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Franziska Notes November 2011

2011-11-01T12:52:00.000-07:00

Anyone who has had the good fortune of visiting the lovely Bavarian town of Edling in the summer and contemplated the golden barley fields shining in the sun while red poppies and blue cornflowers danced with the distant Alps lending a contrasting purple haze, cannot doubt that little Fanny was nurtured by beauty. All her life she cultivated joy in herself and in the women who joined her mission. She knew that the good news of Jesus, which would lift up the sad and discouraged, that would strengthen the weak and encourage service and love of neighbor must be delivered with joy. No one will be attracted to the good news of the Gospel if its messenger is dour, depressing and proclaiming only restrictions and deprivation.
How do we find and cultivate joy in ourselves so that we can become a blessing to others? St. Paul in the letter to the Phillipians (Phil 4:4-9) tells us to rejoice and then instructs us how. We are to fill our eyes and thoughts with all that is true, noble, right and lovely. Today, modern media presents us with thousands of choices, but this demands discernment and responsibility. What kind of film, television, music and art do we support by our attention and money? Everything that enters our eyes and thought contributes to who we become. Our language and manners will subtly change according to these choices. Will we be gentle and kind, or bitter and cynical?
Mother Franziska, sending her sisters through the far reaches of the Empire to collect alms for their works, told the sisters to take time to see the noted sites in the places they stayed. They visited museums and beautiful baroque and gothic churches and saw unique formations of nature in the countries of Europe.
We have access to so much. We can ask the Holy Spirit to lead us to all that is good, true, beautiful and loving – the attributes of the Blessed Trinity made visible in Jesus. We can almost hear Mother Franziska say, “Your brain cells are too precious to waste on trash”.

Franziska Notes October 2011

2011-11-01T12:48:00.000-07:00

As the gloomy days of Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere and the gloomy news world wide threatens to depress our spirits it is time to look again at the gift of joy. Mother Franziska had her share of setbacks, sufferings, failures and disappointments and yet she marveled in one of her letters that she was considered a joyful person. She would not have had such a large following in her lifetime if she had been a “gloomy gussy”.
True joy is a gift of the Holy Spirit… the world can bestow only momentary pleasure and sometimes even a passing happiness. The joy that we read about in Scripture is independent of outward circumstances. It comes from trusting the revealed truth that we are the children of an unconditionally loving and forgiving God. In the darkest moments Mother Franziska went to the tabernacle and cried her heart out to the Jesus present there. She tells us she always came away with renewed courage, peace, and yes, joy. How could that be? Can we imagine Jesus asking in her heart, “Do you love me?” As she answered “yes”, she could feel His loving smile and she knew that she was successful in the one thing necessary for her personal life and for the role God had given her… loving God with all her strength and being.
This is her heritage to her spiritual daughters and to all who are interested in her charism. Joy is the gift that comes from trusting in the love Jesus has for us and in His power to use us for the glory of His kingdom on earth in spite of our weakness and faults. We celebrate the great saints and the hidden saints in our own congregation and in our families. They became holy because they were not satisfied with passing pleasure and fleeting happiness. While they suffered adversity and enjoyed the beautiful gifts of this world, they never neglected to turn to Jesus and to respond to His question, “Do you love me?” with their own smiling or tearful “yes”.

FRANZISKA NOTES September 2011

2011-09-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

No.8/9 September 2011

During this month we will be celebrating Mother Franziska’s charism in a unique and special way. On September 24 five of her spiritual daughters will be beatified in Sarajevo. The Drina Martyrs were kidnapped by partisans and marched through the winter forests of the Balkans. Along the way, they could have abandoned their religious calling and become simple camp followers serving the needs of these lawless bandits. They remained steadfast in their suffering and were finally imprisoned in a house near the river Drina. As the drunken men plotted to rape the sisters they escaped by leaping from an upper-floor window suffering great injury and eventually death by the daggers of the enraged militants.
In our Foundress’ day The prevailing thought was that people would live and die on the social level into which they were born. Simply through an unshakeable faith in the love of God for all his children, she, a peasant girl from a small village became friend of royalty, comfortable conversing with those at the pinnacle of the social strata. She was convinced that anyone could better their lot by education and hard work. She and her followers set out to serve the poor as a return to Jesus’ love for all humanity,
In our time the justified struggle for women’s rights has sometimes become a terrible perversion that degrades and abuses women in a measure hardly known in history. In God’s eyes women are by their nature sacred with a special mission to cooperate wth God in bringing forth new life and nurturing it for its glorious destiny. There is a deception that we see in our media where admiration of “beautiful people” is in reality a degradation and exploitation. Women are even told that they have the right to destroy the life within them. We pray and work that all women and girls become aware of their true dignity and surpassing beauty at each stage of life.

Biography of Sister M. Christopher Cxorba, FDC

2011-08-23T06:31:00.001-07:00

Biography

Sister M. Christopher (Rose) Csorba, FDC St. Joseph Province

Born: August 9, 1923 Trenton, NJ
Entered: September 2, 1940 Arrochar, Staten Island, NY
Reception: August 28, 1942 Arrochar, Staten Island, NY
First Profession: August 28, 1944 Arrochar, Staten Island, NY Perpetual Profession: August 15, 1950 Arrochar, Staten Island, NY
Died: August 21, 2011 Eger Nursing Home, Staten Island, NY

I burst upon the scene for my earthly life on August 9, 1923. Born to Mary Stadler (1886-1944) and Joseph Csorba (1884-1976) in Trenton, NJ. I was the tenth of thirteen children, seven giris and six boys. I was baptized in St. Stephen's Church, receiving First Communion on April 12, 1931. Father Szabo was pastor. I was confirmed on April 22, 1936 by Bishop Moses E. Kiley.
I received my Elementary Education from the Daughters of Divine Charity at St. Stephen's School. My High School was at Junior High #4 and Trenton Central High. During Elementary School I learned to love the Daughters of Divine Charity, helping with Convent chores.
I was a typical naughty child participating in fun and games of children at that time. I was a member of the Guardian Angels and Sodality of Mary. I was a frequent Communicant in grade school. Walking to Trenton Central High I often made visits to the Blessed Sacrament at Immaculate Conception Church.
When faced with matriculation to College, I begged my parents to enter the Congregation of Daughters of Divine Charity. My mother with the generous aid of Sr. Genevieve lovingly prepared my dowry. I entered the Congregation on September 2, 1940. I was received on August 28, 1942. My first profession was on August 28, 1944. Final profession was August 15, 1950. My first assignment was sixth grade at Arrochar in 1943-44. Summer 1944 I was in the Novitiate. I taught fourth grade in 1944-45. In 1945-49 I taught grades six and seven in Arrochar. Summers I spent at Fordham University and St. Mary's in NY.
In 1949 I began teaching High School. Summer was probation time. From 19501960 I taught in High School and worked with boarders and spent summers studying at Fordham University and St. Mary's in NY. The summer of 1960 I spent in Old Bridge in CCD. In 1960-61 I taught grades seven and eight in Gary, Indiana. During the summer I was in Briarbank. 1960-61 saw me in South Bend, Indiana and summer in St. Mary's Residence in Detroit.

From 1962-1990 I was on the St. Joseph Hill Academy High School faculty and helping to conduct and moderate school activities such as Student Council, Swim Team, Basketball Team, Track, Math Team, Cheerleaders, evaluation of several High Schools for Middle States accreditation. I spent some summers using government sponsored National Scienc.e Foundation grants at Villanova University, Illinois Institute of Technology, Wyoming University and Yeshiva University. I also celebrated my Silver Jubilee in 1969 and toured Europe for several weeks as a gift of SJHA and a one-week cruise to Bermuda. Also with stipends from NSF I saw scenic and historical sites of the United States. One summer along with Sr. Albert in conjunction with interviewing Irish teachers for SJHA I was fortunate to visit Ireland for two weeks.
In 1990 I was appointed co-treasurer of St. Joseph Province with Sr. Albert. I retired in 1992 and spent a year in San Diego. In 1993-1999 I was assigned to Fontana, CA as a Eucharistic Minister to the sick, and two years as Superior in Fontana (1997-99). During this time I had angioplasty and colon cancer operation with a years chemotherapy at Lenox Hospital while residing in St. Mary's in NY. July 1999 saw me back at St. Joseph Hill Convent in Arrochar.
My acknowledgement of gratitude to my parents, brothers, and sisters, especially Lou, Pete, Vema and Elizabeth, Sisters Amabilis, Rita, Dolora, Jerome, Leonore, Albert, Charlotte, Mother ,Kostka and Mother Margaret, Marianne Bilyck, Kathleen Moore, Ginny Rober, Rita Boggs, Pat Karnatski, Marie Stewart, Virginia Stumer, Brother Gus, Father Henry, Sr. Bernadette Kenny, Dr. Collette Spacavieto, Dr. Chen, and Marian
Fitzsimmons. -
After my stay at Fontana, when the Convent closed in 1999, I was assigned to St.
Joseph Convent, Arrochar. Here I have spent time at rehab for poor walking procedure. Holy year, 2000, was a glorious, prayerful and grace-filled year. It is now July 2001 and I am at Carmel Richmond Nursing Home for therapy in my walk - discharged July 19, 2001.
When I shall depart this earthly life only God knows. Having kept myself for Jesus alone I run to meet my spouse. Forgiving and forgiven I look forward to join Mary, Joseph, all the saints and angels with my parents, relatives, friends and benefactor in glorifying and praising the Blessed Trinity for all eternity.
Amen. (signature on original)
Sr. M. Christopher Csorba, FDC
Feb. 11, 1903

With great affection we finish Sister Christopher’s story of her earthly pilgrimage. All over Staten Island and the United States, women are sharing “Sister Christopher stories”. She was a teacher that none of her students every forgot. Many are the girls who thought her discipline harsh who changed their minds as they realized in their higher studies of science and mathematics that the firm foundation they received from this gifted teacher helped them build with confidence and joy.

As her health deteriorated we had to assign her to Eger Health Care Center where she could receive health appropriate care. Almost to the end her wonderful mind and spirit was occupied with listening, viewing sports and other programs and in reading spiritual documents and books and writing with help to her many correspondents.

God love you, dear Sister Christopher. We will never forget you.

FRANZISKA NOTES July 2011

2011-07-01T04:53:00.000-07:00

This month by way of exception, the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is celebrated on the first day of July. It is a wonderful opportunity to reflect on this ancient and very meaningful devotion.

Much of Mother Franziska’s years as foundress and superior general occurred during the pontificate of Leo XIII. It was he who consecrated the Church and world to the Sacred Heart. This occurred five years after the death of Mother Franziska but during her lifetime there was increasing devotion and responding calls in local dioceses throughout the world culminating in the action of the Holy Father in 1899.

Mother Franziska was so devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus that she chose it as the emblem on the medal worn by the professed sisters. She also had the names of all the sisters inscribed in a book in the Basilica of the Gesu in Rome as members of the Apostleship of Prayer. This was repeated a century later by the Superior General Sister Nicholina Hendges in the presence of sisters from all our provinces. In 1932, Pope Pius XI, citing the miseries of the time: economic hardship, unemployment, threatening wars, millions falling away from the faith, called for devotion to the Sacred Heart in the Encyclical CARITATE CHRISTI COMPULSI . He proposed prayer and imitation of the love of Jesus in practical service to those less fortunate both near and far. He promised that only prayer could be the answer to the problems of the time. A reading of that encyclical motivates us to look down at the date because the evils described are so similar to the ones we experience today. The solution is also the same. A church at prayer will bring many souls back to Christ and to their own earthly and eternal happiness.

Corpus Christi -- God with Us

2011-06-28T20:13:00.000-07:00

CORPUS CHRISTI LONG AGO AND FAR AWAY

It was the summer of 1950. Our family had saved all during the years of World War II for a trip to Germany so that we could see the homes of our parents. The sea voyage on the converted troop ship, the SS Washington took about a week before it landed in la Havre, France. The train took us to Paris where we rested until the night train that took us to the German home of our mother, Fautenbach near Achern in Baden. We arrived very early in the morning and there was the long awaited greeting of a Grandmother, Aunts and Uncles and cousins.

We were also in time for the Mass and procession of the Solemnity of Corpus Christi. From the village church we made our way with the Blessed Sacrament, the priest and altar boys down the road of the village and out into the fields behind my Grandmother’s house. There were prayers and hymns while the priest blessed the fields and the June crops with holy water, asking God to bring a simple prosperity after the long war years of suffering, hardship and terror.

Germany was a defeated and disgraced country humiliated in the eyes of the world. These simple people were dressed in the shabby old fashioned clothes that still served as “Sunday best” even though they barely survived, as did those who wore them, the years of privation.

In the cities there were very visible scars of the bombings. The Cathedral of Munich that we visited later was blackened and the gaping hole left by the entirely collapsed roof was covered by fresh planks. Here, however, the fields were fresh with new growth, with wild flowers and garden blooms. The sun was warm and birds sang. The faith had endured and now formed the strong and sure trunk onto which the future could grow. The Body of Christ, Jesus in the Eucharist was not defeated and not ashamed to be with these people. The body that suffered and died on the cross understood their suffering and did not abandon them. The Christian heritage of Europe and the world is the sure strength that will survive all the tyrants, moral ambiguity, cruelty and death that threaten us again in our own time.

Personal Memories of Mother Fidelis Weninger

2011-05-26T05:10:00.000-07:00

Time passes quickly and there are younger members of the Congregation for whom this long time General Superior is a name on a death certificate and in the parenthesis of the Office of the Dead.

I “met” Mother Fidelia Weninger before I saw her and when the title alluded to her office as provincial superior of North East Brazil. It happened that I was living in Frankfurt, Germany and my superior had to sisters who were both living and working in the two provinces of Brazil. Both came for their home visit during my time there. It was Sister Aquinata Eibel who spoke English, had paid a short visit to the United States with Mother Kostka and told wonderful tales of the dynamic life of the FDCs in Brazil. She spoke of cooperation with a renewing church and familiarity with several bishops who often visited their convents and were welcomed as friends by the provincial and communities.

After my return to my home in the US, I became excited hearing that the General Chapter had elected this person who was told by the moderator to change her name from Fidelia to Fidelis. One of her first visitations was to our three provinces and, because she and I both spoke German I was assigned to care for her room and needs. I was also asked to interview her for our fledgling province publication. What follows is from the memories of that interview.

While walking with her mother in Vienna the young girl saw some sisters and laughed at the very strange habit they wore. Some weeks later her mother announced that they were going to Vienna again to the profession (?) ceremony of a relative. In response to where and who her mother told her it was with the sisters of the “funny” habit.

It was at that ceremony that she heard her own call and to that very congregation. Her mother objected to exactly this choice saying, “I don’t want you to go to Brazil”. She relented, however, and at her reception her daughter received the name “Fidelia” after the great missionary of Europe. Soon after Hitler took over Austria and it became necessary for educated sisters to flee the country. They told the novice, “Ask your mother to come and tell her you are going to Brazil.” In shock she wondered and prayed how to tell her mother that the dark intuition had come true. Soon Sister Fidelia was on a ship and came to the strange land where she soon fell ill and did not have the vocabulary to ask for a glass of water.

Very quickly Mother Fidelis learned English. She arrived in October and in January gave the first talk to the community in our own language. During the times I brought her coffee or cared for her room she told of the bishops who were guiding the church of Brazil toward the “preferential option for the poor”. She told of private tuition based schools opening their facilities at night for the poor. She proudly told of our own sisters who were pioneering in parishes without priests, bringing people the Gospel and the Eucharist in prayer services. The Spanish Club at St. Joseph Hill raised funds to pay for a jeep in Salvador, Bahia and many years later I was able to see there the trunk in which we had sent baby clothes for poor mothers.

Mother Fidelis excited us about the Second Vatican Council and helped us bring our own constitutions in line with its mandates. She found priest teachers for us and encouraged us to examine the Documents of Vatican II and how to read, discuss and understand Encyclicals of successors to St. Peter.

During another visitation she was in San Diego when the news came of the attempted assassination of John Paul II. Since my scheduled allowed it, we went to a special Mass arranged in the cathedral. As she always did, we went in the front row and this resulted in a large photo on the front page of the New York Times, captioned, “Nuns pray for the wounded Pope”. Mother Fidelis was known for front pews and front pages.

To this day, her special gift to me was an enduring love for and loyalty to the universal Church and the Successor to St. Peter. It was in her time that the Congregation studied its charism and adopted the beautiful emblem of the Holy Trinity, the basic mystery of Christianity. Mother Fidelis shepherded us through the very difficult post Vatican years, may her intercession now lead us into a blessed future.

Sister M. Caroline Bachmann, FDC

Grandmother faces the machine gunner

2011-05-15T18:28:00.000-07:00

It was a tiny peasant farmhouse in a small village near the French border but she had worked hard on the small farm and in the dirt-floored house had raised her large family. During the hardships of World War II she still managed to feed widowed children and grandchildren. Widowed, she prayed daily for peace so that she could learn the whearabouts of those sons and daughters who had emigrated to New York before the outbreak of hostilities. Everyone knew that the war would end soon and that Germany would lose and be devestated although there was still a death sentance for anyone who even whispered that thought.

French were crossing the nearbye border and tension was high when she heard a noise. Genevieve Schweizer went out armed with her broom. On the roof of her house she saw a young German soldier set up his ugly machine gun. He was getting ready for the futile attempt to "save his Fatherland", but Genevieve was also ready to save her little farmhouse. "Get down from there she shouted as she waved her broom. You have lost the war and now you want to draw fire so I lose my house also." The young man was ready to face the French army but he was no match for my Grandmother and so skeedadled down and set up his gun somewhere else. She lived a long time in her little home and saw some of her children return from America to modernize and live in the little house that her courage saved.

A thank you note....

2011-05-08T13:07:00.000-07:00

Thank you St. Philip,

In the gospel of John 14th chapter there is a beautiful dialogue between the Apostle Philip and Jesus: Philip said to him, “Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” Jesus said to hij, “Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father…”

The disciples of Jesus lived with him every day and watched him eat and speak and sleep and do all the ordinary human things. Then there were the glimpses of unexplained actions—the healings, the walking on water. They whispered among themselves… is he or isn’t he…. Who is he? It was the forthright Philip who came right out and asked. So we who have not seen or touched or heard the human Jesus can believe that he really is God. We can trust everything he said and so we can believe that what we see as bread and wine is Jesus and therefore we have an encounter with God himself in our neighborhood church and in our hearts when we receive the Eucharist. The greatest miracle the world has ever known is right down the street and occurs every day all around the world. We are not orphans, God lives with us in an intimate, tangible way. Thank you St. Philip for asking that wonderful question..

FRANZISKA NOTES May 2011

2011-04-30T17:06:00.000-07:00

Franziska Notes
No.8/5 May 2011

The entire world has recently witnessed the pomp and circumstance of the royal wedding in England. The carefully choreographed and rehearsed pageantry was a pleasure to watch and appropriate for the occasion. This is not where we live our daily lives however. So it is comforting to remember that our inspiration, Mother Franziska Lechner, began her life in a very small Bavarian village and a farm house. The many people and animals, as well as the capriciousness of the weather and national events demanded a spontaneity and creativity to master the unforeseen events. We can feel comfortable with Franziska Lechner. She would understand the young mother who feels frustrated with the behavior of her small children at Sunday Mass. She would understand the worry of the caregiver who suffers with a loved one descending into dementia. The month of May lets us see how God, the creator, loves the spontaneous. One day everything is dreary and cold and the tiny leaf buds are hunkered so tight it seems there is no hope of life at all. Then comes the first warm, sunny day and the loveliest flowers and tender young leaves appear as a lovely surprise. In our world we can go to the internet and order flowers to be carefully arranged and sent to celebrate loved ones who are miles away. There is also the sudden thought of picking a few violets by the way and bringing them home or pointing them out to a child. They cost us nothing but easily rival the happiness brought by the costly arrangement. As we look forward to the Feast of Pentecost let us ask the Holy Spirit, the God of surprises, for the gift of awareness and readiness to do the little things that bring joy. How sad if we wasted our lives thinking of the great heroic deeds that we never have occasion to perform, while all around are people, including ourselves, who need to be cheered by little unexpected kindness, gifts and visions of beauty.

The Legend of the Larkspur

2011-04-26T06:58:00.000-07:00

The friends of Jesus were very sad. They did not understand that Jesus died on the cross for all people so that they could have their sins forgiven and go to live forever with him in heaven.

They sadly placed his body in a tomb that was like a cave and put a big rock in front of it. Then they went away. But a little bunny hopped onto their path and tried to stop them. “Don’t go away,” he tried to say. “Don’t you remember that Jesus said he would rise again and live forever?” The people could not hear the little bunny so they continued on their way. Now he was all alone in the dark with only sleeping soldiers guarding the tomb. It was cold and he was lonely and a little scared but he would not go away. He knew that Jesus would be alive again because he believed what he said. Then, just before the sun came up the stone in front of the tomb started to glow and then rolled away. There was a great light and in the middle was Jesus, all alive and beautiful. The little bunny hopped up to him with a happy heart. “You really kept your promise to rise again. I knew you would!” He said to Jesus. Jesus smiled at the little bunny and blessed him. “You have great faith in believing my words. I will reward you and let people remember your faith forever.” Jesus showed the bunny the little blue flower that was growing there. “This flower will always have your face in the middle so that people for all time will have the courage to believe in my word.” Now, whenever we see the little bunny in the Larkspur flower we must remember that we can trust what Jesus says.

Memories of a Summer in Hochstrass

2011-04-22T13:56:00.000-07:00

Memories of a Summer in Hochstrass

It was January of 1961 and a few of us teachers were eating our lunch in the cramped little closet by the school cafeteria. Sister Fidelis our Provincial came in and said that she wanted to see me after I finished my lunch. The five string beans on my plate turned to stone. I said that my lunch was finisned because I could no longer swallow. She looked around and decided it really wasn’t confidential and told me that they had many American children in the nursery in Frankfurt, Germany and wanted an American sister. Since I already knew German she would give me the first chance but I was not obliged. I responded immediately that I would go. When she said I could take my time to think about it I said that I had been thinking about it since I was on the Holy Year trip with my Father the year before. At the Eucharistic Congress in Munich, after spending a week with some Brazilian Sisters and meeting the Sisters in Edling, I made up my mind to grasp any opportunity to live the FDC life internationally.

On May 7, the day of the German Surrender in World War II and after Sputnik and the meeting of President Kennedy with Krucschev in Vienna, I landed in Frankfurt. I was twenty-five years old and everyone I met in that community was “very old”. In spite of the warm greeting, I cried the entire night. “What had I done. I left behind everything familiar and every one I depended on”. The parish church bells woke me as did the superior, Sister Inviolata Eibel. “I am so sorry that I have to wake you, but it is Sunday, I am sure you want to go to Mass.”

I got used to the routine of the house, which in those days was very similar to that of Arrochar, Staten Island. I was given a group of four-year-olds, mixed German and American children. I learned German songs and how to tell American parents what “gookamal” and “stuehlehoch” means.

One day, at lunch which was dinner, I announced that I would have to make my final vows. Normally I should have presented that fact in a humble request, but it was accepted. The superior immediately made plans to send me to Vienna for the “preparation”.

I was put on a train that necessitated a change of trains in Salzburg, but I made the transition successfully. I went to the Mother House. I had been there the year before with my father, but now I belonged. The sisters were wonderful and I met my companions for the “preparation” who told me that we would be going to a wonderful place called Hochstrass because one of our group, Sister Helene., was a teacher there and could not get away because the school term was still on. Later I learned of my good fortune. The “preparation” was usually spent in Vienna where the tasks consisted of scrubbing out huge cooking pots in the kitchen. In Hochstrass we served on little wooden stools in the sunshine, picking chamomile blossoms to be used as buckets of tea for sick cows.

Soon Sister Elenara our “mistress” and the postulants who were also in her charge took a train into “lower Austria” the low mountains and great fresh air. When we got to St. Polten, a horse wagon picked us up. This was just great, we were not only going far but also back into time.

The three of us were given a room that overlooked the chapel wing and the beautiful mountains. Each night we slept with the large window opened to air as fresh as my lungs had ever breathed. One night we discovered the stars and went outside on a hill to lie in the grass and see creation as its Lord had intended. The milky way was a blanket that seemed to come down and cover us.

Hochstrass, the Convent of our Sorrowful Mother, was an agricultural school for girls and a working farm. We went across the dirt road to the cheese house where Sister Elenara slept with the postulants and there we had our daily spiritual readings. This always ended with huge slices of the bread baked on site with the fresh cottage cheese and huge glasses of real buttermilk. Sister Amabilis confessed that she expected me to be dark and from South Brazil, for there had not been anyone from North America in living memory. Sister Mathea was from Breitenfurt, and with Sister Helena that was our group. Amabilis had a charming Viennese accent and undertook to help me pronounce the vow formula in German.

Each day we left the cheese house and went into the fields to pick our blossoms. There we met Sister Karola who told us about the farm. Later she rewarded us with fresh garlic for our cottage cheese bread. It was delicious but I was not familiar with the consquences. We had confessions once and I wonder about the priest… I know he came back because he treasured his weekly reward of Hochstrass bread. One time she asked us to help carry huge baskets of cherries. She had a wonderful solution if we found the basket too heavy. “Sit down and eat a few.”

At another time she introduced us to the donuts and hard apple cider which was the customary snack for field workers. She took us to a barn where there were barrels from “1947, 48, 49 etc.” and we had to sample each one. Strange, but prayers that evening provoked a lot of giggles so that Sister Elenara whispered that we should finish the Office prayers outside.

One day they awakened us even earlier… maybe four or even before. A Sister had had a heart attack and we would be saying office for her that morning. Sister was laid out in one of the rooms, lovingly prepared at home by her sisters. The house carpenter made a simple casket that was lined with paper doily made for the purpose. The funeral was held on a beautiful summer day. The school students were in their Sunday uniform, the Sisters in their best habit all forming a procession behind the beautifully decorated with wreaths of white flowers and evergreens oxcart. The oxen were used because it was sister’s duty to care for them. Slowly, prayerfully, we walked up the narrow road to the Sisters’ cemetery high on a hill where she was laid to rest with her community. There followed a repast that included real coffee and homemade cake. I forgot Sister’s name, but not the circumstances and I felt very close to Mother Franziska who had still planned this place before she died.

There was also an exhibition of the students’ work and I saw some of the finest handicrafts of another time. Each girl made for herself an authentic “dirndle” with the patented school patterns. She also had a complete layette of children’s clothes and household linens to take into her future life.

The happy days came to an end as all things must, but the blessing they bring to our hearts can remain forever if we keep them in grateful prayer. Since Hochstrass I have not been afraid to go and live anywhere. I realized what my Uncle Karl told me, “You will find good people everywhere.” He was right and the greatest blessing of my life is the maybe hundreds of Daughters of Divine Charity I have come to meet from all over the world. How grateful I am to have been exposed to the living charism and to the graces of that summer in Hochstrass.

Holy Week Meditation

2011-04-14T07:33:00.000-07:00

The Tale of the Eternal Wood

I pulled and pushed and it seemed that there was no way that I could budge the huge log. After moving it just a few inches I had to leave and rest but I was determined to come back and finish the job. It was a task I had set for myself and I would not give up. Each day I returned and pushed and pulled to move the heavy load.

I did not realize that someone whom I supposed to be the gardener was watching my daily efforts.

Finally, after watching me for many days he asked me why this seemed so important. "I cannot just leave this here," I said, "I can't let this be forgotten. These are all the many times I hurt people and couldn't explain and the many times they hurt me and wouldn't or couldn't tell me they were sorry. I can't let go. I suffered so much because of all these things... they cannot just be forgotten. If I don't hold on to them no one will ever know."

The one I thought was a gardener smiled and said, "Don't you know that I long ago carried all those things for you and for many others? I saw it all and felt your pain and your regret. I treasured your courage and bravery while others thought you were just superficial and a failure. You can leave this load and go on in joy and freedom because I remember it all and will store it for you until the time when all is clear and fair."

FRANZISKA NOTES April 2011

2011-04-07T05:05:00.000-07:00

It would be a grave mistake to judge Mother Franziska’s spirit and actions solely by contemporary insights, especially into current events or social justice issues. Each day the news brings stories of struggles for freedom and of serious violations of human rights in many places of the world. We read of real heroes putting their fortunes and very lives on the line for peace and justice. Is there any thing we can learn from a woman who lived over one hundred years ago? We know that her heart went out to poor servant girls, to retired and unemployed, sick servants, to orphans and to children of all levels of society who needed a Christian education. Her concern was always with the spiritual and moral good of those her sisters were serving. She did not have access to the varied opinions and different types of struggles that we know of today. She also was not exposed to the genocides of our own century. Can she teach us anything? Where does true justice come from? The teaching of recent popes tells us that there can be no justice without peace. True peace is a gift of God. It can be gained only by prayer. Intimacy with God in prayer was the source of Mother Franziska’s untireing good work for the poor, It was in communication with the heart of Jesus that she learned how to respond to the social needs that presented themselves to her one needy person at a time. It is in this same communion with God, much time spent with Sacred Scripture and meditation on the teachings of Jesus that we develop the compassionate heart that is like our Heavenly Father’s. It is here that we learn the right way, the way of peace to face the social issues of our time. This peace begins very near, at home, and only then can we with a right heart confront the larger issues of our world. Mother Franziska would have known what to do today as she did in her own time.

The Angel on the Bus

2011-03-15T16:37:00.000-07:00

There are no seats the driver warned. Not wanting to inconvenience the person I was meeting I decided to board anyway. I no sooner planted my wobbly legs as stiff pillars on the rocking bus floor when a lovely young woman offered her seat. To spend the trip asking many good angels to bless and bring extra sunshine on her day I asked her first name. "Jackie" she said with a smile. Her kind deed did not and will not end with sundown today. As all good deeds the kindness she showed me added a good feeling to my heart which added conviction to my good wishes to all I met during the day. As tomorrow dawns I will again think of Jackie's kindness with a warm feeling. I will remember to pay it forward to others, and will remember it for a long time.

