeopardy unless the provinces came to its assistance. Supported principally through solicited contributions, they had now been forbidden by the government to continue collecting these alms. The monies realized from tuition, the kindergarten and music lessons were minimal; it would be impossible to support the community on this meager income.
“The candidature or the novitiate cannot be disbanded; this would deprive us of new members and the work of our beloved foundress, Mother Franziska, which was accomplished under such adverse conditions 70 years ago, would be destroyed. We have here the largest number of old and infirm sisters who sacrificed their lives and strength in the service of the Congregation.”
Mother Kostka counted on the generosity of all the members to be willing to make sacrifices-- to be ready to do without little conveniences--so that the superiors would be able to send funds to the Motherhouse to help with the payment of the many debts which endangered their future. Before Easter, 1938, the nearer convents and provinces were even asked to send ham and eggs so that the sisters in the Motherhouse could have a little Easter joy. And the mother was not disappointed; the children came to the aid of their suffering sisters. For a few years, until the outbreak of World War II, the provinces sent whatever they could to assuage the poverty of the Motherhouse. The general chronicler would write, “From all sides numerous signs of sympathy and assistance came, clear indications that we were one--here and across the ocean.”
(GC, VII, p. 365)
The Anschluss -- unification of Austria with Germany -- which was forced upon Austria by Adolf Hitler in March 1938 further endangered the welfare of the Motherhouse and its community. Utilizing her prerogative of transferring sisters as she saw fit, Mother Kostka informed the rest of the congregation on December 12, 1938, that she had transferred the young sisters from Austria to various provinces. Sister M. Fidelia Weninger who, as a novice, was one of the four sisters sent to Brazil in February 1939 as a result of that decision, remembers that none of the general assistants wanted Mother Kostka to send the sisters away, especially to Brazil. When she finally convinced them that in Austria they could not earn their daily bread, they reluctantly agreed to the transfers. Sister Fidelis, as a novice, along with Sister Aquilina Eibel, Sister Armella Lechner and Sister Hedwigis Witkowska went to South America, Sisters Leonore Mohl and Imelda Andre were sent to North America. At the same Sister Hubertine Resseguier was sent to England, Sisters Salvatora Schimpach and Theonitta Balko were transferred to Jugoslavia; Sister Silvia
Pescha and Sister Honoria Eichler went to Hungary, while Sisters Anysia Nitsche and Melitta Howorka joined the Czech province. These, she thought, would be free from the dangers that were looming on the horizon; they would also be able work and help support the Motherhouse.
Although she left Vienna in April 1939, never again to return, until her death, Mother Kostka attempted to maintain contact with all her spiritual daughters through circulars and personal correspondence. Though separated, the family remained in touch.
The outbreak of World War II in September, 1939 further hampered her attempts to maintain the unity she had labored so assiduously to cultivate and foster. On February 19, 1940, she would write: “Although I am far across the ocean, I feel certain that we all belong together, that we are building a lovely spiritual family which is strongly bound in the hardest hours by the bonds of love.”
This desire to keep the members of the Congregation united remained with her until the moment of her death. As she lay dying on June 16, 1943, Mother Kostka would leave for her daughters the greatest legacy: the death wish of a loving mother. “I beg you always to work together in love and unity. Be of one heart and soul and remain united with the Motherhouse.”
No comments:
Post a Comment