We must never underestimate a good deed. It balances the amount of good, true, beautiful and loving in the world. These are qualities which counter the amount of sadness, evil, brutality and ugliness that are also part of life. It costs nothing to add to the beautiful and good. Sometimes a simple smile will do. We must remember that the person at the check out counter is not part of the machinery. How much they appreciate a smile and a kind word. Perhaps we can pay a sincere compliment about efficiency or neatness. We can be patient when there are difficulties or accidents... a great gift when there is a mounting tension.

There were many beggars sitting along the streets of Rome when I lived there. I put aside a particular coin for these poor people and kept a supply in an easily accessible pocket to distribute them. One day ahead of me I saw a Religious Sister of the order of Charles Foucould. She did not drop a coin into a box. She bent down and started a conversation with the poor woman holding a sad child. A moment later she went into a bar and came out with a capaccino in a cup and a lollipop for the child.

Yesterday's Gospel reading tells us Jesus counts as done for him what we do in kindness for others. I wonder how he enjoyed that coffee and lollipop. I know he was pleased to sit down on that croweded bus this morning... thanks to Jackie. May he reward her and those she loves for years to come.

Franziska Notes March 2011

2011-03-10T07:15:00.000-08:00

On the day of Consecrated Life 2011 the Holy Father quotes Simeon who declared Jesus as a “light of revelation to the gentiles”. This light of Christ is meant to shine in our world today in the people who seek God’s will above all. The charism of a religious congregation can be pictured as a prism which transforms God’s pure white light into many various “colors”, each highlighting a particular part of the God’s infinite beauty.
From her writings we can deduce that the charism most valued by Mother Franziska, the quality she hoped would always be part of her congregation is joy.
The Holy Father speaks of the joy of seeking the will of God by living as Jesus did, totally dedicated to the Father’s will.
True joy does not mean an absence of suffering, sorrow or stress. Mother Franziska writes of a terrible disappointment that threatened the very foundation of her young community. She shares in a private writing that she could not stop weeping and did not know where to turn after a betrayal by a trusted co-worker. At the same time she knew that she owed her sisters a spirit of joy and before them made the effort to be serene and smiling.
How can we be joyous when the disappointments, hostilities, pain of life assail us? When we suffer truly deep depression it can seem that there is no way out of the endless darkness. We can reach for a tranquilizer or mood altering drug or drink or try a worldly, flashy entertainment which finally leave us even deeper in the painful abyss. Or we can turn to Jesus who loves us and who said that he would give us the Holy Spirit if we only ask. One of the greatest gifts of the Spirit of God is a joy that the world cannot understand nor extinguish. It is the joy of the Lord that Scripture tells is our strength. This is also the gift, once received, that becomes the greatest good that we can give generously to all we meet and thereby bring beauty and light to our sad and conflicted world.

Franziska notes February 2011

2011-03-10T07:11:00.000-08:00

The culture of Valentine greetings has now spread to almost every country of the world. It is a beautiful custom to send greetings of love and appreciation to others. It does not have to mean a surrender to commercialism. The “best things in life are free” is most true when applied to signs of love. God is love and every small act of courtesy, a smile, a kind word, a gesture of help is a sign of God’s presence, whether recognized as such or not.
Mother Franziska was almost by instinct a loving person. She realized that friendliness and even a spirit of fun made her world a better place reflecting the Creator who saw all of his creation as good.
One does not need to be especially religious to be pleasant and polite but when one is conscious of the presence of God and sees kindness as a mission and ministry, the act and the world become holy. What a beautiful meditation to take the sunrise as a model of behavior for the day. Jesus said that the sun and rain fall on the good and the bad. We can begin our day with a prayer asking God to send us where our blessing of joy will give him glory.
Mother Franziska made an effort to be joyful to others even when her own heart was wounded and breaking by disappointment of direct attacks by enemies. She saw joy as an indispensible quality for a Christian and a religious. She did not wait until she felt joyful to dispense happiness. She made the effort to “give joy and make happy” and found that her own smile became genuine. Looking for the good and the bright side helped her to see the humor in many situations that would have felt humiliating to lesser souls. It is difficult to humiliate someone who can laugh at themselves.
“The joy of the Lord be your strength.” Is a blessing often used in the liturgical prayer of the Church. It can be a source of strength, zeal and courage to all who ask God for this grace and practice it daily.

How to be Like Christ

2011-01-16T07:51:00.000-08:00

How to be Like Christ

Reflection on Isaiah 42: 1-7

An Associate of the Daughters of Divine Charity is called to live in their own circumstances, making God’s love visible, as the sisters strive to do in their convents and ministry.

Isaiah, looking forward, described the Servant Lord, Son of God. We can take from his words some ideas for our own living of this charism.

The Servant would not be crying out not shouting….
We can strive to accept irritations gracefully, responding to circumstances with gentle, kind words.

The Servant will not break a bruised reed…
We can be gracious, refrain from “preaching” when someone expresses regret.

The Servant will open the eyes of the blind…
We can politely and courageously speak out when we hear an expression of error or evil in our social circle.

The Servant will release prisoners from a dark dungeon…
We can give a gracious, forgiving response to a hurt, injury or an apology.

We live in a violent and brusque society, where gentleness and courtesy are in rare supply. A kind word, a gentle answer, a calm response can cool a tense situation and help bring peace. The ripples will go on and on. The kindness on a neighborhood street in our country will add to the balance of peace in our large, sad and suffering world. Not everyone has the leisure provided by the structures of religious life for prayer and contemplation, but everyone can spend a few moments with the Gospels and allow themselves to be formed by the image of Jesus presented there.

Franziska Notes January 2011

2011-01-16T07:44:00.000-08:00

As a New Year begins with the birthday of Mother Franziska on January 1, 1833, we look again at her life and gift to the world. Those acquainted or associated with the sisters of the Congregation she founded, the Daughters of Divine Charity ask themselves, “How is our world related to hers? What can her charism bring to our situation?”
We are confronted by change. She was facing great political and social changes and the simple religious faith of her childhood was challenged by the voices of the enlightenment and the consequences of the industrial revolution. What she experienced in these areas was almost nothing compared to the current bombardment of ideas, often conflicting and threatening, by the mass media and the internet. What would she counsel us today?
I believe she would raise her copy of the diocesan newspaper and the devotional pamphlet that were subscribed to by all her convents. “Listen to the Church”, she would say, “Read and pray about what your Bishop is writing for the Catholics in his care. Be familiar with the documents coming from the Holy Father”.
We must be very careful that we are not receiving the teaching of the Church filtered through the mass media or even exclusively one preacher. We must have the patience to really educate ourselves so as not to be persuaded totally by the political right or left. The moral compass of today cannot be a superficial one. Reality TV is very often anything but. The love of God is our reality and it is not a quick fix. As we prayerfully read the Gospels we see that God’s plan takes time and requires sacrifice. The people who are truly devoted to the loving will of God often, like Jesus, lose their friends and even their lives. It is only in communion with God that we learn His will for us, not for the masses, but for us. That is often painful and lonely, but it is right and leads to peace.

FRANZISKA NOTES December 2010

2010-12-06T11:23:00.000-08:00

There was a rare snowfall in Rome. A Sister from South Brazil was enchanted at the sight. Looking at the trees in the garden carrying their white load she exclaimed, “Now I know why we always put cotton on our Christmas tree!” It is a sign of the internationality of the Congregation founded by Franziska Lechner that a sister from one part of the world could experience a revelation from a place far from her own birthplace. We have heard many times that we must “think global”. Franzi the little girl from a village in Bavaria would have loved that expression because that is the story of her life. She saw opportunities for good in the widespread major empire of her day and sent her sisters to express, in concrete form, the love of God. She wrote of the stop she and her sisters made in an inn in Bosnia. They sat on the cushions around the small table and drank the strong coffee offered in cups that were “sanitized” by the proprietor with his saliva and apron. They realized that love of God demanded acceptance of the practice without negative reaction. If we want to live as true followers of Jesus who revealed the love of God to us, especially in the poor manger at Bethlehem, we must be open to differences and always see the stranger as a child of God and our own brother or sister. The media today can so easily brain wash us to generalizations. We must let the Holy Spirit enter our minds and hearts with light and love. Everywhere there are good people and they need to find us also to be “good people”. This may be on a bus, in a supermarket, a doctor’s office or in a distant land. Wherever our legitimate life’s work takes us we are meant to be ambassadors of God’s love. The evil forces in the world today want to separate us with hatred and suspicion. Jesus calls us to even love our enemies….. how does that contrast with making enemies of people we don’t even know yet? Paraphrasing Franziska Lechner, let us “do good, give joy, make happy… and so … lead to heaven”.

The Mustar Seed, another parable

2010-11-12T12:45:00.000-08:00

Wearily the old man slogged along the seemingly endless road toward the sunset. He knew it was the end of his long life and he dreaded his meeting with the one who had given him that great gift.

When he stood before the Lord in the heavenly throne room and felt Jesus' hands hold his own he burst into tears. "Lord" he said, "You have been so good to me my whole life long and have given me countless friends, a wonderful family and many material and spiritual gifts... I am afraid I have nothing to show for my life."

Jesus smiled and asked the man to look behind him. There, to his surprise was a beautiful field filled with yellow flowers dancing in the sun. Jesus said, " Since you were walking with me, your faith was scattering all along your way like little mustard seeds clinging to your clothing. You didn't notice but many people have been enriched by the beautiful flowers sprung from those tiny seeds that are now delighting eyes and hearts and enriching the soil in which they have taken root. Come with me to your eternal reward!

Franziska Notes 2010 October 2010

2010-10-02T12:52:00.000-07:00

Franziska Notes
No.7/10 October 2010

If Mother Franziska were given a theme for her life there would be a difficult choice between joy and gratitude. There is no contradiction however in these two qualities. The surest way to be joyful in all circumstances is to be grateful. Sometimes we associate joy with the infrequent events described as “luck”. How happy we would be if we won a large lottery prize, or if we found an unexpected bargain for an item that we have long desired. Real and lasting joy comes, however, with the first moment of awakening when we realize that we have been gifted with another day. We have twenty-four hours more to enjoy the many gifts showered upon us every day of our lives. A superficial glance at the obituaries in the daily paper tells us that many people have fewer days of life than we. How often do we notice the beauty in clouds. Millions of varied forms are displayed throughout a single day in one place. Even dark storm clouds can be fascinating.
A habit of gratitude is a direct way of “praying always”. All the good, true and beautiful things in our daily lives are gifts of a loving God. As we rejoice in them and thank God we come into natural, spontaneous contact with this loving Father. We are never alone or bored because we are surrounded by love. Mother Franziska knew this and it gave her the courage to overcome obstacles, personal fear, attacks of enemies and momentary failurextensive travels. She learned that she had a gift to give to others, a smile and a cheerful word. We know from her writings that she managed to smile at others even while her own heart was breaking from a personal sorrow. Gratitude helps us be joyful because we live in the “big picture”. Based on the promises of Christ we know, in the words of Julian of Norwich, that “all will be well”.
e. She was able to be a source of joy to those she met during the day and in her .

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Franziska Notes September 2010

2010-09-06T14:14:00.000-07:00

We see them marching off to school with brand new clothes and backpacks. They are the children going off to another academic year. They are full of enthusiasm to meet old and new friends and subconsciously perhaps looking forward to advancing in the acquisition of civilization’s store of accumulated knowledge.
When we were small we were often told to “grow up”. We also wanted to be older because of the imagined advantages and liberties. When there was something that frightened us, however, we were so happy to run to a parent or trusted friend for shelter and comfort., We found it easy to believe in the good and the beautiful and we rejoiced with each new discovery.
Mother Franziska learned in very early childhood to love the “Himmi .Vater” her heavenly father. She learned with her parents beside her that this great and good father is to be thanked, trusted and pleased by our actions.
This attitude toward God never left her. It was the melody of her entire life. She encouraged her sisters to see God as their good father and to thank him constantly for all his gifts. In difficult times she found comfort in his perfect understanding. When she took risks to advance the mission of her congregation, she trusted that he would be faithful.
We are living in a dangerous and threatening world. There are financial problems and possible physical harm from enemies. We know the limits of medicines and therapies. Our heavenly Father wants us to become his children again. He wants our joyful gratitude throughout the day. He wants us to trust in his very real and practical help. This gratitude and trust becomes a habit when we become more and more acquainted with his Son, Jesus and his holy Word in prayer each day. Soon we find that the joy and confidence of our childhood has returned

FRANZISKA NOTES April 2010

2010-04-07T07:55:00.000-07:00

The first day of this month falls on Holy Thursday so our reflections on the spirituality of Mother Franziska Lechner occur in the atmosphere of the Paschal Mystery. Some of her sisters, in the southern hemisphere experience Easter at the threshold of winter. Even where preachers are locating the feast in the new light and life of springtime there are at least some hours of darkness before we light the new fire of the Easter night. Jesus gave us the great gift of the Eucharist before He and His disciples ventured out into the foreboding darkness of Gethsemane. We are armed in the best possible way for the darkness both physical and spiritual. We hear Jesus’ promise in our hearts, “Fear not, it is I,” and “I am with you all days even to the end of the world.” It was not too long ago that the church in the center of the village or on every few streets of the cities were open for a visit. In the recent past we were afraid the enemies of the Church would close the doors to our beloved sanctuary. Now we have ourselves taken the preemptive action of keeping them locked. This makes it more difficult but not impossible to be a Eucharistic people. There are wonderful stories of the Eucharist being celebrated in prisons and concentration camps. As the trials of our life increasingly weigh us down we become more and more thirsty for the tangible presence of the Lord who victoriously walked through the darkness for us. Mother Franziska made sure that there was a chapel in each of the houses she founded and she was often there pouring out her fears and sorrows. Perhaps there are religious houses among us where we would be allowed to come and worship the Lord treasured in their chapels, but neither we, nor the Lord are really limited by locks. While Mother Franziska traveled through Europe she noted the many church steeples dotting the countryside and she made a point of sending toward each one a greeting to the Eucharistic Lord housed within. Our thoughts, too, can fly to our parish church in greeting and we can find peace in our fear and trouble.

the Grocer and the Nail

2010-03-09T15:18:00.000-08:00

He was an immigrant who had arrived in New York with fifty dollars, the obligatory deposit to the steamship company that brought him to our shores. After much work he fulfilled his dream of opening a small grocery store which he insisted was a delicatessen… a throw back to his native Germany where the root word signifies “gourmet”.

His bookkeeping involved a long nail on a lead base. When someone couldn’t pay their bill he simply asked them to sign the adding machine slip because the cash register did not do math and so the groceries had to be tallied on a separate device. Most of these bills were paid soon enough, but some lingered at the bottom of the nail until they yellowed and crumbled. Every once in awhile the grocer looked at the ragged papers and said, “Look at the money I didn’t get.”

Many years after he retired to his native Germany, he became ill and left for his new and eternal home. What follows is my imagination but I am sure it is true in its basic concepts.

As the grocer approached the gates of heaven an angel handed him an envelope. It was sealed but said in bold golden letters: Admission.

When he met the Lord, the angel signed that he should hand over his envelope. As the Lord and judge opened it, out fell many, many, ragged and yellowed cash register receipts. Jesus smiled and told the grocer how much he had enjoyed the food, candy and paper goods that those pieces represented, for they were really given to the One who counts all loving acts as done to himself.

Reflections on a Fig Tree

2010-03-09T15:14:00.000-08:00

From a parable in the thirteenth chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel

The landowner went out to survey his property. He found a fig tree in his orchard that was barren and remembered that it had not borne fruit the previous year. He told the gardener to dig it up and discard the worthless tree. The gardener, being a man of the soil found it as difficult to kill a living plant as a shepherd a lame sheep or a pet owner, a cross-eyed cat. “Please”, he said, “Let me try again for this one more year.” When the land owner agreed he went to work. He dug around it and pruned it and fertilized it. As if it were a senscient would have complained about the annoying digging and the foul smelling fertilizer… but what a difference the slight inconvenience brought about! No sooner did the sun grow stronger than the leaves reached out and the tiny buds of summer figs came forth along the slender branches. The landowner’s children’s children looked forward each summer to the delicious fruit.

Franziska Notes March 2010

2010-02-28T08:34:00.000-08:00

Anyone who becomes familiar with the life of Mother Franziska is struck by her devotion to the saints, especially St. Joseph. When she purchased the new mother house on the Jacquingasse in Vienna she might have been overwhelmed by the work needed to make it a suitable convent home. Her solution was to carry a statue of St. Joseph from room to room showing him the renovations and repairs necessary and reminding him that her purse was, as usual, empty.
Aside from the fact that he is a favorite of her homeland, St. Joseph is honored by the Church as its patron. The humble carpenter of Nazareth was given the care of the very beginning of the Christian era, the virgin Mary and the tiny baby who was the Son of God Incarnate. Very much was asked and very little human status accorded him.
I am sure that Mother Franziska would approve of our assigning today to St. Joseph the protection of children and young people, especially women. Everything in our culture seems designed to destroy their moral innocence and even their physical integrity. How many children and women are abused in our time! All of us must oppose this trend with our prayers and action. We must become friends of the women and children in our environment and pray for those who are beyond our circle. Let us never join in the laughter or comment that demeans women and children. Let us have the courage to become involved when we have a chance to help someone in need.
St. Joseph believed the unbelievable and took the pregnant Mary into his home. He showed a wonderful courage taking his wife and child to Egypt in the night when powerful forces were searching for them to kill the child. Let us pray to St. Joseph for the vulnerable both near and far and ask for his wisdom to know when we should do more. Let him also teach us the unselfishness of humility when we are overlooked and unrecognized. St. Joseph pray for us in March and always.

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A Cup of Tea in Trieste

2010-02-26T12:39:00.000-08:00

It was winter and cold in the railroad station and there was a significant stopover for the group of nuns going to Zagrab. One of them was using the time to do some people watching. She noticed an old lady in shabby clothing going through the waste bins. It seemed there was one particular thing the woman was looking for. Finally she found it ... a styrofoam cup with a used tea bag still inside. She went to the water fountain and filled the cup and drank the "recycled tea". The sister noticed that she resumed the search and found another cup which she refilled and drank. Later when one of the nuns offered to get something to eat for the group, the observer asked for two cups of tea. When she got the hot liquid with the fresh tea bag she went to offer it to the poor woman. Her smile seemed to light up the cavernous railroad station. Maybe she hadn't eaten that day, but now she had the wonderful luxury of a fresh and hot cup of tea.

There are gourmet teas and coffees served in valuable porcelain cups but maybe the one warm cup of the day in a styrofoam container was more delicious than all of them. Also, that day perhaps many checks were written for large organizations who help alleviate human suffering, but maybe the small act of a cup of tea which was the loving response to an immediate need was worth more than they. If we believe the Gospel, we know that it was Jesus himself who enjoyed the cup of tea in the railroad station in Trieste.

What is a habit?

2010-02-23T10:37:00.000-08:00

Very rarely does one see a religious sister, or as common language calls her, a nun, in a religious habit. Older people have a nostalgic memory of the varied and imaginative habits worn by the religious congregations and each graduate of a Catholic school was sure that the sisters who taught him or her had the most sensible and all the others were "strange". More than a half century ago Pope Pius XII asked religious to modernize and modify their religious dress. Many were shocked because they considered the design of their habit as sacred as their unique spirituality. Times have changed. Many habits have become like modern dress and many have become modern dress without any particular religious sign.

Looking over some old family pictures I found a photo of my Grandfather, Joseph Schweizer with his mother in Germany. Her clothing was very familiar. It was very similar to what I wore when I first made my vows in the fifties. Not wanting to post my own photo I choose to place our Foundress, Mother Franziska Lechner who founded the Congregation of the Daughters of Divine Charity in 1868 Vienna--just about the time that this little boy posed with his mother. We can see that the habit which became stylized over a century, was really the dress of the ordinary woman of the nineteenth century.

Ash Wednesday Reflections

2010-02-17T08:16:00.000-08:00

Why do we receive ashes? Penitents in the past had to wear robes of a kind of burlap and walk around with ashes in their hair instead of their customary perfumed pomades... but how do we explain the ashes to the kids of today with their i-pods in their ears and their latest Nike footwear.

Google tells us that all living things contain carbon and that ashes are almost pure carbon. In science fiction movies the aliens from outer space call us the "carbon-based life".

So the carbon that the priest placed on my forehead this morning is the most basic of life elements. This sacramental calls me to "get back to basics". I am using much more of the earths riches than most of the inhabitants of our planet have. I must cut down my artificial needs so that they can fill their most basic wants. After a week in Uganda, I almost wept with gratitude for my first hot, running water shower. For a long time every shower was an occasion of grateful humility to God for an unearned simple fortune of being born in the wealthy northern hemisphere. Time passed and now it is again taken for granted.

The ashes, though, remind me that the greatest gift of all was the life that joins me to every other human being -- all the beloved children of one Father. I am reminded that ashes, the dust to which we will return is the great equalizer. Kings, presidents, and beggars will all come to the end of this life and begin an eternity of perfect justice. We stand before the Father of us all and beg the grace to be truly loving children.

FRANZISKA NOTES February 2010

2010-02-11T07:57:00.000-08:00

Franziska Notes
No.7/2 February 2010

In the German edition of the History of the Congregation of the Daughters of Divine Charity we learn that Mother Franziska lived in a time of significant social transformation. The industrial revolution brought many inexperienced persons from the country to the large cities of Europe. These men and women, some very young, were exposed to much possible exploitation. The Bishops of these cities asked women’s religious orders especially to meet the needs of the young women. In Vienna alone there were about 75,000 servant girls. Mother Franziska, with experience as a teacher and hoping to educate children to be good Christians and citizens, could not ignore this call of the Church. A few years before she died Pope Leo XIII issued the famous encyclical Rerum Novarum to provide guidance for a Church entering the age of industrialization. I noticed in this document a thought that seems especially relevant to our own day and this season of the Church year. The Holy Father reminds us that perfect happiness is achievable only in the next life in heavenly glory. Though it is a human right to seek a better life, he warns of making the escape from suffering a priority over all other values and efforts. Pope Leo reminds us that Jesus, by willingly taking on the sufferings of daily life and of his salvific sacrifice has transformed them into motives of virtue and occasions of merit. “Christ's labors and sufferings, accepted of His own free will, have marvellously sweetened all suffering and all labor. And… by His grace and by the hope held forth of everlasting recompense, has He made pain and grief more easy to endure”.
Mother Franziska’s motive was always a personal love of the Crucified. As we enter the Season of Lent, the patience with which we willingly accept the unavoidable irritations and sufferings, as well as the penances we impose on ourselves will help us understand the meaning of suffering and make us more compassionate toward all those who suffer anywhere in the world, increasing our readiness to help according to our means.
www.godslovefdc.org

St. Joseph Hill Academy Park

2010-02-11T07:22:00.000-08:00

Come take a winter walk through our lovely park

Even a blizzard can be an occasion to praise the Lord!

Still Dreaming Christmas

2010-02-01T16:19:00.000-08:00

Before the Lenten season puts Christmas totally in the past I would like to introduce you to some beautiful you tube presentations by our sisters

http://www.youtube.com/user/sranamaria#p/a/u/2/1kVPqxgXxqw

Be sure to check the other videos and enjoy......

FRANZISKA NOTES January 2010

2010-01-12T17:28:00.000-08:00

Franziska Notes No.7/1 January 2010

At the beginning of this year I deceded to sit with Mother Franziska in meditation to see what she thinks of our times. She was wondering what might happen to Europe if it no longer had Catholic rulers. I told her that we, today, choose our rulers by election and they can have any faith and belong to any religion or none at all. I told her that we have had presidents who were divorced and also had scandals while they were living in the presidential residence. But what horrified her to the point of absolute disbelief was the fact that abortion at any time and for any reason was legal and protected by law.
She who cared so much for poor servant girls who were exposed to abuse in large cities as her society experienced the rapid changes of industrialization gasped in horror. What a terrible insult to women and tragedy for lives of innocent children lost. She asked me to imagine how Mary felt in exile in Egypt when she heard what Herod had done to the little boy babies of Bethlehem simply to kill her little child. How she must have clutched her divine baby to her heart as the tears for the mothers and children fell from her cheeks.
Mother Franziska then got very agitated. “What are you doing about it?”, she asked. I told her that many people have become discouraged because it was so difficult for leaders in favor of life to be elected. Energetically she told me that this evil is so great and so damaging to our society and to the souls of our people that we must never rest. Everyone must have the courage to speak in favor of life in whatever milieu they find themselves—in public forums, in private coffee meetings, to the young, the old. This is so serious that we must be strong enough to be countercultural. She warned me that it would be the end of human dignity and civil liberty for all. I felt I had really met her and felt her spirit.

www.godslovefdc.org

Gaudete Sunday

2009-12-13T11:21:00.000-08:00

When I first entered the convent, there were good Hungarian sisters that did the cooking in the provincial house on Staten Island. Everything was new and tasty to a German-descent Staten Island girl. It was Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent when we were told to "rejoice" for the Lord is coming soon. The somber purple penitential vestments of the priest at Mass were replaced by a more encouraging pink. The first course at dinner that day was a delicious Hungarian cherry soup. Since this was the first time I had this dish, I assumed it was traditional for Gaudete Sunday to match the liturgical vestments. Only later did I learn that this was simply a coincidence of Sister Ligoria's choice of menu. Still, it was delicious and every year the memory adds a smile to the "rejoicing" called for in the Mass.

December Franziska Notes

2009-12-02T12:49:00.000-08:00

Franziska Notes
No.6/12 December 2009

Christmas is for the little people. Only much later did the wealthy and powerful get called to the mystery of the Incarnation. Christmas night is hidden and poor, simple, joyful. Shepherds felt at home with angels, saints and God made man. I am sure all of us have had the feeling that our mistakes get displayed on a huge billboard, while the many times we gave a kind, patient answer when we were harried and tired, and our struggle to give a kind interpretation to a seemingly grave injustice went unnoticed. Most of us are far more kind and helpful than irritable and selfish but we must often think those around us see us exactly in the opposite light.
Mother Franziska was born in a small farming village in Bavaria and was considered one of the little people and discriminated against as such in the opportunities available. She made the most of her gifts and what was offered her and became the friend of royalty, but she never forgot the little people. She was known for her kindness and her quiet suffering when those she relied on disappointed or calumniated her. Her ministries were directed to the service of the little people—children, poor country girls in service in urban households, retired servants with no home of their own.
The Holy Family in the poor stable at Bethlehem was filled with joy, celebrating with angels, shepherds and the poor townspeople attracted by the mysterious events. The Jesus of the stable is now the glorious reigning Savior of the World. All our instincts about God tell us that He is ultimate fairness. Nothing we have done in His name is unnoticed or forgotten. His Sacred Heart is carefully storing every tiny hidden good thought or act of our lives. One way to avoid becoming discouraged in our sad and busy world is to spend a moment with Jesus to let ourselves “see” in our hearts His smile of pleasure at the good thoughts, words and actions that seem to have gone unnoticed. Mother Franziska knew that the greatest source of joy is knowing that we have pleased God.
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Franziska Notes November 2009

2009-11-05T12:43:00.000-08:00

Franziska Notes
No.6/11 November 2009

November is a month for the final harvest of the fields. Even in the Southern Hemisphere there are feasts of Thanksgiving for the good things we receive from the earth. Mother Franziska recognized gratitude as one of the most important virtues. Grateful people are humble and kind. Many are lamenting the loss of simple courtesy in social interaction. We notice that the media is now allowing more suggestive language than ever before. Insults make up a great portion of comedy routines. World leaders, even those that lead our own country are described by the coarsest adjectives. Parents do not seem to realize that while venting their anger at politicians they are modeling behavior for their children to use against all authority figures and that eventually they will be the objects of this learned disrespect.
In Mother Franziska’s day the social classes were very distinct so it was remarkable that she showed the same respect to the Emperor as to a servant girl or child. She saw every human being vested in the dignity of a child of God. Her love of God the Father would not allow careless or cruel language for any of His children. Today parents read books about raising their children’s self-esteem. Those in the work force receive courses in polite interaction in order to assure the company’s profits. There was a time when this was learned from early childhood. Children felt secure and had a good self-image because of the consistent kindness and forgiveness that was the fabric of family living. There was relative peace in the workplace because one did not have to fear a “put-down” at every question.
We encounter dozens of God’s children in our ordinary daily actions. If they each receive a smile and a kind word, we are giving them an intuitive reason for thinking the world is ruled by a loving God. We are giving hope, spreading joy and ultimately pointing to heaven.

Franziska Notes October 2009

2009-10-25T15:20:00.000-07:00

The times in which Mother Franziska lived seem, from our perspective, to have been simple and calmer. Her own life, however, was filled with a hectic parade of activities as she attempted to meet the needs of the poor of her time and environment. As we read her biography we become breathless as we see her travel by coach and train throughout the vast and diverse Austro-Hungarian Empire and spending the time at home with visitors, sisters and candidates. Let us just say that she would understand our tensions and conflicts.
We know from the constant teaching of the Church that we are all called to holiness. How can we achieve that beautiful goal in the daily stress of our day? In October our thoughts turn quickly to the Rosary. Many people of our time discarded this devotion as ‘boring’. Perhaps it is the ‘boring’, the mantra-like repetition of the Hail Marys that is the precise vehicle that can center us on God in all the activities that seem to militate against recollection. Those that pay huge sums to learn secular meditation techniques often buy music CDs to provide a background of calm for “emptying” their thoughts. The Hail Marys, punctuated by the Lord’s Prayer and the Doxology of praise to the Trinity, can have the same effect. Instead of an empty silence we fill our mind and heart with the story of our salvation. We follow the life of Jesus and Mary and learn to live in our secular world according their example. We also experience the supernatural strength that is the fruit of prayer. Slowly we become more patient, we begin to judge according to the standards of the Gospel. The Rosary was again proposed in Fatima as the chief weapon for world peace. The daily headlines should be enough motivation for a continued devotion to this exercise. There are many ways of praying the Rosary and Pope John Paul II with the addition of the Luminous Mysteries has rounded out the Life of Christ. Taking another look at this devotion can truly transform our world.

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Franziska Notes September 2009

2009-09-04T06:25:00.000-07:00

If we think about the life of Mother Franziska we can imagine the beautiful Bavarian countryside of her childhood. Every kitchen garden in the village of Edling included besides herbs and vegetables, also flowers to brighten the homes and to add color and beauty to the celebrations in the little village church. Prominent among these flowers was the beautiful sunflower. Most children love to watch these giants as they quickly grow far over their heads in a season. All summer long their massive heads follow the sun in its travel across the bright sky. Surely Christian parents pointed out the symbolism of this flower as a parable for the Christian who wants to remain faithful to the Lord in all of the events of daily life. As the heads matured both children and birds enjoyed snacking on the nutritious seeds.
There is another lesson we can learn from this wonderful flower. One can plant the seeds from one packet and come forward with many different results. If the seed was planted in good soil in full sun and received adequate water, a giant emerged, sometimes with a two-inch diameter stem. On the other hand, seeds from the very same package that found themselves in poor, shallow soil, or shade, or which did not receive enough rain, produce a tiny, though recognizable flower hardly more than a daisy.
Did Mother Franziska notice these things in her mother’s garden? Did this contribute to her ideas of education and motivate her to provide healthy Christian environments for those in her care? In her day it was almost unheard of for a woman from the lower and middle classes of society to receive a higher education. This was not an impediment to her dreams. Education was all around, ready to be “picked” by anyone open enough to understand. We are responsible for what enters our minds and hearts, for that is what we will pass on to those whom we meet. Will they flourish or shrivel because of their encounter with us?

Franziska Notes August 2009

2009-08-25T07:47:00.000-07:00

Can God make it snow in August? On the fifth of this month we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Snows. What a strange location for a holiday! It is even stranger, in the heat of the Roman August to see crowds streaming toward the Basilica of St. Mary Major. They are coming to rejoice with Mary in this beautiful shrine, so feminine in its lovely mosaic and appointments. The painting over the high altar is of the Nativity and the arch above shows the story of Mary’s life with her divine Son, Jesus. To understand the snow one must look at the chapel on the left, the most richly marbled chapel in Rome if not the world. A marble relief shows a Pope marking something in the snow with his staff. It is the outline of this very basilica, whose location was indicated in a dream by a rare August snowfall on the Esquiline Hill. The icon in this chapel is the inspiration for the favorite portrait of Mary for the Daughters of Divine Charity throughout the world and was often kept as a day for important events in the life of the sisters.
But getting back to the August snowfall we can look at Mother Franziska who had no trouble at all in believing in miracles large and small. We have numerous accounts of her trusting in God’s providence and signing contracts for buildings and renovations when there wasn’t a “penny” in her pocket. The line between daily life and eternity was not marked in concrete for her. She passed easily and joyfully from human encounters to talks with her heavenly friends. It was St. Joseph who was counted on to provide the means and manly support for the most daring ventures. Never was she disappointed. All over Europe today there are buildings which she built for poor servant girls, the education of youth or the convalescence of the sick. She never asked, “How much will this cost?” or “Do we have the money?” but only, “Is this what God wants?” and then the infinite resources of the Heavenly Father were at her disposal.

St. Anne -- Feast Day -- July 26

2009-07-06T05:23:00.000-07:00

Franziska Notes July 09

2009-07-06T05:14:00.000-07:00

Franziska Notes
No.6/7 July 2009

During the month of July there are many reminders of our Mother Franziska and her life. One must imagine the sunny fields of Bavaria, the fruitful farmland and the distant mountains. The little Fanni’s lifetime cheerful disposition was surely nurtured by the beautiful ripening fields of golden barley where she gathered the red, white and blue wildflowers of poppy, daisy and cornflower at the edges of the grainfield. Her bouguet was placed in front of the little shrine in the corner of the room where her family ate, celebrated and said their daily prayers.
July is the month of the Saints of Summer, including a Bavarian favorite, St. Anne. Mother Franziska brought this devotion with her to the Mother House Church which she built in Vienna, St. Anne at the side altar and St. Joseph on the other. These two saints were revered because of their relationship with Jesus. Anne, the grandmother, who surely shared her love of Sacred Scripture and devotion to the will of God with her blessed daughter, Mary and St. Joseph who provided for the child and his mother.
Mother Franziska’s devotion to her favorite saints was almost as intimate a part of her as her breathing. She stepped easily from the problems and joys of daily life into the realm where these special friends of God enjoyed his presence without interruption or distraction.
It is during the quieter days of summer that we can look again at that eternity which is our destiny. The beauty around us can call us to “minute meditations” lifting our hearts and minds to our heavenly friends, those shared with the Church Universal and those who were our friends and relatives during life. Jesus had a grandmother and a human father. His love for them shaped his human life and this joy also shapes our appreciation of all the human race beloved and redeemed by God.

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Vienna celebration.....

2009-07-06T04:56:00.000-07:00

The date is June 28, 1939 and the beautiful Mother House Church, built by Mother Franziska herself is in danger to become a vicitim of Hitler's ambitions. On this date Cardinal Innitzer offically accepted the Church as a parish church for the Archdiocese. For seventy years Mother Franziska's dream of providing a place for the people of neighborhood to worship the Eucharistic Lord, praying and singing with the sisters. At the same time they honored a young, newly ordained priest, Stephan Massolle, from Paderborn, Germany who had served there during his field practice and won the hearts of Sisters and parishioners. The festive Mass contained also a renewal of vows in the 50th wedding anniversary of a couple who were very involved in the parish and the presence and performance of Mother House kindergarten children.

A Life without the Eucharist

2009-06-16T07:50:00.000-07:00

"Imagine a life without the Eucharist" said the priest on the Feast of the Body and Blood of the Lord. In my opinion the most wonderful thing about being a Catholic is the reservation of the Eucharist in the many tabernacles of the world. Truly, God is with us. We are not alone with our weakness, our fears, our guilt. Jesus is there waiting for us to pour our hearts out and ready to comfort us. There was a time when the neighborhood churches could be left open and people would "stop in for a visit" at lunch time, on the way home from work or school, at times when they needed comfort in sorrows so deep and lonely that only God could help.

Over many centuries the farmer in the field would hear the Angelus sounded from the village Church. Beside a call to prayer celebrating the Incarnation, it signalled at noon a break to go into the shade of a tree and take the brought along lunch. In the evening it was a call to put the hoe and fork on the wagon and head home. This often included a visit to Jesus, the Lord of the earth they worked, as He waited to bless their weariness.

The town church was a destination for the mother or baby sitter taking her charge for a walk. So Jesus was a companion to us in our daily life.

There are wonderful stories of a consecrated host being smuggled to an imprisoned Bishop in Communist China. There is the missionary priest consoled in a desolate prison when his mother sent a package with hosts in an Alka seltzer tube and wine in a cough medicine bottle so that he could celebrate Mass under the noses of his atheistic captors.

There are the seemingly ordinary factory workers and nurses sharing a home in Communist Slovakia who gathered strength for their secretly consecrated lives from the Host hidden in a hollowed out crucifix in a hallway of their house.

Blessed are those parishes and convents that have the possibility for 24-7 adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. The spiritual riches flowing from this practice will only be fully known in the future life where all things will be revealed. Most Catholics must take from the Sunday Mass the strength that must last the week. May the "last blessing" of every Mass be truly a light on the path of God's children.

Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ

2009-06-12T10:37:00.000-07:00

The retreat master priest at the youth retreat asked, "Why do you suppose that Jesus gave us the Holy Eucharist?" The teen aged girl replied, "Because He knew that we would need someone to see and touch throughout the ages." With the security needs that mandate locked churches, one of the most beautiful, joyful and consoling things about being a Catholic is gradually disappearing. St. Thomas Aquinal (c.1225-1274) was asked to write the hymns and prayers for the newly declared Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. Taken from the publication, LIVING WITH CHRIST (see their web site: www.livingwithchrist.us ) comes the beautiful hymn LAUDA SION:

LAUDA SION

Laud, O Zion, your salvation,
Laud with hymns of exultation,
Christ, your king and shepherd true:

Bring him all the praise you know,
He is more than you bestow.
Never can you reach his due.

Special theme for glad thanksgiving
Is the quick’ning and the living
Bread today before you set:

From his hands of old partaken,
As we know, by faith unshaken,
Where the Twelve at supper met.

Full and clear ring out your chanting,
Joy nor sweetest grace be wanting,
From your heart let praises burst:

For today the feast is holden,
When the institution olden
Of that supper was rehearsed.

Here the new law’s new oblation
By the new king’s revelation,
Ends the form of ancient rite:
Now the new the old effaces,
Truth away the shadow chases,
Light dispels the gloom of night.

What he did at supper seated,
Christ ordained to be repeated,
His memorial ne’er to cease:

And his rule for guidance taking,
Bread and wine we hallow,
Making thus our sacrifice of peace.

This the truth each Christian learns,
Bread into his flesh he turns,
To his precious blood the wine:

Sight has fail’d, nor thought conceives,
But a dauntless faith believes,
Resting on a pow’r divine.

Here beneath these signs are hidden
Priceless things to sense forbidden;
Sign, not things are all we see:

Blood is poured and flesh is broken,
Yet in either wondrous token
Christ entire we know to be.

Whoso of this food partakes,
Does not rend the Lord nor breaks;
Christ is whole to all that taste:

Thousands are, as one, receivers,
One, as thousands of believers,
Eats of him who cannot waste.

Bad and good the feast are sharing,
Of what divers dooms preparing,
Endless death or endless life.

Life to these, to those damnation,
See how like participation
Is with unlike issues rife.

When the sacrament is broken,
Doubt not, but believe ‘tis spoken,
That the sever’d outward token
doth the very whole contain.

Nought the precious gift divides,
Breaking but the sign betides
Jesus still the same abides,
still unbroken does remain.

(the following is a shorter form.)

Lo! The angel’s food is given
To the pilgrim who has striven;
See the children’s bread from heaven,
which on dogs may not be spent.

Truth the ancient types fulfilling,
Isaac bound, a victim willing,
Paschal lamb, its lifeblood spilling,
Manna to the fathers sent.

Very bread, good shepherd, tend us
Jesu, of your love befriend us,
You refresh us, you defend us,
Your eternal goodness send us
In the land of life to see.

You who all things can and know,
Who on earth such food besow,
Grant us with your saints, though lowest,
Where the heav’nly feast you show,
Fellow heirs and guests to be.

A new introduction to the Mother of God

2009-05-08T07:07:00.000-07:00

Mother Most Admirable

Our Foundress recognized the greatness of Mary and held her in a special place in her life in accord with the will of the Church. She nurtured a special devotion and recommended this devotion to all the Sisters of the congregation that she founded.

When the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIII, granted a plenary indulgence for the Feast of Our Lady of Snows (August 5th) she wrote: “This Feast should be solemnly kept in the entire congregation and a promise made to Our Mother Most Admirable to have her honored by many under the title, Mother Most Admirable.” (July 13, 1884)

At the time of her journey in Rome, Mother Foundress visited the basilica Santa Maria Maggiore, wanting to see the icon of the Mother of God, from which the picture had been copied which we honor under the title Mother Most Admirable /Mater Admirabilis/ . Mother Franciska herself describes, filled with an inner emotion, the grace to be able to see this precious treasure from close range: “On the 20th we saw the picture of “Our Lady of Snows”. Msgr. Cataldi arranged it for us. Five locks and doors had to be opened before going through narrow corridors and up a high winding staircase; we arrived at the back of the picture. It is like ours.” (Circa. Rome, 1.30.1886)

“IT IS LIKE OURS”. This happy ascertainment of our spiritual Mother, the joy to have seen the picture of the Mother of God, which is identical with that she revered – or which is similar to that of our Mother Most Admirable, induces us to look for the footprints on the way, which finally leads to OURS.

It should be mentioned in the beginning that it concerns a very well known and revered icon. The fact that it is in this basilica in Rome is also important. If we follow the historical path of the basilica we can arrive to the origin of Christianity and consequently to the devotion of the Mother of God of that time. This goes back to the time of the Apostles. We know that the Council of Ephesus ceremoniously conferred the title of Mother of God to the Virgin Mary. “Theotokos” was used by the Christians already then. The icon of the Mother of God that is revered in the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore is one of those that are attributed to St. Luke.

She is called Mary of Snows. This part goes back to the legend of the miracle of the snow, which specified the location on which the church was to be built. According to this legend, the Mother of God appeared to a Roman Patrician by the name, Giovanni, whom she asked to have a church built in her honor on the spot she will miraculously show him. And see, on August 5th, in the middle of summer, the Esquilin Hill was covered with snow: it was the sign that the Virgin had promised. Pope Liberio (352 – 366) who also saw this, drew in the snow the contours of the church which would be the most famous one in honor of the Mother of God.

Regarding the picture in Santa Maria Magiore the researchers do not agree as to its origin. We point to a study of comparison of Prof. Cellini in which he discovered that a fragment of the painting in the interior court of the church SANTA MARIA ANTIQUA, built by Pope Silvester (314-335), has the same contours as the picture in Santa Maria Maggiore. At the restoration of this picture the Virgin appears sitting on a throne. The similarity of the pictures is unmistakable, thus one can accept a common pattern. The similarity is especially visible in two details, which surely derive from the original: the small cloth with fringes (mappula fimbratta), in the right hand of the Virgin, and the naturalness of holding the Child. This latter quality is according to Joseph Wilpert very rare in Roman art and is only seen in this picture in Santa Maria Maggiore and in the fragment in the church SANTA MARIA ANTIQUA.

We find the explanation for this unusual naturalness in the description of the original of the picture by Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical, “Redemptoris Mater”: . . . Mary is represented there as the throne of God, who holds the Lord and presents him to humankind (Theotokos)”.

The great reverence which the icon enjoyed in Santa Maria resulted in the fact that for many centuries no artist received permission to make a copy, until 1570. It is very interesting to follow the beginning of the numerous and incessant voyages of the dear Mother of God by means of her picture. In many of her travels she meets us. Yes, she was already there and waited for the Daughters of Divine Charity, who brought her picture along, who received her as a beloved companion and also “LOVED HER AS THEIR MOTHER, PATRONESS AND MISTRESS OF LOVE.” (Statutes of 1871)

Let us go to the fascinating history. In the year 1569 Father Inacio de Azevedo returned from his visitation voyage in Brasil. For his return trip he asked from his General Superior, St. Francis Borgia, a copy of the picture of the Mother of God, “MARY OF SNOWS,” as a patron for his mission. The reverence which Borgia himself had to this picture, induced him to submit a petition in this regard to the Pope, moreover through the rector of the church Santa Maria Maggiore, St. Charles Borromeo. The Pope, St. Pius V, granted what was almost impossible. Borgia was allowed to bring the revered picture to the chapel of the profession house and have it copied.

From this copy several others had been painted. Borgia presented two of them to his missionaries, Pater Inacio de Azevedo and Pater Rodolfo Aquaviva. Four went to the houses of the order: to the profession house in Rome, to the noviate in Brno (our Congregation is in this Czech city since 1870) and to Cracow (where there are Daughters of Divine Charity since 1886) and to the school in Ingolstadt (in Bavaria, the home of our Foundress). Five copies went to the nobility: to Queen Catarina of Portugal, to King Sebastian of Portugal, to Felipe II of Spain, to Dempress Maria, wife of Maximilian II, to Princess Joana of Madrid and to Elisabeth, wife of King Carlos IX of France. It is not surprising that these pictures, “like ours,” are diffused everywhere, as these first ones have been copied again. The picture came to Vienna through the Habsburgs. Mother Franciska surely revered the picture of the Mother of God in the Augustinian church, in Vienna, as she visited this church with her first sisters.

She came closer in order to become ever more our “Mother Most Admirable.” The Jesuits from Kalksburg had often been our retreat masters in Breitenfurt. From August 8 – 15, 1880 P. Edward Fischer gave the spiritual exercises and recommended to the sisters to revere the “Mater ter Admirabilis.” Mother Franciska participated at these exercises. Perhaps she was already familiar with this picture ever since Bavaria, and was very happy about this suggestion. Pater Fischer invited her to visit the chapel in Kalksburg and she prayed there in front of the picture of Mary. On January 22, 1881 two of our sisters visited Kalksburg and received from the Rector, Pater Widmann, three large pictures of “Mater ter Admirabilis.” Thus it came to us - - ours. It is a copy of the one which “is like ours!” And she remained by us. Later, Mother Franciska chose Mother Most Admirable for the Patron of our Congregation.

Excerpts taken from “An Attempt to Follow Her Footprints”
compiled by Sr. M. Therezia Hetzel, FDC

Two wonderful schools in California

2009-05-06T15:13:00.000-07:00

St. Therese Church

St. Therese Academy

The last two weeks I had a wonderful time with really great kids in two schools in California. From the very south of the state in San Diego to the far northern Oroville, the students at St. Therese Academy and St. Thomas the Apostle School showed their love for Jesus as they practiced contemplative prayer. All gave admirable witness of living for Christ and being willing to give their lives to His plan for them.

St. Thomas the Apostle Church

A pink snow on Staten Island

2009-05-06T08:09:00.000-07:00

Spring is so beautiful on Staten Island. Nature provides a new kind of snow to replace the white winter covering. Everywhere in gardens are lovely Japanese cherry trees. Now the spring rain makes them lose their petals leaving a pink carpet in gardens and roadsides.

The Biography of Mother Kostka Bauer Ch. VII

2009-04-14T07:28:00.000-07:00

CHAPTER VII

FINAL YEARS - - 1939-1943

“Prayer is our linking bridge.” With these words Mother Kostka bade farewell to the Mctherhouse sisters on April 11, 1939. Accompanied to the port by Sister Donata, she departed for visitations that would take her first to the United States to join in the jubilee celebration there and thence to Brazil, to the two recently canonically established provinces. She planned to be back in Austria in time for Christmas; until then, as always, she would remain linked with her European daughters through prayer.

The parting from her trusted friend and assistant was difficult; nevertheless, she felt relieved by the fact that the care of the European provinces was in capable hands during these trying days. In her last Viennese circular dated January 21, 1939 Mother Kostka sent her Lenten admonitions to the sisters. Then, referring to her impending American voyage, she wrote: “It is impossible that I administer the Congregation from Brazil .... Sister Donata is fully empowered and will make the Austrian visitations.” Little did she know that she would never return to Vienna; that she would never again see Sister Donata in this life.

The outbreak of World War II in September 1939 caused immediate concern for Mother Kostka. She would have to return to the Motherhouse as soon as possible. The mother must he with her children to protect and comfort them. To her dismay, her scheduled return to Europe on September 13 aboard the French liner, the S.S. :Normandie was cancelled.

Aware that her passport was to expire on June 1, 1940 and, as a naturalized American citizen not wishing to be stranded in Europe without a current travel permit, on September 9, 1939 Mother Kostka wrote to the passport division of the Department of State of the United States government asking for a renewal of the document and its validation for travel in various countries in Europe.

She explained her position as the superior general of an international congreqation and stated that as part of her official duties she needed to return to the headquarters as well as to visit the various provinces located in Hungary, Jugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, and the German Reich.

On September 22, 1939 a letter from R. B. Shipley, chief of the passport division, filled her with consternation. He informed her that the State Department had given careful and sympathetic consideration to her appeal, but that it did not feel that renewal of her passport for travel in Europe was possible.

In view of the situation and danger of travel, as well as hazards which may be encountered in residing in belligerent countries, regu1ations have recently been promulgated restricting the granting of passport facilities for Europe to those persons whose immediate travel to that continent is imperative.

Although she was dismayed by this refusal, Mother Kostha felt sure that she would eventually receive the necessary permission. In the meantime, she would Return to Brazil to see how the new provinces were faring. This last Brazilian Visitation, on which she was accompanied by Sister Olympia Maqyar, lasted from October 1939 to May 1940.

In her circular dated January 23, 1940, sent from Brazil, she expressed her disappointment without, however, sounding a note of alarm. “If it were up to me I would have been in Vienna a long time ago. However, my American citizenship forbids me to travel to a belligerent country. Thus, must say ‘fiat’ and trust in Divine Providence.”

Upon her return to the United States, both she and Sister Margaret (Margit) Gergely, provincial superior in North America, began to bombard various religious and secular organizations with letters asking for assistance in gaining validation of her passport and permission to return to Europe. Between 1343-1942 the Most Reverend Amleto Giovanni Cicognani, Apostolic Delegate to the United States, the National Catholic Welfare Conference, the U.S. State Department, and the International Red Cross were all contacted for assistance, to no avail. On May 11, 1940, the Right Reverend Msgr. Michael J. Ready, General Secretary of the National Catholic Welfare Conference wrote that “.. .there was a note of sympathy toward the request on the part of the officials of the State Department. However, Germany’s march into Holland and Belgium is causing great anxiety.” He suggested patience -- and more waiting.

The need for her return to the Motherhouse was compounded by the unexpected death of Sister Donata Reichenwallner on January 14, 1949. The loss of her vicaress general and loyal friend had a profound effect on Mother Kostka. The account of the death and burial of Sister Donata arrived from various sources. The report that the last words uttered to Sister Fernanda were, “I will work for the Congregation in heaven as I did here,” provided some consolation. Writing to the Motherhouse about this exemplary and faithful religious, Mother Kostka tried to console the sisters by reminding them:

She had fulfilled her office as vicaress with great care, wisdom and loyalty -- so that during my long trips to North and South America I could always be at peace, knowing that I had in her a strong support. It is hard for me to say a “fiat” to this loss.
(GC VIII, pp. 5-6)

During her entire time in office, Mother Kostka had been in close touch with the various members of the exiled Hapsburg dynasty. Whenever the ships she was traveling on stopped at Madeira, she made it a point to pay a visit to the grave of Emperor Charles I who was buried there.

During her own “exile” –1939—1943-- she corresponded with the ex-Empress Zita, Crown Prince Otto, the Archdukes Felix and Robert and the Archduchess Adelheid. She followed with anxiety their flight from Europe to the United States. She informed Zita of the death of Sister Donata, and later the deaths of Sisters Aloisia and Aquila. The former queen replied with much sympathy saying that she was praying that God bless Mother Kostka and all the Daughters of Divine Charity in their work on both continents and in so many countries. She expressed special thanks for the work done by the Congregation in Austria. (Letter from Therese Schmiring Kussenbrock, secretary to the Empress Zita, December 28, 1941)

The year 1940 was a bittersweet one for Mother Kostka. I the midst of her sorrow over the loss of Sister Donata, Mother Kostka celehrated her 70th birthday. The sisters from the various provinces sent her congratulatory letters and her American daughters tried to lift her spirits by arranging a beautiful liturgy and festive gathering. Although she put on a good front, it was evident that Mother Kostka was grieving and worrying about her European daughters. Also, on August 17, 1940, she quietly celebrated the golden jubilee of her profession as a Daughter of Divine Charity.

Correspondence arrived sporadically from the various provinces months after the letters were written; sections were at times blackened out by the censors. Sister Aloisia Schodt, the procuratrix general, did her best to keep Mother Kostka abreast of conditions in the various branches of the congregation.
“We are doing our best to keep things going, but it is awful not to hear from you for such a long time.” (Sister Aloisia to Mother Kostka, February 12, 1940)

In the meantime, Sister Fernanda who had been with Sister Donata when she died stepped into the breach and, together with Sister Facunda, worked to maintain harmony and community spirit at the Motherhouse; “. . .naturally without the title of Superior”. (Sister Fernanda to Mother Kostka, January 22, 1940)

As the months dragged on without any change in the status of her return, Sister Aloisia sent a letter on August 10, 1940 expressing the opinion that, if the superior general could not return soon, it would be best that for the maintenance of order and for visitation purposes, a superior should be appointed for the Motherhouse to replace deceased Sister Donata. She quickly added that Mother Kostka should not take the advice as urgent. “We are united and the work goes on -- you don’t have to worry about that; all is harmonious and the ‘general good’ is placed above personal good by all.”

In the absence of a Motherhouse superior and visitator, Sister Aloisia took
upon herself the duty of trying to visit the various provinces in Europe. She who wrote to Mother Kostka about the existing conditions, always trying to provide an optimistic outlook on the otherwise bleak conditions that prevailed.

Aware that the position of vicaress general needed to be filled, Mother Kostka appointed Sister Lamberta Plundrak, who had been the provincial superior of the Czech province since 1935 as the new vicaress general. An official announcement of this appointment was sent to Vienna as well as to the European provinces and to Theodore Cardinal Innitzer, archbishop of Vienna. This appointment presented a whole new set of problems. because of nationality restrictions, Sister Lamberta’s many attempts to go to Vienna to assume her new responsibilities ended in failure. Sisters Aloisia, Aquila, Ludovica and others could only write encouragingly that “...God will take care of everything.” (Sister Aloisia to Mother Kostka, November 4, 1940)

Although she could not get to Vienna, Sister Lamberta managed to make visits to
Poland and the Slovak province. Her visit to Poland, as well as that of Sister Aloisia, helped to assuage the worries of the sisters in Cracow. Mother Ludovika, another loyal daughter of Mother Kostka, tried to continue the works of Franziska as she knew Mother Kostka would want it done. On July 23, 1940 she wrote about a letter from a Fraulein Cochet from Berlin who begged her to tell the superior general that the congregation ought to open a home for elderly women in that city because there were so many of these ladies there in need of care. The young lady was ready to house the sisters in her own home at the beginning of the venture. Were not the matter so risky, Mother Ludovica was in favor of the undertaking. She asked Mother Kostka to inform her of any decision..
“It would be an excellent ministry since at the present time we cannot think of schools.”

Both sister Aloisia and Mother Ludovica worried about Sister Huberta and the English foundations; they were not on the continent, thus it was impossible to make any visitation. The bombings of England by the German Luftwaffe caused additional anxiety. “One must worry about Huberta’s family,” wrote Mother Ludovica on August 9, 1940. “The poor people, they have so much suffering.”

Yet it is very evident that in the absence of their superior general, her faithful assistants were working tirelessly to keep the Congregation and its activities on as normal a course as possible. On August 24, 1940, Sister Aloisia reported that 64 sisters and eight novices had made their annual retreat and most “were very happy with it.” Distressing news caused by the war and its relentless surges, (i . e , the bombings in Frankfurt, the military occupation of the second floor of the Elizabeth Home and the take-over of the first and third floors of the novitiate building by Red Cross nurses) were lightened by news of continuous growth and activity.

In Hungary, the sisters were still expanding into new areas of ministry. Sister Alicia Kozma, writing on December 14, 1940, informed Mother Kostka that in the spring they would have to begin construction of an additional building in Nyergesujfalu because their existing facilities were insufficient to care for the many students who were applying for admission. Of course, this entailed new financial burdens and so she .asked whether Sisters Margaret and Hermenegilda (two of the original band from Hungary who had gone to America with Mother Kostka) would be able to offer financial assistance in this venture. Sister Alicia touched a soft spot in the mother’s heart by writing: “Very few understand the wishes and ideals of Mother Franciska as you do -- always interested in spreading the work field of the Congregation.”

The Christmas circular (December 6, 1940) which Mother Kostka sent to her European daughters was one which combined her deep trust in Divine Providence with a strong recommendation to the sisters to pray that the year 1941 would bring a restoration of peace to the world. She expressed her deep sorrow that she was unable to return to Europe and encouraged all to work together in unity and love.

Her hopes for a better year were shattered by the news of the death of the second member of the general council, Sister Aloisia Schodt on January 28, 1941. The death of Sister Aloisia intensified the homesickness and anguish of Mother Kostka. Once more she contacted the U.S. State Department for permission to return to Europe, citing the growing administrative problems as extenuating circumstances. She even outlined her proposed route home: she would fly by Clipper from New York to Lisbon; from Lisbon to Rome on a domestic flight or whatever safe mode of transportation could be found. From thence she would take any available and safe mode of transportation through Jugoslavia to either Budapest or Vienna. (Letter to U.S. State Department, March 14, 1941) Washington, however, remained adamant in its refusal because of their reluctance to place an American citizen in danger.

As much as possible, Mother Kostka attempted to continue her leadership from afar. In her Easter circular, dated April 3, 1941, she encouraged the sisters to keep writing; the letters with their expressions of unshaken courage, intense love of God, and genuine spirit of sacrifice were sources of great consolation. She expressed great happiness at the news that “. . .in the distressing times and chaotic European world twelve sisters pronounced their perpetual vows, ready to serve God with their last breath.”
The death of Sister Aloisia, coupled with the fact that Mother Lamberta had not yet received the necessary permission to travel to Vienna forced Mother Kostka to appoint a new superior for the Motherhouse. By May 23, 1941, upon the advice of Sister Josefa, she named Sister Facunda Peterek to that position.

The news fromm Vienna became more alarming. Mother Kostka was deeply worried about her daughters, especially when she heard that Herz Maria Kloster had been commandeered by the Nazi army on August 19, 1941. (GC VIII, p.23). She had barely assimilated this news when another great cross was laid upon her shoulders with the notification of the death of still another general assistant, Sister Aquila Fajmon on October 19, 1941. Now three supporting pillars of the Congregation were gone – in less than two years – and there was no sign of relenting on the part of the United States government.

In a letter to the Motherhouse dated November 7, 1941 she wrote of the great shock which this latest death had caused her. She discussed the many efforts she was making to get permission to return. At this point she had even asked a senator in the United States congress to intercede on her behalf; “. . .if this doesn’t work, there is no more hope.”

Still, the care of the Congregation was paramount. Accordingly, she announced her appointment of Sister Agnes Fischer as first general assistant and Sister Leandra Halsch as fourth general assistant and general secretary. Expressing her belief that her choices would bear good results, she exhorted the sisters: “Accept these new authorities with love and confidence and help lighten their burdens. You will find in both real mothers.” (GC VIII, pp. 26-27)

The bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese drew the United States into war. With the declaration of hostilities on December 8, 1941 any ray of hope of her return to Europe was extinguished. In a Christmas message to Laszlo Medgyesy, the Royal Consul General of Hungary in New York, she mentioned her desire to see her daughters on the other side of the ocean; “. . . the war with Japan, however, has made my cross even heavier. As an American citizen I cannot hope to travel now; it would appear traitorous.”

Yet Mother Kostka continued to perform her duties as superior general to the best of her abilities. She wrote a Christmas circular in December, 1941, extending her wishes to her orphaned daughters and saying how happy she would be if she could deliver these personally. Pondering the uncertainties of the coming year, she wondered whether it would bring joy or still more bitter pains -- God alone knows. With her unshakeable trust in Divine Providence she exhorted all to accept the will of God for He “... will decide whether I shall see the Motherhouse in the near future.”

In the midst of all the sorrows she hoped to raise the spirits of the sisters in Europe by recounting the continued success and ever-expanding circle work of the Congregation in Brazil. Here a new hospital had been opened; another schoo1 had been placed under the administration of the Daughters of Divine Charity and the high school in Natal had received the necessary certification to be a “public school”. “Brazil has struggled very much and now there is a beautiful blooming.”

Her mind was set somewhat at ease when she learned that Sister Agnes had
Arrived at the Motherhouse on December 27; Sister Leandra could not yet come because of problems in Troppau. In fact a letter from Sister Leandra, dated December 21, 1941, and sent to Sister Norberta in Vienna, indicated that because Mother Kostka had been abroad for so long, the new general secretary felt that she had no idea of all the extraordinary difficulties with which every house has had to struggle to a lesser or greater degree. Her institute in Troppau was bearing the burden of the Frankfurt mortgage and was forced to make monthly payments of 1,000 RM (Reich Marks). She then expressed her doubts about accepting the office to which she had been appointed; she felt unready for the great task. “If I am commanded by holy obedience I will do so, but I will not bear responsibility for the consequences.”

A letter from the vicar general for the Sudetanland section of the archdiocese of Olmutz supported the need far Sister Leandra to remain in Troppau and asked that she be relieved of the new assignment. Sister Norberta responded on December 29, 1941 giving Sister Leandra temporary permission to remain in Troppau. She felt that this would be the decision of Mother Kostka. “We must, however, follow the final decisions of the Superior General in this matter.”

In the next two years, Sister Leandra fulfilled two important offices. With the permission of Mother Kostka she remained in Troppau and came to the Motherhouse for general council meetings in May, August and October of 1942 and January, 1943 -— her input and vote were required in making administrative decisions in the absence of the Superior General. (GC VIII, pp. 41, 45, 48)

Sister Lamberta, too, was still in Prague. She had not received the permission to travel from the Nazi officials, and she wondered if she would get it at all. In the meantime, she tried to contact some of the other provinces and informed Mother Kostka about the moves forced upon some of the communities as the convents, schools, and other institutions were taken over by the military for hospitals and barracks. She suggested, therefore, that Mother Kostka appoint another vicaress general —— one who was German/Austrian. Despite the fact that neither of these two general assistants would be able to reside in or near the Motherhouse, Mother Kostka did not relieve them of the duties to which they had been appointed. God would help the Congregation; she and her daughters were in His hands.

During l940-l94l, it was Mother Lamberta who was able to relay to Mother Kostka the most extensive information regarding the conditions under which her daughters were laboring. These letters, preserved in the general archives, are indications of the conscientious performance of duty, and it was through her that circulars from Mother Kostka were distributed to the various convents. The last existing letter from Sister Lamberta, dated November 21, 1941, extended Christmas and New Year greetings from the entire Congregation. A sad note was sounded as she wrote: “The departing year has given our Congregation many new grave mounds —— many of those were totally unexpected. God’s ways are hard to fathom and demands from us total faith.” She reported that in 1941 alone the Congregation had lost twenty-eight members.

It was no wonder, then, that the heart of Mother Kostka began to feel the effects of her stress. The doctors ordered her to do only such walking as was necessary -- she, who loved to walk quickly around the gardens and lanes of the provincial house in Arrochar. She was also being treated for high blood pressure. The doctors who were caring for her knew the difficult circumstances which she faced; unless she stopped worrying, however, they warned her that no medicine would be effective. (GC VIII, letter to the Motherhouse, November 7, 1941, pp. 26—27)

A rough draft of a letter she was writing to a Sister Ladislaus confides “my heart suffers very much.... It is no wonder if my heart refuses its good work. The war brought on the greatest part of it. The best medicine would be the hasty end of the war. The Will of God shall be done, even if it is very hard.”

In early 1942 Mother Kostka was sickened by the news forwarded to her by Sister Norberta, annouhcing the martyrdom of five Daughters of Divine Charity in Pale, Jugoslavia. (Today we call them the Drina Martyrs because of the river into which their bodies were thrown.)

She was also notified that three of the four bells which she had so joyfully obtained for the Motherhouse in 1935 had been commandeered by the Nazi regime. The largest one was broken into pieces before it could be brought down; the two middle-sized bells were carted down the stairs. Only the smallest one was allowed to remain in the bell tower. (It is this bell which is still rung at the Motherhouse every day.)

The heartbreaking news which she received from time to time from the Motherhouse and the different European provinces, and her inability to get her letters through to Europe, caused Mother Kostka to seek help wherever possible. A rough draft of a letter that she sent to a Father Tahsel in mid—1942 is indicative of her deep concern. Reverend Paul Teves, O.S.A., whom she knew in the United States, had encouraged her to contact Father Tahsel —— presumably in Rome. She explained to him that any letters she had sent after December 6, 1941 to the various provinces had been returned to her at the end of April marked “service suspended”. Therefore, she asked the priest to write to Sister Agnes in Vienna for information which he, in turn, would be able to forward to her through the Vatican post. She inquired about Sister Norberta’s health, the conditions in
Breitenfurt, the fate of the convents in Frankfurt-am-Main, Greifswald and Berlin. Like an anxious mother, Mother Kostka wanted to know if Sister Deocara had gone to the hospital as she had ordered. Was Sister Lamberta, the vicaress in touch with the various provincial superiors and had Sister Leandra assumed her office as general secretary. She requested more information on the sisters of Pale and also asked for the names of any sisters who had died since December 1941. She wanted Sister Agnes to be told: ”The sisters should not worry about me. I feel better and I do everything what is in my power to be able to face the difficulties. of the trip to Europe after the war.”

Whether she ever received a reply to this letter is unknown. No letter from a Father Tehsel was found among her existing correspondence. None of the letters from the various sisters indicate that they had been contacted by the priest.

On October 12, 1942, she wrote to the Cardinal Protector of the Congregation, Cardinal di Belmonte. Mentioning the death of the three assistants general and her subsequent appointment of Sisters Lamberta, Agnes and Leandra, and the fact that she does not know if they have succeeded in arriving at the Motherhouse, she wrote:

Night and day my thoughts are in the Motherhouse, with my abandoned daughters. I find consolation only in prayer… But at times I am discouraged, thinking that I might not survive until the day of my return to Vienna.

She informed the Cardinal that in England the three convents of the Congregation were able to continue their ministry without any major disturbance. Correspondence with the rest of the European convents, however, was impossible.

It would seem that somehow Mother Kostka was able to contact the Hungarian province. An entry in the congregational chronicle, Volume VIII, states that on September 1, 1942 the Motherhouse got a message from Hungary indicating that the superior general, unable to return to Europe, had appointed Sister Irene Szabo as the new provincial superior and had made a number of other appointments as well.
(GC VIII, p. 44)

Unable to return to Europe, Mother Kostka continued to make her official visitations in the United States in 1941, 1942 and 1943. With great interest and untiring attention she performed her duties, always full of understanding and kindness. She wholeheartedly participated in the remodeling, repairs, renovation and beautification of the provincial house in Staten Island. After all, she had been responsible for the initial purchase of the property and the construction of the academy building. In 1941, she was very much in charge of the acquisition of the adjoining Barrett property which was to be transformed into a spacious playground for the students.

It may have been this exercise of her authority and her constant presence which began to wear on the provincial superior, Sister Margaret Gergely, or at least so it seemed to some of the sisters who loved Mother Kostka dearly. Thus, by 1942-1943, the constant worry about her European daughters was compounded by a growing feeling that she was wearing out her welcome in the United States. Sister Olympia Magyar, writing her recollections of Mother Kostka, opined: “In 1942 and 1943 Mother Margaret ... on the pretext of safety sent Mother Kostka to different convents, for example to Windsor, Canada, to South Bend, Indiana, or to Chicago, Illinois. Mother Margaret’s purpose was that she did not want Mother Kostka’s interference with the government.”

It was her special interest in the spiritual formation of the novices that led Mother Kostka to appoint Sister Leonore Mohl as novice mistress in 1942. When she was in Arrochar, her greatest joy was to visit the novitiate to spend time with her “little white doves”. On St. Stanislaus Day, 1942, imitating Motherhouse customs, the novices presented a brief program in the novitiate honoring their spiritual mother. Under the guidance of their mistress, the novices sang a German hymn which had been Mother Kostka’s favorite since her youth-- “Jesu, Kindlein, komm zu mir.” (Child Jesus, come to me). The little booklet which they prepared for her also brought her much joy. She felt at home in the novitiate returning, in memory it seems, to her first task as mistress of novices in Budapest. How ironic that it should be one of her novices who would now begin to spurn her.

On May 9, l943 Mother Kostka left the provincial house in Arrochar, accompanied by Mother Margaret, ostensibly to make her visitation of the midwest convents. In the last minutes she gave the gathered postulants, novices and sisters her motherly blessing. Those who knew her best noticed that she appeared much more tired and weaker than at other times. None of those who waved goodbye to her that day realized, however, that this was their last farewell.

Her first stop was at St. Elizabeth-Briarbank in Michigan. Here the new building was being prepared for dedication on June 20. With special permission from the bishop, however, holy mass was celebrated in the chapel on May 11. With a promise to return for the dedication and a few weeks’ rest, Mother Kostka proceeded to make her visitations in Chicago, East Chicago, the three South Bend convents and finally Gary, Indiana. It was at Gary that she finally admitted, .”I cannot carry on any longer, let us return to Briarbank.”

Mother Kostka and Mother Margaret arrived at St. Elizabeth’s on May 25. Her weariness was very apparent to all, especially when, instead of taking her walk or talking with the sisters, she retired early and decided to stay in bed theI following morning. This was so unlike Mother Kostka who did not like to remain in bed even when urged to do so by her doctors. It was believed that a good bed rest would revive her spirits.

Important provincial matters made it necessary for Mother Margaret to return to Arrochar. She had barely arrived home when she received the news that, despite the extended rest, Mother Kostka was daily getting weaker and sicker. Her side hurt very much; her abdomen was very distended. The doctor who was called for her did not like the rapidly deteriorating conditions and gave orders to have the patient taken to the hospital. On June 4, the first Friday of the month, Mother Kostka was taken to St. Joseph Hospital which was maintained by the Sisters of Mercy in nearby Pontiac.

Immediate tests and X-rays indicated that the patient was suffering from a chronic liver and kidney problem which was draining her of strength. The illness was diagnosed as critical. Upon receiving the doctor’s report, Sister Teresa Arvay, the superior at St. Elizabeth-Briarbank, called the provincial house to impart the alarming news. An immediate relay message was sent to all the houses of the province informing the sisters of the serious nature of Mother Kostka’s illness and requesting immediate prayers for her improvement and recovery.

The doctors in attendance were not very optimistic about the possibility of recovery. Instead, they felt that Mother Kostka should be honestly informed of the extent of her illness and the fact that recovery was not very probable; it was best that she prepare for death.

The medication which she had received had relieved her pain and so on , June 6, she was up and about dictating letters to Sister Huberta in England and Sister Rigalda in Brazil - She was responding to anxious letters which she had received, especially since communication with these two countries was easier, since they were allies of the United States. She was placing her health and future into God’s hands.

During the two following weeks she prayed and meditated a great deal. It is reported that she told one of the sisters that she daily prayed three rosaries: for “Mutter” (it is unclear as to whether she meant her mother, Mother Franciska or Sister Donata), for Sister Aquila and Sister Valeria.

With all those sisters who came from the nearby convents to visit with her laughed and chatted, encouraging them and allaying their fears. Sister Mary Winkler had been sent from New York to nurse her. Until the last week, when she was too weak to raise her arm, she signed the forehead of each daughter with a cross as she had always done. According to a Professor Sales Hess, who reported her last illness and death to a Frau (Sister?) Steden in a letter written from Engelberg, dated September 18, 1943, “Grandmother Bauer” spoke daily of her distant children whom she had hoped to see once more before dying.

Ncw, Mother Kostka grew more and more anxious to see Mother Margaret and Sister Hermenegilda Szabo, two of the original American pioneers. The two were notified of the request and immediately made arrangements to travel to the Midwest. The two sisters finally arrived in Detroit on June 16. Sister Melissa Gubica, superior of St. Mary’s Residence there, met them at the railroad station and immediately the three went to the hospital where they found Sisters Olympia and Mary at Mother Kostka’s bedside. The drastic change they witnessed shocked the two; Mother had lost a great deal of weight in just two and a half weeks; her breathing was labored.

Yet even now, in the midst of her sufferings, she was the ever-loving and consoling mother. When she noticed the effect her condition had on Mother Margaret, she tried to console her and the others, saying that all was in God’s hands; they were not to worry.

To the sisters it was evident that the end was near. Accordingly, they asked the chaplain at the hospital to administer the Holy Viaticum and to bless Mother Kostka and give her absolution. The priest came immediately into the room and told her that he was going to bless her and give her the last rites of the church. With serenity and resignation Mother Kostka replied, “Good, Reverend Father.” In a few minutes the priest returned with a nursing sister who brought a cross, candles, and holy water. All the sisters who were present knelt and prayed with and for their beloved mother. Mother Kostka was completely conscious throughout the administration of the sacrament and with great fervor recited the prayers with the priest. With her customary politeness, she thanked the chaplain for his kindness. Then she looked lovingly at the sisters kneeling around her bed.

Mother Margaret stood up, bent and kissed Mother Kostka’s ring and started to speak. Before she could utter a word, however, the patient spoke up.

Pardon me for all I did wrong. Ask the Sisters, in my name, for their forgiveness. Tell them they should hold together, they should be one heart and one soul and remain united with the Motherhouse. Do not be afraid, I will help you in all your problems; come to me with everything. Also tell the sisters, I am ready to help them. Tell them, they must make a good retreat.

A weeping Mother Margaret then asked for pardon in the name of the entire province. “I have nothing to forgive,” replied the compassionate mother. “I thank you for everything you have done for me.” At this, the sisters present all began to sob. With a calm smile she looked at her beloved daughters as though to say “don’t cry -- I am happy.” After a few minutes of silence she tried to ease the sorrow that pervaded the room by inquiring about Arrochar: the postulants, novices, sisters, boarders and students. Then she began to joke with them in her usual jovial manner.

Her lightheartedness, however, did not conceal the critical nature of her condition. Sister Myriam Kovacs, the superior of the provincial house, was called and told of Mother Kostka’s impending death; she, in turn, relayed the distressing news to the eastern convents while the nearby convents were immediately contacted -- it was just a matter of time.

Sister Myriam left Arrochar for Detroit immediately after receiving the message. From the midwestern convents, the sisters began to arrive to get their Mother’s last blessing. Sister Leonore Vurnik arrived from Rankin, Pennsylvania; Sisters superior Fidelis, Medarda, Irma, Marietta, Elvira, Callista, Marianna and Erica all knelt at the bedside and were consoled by her. To Sisters Margaret and Leonore she said, “I cannot wish for a more peaceful death.” She was ready to go home.

Hour by hour Mother Kostka grew noticeably weaker. Now her greatest sorrow was that she was unable to participate in the dedication of the new house at St. Elizabeth-Briarbank. Therefore on June 20, she instructed her nurse to awaken her at 3 o’clock so that she could be with the sisters in spirit.

The dedication ceremony on June 20 was subdued; in the midst of the joy, the imminent loss of the mother saddened the gathered sisters. After the ceremony His Excellency, Most Reverend Edward Mooney, Archbishop of Detroit, traveled to St. Joseph’s Hospital to visit Mother Kostka. The deep love and loyalty to the Church, its priests, and especially its leaders, shone forth as Mother Kostka expressed her deep gratitude to the prelate for the special honor he bestowed on her by this visit.

From the evening of June 20 on, there were always at least two sisters at the bedsideof their failing mother. In the late afternoon of Tuesday, June 22, the sister superior of the hospital suggested to Sister Olympia that she call the sisters to recite the prayers for the dying. A telephone call brought Sisters Margaret, Hermenegilda and Myriam hurrying to the hospital.

Moth er Kostka was in her last agony. Her breathing was heavy and irregular. Her eyes were half-open; her face, although peaceful, indicated that she was in intense physical pain. When they spoke to her, she nodded weakly. She understood, but was too weak to respond.

As they recited the various litanies, she made a great effort to strike her breast whenever they intoned “Lamb of God. ..” A number of times she tried to speak but she was too weak even to move her lips. For more than two hours the death struggle continued. The hospital sisters summoned the chaplain to the bedside. As he entered the room at 7:25 p.m., the sisters whispered, “Mother, Father is here to pray for you.” Peace transfigured her suffering countenance: this is what she had been trying to say. Slowly the priest began the prayers for the dying. As the invocations reached her ears, her face was transformed; a beautiful other-worldly expression appeared. Repeatedly she tried to raise her head; her eyes widened and she gazed into the distance with a look of wonderment on her face. Her breath became shallow, then stopped altogether. She had entered eternity at 7:33 p.m., in the 74th year of her life. The chaplain finished the prayers and then imparted a final blessing. She was with her beloved.

Immediately the sad news was cabled to Sister Agnes in Vienna. Because of the war, the message was brief: “Mother Kostka died June 22 in Detroit, Michigan. Details will follow.”

The body of Mother Kostka was brought to Briarbank the next day. The sisters from the midwest convents gathered to pay their last respects and to bid farewell to their beloved mother. After the recitation of the solemn Office of the dead, Monsignor Hickey, secretary to Archbishop Mooney, and Reverend Stephen Bali, assistant pastor at Holy Cross Church in Detroit, conducted a prayer service. Following the service, her sorrowing daughters lighted candles in their hands, processed to the gate where the hearse awaited the coffin which was to be transfported by train to New York City.

Mother Kostka arrived for the last time in Arrochar on Thursday morning, June 24. She, whose life had been spent in traveling on behalf of her beloved Congregation, had made her final journey. As the convent bell tolled, announcing the arrival of their faithful mother, the sisters, novices and postulants, together with the chaplain formed a guard of honor at the main entrance, just as they had done countless times before. After the blessing, the coffin was placed into her office where now in death, as often in life, she had been visited by her daughters for advice and consolation. Throughout the day and night the sisters kept vigil by the coffin, praying and grieving for their deceased mother. That evening, the solemn Office of the Dead was recited.

The solemn requiem mass for Mother Kostka Bauer was celebrated at Saint Joseph Hill Chapel on Friday, June 25. Priests from all the parishes which were served by the Daughters of Divine Charity; Father William Biskorovanyi, who welcomed the weary traveler as she arrived in America; representatives of the House of Hapsburg, the Hungarian consulate, and numerous acquaintances attended the funeral to express their respect for this indefatigable woman and in thanks for her thirty years of missionary zeal in the United States.

The liturgy was offered by Reverend Stephen Chernitzsky, one of the first priests to offer her support in 1913. The eulogy was preached by Reverend Terence A. McNally, O.F.M., pastor of St. Stephen of Hungary Church in New York City. The line from St. John’s gospel, “You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and appointed you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and your fruit shall remain” was the basis for his evaluation of the life and work of Mother Kostka.
Only God and herself -- with perhaps a few close associates can know the pains and the sorrows -- the disappointments and the joys which accompanied the fulfillment of her vocation and apostleship....

Her spirit of love and charity were the fruit which she had brought forth.... If true humility -- if the sincere love of God and man -.- if the spirit of patience and tolerant understanding combined with honest zeal for the law of God -- if all these constitute sanctity and sainthood -- and we firmly believe that they do -- then in all truth we can say of her in the words of Scripture, “PRECIOUS IN THE EYES OF THE LORD IS THE DEATH OF HIS SAINT!”

After the singing of the Libera and the final blessing, the coffin was placed on a hearse behind which the priests, sisters, and a large number of people went in procession, praying the rosary, to St. Mary’s Cemetery, to the plot reserved for the Daughters of Divine Charity. After the final prayers, the earthly remains of Mother Kostka were laid to rest in a grave next to those of her American daughters who had predeceased her. This was to be her resting place until the end of the war when the General Chapter would make the final decision as to her permanent resting place.[1]

Cardinal di Belmonte, the Cardinal Protector of the Congregation, was informed of the death of Mother Kostka by Mother Margaret Gergely. In a letter dated July 1, 1943, addressed to Sister Agnes, the general vicaress of the orphaned Congregation he wrote: “Be brave and be that mother full of love who will continue work in the Congregation, as Vicaress General, until more peaceful times will let us have a General Chapter which for the moment is impossible.”

A solemn requiem mass was celebrated at the Motherhouse Church in Vienna on July 7, at 8 o’clock. Now, the mother was gone; Sister Agnes would trust in God and continue on, according to the advice of the Cardinal Protector.

Two letters, one from Professor Sales Hess, and another dated September 30, 1943, provided Sister Agnes with further details of the last days of Mother Kostka. At that time, she reported what she knew to the sisters and wrote:

... .Mother Kostka had traveled throughout all parts of the world in order to settle disputes, and to bring comfort and help -- she had a holy fervor; in self1ess sacrificial courage she did not draw back from any difficulties which she encountered; her confidence in God, as well as her acceptance of God’s will were examples; she worked assiduously to develop her spirituality and she worked with her whole heart for God and the Congregation -- it is the wish and prayer of all that she be rewarded by the Almighty Merciful God for the power and strength to struggle for the good of all which she had continued for decades.
(DC VIII, pp. 55-61)

It was not until January, 1946, that a very detailed record of the illness, death and burial of the third superior general would arrive in Vienna and, from there, in the various provinces of the Congregation.

The Daughters of Divine Charity had lost a woman of faith, a loving soul had striven to be a mother to all; a victim soul who was tried by the conflagration of the world chaos who said, the day before she died: “I had always wished to see all my loved ones once more; God, however, wished this sacrifice and I do it willingly, as God’s will is my joy.”

The last will and testament of this faithful steward to future generations of Daughters of Divine Charity around the world: “to work together in love and unity,” should continue to be the most sacred obligation and commitment of every daughter of Mother Franciska. Undoubtedly, Mother Kostka Bauer continues to pray for this love and unity for her beloved Congregation before the throne of the Almighty -- it was her quest -- it should be our goal!

[1] The General Chapter of 1947 acceded to the petition of the North American province to allow the foundress to remain among her daughters in the province which she had co-founded.

Something Important to Consider today....

2009-04-06T12:13:00.000-07:00

In this time of the Redemption of all people of all time we must make sure we are open to all...

In Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time , Greg Mortenson, and journalist David Oliver Relin, recount the journey that led Mortenson from a failed 1993 attempt to climb Pakistan’s K2, the world’s second highest mountain, to successfully establish schools in some of the most remote regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan. By replacing guns with pencils, rhetoric with reading, Mortenson combines his unique background with his intimate knowledge of the third-world to promote peace with books, not bombs, and successfully bring education and hope to remote communities in central Asia. Three Cups of Tea is at once an unforgettable adventure and the inspiring true story of how one man really is changing the world—one school at a time.

“We share in the sorrow as people weep and suffer in America today,” he said, pushing his thick glasses firmly into place, “as we inaugurate this school. Those who have committed this evil act against the innocent, the women and children, to create thousands of widows and orphans do not do so in the name of Islam…. For this tragedy, I humbly ask Mr. George and Dr. Greg Sahib for their forgiveness. …. These two Christian men have come halfway around the world to show our Muslim children the light of education,” … “I request America to look into our hearts, “ Abbas continued, his voice straining with emotion, “and see that the great majority of us are not terrorists, but good and simple people. Our land is stricken with poverty because we are without education, but today, another candle of knowledge has been lit. In the name of Allah the Almighty, may it light our way out of the darkness we find ourselves in.”

“It was an incredible speech,” Mortenson says. “And by the time Syed Abbas had finished he had the entire crowd in tears. I wish all the Americans who think ‘Muslim’ is just another way of saying ‘terrorist’ could have been there that day. The true core tenants of Islam are justice, tolerance, and charity, and Syed Abbas represented the moderate center of Muslim faith eloquently.”

From THREE CUPS OF TEA
By Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
p. 257

Franziska Notes April 2009

2009-04-02T07:35:00.000-07:00

Franziska Notes
No.6/4 April 2009
Jesus promised to be with us all days. How comforting to know that He has found a way to accompany those who believe in Him and love Him in every situation of their lives. This has given courage to His disciples to risk life, reputation and fortunes to the glory of His name and help to His brothers and sisters in need.
It was this assurance that allowed Mother Franziska to take huge risks, going to foreign countries and different cultures to begin foundations. Her only cause for concern was that the venture truly be the will of God. How often she signed contracts when she did not even have the money to offer the other signing party a coach ride home.
This same kind of trust in God’s providence remained in the sisters of her Congregation. A sister in Austria who lived through the terrible years of the German and Russian rule said, “God took care of us. We always had something to eat even if on one day it was watery broth with a few potatoes and the next day a few potatoes with a ‘gravy’ of watery broth.” All those who have come to love the Daughters of Divine Charity have experienced the fruits of this faith in the structures, built with so much risk and daring but which benefited God’s children and youth, the needy and the aged on three continents for over one hundred years.
How can we participate in this kind of relationship with God? To get to know someone, we must know their language. Sacred Scripture is the language of God. Those who want to experience God’s presence in their daily lives must spend a few moments daily with His Holy Word. There are today many plans for daily scripture reading, in print and on the Internet. We must find one that suits our personality and be faithful to it. Soon we will see that Jesus keeps His promise to be with us and our lives open in personal joy and fruitful service to others.

www.godslovefdc.org

A walk through our lovely park

2009-03-30T15:11:00.000-07:00

A memorial to the American Sisters who have already experienced their Resurrection

One wants to sing "Alleluia" already today!

Three minute retreat

2009-03-30T11:38:00.000-07:00

from loyola press

Daily 3-Minute Online Retreat

Franziska Notes 6/3 March 2009

2009-03-02T15:01:00.000-08:00

Franziska Notes

No.6/3 March 2009

The word for Lent comes from an old Germanic term for Spring. So our holy season of Lent can be seen as a time of joyous renewal instead of painful privation. Mother Franziska was very suspicious of extreme forms of penance. She wanted her sisters to live the life of ordinary good Christians. At the same time she often called for sacrifice for good purposes. The sisters could not afford luxuries and sometimes even had to do without what seemed to be necessities because of the poverty of the young congregation and the urgent desire to use its limited resources for the good of those in their care. In one of her Lenten circulars she tells her sisters to “fast with the tongue”. At first reading I understood this to mean that the sisters must make renewed efforts to keep the silences that promoted prayer, recollection and useful work, and I am sure these were concerns of the early little communities.

The Lenten circular of our Holy Father, Benedict XVI gives a beautiful new emphasis to the concept of fasting. “Jesus brings to light the profound motive for fasting,…True fasting, as the divine Master repeats elsewhere, is rather to do the will of the Heavenly Father, who “sees in secret, and will reward you” (Mt 6,18). Today when so many people must limit themselves to the barest necessities or even suffer want, it is appropriate that we also limit our material wants to share with those in need. Following Mother Franziska’s words in the light of the positive slant in our Holy Father’s letter, we have, in addition, a beautiful program for Lent. We can “fast with our tongue” by making a positive effort to spread beautiful and kind words with a smile to strangers and our dear ones everywhere. We will be like angels leaving a trail of blessings which sooner or later will bring ourselves and many others to the joy and love of the Resurrected Lord.

www.godslovefdc.org

Letter to a young Daughter of Divine Charity

2009-03-02T12:55:00.000-08:00

Letter to a young sister

Dear Sister,

You asked me, "Just what is our charism?" When I was a young sister I heard a lot about and asked, "What is our spirit?" I have been asking that question in one of those forms all of my religious life. The answers have changed for me over the years but they never contradicted each other. Rather, the years and various experiences have brought new insight to make the answer richer and more beautiful until in eternity, by God's grace, it will be complete. So what I am writing today is different than what I might have written ten years ago or twenty years from now. But so it is also with the charism of the Congregation as it grows into the future, responding in each time and in each place to the will of God. so "the poor" might be unschooled servant girls in a large city, or children of immigrants in a new country or mentally disabled or disturbed adults who need a sheltered environment, or the milkman who delivers every day to the convent kitchen or even our own sisters who are old, or sick, or busy and need the support of loving service. When we are young, it sometimes seems selfish to include "our Congregation" in our motto, but as time goes by we admire more and more the practical wisdom this demonstrates. The needs of the world and the Church are so great, and the limits of our ability, strength and wisdom beome gradually so clear that we learn to appreciate being part of something greater than ourselves. Without the Congregation I might have scattered and wasted my energies. Without the Congregation my service would have been limited to only those persons I myself could reach and touch, and all my plans and ideas would have died soon after my life ended. As it is, every prayer, every good deed, every smile of my religious life has become a part of something greater than myself. To the extent that I have loved I have been a blessing, enriching the lives of others, helping them to go on and bless other lives, on and on and on.

For awhile there was a movement to change the word "Daughter" in our title to the word 'sister' which is in the title of most other women's congregations. Thanks to God's wonderful providence that did not happen. The word "Daughter" was surely specially chosen by Mother Franziska to describe what she wanted us to be. Reflections on the ideal of "daughter" are enough for a lifetime of meditation. A good daughter serves her family loyally, but she is not a servant. She belongs. She is part of the family and is loved, often in a very special way by her father. She serves not for pay or out of fear but because she also loves. She loves her parents, even when they are not perfect. She helps and defends and supports the family, even when she is not thanked in words. We are daughters of God, of the Church and of our congregational family. The special "ring" of that word can ba a guide for the manner we bring to all we do. Mother Franziska wrote in one of her letters that a problem was so pressing that she had to force herself to be the cheerful person she otherwise was naturally. This demonstrates that she did not sit back and ask herself, "Am I happy?", but rather realized that happiness and joy were very much something we decided to be each day. Through God's grace and strength we could find in every situation, even suffering and persecution, a reason to be happy and to consciously bring the gift of cheerfulness and joy to those around us.

You are searching for our Charism. You do not realize that is is already visible in your very young religious life. It is expressed in the courage and generosity that brought you to our doors. It's beginnings are present in your loving conversations with the Lord and your enthusiastic work in the tasks assigned to you. It will continue to grow if you nourish it with prayer and obedience. Prayer will allow God, through the intercession of Mary our patronness and our Mother Foundress to guide and lead you, and obedience will keep you safe from the dangers of delusion and self-will, and channel your energies productively in God's plan. Through most of your life you will see that plan only in occasional glimpses. Most of the time you will have to live by faith. Sometimes you will feel there is no plan at all and you will be tempted to set things up according to your own plan. If you can perservere, however, our charism, colored by the uniqueness that is you, will be joined with the special gifts of your sisters throughout the world and the hundreds who have come before and who will follow, and will become a special and beautiful part of the Church. One day we will see it, completed and fulfilled and our hearts will overflow with gratitude to God and each other as we admire its breauty.

You challenged me to make our charism practical. I cannot do that for you,-- only for myself. Like Mother Foundress, I send you out with two instruments--prayer and obedience-- these two added to hers will show you the way. My love and my prayers go with you.

Franziska Notes No. 6/2 February 2009

2009-02-04T07:45:00.001-08:00

Franziska Notes No.6/2 February 2009

In the dark midwinter days in the northern hemisphere and the dull after Christmas – before Carnival in the South, we want to catch a little enthusiasm from one of Mother Franziska’s sayings. We don’t know exactly where or when she said these words that turned out to be a concise description of the work she envisioned for her Congregation…. to do good, give joy, make happy and lead to heaven…. She did not limit the ministry of the Daughters of Divine Charity to one social group or one kind of suffering to be alleviated. Her vision of the future was suited to all times and places, wherever God and the Church chose to use her sisters, and by extension those who are inspired by them..
To do good is the first step in ministry. We enter peoples lives by doing good to and for them. It might be a smile, a friendly word, a little gift or service to fulfill a need. It establishes a solidarity and trust. The second is to give joy. This is the Sisters’ motivation and it is on a spiritual level. The person ministering must be grounded in the unshakeable joy that comes from a loving union with God, nourished by prayer and the Eucharist. This is a contagious joy that wins others to Christ and His service. The third aspect of the ministry is to make happy. The sister must be free enough to use the simple things of life in the proper way. This brings happiness, especially when it is tied to gratitude to God. Some of the happiest people in the world are those living in the simplest of circumstances. In a village without electricity people can delight in the stars in their purest form. In a place where food is truly taken almost unprocessed from nature and eaten for basic life, there is happiness in each different taste and texture. The sister tries to live simply so that she can share this genuine happiness with those she serves. Finally, all true ministry must always have the final destiny of each child of God in view… to lead to heaven. This goal is the criteria for all of life and all service.

www.godslovefdc.org

Biography of Mother Kostka continuation

2009-01-20T07:41:00.000-08:00

NORTH AMERICA (continuation of Chapter VI)

The administration of the new North American province and the missions in Brazil caused Mother Kostka much anguish and anxiety during her long term as superior general. The great distance of these two areas from the Motherhouse in Vienna compounded the difficulties which were experienced by this conscientious and devoted spiritual mother.

As co-foundress of the North American ministry and its first provincial superior, Mother Kostka was well-acquainted with the administrative problems and needs of the Daughters of Divine Charity in the United States. Because the primary apostolate of the Congregation in North America was education, her chief worry and consideration, after the spiritual development of the sisters, was their proper professional preparation in order to meet American standards.

Pastors continued to request sisters to staff the elementary schools which were being built in the various Hungarian parishes. Vocations were plentiful and sisters were still coming from Hungary. The problem, then, was not numbers, but rather the training of the young sisters and the immigrant sisters to speak the language, and to develop in them sound, acceptable pedagogic standards and principles. Deeply committed to fulfilling all the state and diocesan requirements for teachers Mother Kostka, in 1927, named Sister M. Alipia Fejkis, whom she had brought to America from Austria, to be the supervisor/superintendent of all schools staffed by the Daughters of Divine Charity in the United States. Writing about Sister Alipia, Mother Kostica opined, “She is the only one with necessary qualifications. She has been extremely beneficial to our American schools she has taught the candidates, novices and sisters -- without her, these would never have passed their examinations. (Undated letter from Mother Kostka, 1927)

As soon as possible, the American sisters were sent to various teacher training institutes, colleges and universities to acquire the necessary certification and degrees. During the year, courses were taken on Saturdays; the summers were utilized for more extensive and intensive educational training. Sisters were trained as teachers, librarians, as well as organists and musicians. Lest the European sisters feel that the North American sisters were being given educational opportunities and privileges different from those extended to them, in a letter dated June 1, 1936, Mother Kostka explained at length the pastoral ministry practiced in the United States. She explained that, as compared to the private institutions which existed in the various European countries, in America everything: the teaching of religion, maintenance of schools, care of girls, all had to be viewed in light of pastoral ministry. In the United States, the sisters, pastors, and people in the various parishes worked closely together. The schools were not owned by the Congregation; rather, they were all parish schools with the sisters providing educational, catechetical and musical services in return for a parish-owned convent in which to live and a meager stipend. Because it was imperative that the teaching sisters meet all state and diocesan standards, their educational development was most important.

On August 15, 1927, Mother Kostka left Vienna to make her first official visitation as superior general in the province she had co-founded. She was accompanied by Mother M. Gottharda Bohm, the provincial superior of Jugoslavia, who was to visit a mission established by that province some time earlier.

In 1926, shortly after her election as superior general, Mother Kostka learned that Croatian parishes which were being established in America were requesting sisters to work in these parishes. Accordingly, upon consultation with her own assistants and the Jugoslavian provincial government, it was decided to accept the invitation and four sisters from that province: Sister M. Leonora Vurnik, was to serve as superior, and Sisters Laetitia Zovko, Anka Feri’ and Pavlimira Matic were assignçd to Rankin, Pennsylvania, where they were to take over the staffing of the parish school. The four sisters arrived at the Motherhouse on August 10, 1926, to receive the blessings of their superior general; on August 15 they set sail from Bremen for America. Mother Gottharda came to the United States to evaluate the success of this venture. (GC VII, pp. 110-111)

It was six years later, in 1932, that Mother Kostka gave permission for the Jugoslavian province to assume staffing of a second school in the United States, that of Sts. Cyril and Methodius Parish on West 50th Street in New York City. Until such time as the parish provided a suitable convent, the sisters resided at St. Mary’s Residence on East 72nd Street. (GC VII, pp. 221-222)

Because these were the only Jugoslavian foundations in America for many years, Mother Kostka decided that any postulants they had would receive the habit, and make their canonical novitiate in Arrochar, with the sisters of that province. Also the period of probation before final profession, as well as the profession itself, would be made with the other American sisters. Otherwise, these sisters were under the jurisdiction of the Jugoslav province.

It was in 1927, during her first official visitation, that Mother Kostka agreed to allow members of the province to expand.their field of endeavor into the midwestern section of the United States. The distance involved had been a deterring factor until this time. In 1927, however, after much correspondence with the pastor, she allowed the sisters to begin their ministry at Our Lady of Hungary Parish in South Bend, Indiana. In that same year, she had the satisfaction of seeing Daughters of Divine Charity take over the administration of St. Stephen of Hungary School in Toledo, Ohio. This step was especially memorable for Mother Kostka, because it had been the request of the former bishop of that diocese to come to St. Stephen’s Parish which had brought her and Sister Valeria Morvay to America in 1913!

In 1930, after careful consideration, Mother Kostka agreed to the establishment of two more new missions in the midwest: Holy Cross Convent in Detroit, and Our Lady of Hungary School in Chicago, Illinois. Again the distance which separated the sisters from the provincial house in Staten Island, and fear of their estrangement from the “home base” was her chief concern. Once her initial fears were overcome, she gladly acceded to the extension of the Congregation’s activity in America.

Shortly after, she allowed the sisters to embark upon two new, heretofore untried, apostolates which were sponsored by Holy Cross Parish in Detroit, Michigan. They took over the administration of an orphanage and that of a home for the aged.

In 1935, St. Emeric’s School in Gary, Indiana came under the management of the Daughters of Divine Charity. Soon, word of the excellent education and discipline provided by the sisters in the Hungarian parishes resulted in requests from other parishes for the services of the sisters. In 1939, for the first time, Mother Kostka accepted the educational ministry in a non-Hungarian parish by providing sisters to staff Sacred Heart School, part of a Belgian parish, in South Bend, Indiana.

In 1937, another long-hoped-for dream became a reality for Mother Kostka. In that year, St. Stephen of Hungary School was opened in Passaic, New Jersey, twenty-three years after Mother Kostka had gone there to provide catechetical instructions to the children of that parish.

In 1938, Mother Kostka undertook the establishment of a second St. Mary’s Residence in America. To further the initial activities of Mother Franciska, a mansion was purchased in midtown Detroit, Michigan. This quickly became a popular shelter for young women who sought the love and security provided by the sisters.

Each time she made an official visit to the United States, Mother Kostka worked to expand the work of the Congregation there. At a time when storm clouds hovered over Europe, she saw her adopted country as the most secure place for the extension of the apostolic endeavors of her sisters.

In 1939, when she came to the United States on what would be her final visitation, Mother Kostka led the American province to acquire a large estate, Briarbank, in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Here the apostolate of the care of the elderly which the sisters had begun at Holy Cross Parish was expanded and became known as St. Elizabeth-Briarbank, a facility for elderly women, owned and administered by the Daughters of Divine Charity.

That same year, a catechetical center was opened in South Norwalk, Connecticut, bringing the sisters to St. Ladislaus Parish. Similar catechetical centers were subsequently opened in Carteret and South River, New Jersey.

In 1940 Mother Kostka, forced by the outbreak of World War II to remain in the United States, made her last administrative decision here. That year, she established Christ the King Convent in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. According to the Canadian custom, this convent was owned by the North American province; here the sisters were not part of a parish. Instead, to support their needs, the sisters who were missioned to that convent taught at a nearby Catholic school, taught catechetics at the parish in which the convent was located, and conducted a thriving music school. (History of St. Joseph Province, pp. 48-50)

From 1939 onward, Mother Kostka was able to assert her administrative duties as superior general only in the United States. With the outbreak of the war, communication with the other provinces became increasingly difficult, if not impossible. Even communication with the Brazilian provinces became sporadic and was possible only because of the presence of Sister M. Rita Nogrady, a volunteer from the United States, who translated letters from Portuguese to English, thus making some correspondence possible.

SOUTH AMERICA

Perhaps no other branch of the Congregation occupied the mind and heart of Mother Kostka more than the administration and spiritual growth and guidance of the missions in Brazil. This was truly that part of the Congregation which she had nursed through its infancy, protected in time of peril, and rejoiced to see it among the most flourishing and devoted daughters of Mother Franciska.

Founded in 1920 by Sister M. Teresina Werner of Austria, this far-flung apostolic field of the Daughters of Divine Charity had occupied a special place in Mother Kostka’s attention even before her election as superior general. In 1921, shortly after she was appointed provincial superior of the newly erected American province, Mother Kostka was asked by Mother Ignatia, then superior general, to pay a visit to the Collegio Maria Annunciacao in Cerro Azul, Brazil. Mother Valeria was to accompany her on the journey and make a personal report at the Motherhouse upon her return to Europe. (GC VI, pp. 348-349)

The results of this initial visit to Brazil are not mentioned in either
The Congregational chronicles or the papers of Mother Ignatia. Whatever report was
given is lost. It is evident, however, that in the ensuing years more institutes were established by Sister Teresina in Rio Grande do Sul, Caico, and Rio
Grande do Norte. To facilitate the acceptance of new members, permission was
sought from, and granted by, the Holy See to establish a novitiate in Cerro Azul on December 4, 1923. Thus, new members were trained by Sister Teresina and received the habit. The chronicle for the end of 1925 records that on December 20, 1925, Sister Teresina had allowed three novices and two sisters to make temporary
and final profession of vows, without the permission of the superior general, in
complete contradiction of Canon Law #572. (GC VII, p. 97)

The Brazilian problem was temporarily put on hold because of the resignation of Mother Ignatia and the pending General Chapter. Immediately after her election, however, Mother Kostka made plans to travel to Brazil and on April 14, 1926 the new superior general, accompanied by two sisters, Sister Christine Vlastnik and Sister Jaromira Ondra, sailed from Bremen, Germany to Brazil to rectify the existing irregularities. Arriving in Rio de Janeiro on May 14, they went immediately to cerro Azul. In Caico, Sister Teresina and the sisters in question were informed of the fact that the vows were invalid. Accordingly, on July 2, 1926, the three novices again made their first profession and the two sisters repeated their final vows in the presence of Mother Kostka. (GC VII, pp. 104-107)

What is so typical of the compassion and kindness of Mother Kostka is that she never divulged this Brazilian problem to the rest of the Congregation. Instead, in a letter dated July 23, 1926, written on board the 5.5. General Belgrano, she described the social and geographic conditions in Brazil and mentioned the great demand there was for more sisters. With confidence she stated that Brazil would flower in time. In this letter she stated that in two to three years she planned to erect a provincialate with a novitiate in Rio de Janeiro or a place near to it so that the northern and southern institutes could be closely bonded and candidates from both areas could be trained.

With the settlement of this problem, Mother Kostka returned to the Motherhouse to take up the administrative burdens of her office. In the ensuing years she continued to receive disturbing reports from Brazil regarding the activities of Sister Teresina. It was reported that Sister intended a separation from the congregation and that the greater number of the sisters did not have the courage oppose her. The institutes were suffering; at Caico by 1927 there were only boarders and eleven students in the entire school. It was this Brazilian issue which surfaced at the beginning of her terms in office that most severely tested the administrative acumen and Christian charity of Mother Kostka. ultimately, it proved the most rewarding.

Because of the great distance between the northern and southern portions of the country, Mother Kostka petitioned the Holy See for permission to establish a second canonical novitiate in Assu, diocese of Natal, in northern Brazil. This request, dated March I, 1927, also requested permission to allow the novices to teach and do other necessary work during the canonical year and asked that this dispensation be granted until such time as a sufficient number of members would make it unnecessary to violate the canonical requirements. The permission, signed by Cardinal di Belmonte was granted as of June 1, 1927.

At the same time that she informed the sisters in Brazil of the erection of the new novitiate with Sister Jaromira Ondra serving as both house superior and novice mistress, Mother Kostka attempted to stave off further problems. In a letter dated September 19, 1927 addressed to her Brazilian daughters she wrote that she did not want “. . .to cause stress, dissatisfaction, grief between superiors and subjects”. This was written because she had heard that some of the sisters did not agree with the actions of Sister Teresina, but did not have the courage to openly oppose her. At this juncture, Mother Kostka still upheld the authority of the superior. She wrote:

With the exception of Sister Christina and Sister Alberta all of you volunteered for the Brazilian missions. I did not accept your sacrifice easily -- on the contrary -— I told you all it would demand. Despite this you were ready to make thp sacrifice out of
love of God.

Did you think you would not have to place yourself under the authority of your superior? Superiors are human; they have their faults but each must see in the superior, young or old, able or not, God’s representatives.

She asked the sisters to accept these motherly admonitions not with bitterness, but with the good intentions with which they were given.

The problems, however, persisted. After discussing the matter with her general assistants it was decided that, for the good of the Brazilian missions, Sister Teresina would have to be removed from office. Aware of the inflexible nature of the sister, the order was given “in virtue of her vow of obedience,” the strictest order which could be given, and Mother Kostka begged that it not be resisted in any way.

The reply which came from Sister Teresina caused much consternation to the superior general and her assistants. She wrote that she found it impossible to obey the order, believing that the command in virtue of the vow of obedience was invalid because of the distance involved as well as the harm that would befall the Collegio if the command were obeyed.

The situation was critical. On December 10, 1928, Mother Kostka wrote to the Cardinal Protector of the Congregation, Granito Pignatelli di Belmonte regarding the matter, including verbatim Sister Teresina’s refusal to comply with the orders as well as with the telegram which followed, placing Sister Jaromira in charge, an order that was ignored.

The obstinate superior absolutely resisted all admonitions and refused to obey.

I believe that this long disobedience and disregard for the highest authority should not go unpunished. Her three years as superior expires in October and after such conduct she does not serve to be renewed for another three years.

Mother Kostka explained that she had discussed the case with the Father Provincial of the Jesuits in Vienna who counseled her to plan a visitation, contingent upon support of Rome in case of a revolt, which she felt was inevitable. Fearing the worst, Mother Kostka was willing to travel to Rome, if necessary, to approach the Sacred Congregation in order to obtain the dispensation of perpetual vows for the rebels and the authority to divest them of the holy habit. (Correspondence Snperiors General: 1926—1946, pp. 33—39)

Within a short time Mother Kostka received a response from the Cardinal
Protector which indicated that the Sacred Congregation for Religious had also been apprised of the actions of Sister Teresina by the bishop of the diocese of Natal. Evidently some of the sisters from Brazil had also written to the Cardinal Protector regarding the situation.

Forwarding a copy of a letter dated December 16, .1928 from Cardinal Laurent, Secretary of the Sacred Congregation for Religious regarding the entire matter, Cardinal di Belmonte informed Mother Kostka that the Sacred Congregation had already requested that the Apostolic Nuncio in Brazil make an apostolic visit and suggested that the superior general also make a visit to Brazil as soon as possib1e. Detailed instructions on the course of action to follow were provided as well as further instructions to consult with the Jesuit provincial superior in who had also been informed of the existing condition. “With God’s help and with Divine Charity the scandal will be healed and peace will return to that community.” (Correspondence, op. cit., pp. 42-44)

Following the suggestions from Rome, Mother Kostka booked passage to Brazil for herself and her companion, Sister Elizabeth Milkovics, who would then be taken to the United States to assume the duties of provincial superior there. The two set sail on the S.S. Madrid from Bremen on January 26, 1929.

When she arrived in Brazil, Mother Kostka went immediately to Assu. When she appeared on March 3, she was greeted with surprise, great joy and love; they had not been informed of her coming. Tired from the long sea voyage, she was urged by the sisters to rest for a time; however, the following telegram from the pastor in caico changed her plans: “The College is encircled by death, the directress is responsible for this; the situation is dismal. Vigario” (p. 151)

On receipt of this disturbing telegram Mother Kostka traveled immediately to Caico where she arrived on March 9. The sisters were dumbfounded at her arrival.
Teresina was very cold and distant toward Mother Kostka and the sisters barely spoke to her. In this tense situation, the superior general found it necessary to confine the superior to her room in order to make it possible for the sisters to dare to speak. On the following day, Mother Kostka spoke with the assembled community at which she officially released Sister Teresina from her office as superior and immediately transferred her and her assistant, Sister Constantine Resch, to Europe. She prayed that the orders would be obeyed. They were; and on March 20, 1929, the two sisters left Caico for Europe--the rebellion was broken.

Mother Kostka remained in Brazil for some time, restoring peace and order to the convents. In Caico, she appointed Sister Alberta Garimberti as the new superior with Sister Jaromira Ondra as her assistant. She made a number of other changes as well. The superior of Cerro Azul, Sister Christine Vlastnik was sent as superior to Assu and Sister Digna went to Cerro Azul, where the climate was a bit more temperate.

Commenting on the long duration and the physical hardships of her Brazilian visit -- yet never mentioning the internal strife--Mother Kostka wrote: “The glory of God and the proper settlement and progress of the concerns of our beloved Congregation is more important. (Circular, March 28, 1929)

Finally, on June 9, Mother Kostka left Brazil with Sister Elizabeth. She felt great peace and satisfaction with the final outcome of the problem. In a letter written in Arrochar, dated August 6, 1929 she would say, “You have no idea what it means for me to know my spiritual daughters who are so distant from us.” (GC VII, pp. 151—152; 154)

In spite of internal revolutions in the country, the work of the congregation continued to expand. In 1930, Mother Kostka received permission from the Holy See to accept the administration of a hospital in Cerro Azul. This was a new ministry for the congregation, hence the appeal to Rome. “Now I need efficient, competent sisters to be nurses, one to be pharmacist, and a sister for the kitchen….Anyone willing to do the work should please sign up with me.” Indicating that the language would be no problem because German was spoken she, nevertheless, advised all to learn Portuguese in order to be able to speak with the native patients. (Circular, Vienna, July 12, 1930)

Her request for volunteers was answered. On February 2, 1931, five sisters from Austria were sent to assume control of the new hospital. Mother Kostka accompanied the sisters via Prague to Bremen; she remained at the dock until the ship was out of sight. Her South American daughters weighed greatly on her mind and heart; the great distance between them and the motherhouse saddened her. Accordingly, she would try to visit them as often as possible to show that they were very much a part of the congregation, despite the hardships and inconveniences which such trips entailed.

These numerous trips to and in Brazil could fill a book. She shared her experiences with all the members of the Congregation: the dangers, long hours of uncomfortable travel, the heat, insects, lack of sanitary conditions, etc., and used these to applaud the sacrificial spirit of the sisters who volunteered to serve God, the poor, and the Congregation in these far-flung missions. (GC VII, p. 180)

In the early years of the Brazilian mission all the sisters spoke German and any instructions they provided were given in that language. Because the first “native” postulants were of German ancestry, the Brazilian communities continued to use the unifying language of the Congregation in all their activities. Mother Kostka, who had had to learn many languages as she went from one assignment to another, strongly encouraged the sisters to learn Portuguese as soon as possible and to use the language in their schools and hospitals. In 1931, to encourage this transition, she had the onstitutions and Holy Rule of the Congregation translated into Portuguese by a Franciscan friar, Reverend P. Sinzig. (GC VII, p. 188)

After the General Chapter of 1932 reelected her for a second term, Mother Kostka decided to accede to the many requests of her Brazilian daughters to visit them once again, to see how well the five communities and their work were progressing. On February11, 1933 she left Vienna for Bremen where she again boarded the S.S. Madrid. Writing of this trip in her circular of February 5, 1933, she said, “My poor, neglected daughters deserve that I make this trip for them, despite the sacrifice; after all, they are making many sacrifices for the Congregation.”

This Brazilian visitation was peaceful and resulted in two extensive travelogue type circulars in which she described the difficult conditions under which the sisters often labored. It was during this trip that Mother Kostka, ever the enforcer of the Holy Rule., yet always ready to make exceptions when conditions warranted, gave permission for the sisters serving in North Brazil to remove the bows when in the house, because of the intense heat.

The visitation lasted from March 4 to July 16 and greatly relieved her worries about the future of the Congregation in Brazil. In both the northern and southern areas she found the sisters to be happy and satisfied despite the many hardships and inconveniences they experienced. All the priests with whom she conferred praised the work of the sisters and their sacrificial spirit.

Despite the extreme fatigue which almost completely debilitated her, Mother Kostka returned from her visitation in Brazil greatly heartened by the love of the Congregation exhibited by all the sisters and their willingness to undertake difficult tasks. She longed to do more for these sisters who were willing to go to Brazil with the understanding that they would never return to Europe. This self-abnegation, in her estimation, was the kind of supernatural charity that had been taught and fostered by Mother Franciska.

The volatile political climate of Brazil led to another revolution in 1935, causing Mother Kostka to worry about the safety of the sisters. The congregationa1 chronicle recounts in a lengthy narrative dated November 23, 1935. the eruption of violence in Natal, Alecrim and Caico. It was her fear for the welfare of the South American communities that influenced her to plan a prolonged North and South American visitation in 1936. This would result in an absence from Vienna that would last between nine to ten months. She made a preliminary stop in Southhampton, England where she was joined by Sister Aquinata Eibel who had been studying the English language in that country for the past two years.

It was during this dual visitation that Mother Kostka succeeded in fulfilling another dream: that of making Brazil a true example of congregational unity by bringing volunteers from the United States to the Brazilian missions. Until this time, the North American province had been receiving sisters from abroad; she hoped to convince them to send sisters to help elsewhere. Her hopes were realized and when she left New York on August 15, 1936, she was accompanied by two young American sisters, Sister Rita Nogrady and Sister Anita Ur, who had volunteered to help in the new hospital which had been opened in Cerro Largo.

Her visitation lasted from August 27 to November 11. When she landed in Rio de Janeiro she went to stay at the home of a Mr. Faustino Monte, a great benefactor of our school in Natal. While there, she was visited by the Most Reverend Joso de Mata de Andrada Amaral, bishop of Cajazeriras, Paraiba, who asked for sisters for a school that was being erected in Patos. At first she hesitated; there were few sisters and she had to be sure to be able to provide the sisters who had already been promised for a school to be opened in February, 1937. The bishop was insistent an ultimately Mother Kostka went in October with Sister Christine to Patos where she participated in the groundbreaking ceremony of the school. She agreed that the Daughters of Divine Charity would take charge of the institute in 1938. The chronicle describes the joy of the people when they heard of the promise and the chronicler notes: “Surely their ‘Divine charity’ made them accept the ministry which other congregations had rejected.” (CC VII, p. 307)

By this time it became quite apparent to Mother Kostka that transferring sisters from the northern part of the country to the south was impractical and even harmful not only to the sisters but to the people they served. The climate and temperament of the people of the two sections were completely different. If the apostolate was to be fruitful, the health of the sisters would have to be carefully protected.

The many requests she received for the services of the sisters caused Mother Kostka to turn to the European provinces for additional volunteers. There was a great need for teachers and she pleaded for willing souls from all the provinces who would be ready to make the sacrifice of a permanent commitment to this far-off mission. Again she insisted that the sisters learn Portuguese as quickly as possible and to adopt the language in all their schools. For this reason, she transferred a young Brazilian “native” sister, Sister Agosthina, to Cerro Azul so that she could teach the others to speak the language properly.

This time, Mother Kostka found the parting from her South American daughters to be very difficult. She was feeling the effects of the long and strenuous trips, yet she was loathe to leave. Recounting her experiences in her circular of January 10, 1937, she wondered if they would ever see each other again. At the same time, she shared her deep satisfaction with the success of the Brazilian apostolate by recounting a conversation she had with one of the carpenters who was working on the convent building in Cerro Azul.

You know, I was an enemy of the sisters, but I assure you that today no colonist is against the sisters. This struggle lasted a long time; however, the sisters have survived a hard time. They had struggled valiantly and have achieved victory. Now no colonist would allow the sisters to leave Cerro Azul.

Once more her request for volunteers was heeded. The number who were willing to go to Brazil made it necessary for Mother Kostka to make the final choice. Subsequently, to carry out her international community intentions, five new members were sent to join their sisters in expanding the work area of the congregation in Brazil. Four sisters from Hungary and one from Breitenfurt--Sister Rigalda Lepka, who was named superior of the group, went to Brazil in September, 1937. (CC VII, pp. 321-323)

With permission from Mother Kostka and her assistants, the Brazilian sisters assumed the administration of a hospital in Santo Cristo on January 15, 1938. Plans were drawn up for the establishment of a school in the same city in the near future.

At this time, the congregational archives mention for the first time the
fact that in the foreseeable future the Brazilian communities would be established into provinces, North and South. The size of the country and the vast distances which separated the schools and hospitals were too great to maintain any real unity in just one province. (GC VII, p. 329)

Accordingly, in February, 1939, when the last four sisters left Vienna for Brazil they carried with them the official documents for the canonical establishment of two provinces and a1l the administrative details contingent upon such erections. Sister Christine Vlastnik was installed as the first provincial superior of the northern province and Sister Rigalda Lepka was appointed provincial superior for the south. Mother Kostka also appointed the provincial assistants, novice and postulant mistresses, and the superiors for the ever-growing number of schools and hospitals.

In April, 1939, Mother Kostka traveled to the United Stated for visitation and to join in the jubilee celebration of that province. The outbreak of hostilities in Europe in September, 1939 left her stranded in North America. In an undated scrap copy of a letter in German. written to a bishop (possibly the Archbishop of Vienna) Mother Kostka explained that, because as an American citizen she had been denied permission to return to Europe, she would use the time to visit the Brazilian provinces. This she did in late 1939. In a circular dated January 23, 1940 from Dom Predito containing her usual Lenten admonitions, Mother Kostka expressed a hope that her circular from Rio, dated November 15, had reached Europe safely. She was going to North Brazil soon, after which she would return again in April to North America.

A letter dated April 14, 1940, addressed only to the sisters of the Brazilian provinces, Mother Kostka expressed her deep satisfaction with the growth she had observed during her years as superior general. As her Brazilian visitation came to an end she felt she could paraphrase the words of Simeon (Luke 2:29-32) and say: “Now my assignment is completed, the conduct of which brought
me much joy and satisfaction.”

Comparing the last visit to her first visitation which was full of worries, pain and struggle, she now saw that the heavy, dark clouds had dissipated and a bright light was shining on the two provinces which were growing beautifully. “It is a great joy and comfort to know that our Congregation is in demand in many Places--the dioceses of Patres, Massoro; the vineyard is great, the laborers are few. Let us pray that God sends us more workers.”

Ever intent on fostering greater spiritual growth, she admonished the sisters to continue the struggle to arrive at an intense interior life. Always the strict enforcer of the Holy Rule, she imparted her last administrative order which she had already explained to the provincial governments, namely: heretofore, the sisters were to be addressed with the Latin word “Soro” instead of the Portuguese appellation used thus far. Only the provincial superiors were to be called “Madre”.

The entrance of the United States into World War II on December 8, 1941 made further visits to South America impossible. Even her correspondence with the Brazilian provinces, which had always been carried on in German, had to be curtailed. German letters were not allowed to be mailed to Brazil; therefore, she was compelled to write in English, which was then translated into Portuguese by Sister Rita Nogrady.

The Christmas circular of 1941 sounded a bright note in a dark world. Urging all the sisters to accept whatever God will send in the new year, she wrote: “What God is Taking away from our European houses He is giving in abundance to our sisters in Brazil.... They would be able to do more--there are not enough sisters.”

In her last existing circular, written in Arrochar and dated December 4, 1942, she saw God’s hands in her acceptance of Sister Rita’s offer to go to Brazil in 1936. “I certainly had not the least idea of what importance she was to be in Cerro Azul.” Only through the person of this American sister in South America was there any possibility of communication with the Brazilian provinces.

Ever the dreamer, and thinking ahead to peaceful days in the near future, Mother Kostka hoped to see the foundation of congregational activities in the capital city, Rio de Janiero. In 1941, a school had been opened on the island of Governador. This school and Rio were both in the scope of the northern province because of easier accessibility. She expressed the hope, however, that in time a central Brazilian province might be established.

The growth of the northern Brazilian province was recounted at length in this circular. Like a proud mother, she shared the successes of her daughters with the rest of the spiritual family, describing progress and growth in a world that was full of death and destruction.

From this time on, until the time of her death, communication with Brazil, as with Europe, was sporadic. The superior general was in a state of exile. In view of the international struggle, the State Department of the United States Government was unable to give favorable consideration to her many requests to grant her a passport or permission to return to Europe. On May 6, 1941 she wrote: “When will I return home? I don’t know. All my daughters are calling me. Many problems call me to return.... But God has again planned otherwise. He does all things well; He knows why He has done so.”

When eggs were a wonderful gift

2009-01-13T06:33:00.000-08:00

It was late on a Sunday night and the next day was my turn to make breakfast for the sisters. I planned a special surprise dish and then discovered we didn't have the necessary eggs. I had to go to the airport to pick up a sister who was returning from vacation and all along the way I looked for a store that was open at that late hour. There were none. I began a childish conversation with the Lord along these lines: "I know the world you are looking at has huge problems, wars, starvation, injustice and many people are asking for your help. You know I wanted to make a surprise for the sisters and I know you love them.... would it be possible for you to get me some eggs by tomorrow morning? I feel almost ashamed to ask you for such a petty miracle, but you are my friend so I will ask."

At that time one could watch the passengers emerge from the plane and I saw the sister I was waiting for. She held to the stairs with one hand and had the other extended carefully holding what seemed to be a box of some sort. When she came into the terminal she said, "You will never guess what I have!" Of course I knew what it was and had to restrain myself from falling on my knees in tears. She had brought a dozen eggs! Now we have to realize that the Lord only does things in the best possible way. Sister explained that these eggs were the freshest possible. Her niece worked in a laboratory and the employees were allowed to take home the extra eggs each day. These eggs were from the healthiest, carefully monitored chickens and laid only the day before.

Never will I forget the tender act of love or our good Lord, Jesus.

Franziska Notes No.6/1 January 2009

2009-01-09T06:47:00.000-08:00

As we begin the new year we gratefully accept the challenge of the new gift of time and perhaps resolve to live more meaningfully in this future given to us. There is nothing we can do more profitably with our lives than worship the Creator, the Father almighty who made all of us and loves each one of us. When the Jerusalem temple was destroyed there was no longer a fitting place to offer animal sacrifice to God, but Jesus came so that we could worship the Father in spirit and truth. Following His example our very lives in their entirety have become the spiritual sacrifice which we can consciously offer to our Heavenly Father. This does not mean doing reat and heroic thiings but doing everything with the purpose of pleasing Him. The little things become mighty acts of worship because they are motivated by love and united to the grace that Jesus won for us with His own sacrifice on the cross.

Mother Franziska strove to offer ALL to God. This meant that her travels, worries, joys and sorrows were acts of love. She taught her sisters that there was no such thing as a mundane action of little consequence. United with Christ in love everything had infinite value for the redemption of the world.

We do not stand before God alone. Even though He is a personal God who appreciates our personal and intimate response to His love, He makes us "our brothers and sisters 'keeper'. Our example, words, actions, and attitudes send energy waves that influence the world for good or for ill. Mother Franziska gave her sisters a spirituality that strives to make God's love visible today -- visible to those near us and by their influence, visible far beyond our limited presence. In an audience, our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI expressed this so beautifully by saying that a communit of persons, offering spiritual worship to the Father become like a mirror reflecting the infinite love of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Uncle Karl and the Plum Trees

2009-01-02T08:11:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of a new year my dear late Uncle Karl comes to mind again. His wisdom formed much of who I am. One time I visited his farm in Germany he showed me the old plum trees that had grown up with him, planted by his own father about a century before. Since they now had more dead branches than live ones they needed to be gradually replaced because the little purple plums for which the region was famous were one of his few cash crops. As he planted the little trees he chuckled and said, "The neighborhood is laughing at me because an old man is planting little fruit trees. I thought about it and decided since I had done nothing only for myself, so these trees and their fruit are for the future. Someone will enjoy these plums and I wish them bon appetite!" How often I have thought an inspiration or a project was 'not worth it' because its end was either not in sight or probably would not be appreciated. When I was tempted not to act I would remember Uncle Karl and the plum trees. On many future visits he and I enjoyed those delicious little plums and his story is bearing fruit far beyond both our life times.

the Wisdom of a Third Grader

2008-12-24T08:33:00.000-08:00

"Sister," Joanny started, "How can I buy hosts?" "What do you mean 'hosts'?" I asked. "The hosts that the priests use at Mass to bring us Jesus. I wanted to get a birthday present for Jesus and I thought and thought. He is in Heaven. The only thing He needs now is hosts so that He can come again to us." After a few seconds of thinking, I told her to bring me a quarter which I would give to my superior to pay for the hosts we would be using at our convent Midnight Mass. Further, I invited Joanny and her entire family to join us for the celebration. The joy on the face of that little girl coming back from Communion made the candle flames envious.

the Christmas Pig

2008-12-23T07:18:00.000-08:00

The Polish winter was especially cold in the middle of the war years.It was difficult to celebrate Christmas during the brutal Nazi occupation. Every kilo of grain, every bushel of potatoes was monitored and each farm family was allowed to keep only starvation rations, the rest being confiscated to feed the occupiers.Mr. and Mrs. Wolenska were especially worried about their eldest daughter who was married and lived in the city. She was pregnant and needed protein to have a healthy baby. The rationing made it almost impossible to nourish a healthy baby in utero.

On their farm however, situated far away on the edge of the forest, they dared to raise an illegal pig all summer long. Now that winter had come they slaughtered the animal and let it freeze tight in its hiding place in the hay loft. How could they get it to their daughter and their in-laws in the city?

A daring plan emerged. Mr. Wolenska and his daughter, Irena prepared the wagon with a few logs and straw which certainly were not considered contraband even in this war-torn country. Carefully they dressed the frozen pig in coat and hat and secured it to the wagon seat. They then sat on either side of their “passenger” and set out for the city. They passed one check point after another, the guards letting them go on their way after very carefully examining their straw and wood. When they arrived at the final inspection just before the city they were ordered to come down from the wagon seat. Father and daughter obeyed, but the frozen pig of course, could not move. The German soldier barked his command, “Come down ‘sofort’” The pig did not move. “If you do not come down, I will knock your head off!” Screamed the German. The pig remained unmoved. In a full measure of anger the soldier slammed the butt of his rifle against the head of the pig. The hat pulled over its ears flew off and the macabre grin of the animal mocked the angry antagonist. The father and daughter were ordered to stand in the snow while the German soldiers took the pig into their guard house. Sure that their explanation would not soften the hearts of these conquerors and convinced they would soon be shot, they prepared to die. After what seemed like a long while the soldiers dumped a burlap-wrapped bundle into the back of the wagon and told them to move on. Not daring to stop and look, they waited nervously until they reached their daughter’s home. As they cautiously unwrapped the burlap there was a great relief of laughter. The soldiers had returned the pig but had taken a “tax” for themselves and their own Christmas dinner. The poor pig was missing a ham!

The Tale of Two Euros

2008-12-20T10:06:00.000-08:00

It happened in a classroom in Vienna, Austria. Sister was explaining to the children about their poor brothers and sisters in a village in Africa where little children are HIV positive but can receive the hope of a reasonably normal life with medication from the health clinic run by the Daughters of Divine Charity. One of the students, a little boy, excused himself and called his father at his place of employment. "Daddy, please come to school, I need two Euros right away!" The devoted father was wondering what note from the teacher he had overlooked or how the lunch money got lost and so forth. When he got to the classroom and asked to see his son the boy explained that he needed it to quickly save the life of a little African child.

the Red Umbrella

2008-11-25T07:21:00.000-08:00

It was Christmas and the pastor asked me, a sister, to take communion to shut ins so that the regular Ministers could attend church with their families. One of my assignments was a family of two handicapped parents who were blessed with a lovely little four-year old girl. She was the one who answered the door and I explained that I had come to bring Jesus to her parents. Fascinated, she watched as I opened the golden pyx. "Is that really Jesus?" She asked. When I assured her it was she ran away shouting "Wait!" She came back with a little red child's umbrella. She held it over the pyx and said, "Jesus, I wanted to show you the pretty umbrella I got today for your birthday!"
The communion service took place under the red canopy and an indelible Christmas memory was born.

A Walk in the lovely autumn of Arrochar Park

2008-10-31T06:22:00.001-07:00

The Answer I wish I had given....

2008-10-28T06:18:00.000-07:00

The answer I wish I had given…..

In a discussion of political merit the closing sentence was…”but trickle down hasn’t worked”…. The circumstances stopped the conversation, but here and now is my reply:

Every serious gardener knows that trickle is the most effective irrigation. Any watering from above is at best temporary, and much of the water is lost in runoff. But the water that comes gradually from a source in the soil itself, nourishes the plants deep down at the roots and long term.

When my father arrived in this country with the fifty-dollars he had deposited with the steamship company, no one greeted him with a thousand, or even hundred dollar hand-out. He had to get a job before he ran out of money. He worked as a janitor in a mental institution. He knew that “trickle” works. He trickled pennies into savings and eventually bought a business, took a family of five to visit his homeland in Europe and sent his son to college.

Trickle down does work but slowly. No immigrant generation of the last century expected to live like the railroad barons they worked for, but they were eating regularly, could by the necessary clothing and shoes and sent their children to universities and medical and law schools. Maids in the households of the wealthy gathered insights, ideas, standards which they applied to their own families later. My mother, for instance, forced to buy inexpensive clothes for me was very proud to buy for me the same shoes her former employers gave their children and so I thank her for the healthy feet that transport me seventy years later.

The quick fix is very rarely the best solution. Drops of water and pennies can and have born fruit in the wonderful environment of a free and safe United States of America.

Mother Kostka Biography VI

2008-10-23T07:54:00.000-07:00

CHAPTER VI

MOTHER M. KOSTKA – ADMINISTRATOR

“It is not the duty of the superior (general) to tell you the reasons for an order or decision. Leave the responsibility to answer for this to the authorities to whom God gives the necessary graces for the leadership of the Congregation.” (Circular: December 28, 1930)

To foster and encourage greater unity among the members of the Congregation was a welcome challenge to Mother Kostka. To lead her spiritual daughters along the path of religious life ever closer to the Divine Bridegroom and perfection was her greatest joy; to administer the spiritual and temporal affairs of the Congregation, a heavy cross which she bore for seventeen years--through a world depression and the beginning of another world conflict. Cognizant of the need for divine guidance and inspiration, Mother Kostka constantly asked the sisters for prayers and sacrifices so that all her actions and decisions would be in the best interests of the Congregation. It must be remembered that at this time, it was the Superior general who appointed not only the provincial superiors, but all the superiors of the various convents as well. Not a single new convent or ministry could
be established without her permission. During her time as superior general, she estab1ished three new provinces: the Slovak province in 1928, and the two Brazilian provinces in 1939, along with countless new establishments.

In 1926, Mother Kostka inherited a multi-national Congregation which was experiencing the after-effects of the Great War. She would be the faithful and wise steward throughout the great depression that engulfed the world and the Congregation; she would experience the anxieties that gripped society as totalitarian governments emerged in Italy, Germany, and Austria, her religious headquarters.
More devastating, however, was the outbreak of World War II in 1939, at a time when she was in the United States for visitation. She was caught in a dilemma--as a naturalized American citizen, she faced a hopeless situation: her adopted country was at war with her two beloved European homes and refused to allow her to return to the Motherhouse. From 1939 to 1943, she would strive to lead her Congregation from afar, a task made humanly impossible by the sudden and unforeseen deaths of her closest advisers and supporters: Sisters Donata, Aloisia and Aquila. The loss of these pillars of the Congregation greatly affected the health and spirit of Mother Kostka. Now the Divine Master was her sole refuge and support; He would help her guide “. . the ship which I must steer,” which was being “...swamped by a stormy: flood.” (Circular, Vienna, August 1, 1938)

To present her administrative leadership in a way that is most logical and easy to follow, this chapter will be subdivided into a study of her European, North American, and South American activities and decisions.

Europe

In Europe, the provinces which had been established after World War I were experiencing primarily financial hardships. Vocations were plentiful; the works
of the Congregation could be continued and extended, provided the necessary funds could be found. Then, too, Communism exerted an insidious influence on religious life in Austria and Hungary, all of which she had to contend with. The relative ease of travel in Europe made it easy and convenient for Mother Kostka to keep in close touch with the convents in the various provinces, and she made it a point to visit these on occasions other than the official visitations.

She had been superior general of the Congregation barely nine months when she had to face a great administrative crisis. During the night of December 15, 1926, a destructive fire broke out in the Motherhouse, caused by a fir tree which had been put into the fireplace to provide additional fuel and heat. As the tree began to burn, cinders dropped to the floor and the fire began to spread rapidly. Because all the sisters had already gone to bed, the fire was not discovered until a large section of the roof was in flames. Very quickly the entire roof of the Motherhouse and the novitiate was ablaze. The newest fear was that it would spread to the church roof. According to the Congregational Chronicle, the church was spared, “. . .protected by our Mother Most Admirable whose picture is under the roof.” (GC VII, p. 118) The fire destroyed all the goods, clothing, trunks, etc., which were stored in the attic, including an early biography of Mother Franciska, and many early documents of the Congregation.

Sister M. Donata, superior of the Motherhouse, had awakened Mother Kostka and urged her to leave her room, which was below the attic where the fire had begun. Had the fire started later, the new superior general would probably have perished, either from smoke inhalation or from being crushed under the ceiling which fell on her bed. Recounting the catastrophe Mother Kostka wrote: “The devil is wreaking his hatred against me with water and fire.” (Undated letter, Vienna, 1927)

Help for the beleaguered sisters came from all sides. The sisters from the Marienanstalt brought them food and clothing; the various mission houses in Austria helped as much as possible; the people of Vienna contributed money and food; the Archbishop of Vienna, Friedrich Cardinal Peffl, the chancellor of Austria, even the Holy See sent assistance. Sister M. Valerie Morvay and Sister Dolorosa arrived from Hungary with two trunks full of clothing and linens and Mother Kostka remarked “. . . their unity with the motherhouse in the midst of all the troubles. ..brought her great joy.” (op. cit., 1327; GC VII, pp. 117-119)

The care and financial burdens caused by the rebuilding of the burned out section of the Motherhouse did not keep Mother Kostka from performing her official duties as leader and administrator of the Congregation. On April 25, 1927, accompanied by Sister Aquila Fejmon, the general secretary, she traveled to England to visit the sisters who were staffing the mission at Swaffham, in Norfolk, which had been established in 1914. This solitary mission, a part of the Austrian province, weighed on her mind because these sisters were so isolated from all other convents of the Congregation. (GC VII, p. 125)
Upon her return in June of that year she traveled to Budapest, Hungary, for the festive dedication of the new provincial house at Schwabenberg. For Mother Kostka this was an especially joyous occasion because the funds for the construction of this new building came mostly from the American province; in fact, she had been instrumental in gaining the first loan during her time as provincial superior in the United States. While in Hungary, she took the opportunity to make her annual retreat among and with her Hungarian daughters.

During the rest of the year, she closely supervised the building commission which met at Breitenfurt for the purpose of constructing a watermain for the home. Like Mother Franciska, she hoped and prayed to be able to get the necessary funds for this important undertaking through divine assistance.

After a six-month visitation in the United States, Mother Kostka returned to Vienna and within two weeks was off to make her official visitation of the Hungarian province. The visitation was cut short by the news of the death of Mother M. Ignatia Egger on March 14, 1928. In great sorrow Mother Kostka hurried back to the Motherhouse where, with Sister M. Donata, she planned the funeral of her beloved predecessor. On March 17, 1928, Mother Kostka led the procession of Daughters of Divine charity as Mother M. Ignatia was entombed in the crypt chapel at Breitenfurt after a solemn requiem mass.

Within a week, Mother Kostka was traveling again. Accompanied by Sisters Donata and Ludovica, she went to Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany, to investigate the possibilities of establishing a new foundation there. From Frankfurt the trio traveled to Greifswald which, at that time, was a part of Poland, to check on the progress of the construction of the orphanage which was to be opened there in September. Being in the vicinity, she proceeded to make her official visitation in Poland. (GC VII, pp. 127-136)
Mother Kostka returned to Vienna during Holy Week, 1928. The cold which she had developed during the funeral of Mother Ignatia, aggravated by the exhausting journeys in Germany and Poland took its toll on her always weak constitution and she was confined to bed for nearly two weeks. (Letter to the American province, April, 1928) Although bedridden, Mother Kostka was anxiously looking forward to the official dedication and opening of the new school at Herz Maria Kloster. This school was very close to her heart for it was here that she had been a novice and a beginning teacher in the early years of her religious life. The school had flourished through the years and the existing building had proved to be too small. Therefore, Mother Kostka had decided to erect a new structure; it was this building that was dedicated on May 6, 1928 -- placed, as before, under the protection of the Most Pure Heart of Mazy. (GC VII, pp. 138-39)

On September 11, 1928, Mother Kostka, accompanied by her first assistant, Sister M. Donata, traveled to Rome. They had been invited to the Eternal City to study the possibilities of establishing a foundation of the Congregation there. Although both were anxious for such a convent to be staffed by the Daughters of Divine Charity in this seat of Christendom, they agreed that the enterprise could not be accepted. The Congregation would have to build a house first--a project for which the financial means were unattainable. Although she would have loved to see a convent of the Congregation in her homeland, Mother Kostka was a wise steward; she would not place such an additional burden on the shoulders of her sisters.

While in Rome, Mother Kostka and Sister Donata had the pleasure of an audience with His Holiness, Pope Pius XI, who bestowed his blessings on the Congregation for the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of its foundation which was to be celebrated with solemn ceremonies beginning on November 21, 23. (CC VII, pp. 146-147)

That September, Mother Kostka, after consultation with her assistants, made the decision to take over the proposed ministry in Frankfurt-am-Main. The work of the sisters would be comprised of conducting and maintaining an institute and home for students and young tradesmen. The home was already in existence in a modern building which had been erected by August Marnns, who gave it over to the congregation so that the ministry would become one institute which would serve the purpose of training young people interested in commercial work. (CC VII, p. 153)

On May 21, 1929, Sister Donata went to Frankfurt-am-Main with Sister M. Albertine Krömer, whom Mother Kostka had named as superior for the new foundation. She herself was in Brazil at this time. While in Germany Sister Donata, joined by Sister Ludovica, traveled toBeuthen in upper Silesia, Germany at the request of the superior general, to study the pros and cons of establishing a Congregational foundation in that city. Evidently the visit proved fruitless; nothing further is recorded in the General Chronicles about such a venture until many years later.

After overcoming many obstacles surrounding the Frankfurt mission, the Institute was officially opened on December 15, 1929. Mother Kostka was determined to make this a truly congregational mission; hence, she assigned sisters from Jugoslavia, the Czech province, and the Motherhouse to the Institute. On February 7, 1930, Mother Kostka, accompanied by Sister Aquila, went to inspect the new work and expressed satisfaction with its progress. Her great worry, however, was the financial burden posed by the new enterprise. The world economy was in a shambles. Would the cost of maintaining this new apostolate prove prohibitive? The worries of the mother were evident to her daughters. On February 28, 1930, when they celebrated her 61st birthday at the Motherhouse, they presented her with a monetary gift of 10,359.13 shillings, donated by the seven provinces, for the maintenance of the Frankfurt house. For a time, this generous offering helped allay her worries. (GC VII, pp. 162; 164—165)

The monetary gift only partially eased the problems in Frankfurt. The care of male and female students interested in commerce required a greater number of sisters, specially trained, to provide the spiritual and instructional assistance needed by these young people. Thus, in January 1931 Mother Kostka went to Budapest hoping to convince Mother M. Valeria, the Hungarian provincial superior, to send personnel and give financial aid to the mission. Despite the close friendship between these two dedicated religious, Mother Valeria had to refuse the request. The Hungarian province was itself in dire circumstances and could not spare either sisters or money. Undaunted, and trusting in Divine Providence, Mother Kostka went to Frankfurt hoping to find a solution for some of the problems. Professor Manns, who had rented the institute to the Congregation, demanded more and more money which the sisters could not give him. He was, himself, in great debt and blamed the Congregation for his troubles. Mother Kostka had given him the gift money from the previous year as well as additional funds; however, all was merely like a drop in the ocean. These financial problems weighed heavily on Mother Kostka’s heart and mind. (GC VII, p. 179)

Mother Kostka was indefatigable in traveling to various cities in Slovakia and Hungary where possibilities arose for purchasing or acquiring more houses and buildings for the Congregation. In March, 1930, she was instrumental in purchasing a building in Spisska-Saboto as a novitiate for the Slovak province. Because of the extraordinary conditions related to this acquisition, the new building was named Divine Providence Convent. (GC VII, pp. 165-167) The first reception in the province was held on August 13, 1930, presided over by a Bishop Vojtasak. Mother kostka herself presented the novices their holy habit.

In the midst of her numerous administrative worries and hardships, the Heavenly Father always sent Mother Kostka days of joy. Thus it was that beginning July 7, 1930, the school at St. Andra celebrated its golden jubilee. It was here that Mother Kostka, Sister Donata and Sister Norberta had all been boarding students and received the Divine Call. Mother Kostka invited Bishop Ernst Seydl to celebrate the solemn mass of thanksgiving in the Church of Loretto. As a jubilee gift, she allowed the entire convent to be renovated; she herself supervised the installation of the new water system. (GC VII, p. 169)

In 1931, Mother Kostka and her assistants conferred with the Jesuits in St. Andra regarding the purchase of a building owned by the Society of Jesus. On February 14, they closed an agreement whereby the Congregation acquired the estate which was named St. Joseph’s House. To close the transaction, a loan of 120,000 shillings had been obtained from the Mercurbank of Vienna, to be repaid U.S. dollars with a 7% interest. On April 14, 1931, the death anniversary of Mother Franciska, the sisters moved into the new St. Joseph’s House. (GCV11, pp. 180—182)

After the jubilee, Mother Kostka again took “to the road.” Without taking a rest, she completed the formal visitation of the five European provinces and returned to the Motherhouse on November 23, 1931.

The year 1932 was to prove to be extremely busy for Mother Kostka. After a brief visit to Hungary, she traveled to Prague to obtain from the American Conslate there the necessary travel documents for Mother M. Alexandrine Madarová, the Slovak provincial, who was to accompany her for the visitation of the North American province. She was subsequently left in charge in the United States while the American provincial superior attended the General Chapter; after the Chapter of 1932, Mother Alexandrine was named the new provincial in the United States. Here, again, Mother Kostka exercised her administrative power to further her desire to keep the Congregation united by making such an inter-provincial appointment.

The official notification of the upcoming General Chapter was forwarded to the various provinces from New York on March 19, 1932. Completing her American visitation, Mother Kostka stopped in June in England to make a final visitation. Returning to the Motherhouse on July 2, she barely rested before going to the Frankfurt foundation, thence to Tyrnau, Czechoslovakia, where she appointed Sister M. Leona the new superior of the Slovak province. She was finishing her duties as her term of office was about to end.

The General Chapter of July, 1932, saw Mother M. Kostka Bauer elected for a second term with Sister M. Donata Reichenwallner as first assistant and vicaress general; Sister M. Norberta Wecera, second assistant and general procuratrix, Sister Aquila Fajmon, third assistant and general secretary and Sister M.Ansbertha Binder, fourth assistant. (GC VII, pp. 197-205)

Once again post-Chapter circulars and directives were dispatched, Mother Kostka resumed her duties of visitation. She went first to Jugoslavia, which was the most spread out of all the European provinces. She remained there for more than two months and in her circular of December 17, 1932, she asked that this province be remembered specially by members of the Congregation in daily prayers because the sisters here were experiencing very difficult conditions.

The Catholic church and the schools of the Congregation were in serious danger; the government was threatening to take the administration of the schools away from the sisters and put them under civil control.

Early in 1933 Mother Kostka felt compelled to visit the Brazilian missions again, leaving Sister Donata in charge of the Congregation, should any emergency arise. She returned to the Motherhouse in mid-July and almost immediately proceeded to address and admonish the superiors and sisters during the annual retreats held at Herz Maria Kloster and Hochstrass.

In September, 1933, Mother Kostka and Monsignor Joseph Enzmann, the chaplain in Breitenfurt, were able to see the fulfillment of a dream --the dedication of the commemorative wall in the Congregational cemetery in Breitenfurt. Until 1918, all the sisters who had died in Breitenfurt, including Mother Franciska, were buried in the local community cemetery. In 1918, our own cemetery was ready and the remains of a large number of sisters were disinterred and re-buried in a common grave; however, 181 sisters’ remains could not be transferred. It was Monsignor Enzmann who had suggested the erection of a large marble wall on which the names of those sisters would be listed along with their age, date of profession, and that of death. On September 19, 1933, the Most Reverend Ernst Seydl, suffragan bishop of Vienna and vicar for religious, celebrated a solemn requiem for those 181 sisters, after which the wall, located behind the crypt chapel, was blessed. (CC VII, pp. 237-239)

Time and again in 1934 Mother Kostka visited the Frankfurt institute which continued to be plagued by financial difficulties. In August of that year, she named Sister M. Chrysostoma Hampel as the new superior of the house in hopes of solving some of the personnel and monetary problems. (GC VII, pp. 254, 276)

Since the end of World War I the Austrian government, and especially the city of Vienna was under the control of Socialists. By 1934 a state of civil war existed in the city; blood flowed. Describing the horrifying conditions in her circular of February 22, 1934, Mother Kostka explained that this deplorable condition was affecting the Congregation. The youth, by and large, were raised without any religious training; hence, the number of vocations in Austria was small. Finally, the unrest was subdued and a Christian government was established which would attempt to rebuild Austria on a religious foundation. Barely had this danger been eliminated when a new problem arose. By December 12, 1934, when she penned her Christmas circular, Mother Kostka was beginning to worry about the questionable political conditions which were emerging throughout Europe. She wrote: “Heavy war clouds are on our horizon; we are constantly worried”. Therefore, she felt it imperative for her to remain in Vienna, at the Motherhouse of her spiritual family.

A loving mother, Mother Kostka was constantly seeking ways and means to obtain money for the beautification of the Motherhouse church. During World War I the bells from the church belfry had been commandeered by the government to be smelted down and made into weapons. The absence of bells whose ringing would call the people of the neighborhood to worship saddened Mother Kostka. Therefore, she worked untiringly, contacting various benefactors to help remedy the situation. Her desire to hear bells pealing once more from the Motherhouse church was ultimately fulfilled; a new set of bells was acquired and a solemn blessing and installation took place on August 26-27, 1935. On the 26th, the bells were brought along Jacquingasse on a garland-bedecked wagon drawn by four horses. Twenty young women walked on both sides of the wagon holding ribbons which were attached to the bells. Atop each bell sat four little girls dressed as angels. The pastors, numerous priests, sodalists and members of various societies from the nearby churches marched behind the wagon to the front of the church, where the solemn blessing took place, On the following day, the bells were hoisted to the belfry. (GC VII, pp. 278-280; also Circular, 1935)

The sphere of ministry of the Congregation continued to grow. In her circular of December 30, 1935, Mother Kostka announced that on January 15, 1936, the administration of a convalescent home in Unter-Olberndorf near Shleinbach would be taken over by the sisters.

Most of 1936 was spent on official visitations of the North and South American convents. Before her departure, Mother Kostka held a superiors conference on January 30 in Vienna. She instructed all the provincial superiors and house superiors to plan their activities in such a manner that all would be able to come to the Motherhouse for this general meeting. She was determined that the European communities would not lack administrative and spiritual guidance during her prolonged absence. Strict regulations were issued and again Sister Donaata was placed in charge to handle any administrative emergencies that might arise.

The growing unrest in Europe, and especially in Vienna, had convinced Mother Kostka and her assistants that in order to safeguard the Motherhouse property it would be best to turn over the administration of the church to the Archdiocese of Vienna. The chancery named Reverend Dr. Wilhelm Hohn administrator of the church on July 30. The official document naming him to this position arrived on October 13, 1936. (GC VII, p. 287) Ultimately, the Motherhouse church became a parish church on July 1, 1939. (Parish archives: Church of the Mother of God)

The year 1937 was to be the lull before the storm. In that year, Mother Kostka finally allowed members of the Congregation to undertake still another apostolate, the care of elderly women. On April 25, 1937, St. Joseph’s Home for Women was dedicated in Tyrnau.

In that same year, Father (Professor) Manns visited Mother Kostka on a number of occasions to discuss the possibility of extending the Congregation’s field of ministry to the Netherlands. The chronicler gives no other particulars regarding the proposed project. Some thought was being given to the question and the chronicle indicates that on October 9, 1937, Mother Kostka traveled to Holland. Apparently, the visit was a failure; Mother Kostka was unwilling to move into another country at a time when political unrest was becoming increasingly apparent on the continent. (GC VII, pp. 209-324)

One bright note is worth mentioning during this troublesome period. In 1937 the chronicle of the Congregation states: “It is unbelievable, but true: the Slovak Province has made the most foundations; it has the greatest growth. ....although it is the smallest province of the Congregation.” (GC VII, p. 309)

As the year drew to a close, Mother Kostka sent a circular to all the houses reminding them of the General chapter which was to be held the following year and reminded them to prepare for the event with fervent prayers. (Circular First Friday of December, 1937)

Since 1934, Adolf Hitler had been trying to entice Austria, his native land, into a union (nschluss) with Germany. In July 1934, an unsuccessful coup resulted in the murder of the Austrian chancellor, Dr. Engelbert Dollfuss, a personal friend of the Congregation and Mother Kostka. Undaunted by the initial failure of his plans, Hitler continued his relentless push to make Austria a part of the Third Reich and in March 1935 German troops occupied helpless Austria and proclaimed its incorporation into the Nazi-controlled German Empire.

By June, 1938, the power of the Nazi party began to be felt by the Congregation. On Saturday, June 25 at 9:30 at night, ten S.A. soldiers came to St. Michael’s Convent in Gerasdorf and demanded that the house be turned over to them. The sisters were permitted to remain until the 28th to pack their belongings. However, when the sisters wanted to take everything that belonged to the Congregation to the Motherhouse, they were refused permission, despite attempts to get Parliamentary assistance in the matter. On June 30, the official termination of the twenty-six-year long apostolate of the Congregation in Gerasdorf arrived from the central committee of the Austrian Nazi Party. (GC,VII, pp. 335-6)

The Anschluss also affected the other provinces, causing many administrative difficulties for Mother Kostka and her assistants. Convents that had been a part of the Czech province became a part of the Austrian province as a result of the occupation of the Sudetenland by Germany. Troppau, St. Georgenthal, Bergen and Blattendorf were officially listed part of the mother province on June 30, 1938. (GC VII, p. 336)

The General Chapter held in July, 1938, resulted in a third-term election of Mother Kostka. Elected as the General Council were her former assistants:
Sister M. Donata Reichenwallner, first general assistant; Sister M. Aquila Fajmon, second general assistant and general secretary; Sister II. Norberta Wecera, third assistant; Sister M. Ansberta Binder, fourth assistant and Sister N. Aloisia Schodt, general procuratrix. (GC VII, pp. 338-339 contains proceedings of the Chapter) Writing to the various provinces which had quickly dispatched their congratulatory messages, Mother Kostka responded with a circular in which she indicated that the burden once more placed on her shoulders by the Congregation was especially great in the present difficult times.

The ship which I must steer is presently swamped by a stormy flood. As long as the heavenly Mother, “our star of the sea” lights the heavens we do not travel in darkness; she points out to us the dangers, the reefs, so that our ship will not founder.

Let us pray to our foundress, Mother Franciska, that she should intercede in heaven that her work may last until the end of time. (Circular, Vienna, August 1, 1938)

Despite the uncertain conditions, two more convents were opened in September, 1938. On September 4, the Convent of the Holy Family was dedicated in Kunstat (C. S. R.), with Mother Kostka in attendance. The convent was the birthplace of Sister M. Rigalda Lepka and was ceded to the Congregation by the mother who rejoiced that her home would be used as a place where God was served and children were led to God. Incidentally, Sister M. Rigalda was ultimately named to be the first provincial superior in South Brazil.

On September 9, members of the Jugoslavian province assumed control over a home for female students in Zagreb, to be called the Convent of Our Lady of Lourdes. This new convent was provided for the sisters by His Excellency, Archbishop Aloysius Stepinac of Zagreb. (GC VII, pp. 346-347)

The joy of these new beginnings was marred by the sorrow caused by the relentless onslaught of the Nazi regime on the activities of religious in the Third Reich. One after the other, Mother Kostka was forced to “rent” Congregational property to the government. On September 15, 1938, the Elizabeth Home in Vienna became a police station; Herz Maria Kioster, St. Andra and Kagran were to be used as public schools; the kindergarten in Wolkersdorf was closed, he Augustineum in Breitenfurt was leased by the government beginning October 15. There, the sisters were permitted to retain management of the farm. (pp. 348—350)

As the convents of the Czech province came under direct jurisdiction of the Third Reich, Mother Kostka traveled to each of the houses to see how the Sisters were coping. Like an anxious mother, she sought to discover and provide for their needs; they knew they could count on her assistance.

Despite the seemingly endless blows that descended upon the European provinces as a result of the relentless progress of Naziism, Mother Kostka was determined to keep the spirit of unity glowing among her daughters. On November 21, the seventieth birthday of the Congregation was celebrated with a solemn pontifical high mass offered by Very Reverend Ernst Seydl of Vienna. Now more than ever, the sisters needed to be strengthened in their vocation to face the evil, and Mother Kostka made every effort to make this anniversary celebration an unforgettable one.

Shortly after the celebration, however, Mother Kostka and her assistants returned to face the stark reality of the dangers of the totalitarian regime. Accordingly, they deemed it best to send some of the young sisters from the Motherhouse, especially those with leadership potential, to various provinces where they could live and work in safety and perhaps help support the beleaguered Motherhouse. (pp. 350-354; also cf. Chapter IV, p. 47)

The year 1939 would assume historic importance in world affairs and would mark the end of Mother Kostka’s personal administration of all parts of the Congregation. It would seem as though she had a premonition of the impending disaster and worked against the clock to set things in order.

On January 19, 1939, Mother Kostka and her assistants decided to sever the Brazilian missions from dependence on the European provinces by establishing two provinces in that country. The northern province was to be administered by Sister M. Christine Vlastnik as the first provincial superior; in the south, the Province would be established with Sister M.. Rigalda Lepka as provincial superior. Then on February 13, Mother Kostka accompanied the last four European sisters who would go to Brazil as far as Split, Jugoslavia. These were Sisters M. Aquiliana Eigbel, M. Armella Lechner, M. Hedwigis Witkowska and the novice, M. Fidelia Weninger. With a heavy heart she blessed her daughters with the customary cross on the forehead as they prepared to sail to South America.

In the midst of the forced closings on the continent, in 1937 Mother Kostka had decided to open a new convent in Chesterfield, England, where she would appoint Sister M. Huberta Buchanan as superior. This was a safe country and perhaps haven to which more sisters from Austria could be sent in order to escape Naziism. In February, 1939 she went to England to visit the new convent as well as the existing establishment in Swaffham.

By the end of the month she was back in Vienna. Despite the growing dangers of traveling within the Third Reich, Mother Kostka was determined to visit the Frankfurt community once more. On March 3 she went to Germany for the last time and, apparently, she was relieved to see the situation to be quite stabile. (Cc vii, pp. 363-370)

The onus of the burdens which she was bearing at this time becomes evident from her 1939 Easter circular dated April 1. Replying to the complaint: “We don’t hear anything from the motherhouse; it’s as though our Reverend Mother has disappeared...” she wrote:

You are right, but it can’t be otherwise. The good mother bears alone the worries, sorrows and sufferings in order to spare her children the unnecessary pains, since these can do nothing to ease the burden. At the present time prayer is the only assistance.

Shortly after Easter, Mother Kostka prepared to leave once more for the United States. As in the past she entrusted the conduct of necessary European affairs and decisions to Sister Donata and on April 11, 1939 she traveled to Genoa, Italy, where on the 13th she boarded the Italian liner REX to make what would be her last voyage from Europe. She would never see Vienna or the Motherhouse again.

With her permission, and under the direction of the respective provincial superiors, new ministries were still being established in Slovakia and Hungary. In the latter country, a new Marienanstalt (St. Mary’s Institute) was opened in Budapest; the sisters also undertook the monetary and pastoral care of Germans living in Hungary. The financial problems of the new building became the focus of an extensive administrative problem for Mother Kostka when she arrived in the United States. For a number of years, Sister M. Katalin Kalics, a member of that province had been in the United States, traversing the country collecting money for the support of her home province. In 1939, just before the outbreak of the war, Mother Kostka felt compelled to transfer the sister back to Budapest because of her actions. She had shown no respect for authority and did not obey even the provincial superior.

Shortly after the return of Sister Katalin to Hungary, Mother Kostka received a letter from Reverend Dr. Julius Baton, the canonical visitator in Budapest. Dr. Baton disapproved of the return of Sister Katalin because the Hungarian province was thereby deprived of much needed financial support. He asked that the superior general revise her decision, threatening to take “professional action” if she did not do so. He informed Mother Kostka that he had given Sister Katalin a three-year permit to go to the American convents, offering the Hungarian sisters there the opportunity to return to their homeland. Their withdrawal would pose a great hardship for the North American province. He further warned that if matters worsened, the result would be the complete separation of the Hungarian province from the Congregation which move, he stated, would be supported by the Prince Primate of Hungary. (Letter dated August 16, 1939)

Such a threat at a time when it was impossible for her to return to Europe to personally handle the matter at its source caused Mother Kostka much anguish. Here was a province of which she had been a part and which she loved dearly, threatening to break the bonds of unity and community. She tried to alleviate the problem by having funds sent from the American province to the provincial superior in Budapest.

It was in the process of transferring funds to Hungary during wartime that she learned, to her dismay, that Sister Katalin had a substantial sum of money on deposit in her name in a New York bank. When Mother Kostka requested that the money be released to her, she was told that this could not be done without the sister’s permission.

This recalcitrance and flagrant violation of the vows caused Mother Kostka to contact the Cardinal Protector in Rome regarding the matter. On October 12, 1942, she asked that he contact the Ordinariate of Esztergom requesting the Vicar General to contact Sister Katalin to urge her to release the money. “It is not that much the money itself that I want to have, but I wish to alleviate her conscience.” Even in the midst of war, Mother Kostka worried about the spiritual well-being of her daughters and continued obedience to the Holy Rule.

On July 8, 1939, Daughters of Divine Charity assumed responsibilities at St. Charles Parish in Berlin, Germany as well as in Grunewald. In August of the same year, the Jugoslavian province commenced work at the seminary in Zagreb. The Congregation, in the meantime, was undergoing changes in boundaries as Naziism continued to take over more territory. According to the chronicle, the German-Austrian) province which now included old Germany, Austria, England and the Sudetenland was comprised of the Motherhouse and twenty filial houses. (GC VII, 363—381)

During all this time the Polish province was unaffected and Mother Kostka felt relieved upon receiving positive reports from Mother Ludovica. September 1, 1939, would change all that. As World War II erupted in Europe, Mother Kostka was stranded in the United States. From that time until her death she would be a mother-in-exile, deprived of any consolation by the loss, one after the other, of her trusted and beloved assistants, until it seemed as though the administration of the Congregation was like a ship without a captain and a rudder. Fearing for her European daughters Mother Kostka left no stone unturned, no avenue of petition unexplored in her attempt to return to the Motherhouse in Vienna. All efforts were in vain, and from 1939 until her death on June 22, 1943, she would have to bear the heavy cross of learning about the plight and fate of her daughters and her beloved Congretation in Europe only through the sporadic, censored correspondence which reached her in the United States.

Beatification of the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux

2008-10-20T14:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday the city of Lisieux in France celebrated the beatification of Louise and Zelie Martin, the parents of the beloved St. Therese. The digital visit to the beautiful basilica dedicated to her honor brought back a memory and a smile.

After five very happy years serving at St. Therese Parish in San Diego, California, and on the recommendation of the pastor, I decided to visit Lisieux during a family visit to Europe to give thanks for those happy five years. I also, on a whim, asked St. Therese to grant me a surprise there.

On the day before Pentecost someone asked if I would like to participate in a special celebration at the Feast Day liturgy. Of course I would, and, as requested I presented myself at the sacristy of the basilica. A group of us who were not French were asked to walk in procession at the Mass carrying torches and to recite a line of the Gloria in our native language. Then we were to place the torches on two pedestals prepared on either side of the high altar and take our places within the sanctuary. Having enjoyed being a lector and on the liturgy committee in my home parish, I immediately recognized this as my surprise.

All went according to plan until the Bishop celebrant began his homily. The torches burned down their wooden staffs, through the moss holding them to the pedestals and then began to burn the wooden bases themselves while the Bishop spoke on and on. Little bits of ash began to float on the air in the sanctuary and I decided my duty would be to make sure none landed on the altar boys sitting in front of me. When the Bishop finished two altar servers came out and in synchronized motion splashed water on the pedestals as though this was all pre-arranged. It was a wonderful day and a young at heart Saint shared a little joke with me.

FRANZISKA NOTES -- OCTOBER 2008

2008-10-17T11:41:00.000-07:00

Franziska Notes
No.5/10 October 2008
The month of October is traditionally assigned by the Church to the foreign missions. There was a time when concern for the poor children in underdeveloped countries was a major part of being a Catholic child. A few pennies contributed made us members of the “Holy Childhood” organization.. a solidarity of all the children of the world.

Then concern for the rights of our near-bye neighbors during the civil rights movement made us concentrate rightly on social justice. So, in the spirit of Mother Franziska Lechner let us examine social justice and help to the poor in general. From earliest childhood, when she took off with her little cousin to go to the poor pagan children and, if, necessary, die as a martyr, her first motive was always the love of God for all people. Today there has been a subtle shift that could make us believe that our civil rights are a gift of the State. Our human dignity comes from God and is a gift we have received from the moment of our creation. We possess this dignity and eternal destiny independently of all external circumstances. If the State is the source of our rights and dignity the State can take them away. This is not the case. The role of the State is only to protect those rights and provide the conditions for that dignity to be expressed. It is especially the weakest and most helpless that are the responsibility of the government in this regard.

Questions of abortion, euthanasia, definition of the basic unit of society, the family, education of our children all touch upon this very basic source of our human dignity and eternal destiny.

God loves us infinitely whether we live in a palace or in a thatched hut on a muddy roadside. His first command to us is to worship Him by recognizing the love He has for our neighbor both near and far.

Mother Franziska must be very happy.....

2008-10-10T18:41:00.000-07:00

When the town of Edling built a new sports gymnasium and renovated their local school they decided to hame the latter after a "favorite daughter" Franziska Lechner, the Foundress of the Daughters of Divine Charity.... The principal arranged a beautiful re-dedication ceremony which was attended by the General Superior and the Provincial Superior of the Austrian Province.

This is the portrait that has been honored in the convent in Edling for the fifty two years of its existance in Mother Franziska Lechner's birthplace.

What Mother Franziska's saw in her homeland

2008-10-09T12:29:00.000-07:00

The trademark of Bavaria's capital city, Munich, the twin towers of the cathedral framing the statue of Mary, the queen of Bavaria. Here the young Franziska made her first adult steps following the call of Jesus she heard in her heart.

The nearbye medieval town of Wasserburg on the River Inn. Here little Fanni Lechner often accompanied her father to market.

Published Biography of Mother Franziska Lechner

2008-09-09T15:00:00.000-07:00

CHAPTER ONE

Mother Franziska’s Childhood and Youth

Franziska Lechner was born on January 2, 1833[1] in the friendly village of Edling situated near Wasserburg in Bavaria. Her parents, Xaver and Marie were a truly God—fearing Christian couple who lived on the income from their considerable property. Her father was also occupied with transporting food and goods for the farmers of his village to the capitol, Munich, because at that time there was still no rail line. Because of this, he and his family were well known far and wide. He was also well liked because of his honesty, goodness and outgoing friendliness.
These beautiful qualities were soon evident in Franziska, called “Franzi” at home, who soon became the darling of her parents and her sisters, among whom she was the fifth in order of birth. From her earliest childhood, she had a special joy in learning little prayers. It was her old nurse, Resi, who, also considering Franzi her special darling, taught her these and had the little one recite them daily. She did this, not mechanically, but with devotion and zeal so that the nurse thought that surely something great would become of her Franzi. She enjoyed praying these childhood prayers also later, especially while traveling, when during the journeys she had enough time to pray.
Franzi never had to be reminded of morning and evening prayer and usually performed these devotions in front of the crucifix which is still in the sisters’ choir of the Mother House of the Congregation of the Daughters of Divine Charity in Vienna. Earlier this was the property of the Benedictine Monastery of Attel near Wasserburg in Bavaria, where it was hung in the oratory of the cloister. At the suppression of the monastery the cross came into the possession of Franzi’s grandfather. He, as well as his family and descendants, always considered it a family treasure. Later, after Franziska founded the first institute of her congregation in Vienna the crucifix was brought at her request and hung in a place of honor in the convent chapel, from where it was later brought to the choir of the new Mother House. Franzi participated at Mass with such attention that those present were deeply touched by the sight of this “angel in human form”.
Her intelligence developed unusually early. Her father’s cleverness contributed to this. When she was permitted to accompany him on the drive to the market, she had to, among other things, tell him the name of this and that town and relate what she had seen here and there. He paid strict attention that his children did not just make the trip in a mindless way and this was a great advantage for the very precocious little one. She also had to re-count the money taken in and, later, under his direction, help with the business accounts, helping Franzi to acquire an unusual ability in arithmetic. In school she was first in industry and good behavior. From the very first year of school she always brought her parents the first prize from the examinations held, according to the custom of the time in city and country schools, in the presence of school and civil authorities. She had great influence on and enjoyed the trust, yes, even the respect of her classmates,--boys and girls were instructed together--which tells of her model behavior and all the virtues of a good student. Therefore she was sought out by her classmates before confession to help them with their examination of conscience and she did this willingly and successfully.

When she was nine years old a priest came to Edling to preach a mission. In one sermon, at which the little one was present, he described the misery of the pagan children and asked his listeners to give small sums to rescue them. Young people, however, who might have a vocation to the religious state, and who wanted to offer their lives for the welfare of the pagans, he encouraged to report to Rosenheim which was some distance from Edling. The result was that Franzi immediately felt herself called to this heroic sacrifice and, keeping it a secret, was determined also to go to the savages with her nine year-old cousin, “Xaverl”. The two children outfitted themselves with the necessities, tied these into two large handkerchiefs and, without telling anyone of their plans, set out the next day. Late at night and totally exhausted they arrived at their Uncle’s house in Seiding where they wanted to spend the night in order to continue their journey the next day. Naturally, the Uncle informed himself about the reason for their coming and the children told him very honestly what had brought them. He calmly let them go to sleep, but immediately sent a messenger to the parents of the fugitives to prevent their further worry and search. The next morning, securely accompanied, Franzi and Xaverl began the trip home.
The good memory and speaking talent of the student, hardly out of the delicate years of childhood, aroused great admiration. She retained very well the sermons and conferences she heard and she often and gladly made use of this special grace. In front of her father’s house was a stately tree with a natural projection which served her as a pulpit from which she repeated the Word of God she had heard and encouraged her listeners, not only children, but also adults, to do good. Such a sermon from the mouth of a child not only won the respect of the older people, but also produced satisfying fruit among the young, especially since Franzi preceded her contemporaries with good example. Once, in school, the pastor explained that love of neighbor must be turned into deeds. At the next opportunity Franzi was seen supporting an old lady as she was walking, then taking a heavy basket from the arm of another woman to carry the load for her, and really being helpful wherever there was need. At her encouragement, the other children also did such little acts of love. They valued praise from her very highly, as well as feared correction from their little mistress almost more than a scolding from their parents. Therefore, when one of the boys or girls did some mischief they would say “If only Franzi doesn’t find out, otherwise I will have a hard time on Sunday!” It was on Sunday afternoons that the children gathered at the “carter’s” as the Lechner house was known in the village and environs, for innocent fun. In good weather they met outside. In bad weather or in winter, Franzi knew how to provide a suitable place where all could devote themselves to their childish activities undisturbed. Nearby was a roomy house belonging to the Lechners and originally built for the retired parents. Since Franziska’s grandparents were already deceased during her childhood, the house was given over to an old couple for their use. Naturally, the little one was also their darling, and so, whenever she needed a meeting place, the two old people would go to church and leave the house for her use. The entire group of children willingly obeyed Franzi’s commands so it rarely happened that the planned recreation was disrupted by the bad behavior of an individual. Franzi selected, and herself arranged, the various games, held little lectures and reprimanded those about whom she had heard complaints in the past week. So attractive was Franzi’s example to all that, those who received correction from her amazingly demonstrated neither spite nor unfriendliness to their strict little superior but tried to repair the fault committed and the next week appeared again at the “carter’s”.

According to custom, the inhabitants of Edling gathered in the church each Saturday after the evening bells’ tolling to recite the rosary. Many children, however, taking no pleasure in this religious practice, often stayed away entirely or disturbed, and even angered those present during their devotions by their unsuitable behavior. Talking and punishment by parents and teachers helped little here. Then Franzi tackled the case. She assigned each boy and girl to a specific place and herself supervised them as the entire community of Edling watched with amazement and admiration, the happy consequences of the energy and influence of this little girl over the lively youths. In a short time none of the children was missing from the rosary, Mass or other public devotions, and order was always preserved in a most praiseworthy manner.

The little one showed a special preference for religious things and convent practices. Her Father often took her along to Wasserburg where there was an institute run by the “English Ladies”[2] so she had several opportunities to see Sisters and to attend the solemn Clothing and other church ceremonies. One of her favorite games came to consist in imitating what she had.seen on such occasions. She made herself a habit according to her childish fantasy and then with admirable earnestness set about the clothing of her companions. For the members of her community she built houses and chapels or churches whose blessings were usually held in very solemn ceremonies. Nearby, her father had a brickworks, and there the little foundress went with her subjects to gather building material for her purposes. Naturally, this always resulted in some disorder and damage, but the father’s strictness toward this activity achieved little with his usually so obedient darling. Franzi, with the help of her faithful following continued to build as she would later do in her richly blessed work for the good of the young and the welfare of so many of the poor.

She dressed the boys as Capuchins by tying cords around their waists and hanging rosaries from them. Why, as a child, she preferred this order can be traced back to the fact that, every year after the harvest, a Capuchin brother came to Edling to collect alms. It was always Franzi and her little cousin, Xaverl, who attached themselves to him and accompanied him from house to house. Franzi, carrying a basket, and Xaverl a sack, they announced the arrival of the religious and talked the owner or housewife into giving him a generous amount. They both had great joy as Franzi’s father then rewarded the charity of the children by carting all the collected things to the Capuchin monastery in Rosenheim the next day.

Even at that time they thought something special would become of this child so richly endowed with wonderful gifts and graces. And it was to be! God wanted to show in this way to the inhabitants of Edling that He intended to use this graced child to do great things for His own glory and the welfare of humanity. In the neighboring State of Austria-Hungary He later permitted Franziska to fulfill in a glorious way all those things, which in childish play and zeal for good, she had practiced in her youth.

Once, Franzi was allowed to go to Altötting to visit the famous image of the Virgin. She went to confession there and the confessor permitted the pious child to go to Holy Communion twice. For Franzi this was an almost unimaginable good fortune; she recounted later that she hardly dared to look up as she walked, because she wanted to keep her heart very pure for this grace. In Altötting she also had an opportunity to see the “English Ladies” and it made a great impression on her to watch them greet the Mother of God with “Ave Maria” whenever they passed her image in the hallway. Soon after returning home she made her decision; she wrote secretly to the Superior in Altötting and asked to be admitted as a candidate, The response, however, fell into her father’s hands and now Franzi received a real scolding for her secret correspondence. Rightly, her father considered her too young for such a decision, and kept strict watch over her to prevent any further secret attempts to request admittance. He took her with him on almost all his trips, and when he couldn’t keep her near him, her elder sister, Caroline, had to watch her. None of this could dissuade Franzi from her desire and yearning for religious life. She assaulted her father with pleading to be allowed at least to go to a convent as a boarding student. Since he had to admit to himself that his little daughter was called by God to something greater, he finally decided to give in to this eager desire of hers and brought her, after completion of her thirteenth year, to the School Sisters of Notre Dame in Munich “an der Au” for further education. Here Franziska made shining progress and was, in a short time, the darling of her teachers as well as the most sought-after and trusted friend of her companions. Unfortunately, details from this time were not preserved; only that her companions often asked her, in the free time, to tell them a story. Fanni—as she was called in the institute—told not only of personal experiences or from her reading, but her creative spirit knew how to compose the most moving tales, for example, of travelers on the sea, who were very near sinking; of oppressed people who found themselves in great need, and who were aided by God’s providential help and so forth. Her fellow students listened with suspense-filled attention and were often moved to tears even though they knew that Franziska usually made up the stories herself. We can imagine that here, too, as with her classmates at home, her popularity with her companions was a good influence on them. After completing the prescribed study time, Franziska brought home to her parents a certificate which permitted her to teach. With this a long-held wish was fulfilled.

[1] Parish records cite January 1, 1833
[2] A Roman Catholic religious congregation.

BIOGRAPHY
of the
REVEREND FOUNDRESS AND SUPERIOR GENERAL
of the
CONGREGATION OF THE DAUGHTERS OF DIVINE CHARITY
MOTHER FRANZISKA LECHNER

Vienna, 1905
Published by the Congregation
============================================
Z 10474
Imprimatur
From the Ordinary of Vienna
Nov. 10, 1905
Dr. G. Marschall
English translation from the German original by:
Sister M. Caroline Bachmann, FDC

Library of Congress Control Number: 2008907148
ISBN: 978-0-615-24044-2

FOREWORD

According to God’s adorable designs, Mother Mary Franziska Lechner, Foundress and Superior General of the Congregation of the Daughters of Divine Charity was called from this world on April 14, 1894. Her memory is not extinguished, however, but lives on in the hearts of her spiritual daughters, in the countless charges who benefited from care in the institutions she built, the friends and benefactors of the Congregation, and the many people who came to learn of the work, so richly blessed by God, done by this great woman. These simple lines should serve first the glory of the Almighty and show how God chooses the weak to do great things, they should also, however, as is proper and fitting, keep alive the memory of Mother Franziska for the future. At the same time this book is a sign of gratitude to the noble patrons and benefactors of the Congregation for their assistance in its work, To all the Daughters of Divine Charity especially, however, is presented the life of their Foundress that they may always have before them the glorious virtues of their spiritual Mother and endeavor, in her spirit, to devote themselves with zeal to the tasks of Christian love of neighbor, working according to the motto of Mother Franziska
“FOR GOD, FOR THE POOR, AND FOR OUR CONGREGATION”
Vienna, May, 1905

Foreword to the 2008 edition
and translator’s note

The foreword to the 1905 edition glows with the affection and the intimate knowledge of an eye witness. There is nothing to add to those words of admiration and love. The original author’s name remains hidden but the spirit shining from the pages seems to indicate a relationship of friendship. With each reading of these pages we bring her our praise and gratitude.

Many expressions and titles of the time, as well as spellings that required specific symbols have been simplified for today’s reading of the English language.

Sister M. Caroline Bachmann, FDC
Staten Island, New York
July 7, 2008
TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER I
Mother Franziska’s Childhood and Youth…….. 7

CHAPTER II
Franziska’s Activities after Completing her
Education until the Founding of the Congregation
of the Daughters of Divine Charity ……… 15

Chapter III
Foundation of the Congregation of the Daughters
Of Divine Charity…………………………………… 23

CHAPTER IV
Founding of Marian Institutes in Troppau, Brunn and Budapest ………………………………………………. 41

CHAPTER V
Events during the years from 1871 to 1874 and the Founding of the Refuge St. Joseph in Breitenfurt 49

CHAPTER VI
Foundation in St. Georgental, Foundations in Toponar and Berzencze......... 67

CHAPTER VII
Foundation of the Convalescent House in Breitenfurt, the houses in St. Andra and Prague and other note-
worthy happenings in the years from 1877 to 1882 83

CHAPTER VIII Foundations in Bosnia, Recognition by Rome.... 104

CHAPTER IX
Foundations in Biala and in Zone XVIII of Vienna, Foundations in Foherczeglak, Trip to Rome … 136

CHAPTER X
Founding of the Convent St. Joseph’s Home in Doinja-Tuzla, the Foundations in Crakow and Hirschtetten, enlargement of various branches of the Congregation .......... 156

CHAPTER XI
The Purchase of a New Mother House, Foundation in Szt. Ivan . . …………………………………. 167

Chapter XII Construction and Dedication of the Church, Approval by Rome . . . . . . . . . . .. 179

CHAPTER XIII
Foundations in Kis-Czell, Nagy-Levard (Grossschutzen), and in IX. District of Vienna,
Eye Operation............ 192

CHAPTER XIV
Foundations in Leopoldsdorf in Marchfelde and Legrad Foundation of the Convent of St. Augustine in
Sarajevo .. …………. 205

CHAPTER XV
The twenty-fifth Anniversary of the Founding of the Congregation, and, on November 21, 1893, the double Silver Jubilee of Mother Franziska in Religion and in office……………………………………… 221

CHAPTER XVI
Mother Franziska’s Maternal Love and Concern for the Congregation……………… 233

CHAPTER XVII
Mother Franziska’s Piety, Humility and Trust in God ……………………………………………… 255

CHAPTER XVIII
Mother Franziska’s Last Illness, Bestowal of the Gold Cross of Merit with Crown, Initiation of the Foundation in Stossing, her Death. . . . 273

The book can be ordered from: Biography, St. Joseph Hill Convent

850 Hylan Blvd.

Staten Island, NY 10305

Check: $10.00 made out to Daughters of Divine Charity

Rushooka News

2008-09-06T07:57:00.000-07:00

Rushooka News

We have happy and sad news from Rushooka. The people in the little village of Rushooka are very dependent on the weather. Normally they live on the produce from their banana plantations from August until their beans and millet can be harvested in December – January. This year a terrible storm wiped out the bananas… not only the fruit but the entire plantation. At first they were happy that the vital rains came at the right time, but then a deluge washed away not only the plants but the top soil also. Sister Marlene said she does not know where and how they will replace the vital earth needed for future growth.

The women rescued some of the fruit but it is only a two week supply and harvest is a long way off.

Just in time a generous benefactor sent a gift of 500 dollars and with this Sister can buy millet at a low price and provide it at cost to the people as emergency food. We don’t know yet how they will serve other needs such as school fees and other purchases of things they cannot produce themselves.

A bit of good news is the celebration to be held on September 28, 2008 when the seven sisters and three novices will celebrate ten years of the Rushooka Mission. It has been ten years since the little band of five sisters came to establish a health center, a training course for women, care for orphans and general blessings of their presence. In the meantime they began the goat and pig program for widows, the mill to make their own flour at prices they can afford as well as providing employment and many other practical help for the wonderful, faith filled people of the beautiful village in the southwest corner of Uganda.

Life of Mother Kostka Bauer

2008-08-30T08:40:00.000-07:00

CHAPTER V

MOTHER KOSTKA -- SPIRITUAL LEADER

“Always keep before your eyes the goal of your vocation; it comes from God. Be ready to live sacrificial lives”.
“We are not only to shun serious sin; rather, through the exact obedience to the Holy Rule we should be faithful in the smallest matters and strive for perfection.”

These words written on July 23, 1926, not long after her election as superior general, contain most concisely the unswerving attitude of Mother Kostka regarding her expectations and desires regarding the spiritual growth of every Daughter of Divine Charity. It is in this area that she was most demanding and stern and exerted much leadership in fostering a greater love of God and neighbor. Nowhere does the foundation for her spiritual leadership emerge more clearly than in her circular of October 15, 1927:
Fifty-nine years before, on the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, our blessed Frau Mutter founded our Congregation with great patience, suffering, courage, and self-denial, in greatest poverty. Let us ask our blessed foundress what special aim she had before her eyes at the time of the founding. Her answer will be: “Next to striving toward Christian perfection through personal holiness, work to grow in the love of neighbor.” Our first goal as Daughters of Divine Charity which will lead to personal holiness is loyal obedience to the Holy Rule and the Constitution which she gave us. The second aim is that we should work for the welfare of the girls seeking employment who come to us and for the training of the children, so that we can build in them a Christian life, teaching them to pray and giving them the knowledge of religion.

Paraphrasing the quotation from Mark 8:36 -- “What shall it profit a man, if
he shall gain the whole world, and lose his life” -- Mother Kostka reminded her
spiritual daughters: “What good is it to strive to be an outstanding teacher,
a clever tutor, an excellent musician, an exceptional administrator or housekeeper, if you do not labor to be an exemplary religious.”

For Mother Kostka, the gift and privilege of her religious vocation,
Along with its trials and sorrows, joys and triumphs, was an on—going blessing
she wished to see all her spiritual daughters imbued with this same love of
Heavenly Bridegroom and appreciation of this grace of vocation. On June
23, 1927 she wrote: “The Heart of Jesus loves us with an unconditional,
love. ... Who should return this love to the Sacred Heart if not the religious
who.. .has been selected to receive the grace of a vocation?.” -

Later that same year, Mother Kostka urged the sisters:
Think back to the day that you left the world, received the holy habit and made your profession. If God sends severe trials--and these come to us all--these should be seen as great blessings from God. In these hard times, kiss your ring and say from your heart, “My Redeemer, now, as your cross lays so heavy on my soul, I renew my promise of eternal loyalty.
No One should ever say “I have had enough” Rather live always as though you are a novice. (August 10, 1927)
Returning to this theme in her circular of October 15, 1927, she asked:
“How have we treasured the grace of this vocation? ... Often the monotony of daily life has dulled our great care and love of our vocation. We should not forget that religious life is a living martyrdom. It is impossible to imagine religious life without suffering and adversity. On the contrary, these are good signs. How can one hope to receive a heavenly crown if one did not struggle?”

Much the same idea was reiterated on March 5, 1931. Countless times, as she expressed her gratitude for Christmas, Easter, birthday, and feastday wishes she would write as she did on November 15, 1927: “If you also included in your good wishes deep interior prayerfulness and true obedience to the Holy Rule you would make me the happiest person in the world.” At a time when the habit was synonymous with religious life she would state, “It is not the habit, rather the exact and punctual obedience to the Holy Rules and vows that makes one a true religious.”

The after-effects of World War I and the time which many sisters had spent with their families had caused some of the sisters to become lax in the practice of poverty. Hence on September 7, 1928 Mother Kostka emphasized strongly that a sister may not have money by herself without permission from the superior. Gifts given to a sister could not be kept personally, even when the donor had stipulated it for a particular sister. “The people have no right to state how a gift is to be used; that is for the superior to decide.” She also warned the sisters not to seek in the Congregation that which they could not have in the world.

In 1931, Mother Kostka would again remind the sisters that there had been a long-standing rule which forbade the sisters to accept for themselves gifts from boarders, students or residents. It would seem that a laxity on this score had crept in, so she wrote, “...1 am reminding you of it strongly; many unpleasant circumstances can be avoided by keeping the rule.” (March 5, 1931)
Every circular and letter to the Congregation as a whole, and to individual provinces, was used to drive home the lessons she wished to print indelibly on the heart of each member. Her Christmas circulars utilized the poverty of Bethlehem to drive home the need to practice the virtue and the vow of poverty. In the circular written on December 30, 1935, she explained, “The Divine Child appeared in the world in great poverty and need... . Was He poor only at His birth? No.. .poverty followed him to the grave.” Mother Kostka then begged that her daughters take this mystery of poverty into their hearts in a practical way for “. . .poverty is the beginning of religious life.” Citing the provisions in the Constitution regarding poverty, she indicated that she had become aware of great violations of the vow.

Despite her frequent reminders, she found that too many sisters were
still considering things that had been given them for their use as their personal possessions. They gave gifts without permission and freely disposed of clothing, books, and other items. (May 16, 1931) The radical changes which have emerged in the lifestyle of modern religious may make her admonitions in this regard appear a bit extreme. It is necessary, therefore, to return to the original directives of Mother Franciska in order to understand why, in 1935, Mother Kostka found it necessary to warn the sisters that when transferred, they were to take nothing -- bed, blankets, sheets, wash basins, etc.; —- these belonged to the particular house. Referring to the cost of shipping all these goods, she condemned such action as a flagrant violation of poverty. “I think I have said enough,” she wrote, “every one should understand what I mean.”

As a reminder of the requirements for a “poor” religious, Mother Kostka wrote a special circular to the American province on April 14, 1935. Although it was ostensibly an Easter greeting, she took the occasion to reply to the number of requests she had received from the sisters to return to Hungary. Referring obliquely to the fact that the world depression was not yet over, she reminded them: “Worldly people are saving every penny; we cannot allow ourselves such unnecessary, expensive luxuries--we who have vowed poverty.” Pointing out that the Congregation, especially in Europe, was suffering monetary difficulties, she suggested that the money saved by foregoing the trip could be given either to the Hungarian province which was in dire need, or to the Congregation. Don’t be angry about this; I feel obliged to ask this sacrifice...”

Mother Kostka was equally demanding with regard to the practice of the
vow of obedience. “We have taken our vows voluntarily--we are bound to keep
them.” For her, a sister who was obedient would observe all the provisions of
the Constitutions, the decisions of the General Chapters, and the rules laid
down by her religious superiors. She urged the sisters to place their wills
under that of their superiors who are the representatives of God. It was not
sufficient for a sister to obey the superior general; she owed a like obedience
to the provincial and house superior as well. The sisters were warned not to make
the duties of the authorities more difficult through their selfishness,
Stubbornness, insubordination, or criticism of orders. “The superior is merely doing what the Holy Rule requires.” (January 21, 1929)

One of the provisions of the Constitution which Mother Kostka strongly urged the sisters to observe was the rule of silence. She had always been strict in the enforcement of mastery of the tongue and was determined to impress the need for this virtue on all her spiritual daughters. For the Lenten season of 1927, she encouraged the sisters to practice self-denial by the assiduous observance of the strict silence as well as the lesser silence. In her opinion such silence would result in a deeper spiritual recollection, the practice of humility, the denial of personal opinions as well as the elimination of self-love.

First and foremost, the sisters were reminded that silence was obligatory in and near the chapel at all times. Reverence for the Holy Eucharist demanded that the area in and around the chapel be as calm and peaceful as possible.

Writing about the necessity of curbing the tongue at all times, Mother Kostka
turned to the advice from the letter of James, “. - .the only man who could reach perfection would be someone who never said anything wrong...” (James 3:
2-3). She urged each sister to “tame” her tongue, thereby eliminating a main source of sins against the love of neighbor. Commenting on the fact that breaking the silence leads to many faults such as complaints, gossip, inaccurate statements and bitterness, Mother Kostka suggested: “Let us earnestly consider and examine ourselves--whether we have the option to let the tongue free? In the future let us cast no stone against our neighbor.” (November 30, 1931) In another letter she would again advise: “Keep the tongue in check; outside recreation time observe silence strictly; much can be avoided by this practice.” Again, on July 12, 1930, she would ask, “How can a soul rise to a higher level in prayer when she is not quiet or recollected?”

Along with strict observance of the Rules and the vows, Mother Kostka attached great importance to fidelity in fulfilling all spiritual exercises, especially the annual retreat. In referring to the retreat, she spoke of its primary aim: to help the sisters. to recognize their faults and to determine to remake themselves according to the model of the Heavenly Bridegroom. During those grace-filled days, all were expected to work diligently for self-improvement; (September 7, 1928) with great earnestness, good will and a ready heart. (July 12, 1930) If she happened to be in a particular province at the time of the annual retreat, Mother Kostka seized the opportunity to give a few conferences to the assembled sisters, calling their attention to lapses that she had noticed during her visitations and urging them once more to return to a fervent life of prayer, self-denial and strict observance.

Mother Kostka stressed the importance of common prayer; “.. .where two or three are gathered in My name...;” and she was very unwilling to permit waiving this regulation for minor reasons. Early in 1927 she wrote emphatically:
“Prayers are common; it is unnecessary every Sunday to ask whether prayers are common; it is so written and will remain so, as long as no other order is given. Superiors have the sacred duty to obey this rule. I will not give in.”

In the 1930 previously cited circular she stressed her insistence on common prayer even during vacation time. Although she agreed to a little variation in the daily horarium--later rising, spiritual reading at another hour, an extended recreation--she insisted that the prayers in common had to be retained. There could be no “vacation” from common prayer. The Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary was to be prayed in common at all times, even on Sundays and holydays. In this regard she wrote in 1927: “Get used to obeying regulations. I will not mitigate my orders and if kindness will not bear the desired results, I will use sternness.”

In the matter of communal prayer, Mother Kostka was very insistent that the sisters practice the congregational devotions established by Mother Franciska, rather than introducing numerous new prayers. Every year, in one way or another, she reminded the sisters to pray to St. Joseph. As noted in the previous chapter, she begged the sisters to renew their devotion to the patroness of the Congregation: Mother Most Admirable.
Writing from Vienna on August 9, 1930, Mother Kostka reminded all the members of the Congregation that the l500th anniversary of the death of Saint Augustine was being celebrated that year. Alluding to the fact that, after the Sacred Heart, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and St. Joseph, the author of our Holy Rule should have the greatest honor from every Daughter of Divine Charity, she decreed that the aspiration “Holy Father, St. Augustine, pray for us!” be added at the end of all common prayers. She further ordered that the feast of this congregational patron saint be celebrated in a special way.

Mother Kostka introduced devotion to St. Therese, the Little Flower, and added it to the existing communal devotions. To Mother Kostka, this new saint was the perfect example of religious life and of fidelity in little things -- a lifestyle she hoped her spiritual children would imitate. Referring to the Little Flower’s example in her circular of May 16, 1931, she marveled, “How many holy souls have helped bring about the return of a sinner directly through fidelity in little things.” Already in her circular of July 23, 1926, she ordered that a novena to the Little Flower for the intentions of the Congregation be begun in each house upon receipt of the circular.

Following the disastrous fire of December 15, 1926, which damaged a large part of the Motherhouse and destroyed many of the documents of the Congregation as well as the trunks and clothing of the sisters, Mother Kostka had turned to the neighboring provinces for aid.. Mother Valeria Morvay arrived from Hungary on December 20, bringing clothing and other necessities as well as gifts to help provide a Christmas celebration for the community. Mother Kostka purchased a statue of the Little Flower, placed it on the piano in the Chapter Room, and surrounded it with the gifts that had come from the Hungarian province. After the celebration, the statue was blessed and placed on a pedestal in the sisters’ choir of the Motherhouse church.

In August, 1927, Mother Kostka used her visitation trip to the United States to make a side trip to Paris and thence to Lisieux, where she visited the house and garden where Therese Martin had lived and played as a child. She also visited the Little Flower’s grave and prayed for every Daughter of Divine Charity there, asking especially “...that she should send us many candidates...” and prayed for all to be filled with the true religious spirit exemplified by the young saint. In the name of the Congregation she made a contribution toward the construction of the basilica in honor of St. Therese.

She, herself, turned to the Little Flower for assistance whenever she was scedu1ed to make an extended ocean voyage to North or South America. To Mother Kostka, the greatest sacrifice in making these trips was the deprivation of the
graces of daily Holy Mass and Communion; therefore, she asked St. Therese to send
priests as passengers on the voyage. She gradually asked all the sisters to join in this petition whenever she prepared for a long voyage. The circulars reminded them to intercede with the new saint to send priests who would celebrate the liturgy on board the ship. Joyfully, she reported that their prayers were heard; often, there were even two priests who travelled on the same ship, giving her the opportunity to assist at two masses.

Shortly after assuming office, Mother Kostka suggested that the auxiliary motto which she had developed for the American province: “Prayer--self-denial--for souls” be adopted by all the members of the Congregation. She explained these three actions would benefit their spiritual growth and speed them along the road to perfection. (November 13, 1926) She always endeavored to encourage, teach and admonish the sisters on the importance of fidelity in these matters.
She acknowledged that perhaps one or other circular may have sounded too harsh. She hastened to explain, “. . .it comes from a motherly concern which desires only the best for the Congregation and each sister for whom I am responsible.” September 7, 1928)

Later, in her circular of December 28, 1930, she suggested still another
motto for the coming year: “Always more, always better, always with love.” She desired each sister to be willing always to make more sacrifices, to strive for greater recollection and more love of her neighbor--always more. Through the second portion, she hoped that the members would strive to pray better, with more devotion and recollection. “It is not enough to say that I have performed all my spiritual exercises, my duties; ... we must strive to do these always better ...“ To explain the third provision, Mother Kostka turned to St. Augustine’s famous advice: “Love and then do what you will.” She explained how love could sweeten all sufferings and told the sisters, “Our daily resolution should be to love God more and our neighbor for love of Him.”

In 1937, the Prayer for the Congregation, which was most probably composed by the vicaress general, Sister Donata Reichenwallner, was sent to all the convents via the circular of February 13. Mother Kostka asked that this prayer be recited every Friday in common and further decreed that the masses, communions, prayers and good works of all the sisters should be offered each Friday for the good of the Congregation.

The many trips and visitations that she was forced to make as superior general brought Mother Kostka into close contact with numerous bishops, prelates and priests. In 1936, she mentioned the need for prayer for these spiritual leaders and suggested that the lenten penances that year be offered for all priests; “... the Holy Father, missionaries, religious and diocesan priests, especially pastors. They are faced with so many hardships and temptations.... Let us offer our prayers and good works for them.. . we can thus be apostles for the priesthood.” She asked that those priests who had been untrue to their vocations be remembered in a special way, so that these “shepherds in the mist” might return to the church.

The following Lent, Mother Kostka renewed this petition and made it obligatory for all Daughters of Divine Charity to offer their masses, communions, prayers and good works on Saturday for priests. She provided a special prayer that was to be recited; however, if any province already had a prayer for priests which it was using, it could be retained.
Practically every circular written by Mother Kostka mentioned the need for penance and self-abnegation in the life of every Daughter of Divine Charity. Instead of harsh corporal penances “. . .such as fasting, self-flaggelation, wearing of a penitential belt, etc. which some saints have done in an heroic manner...” she reminded the sisters that these were only a means to an end. “The denial of self-will is often more painful than flogging.” She urged, instead, that the sisters accept the small inconveniences that daily life brings in the spirit of penance. Development of this spirit of penance at work, at table, at recreation, would also help each member to recognize her failings against the Holy Rule. (February 29, 1928).

At another time she wrote: “Self-denial, abnegation means nothing more than to struggle and be victorious over the demands of our lower nature. Whoever wishes to be an artist must work daily to perfect his art with unflagging will and restless energy. If we wish to progress in our spiritual life we must deny ourselves daily”.

By nature our wills tend toward evil, not good. We need determination to withstand these natural inclinations. “Whoever wishes to follow me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.” (January 21, 1929)

As a simple example of the act of self-denial, Mother Kostka suggested the
practice of renunciation and toleration. Through renunciation, she counseled custody of the eyes and ears and control of the tongue through silence. toleration of the faults, complaints and weaknesses of our sisters, the cold or heat, transfers, change of duties, the common life--all these were crosses to be tolerated because they could not be escaped. Therefore, she encouraged: “…let us carry the cross willingly so that we can gain an eternal crown.”

In 1930, she suggested that the sisters offer their self-denial and penance for the poor persecuted Catholics in Russia, that God would give them perseverance in the face of the merciless persecutions they were experiencing. In an undated Lenten circular entitled “The Love of the Cross,” she expressed her earnest desire that every member of the Congregation should practice some public penance during the penitential season. “We can offer it for the intentions of the church: in Spain, Russia, Mexico and Germany Catholics are being treated very badly -- many have shed their blood for the faith.” Thus, emulating the Little Flower who had recently been declared patroness of missionaries, Mother Kostka encouraged the sisters to become missionaries without ever leaving
their convents.

A deeper examination of each of these penitential practices and counsels merely strengthens the conviction that every advice proposed by Mother Kostka always led back to one central theme: strict observance of all facets of religious life and the practice of poverty. In fact, in her circular of December 12, 1934, written to the members of the American province, referring to the distance that divided that group from the Motherhouse she wrote: “. . .only that sister is distant who does not strive for perfection by following the Holy Rule. The stubborn, proud and uncharitable sister does not belong to the Daughters of me Charity, whose symbols should be obedience, humility and charity.

For Mother Kostka, strict observance consisted not only in faithfully performing the prescribed spiritual exercises, but also in obedience to the provisions laid down in the Constitution regarding the habit, home visits, and trips. Perhaps it is in this regard that one might accuse Mother Kostka of adhering too rigidly to the letter of the law, rather than to its spirit. An examination of the times might shed some light on the reasons prompting her demand for strict adherence.

Numerous societal changes had occurred in the 20th century, precipitated both by World War I and its aftermath. These changes were bound to affect religious life as well because the young women entering the convent would bring with them the spirit of the times. Consequently, the superior general felt it was essential for her to be extremely firm and strict in forbidding deviations from the rules.

On August 10, 1927, she would remind the sisters that the habits must
•- total agreement with the constitutional provisions: they were not to have “trains”
but neither could the skirts be worn short. If a sister’s skirt was too long,
she was ordered to shorten it; if too short, it had to be lengthened.
Shoes were to be simple; they could not have high heels or be of modern design.
Postulant and novice mistresses were warned to take special care in this regard.
If parents or relatives brought material or shoes that were unacceptable, they had to be told to take them back.

At another time, noting that in some provinces lighter material was
being used when preparing a new habit, Mother Kostka sternly forbade the wearing of a habit made of anything but woolen cloth. Even the work clothes had to be of the same material. Furthermore, she forbade the sisters to remove any part of the habit at any time, or to wear it “incorrectly”. Sleeves could not be rolled up, except when washing; the collar could not be thrown back for any reason, not even while cleaning. (July 12, 1930) A special circular on February 5, 1932, dedicated almost entirely to regulations regarding the habit and how it was to be worn, reiterated her stern orders for strict obedience to all regulations regarding the habit. Demanding that the sisters keep the collars buttoned all the way to the throat at all times, she tersely advised practicing self-denial: “Bear the heat. Our habit is one of the most practical and speaks of our times and proper hygiene.” She was not, however, merciless. Having visited Brazil a number of times and experiencing the intense heat in that land she made an exception: the sisters in North Brazil were permitted to remove their bows--in the house.

As she conducted her official visitations, she noticed that in some of the provinces the flutes on the bonnets were exceptionally wide; in fact, some sisters looked “...as though they belonged to another congregation.” The Constitutions provided exact measurements for the cape, the cuffs, and the belt; however, it simply stated that “. . . the head and hair are covered with a small white bonnet to which is sewn a double frill of the same material...” Therefore, on August 10, 1927, Mother Kostka corrected this ambiguous provision; she decreed that the “frill” could not be wider than five centimeters. She also warned the sisters not to wear the bonnets drawn too closely around the face. Here, too, moderation was demanded, and novice mistresses were instructed to train their charges properly in this regard.

Equal attention was paid to watches, chains and medals that were worn by the sisters. Here, Mother Kostka expected poverty and simplicity to be applied. Chains and medals could be made of sterling silver, watches, too, were to be made of silver and could only be worn on the so-called St. Peter’s Chain. In her estimation, it would be violating the spirit of poverty to wear these items made of gold.

At the time of the founding of the Congregation, Mother Franciska had decided that once a young woman was admitted to the Congregation, she would never be permitted to make home visits. This was the common practice of all active religious congregations in the 19th century. During the political turmoil which followed World War I in many of the countries of the former Austro-Hungarian empire, some of the sisters had been forced to return to their families temporarily because of the Communist threat. Upon their return to the Congregation, some of the sisters began to request permission to make occasional visits to their homes and families. The question was discussed at the General Chapter of 1924, at which time the Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna strictly forbade all such visits, making exceptions only to those sisters who were being sent to North or South America. These were permitted to make a brief farewell visit, primarily because it was expected that they would never return to Europe or see their families again. These regulations regarding home visitations were renewed by the 1926 General Chapter.

Despite the publication of these decisions, it is evident that the sisters paid little attention to the restrictions. They were requesting permissions for, and making frequent home visits--presumably with the knowledge and permission of the provincial and/or local superiors. Upon her return from Brazil soon after her election, Mother Kostka alluded to this practice in her circular of November 13, 1926 and reminded the sisters that such visits were strictly forbidden. “This bad habit crept into the Congregation during the war and has produced bitter fruit.”

Evidently her admonitions fell on deaf ears for on January 21, 1929 she warned: “Don’t ask for permission for home visits; they are not permitted under any conditions.” She reminded them of the Chapter Decisions of 1924 and 1926 and stated: “I do not have the right to change chapter decisions.” Over and over again, Mother Kostka would reiterate the official regulations regarding this question and sadly commented on the apparent indifference and disobedience of the sisters to these and other rules and regulations of the Congregation--a fact that caused her much sorrow and heartache. She begged that all regulations be kept as they were written, not as a sister would like to interpret them to her benefit. On December 28, 1930 she commented, “I am well aware that you judge
severely my regulations and those of the other authorities. Rest assured, every one of my decisions is made after much prayer, and the advice of my councilors.”

Two important decisions made by Mother Kostka which she considered essential to the spiritual welfare and development of the Congregation dealt with the first profession of vows and the perpetual commitment. Since its establishment in 1868 by Mother Franciska, the Congregation provided a single-year Novitiate before profession of vows. In the early days, few of the members even experienced a real canonical novitiate; the need for sisters to go to the convents which were being founded so rapidly precluded that year of formal spiritual training. Gradually, as the membership increased, the novices remained in the novitiate and were given training in the rudiments of the vows and religious observance. After temporary profession of vows, these were missioned to the
various convents and became part of the local communities. It was then that the
problems began to surface. The young religious, sometimes still in their teens,
exhibited signs of stubbornness, laziness, disobedience and pride, and more and more often the question was raised, “Why were these sisters permitted to pronounce their vows?”

Mother Kostka had experienced this problem in Hungary after the novices,
who had conducted themselves in an exemplary manner in the novitiate under her
direction, became professed religious. The same issue surfaced during her time
as superior and then provincial superior in the United States. As superior general she heard the same complaint when she made her official visitations. Finally, she decided that the condition could not be permitted to continue without causing irreparable harm to the Congregation as a whole and to the individual religious. Accordingly, with the full consent of her councilors, Mother Kostka applied to the Sacred Congregation for Religious on February 12, 1930, requesting

“…..that the Novitiate of one year in our Congregation be extended to
two years but so that for the validity of profession, the first year, duly gone through, should suffice. However in the second year the novices will be assigned to the performance of designated services. From their way of acting, and of conducting themselves in these occupations, the character of each is more clearly known and therefore it will be avoided more easily lest by chance an unworthy novice, or less suitable one, be admitted to the profession of vows.”

The requested permission was received on April 29, 1930 and Mother Kostka moved to implement the decision as quickly as possible. (GC VII, pp.. 167—168) A circular was dispatched on July 7, informing all provincials and house superiors that the two-year novitiate was to be established immediately in all provinces, and explained in detail the necessity for this move and the system to be followed hereafter.

She stated that in a proper1y conducted novitiate the novices are constantly under the eyes of the mistress; hence, there is not much chance for them to do anything drastic. Furthermore, one year was too short to be assured of the person’s fitness for community life. Under the new system, once the canonical year was completed, a novice could be sent to a convent near to the mother or provincial house and assigned to a particular duty. Superiors having second-year novices assigned to their houses would have to pay special attention to these sisters and observe them carefully in order to be able to give a valid opinion as to whether or not the subject was deserving of pronouncing her vows. With these new safeguards, Mother Kostka hoped that the authorities would be more successful in retaining only good and trustworthy members in the Congregation.

Similarly, a more stringent system was developed to ensure that only worthy members would be admitted to perpetual vows so as not to have to face the undesirable task of applying to the Sacred Congregation for Religious for a dispensation from perpetual vows. In 1926, many sisters pronounced their final vows after three years in temporary profession. Every member was required to apply personally to the superior general for permission to make this ultimate commitment. It would appear that some sisters delayed requesting this privilege because after perusing the list of members with temporary vows, Mother Kostka wrote on April 4, 1926, reminding these sisters that many of them had made their first vows more than three years ago. These were told to apply for permission to make their perpetual commitment as soon as possible.

Permission to renew one’s vows or to make perpetual profession was not to be expected to be automatic. Responding to criticism that some of the sisters had been denied the right to renew their vows, Mother Kostka wrote:
“...it is not against Canon Law if the superior general, with the concurrence of her assistants, denies a sister who has committed a serious fault the right to renew her vows. This is always a warning of possible dismissal.” She further remonstrated:

I will permit only those sisters to make final profession in three years who have striven to be virtuous. The superior general has the right to extend the time by three more years. You will find all this in the Holy Rule. I advise you that, instead of criticizing, you study the Holy Rules better. (January 21, 1929).

To provide further spiritual training in preparation for the various stages of religious life, in May 1930 Mother Kostka decreed that all candidates before receiving the habit, novices before first profession and sisters before pronouncing their perpetual vows were required to have a four-week preparation, culminating in a ten-day retreat preceding the event. During this time, these members were to be freed from all secular studies so that they could concentrate on their preparation for these important steps in their religious life.

The perpetually professed members of the Congregation were an integral
part of the process of admitting sisters with temporary vows to the final step. At the time that a sister asked for permission to make her final commitment to God and the Congregation, questionnaires were sent out to a number of members with whom she had lived in community. Mother Kostka, in her circular of May 16, 1931, stressed the importance of completing these forms with great conscientiousness and honesty, preceded by fervent prayers to the Holy Spirit. She warned:
It is false charity to say “I will not harm this sister.” When one helps an unworthy member to make perpetual profession she is hurting the Congregation. Therefore, be sincere and honest in filling in the information. A short paragraph about the character of the sister at the end of the questionnaire would be very helpful.

Gradually, the practice of admitting sisters to perpetual profession of vows in three years was abandoned in most instances, and final profession of vows after six years became the rule rather than the exception.

Mother Kostka was very strict in demanding from all the sisters obedience to, and respect for their authorities. She found criticism and murmuring to be “. . .an epidemic in the Congregation,” and stated that a loyal religious must always side with her superior and follow her orders. She queried: “Are you waiting for the superior to ask you whether her orders are pleasing to you? It is not the duty of the superior to tell you the reasons for an order or decision. Leave the responsibility to answer for this to the authorities to whom God gives the necessary graces for the leadership in the Congregation.” December 28, 1930)

This respect, however, was not to be totally one-sided. The superiors are also reminded of their obligation to deal with the sisters with respect and motherly affection and to be patient with them. They were urged to be real “mothers” to all in their charge so that the sisters would love, rather than fear them.

To nourish and assist the superiors in their arduous task, Mother Kostka established a program of conferences for superiors. Aimed at training superiors in performing the duties of their office more wisely by explaining to them points on which they might be in doubt, these conferences were conducted from March 23, 1927 to November 11, 1937. At first they were held every month; gradually, this decreased to approximately four times a year. The provincial superiors from the neighboring countries, all the Austrian superiors
as well as those for whom traveling would not be too difficult were expected to attend. The topics of discussion at these conferences were to be kept as secrets of their office.

After the first conference of March 23, 1927, which dealt with the treatment of the sisters, the themes were developed very much in keeping with conduct and expectations Mother Kostka demanded from the sisters. The need for strict observance of the Holy Rule and vows, and fidelity in all things, great and small -- supported by the good example, wisdom and love of the superior--was repeated in conference after conference. If her duties made it impossible for her to present the talk, Mother Kostka assigned either Sister Donata, one of the provincial superiors or a more mature superior to present the topic.

In the first conference of 1927, the manifold and multi-faceted responsibilities which rested on the shoulders of each superior were addressed.

She has to care for the internal and external well-being of the house, to maintain good discipline, to work for the continued growth of the institute, and to perform the many greater and lesser duties of her office.

However, the superior has no more important task than to treat the sisters well and to be a loving mother and understanding leader. If she has the love and trust of her sisters, she can expect not only great sacrifices from them; rather, it will be easier to lead them to greater good and strengthen the wellbeing of the Congregation.

Mother Kostka remarked that a good superior needed to develop three special spiritual traits: vigilance, wisdom, and love, carefully integrated.

Working from these three requisites, Mother Kostka proceeded in subsequent conferences to apply these to the various segments of religious life. She pointed out that the daily program of each sister in all houses of the Congregation should be comprised of prayer, work, and recreation, and that it was the duty of the superior to see that all the sisters performed and participated in all three. (June 7, 1927)

The nurturing of religious decorum, the development of character, constancy in prayer, encouragement of all sisters to take their fair share of all work, and the necessity for recreation for all were discussed in subsequent conferences in 1927. With regard to recreation, the superiors were reminded that both spirit and body need to be refreshed.

Work must be divided in such a way that all sisters can participate in recreation, at least every other week if the work does not allow total participation. ... The superior must see to it that charity is practiced —— between superior and sisters, and sisters with sisters. When there is good camaraderie, there will also be order and discipline; when the community drags itself to recreation because they have to it may be easy to discover that things are not right in the house. (January 1, 1928)

Just as the sisters were expected to practice poverty so, too, the superiors were exhorted to remember that the money they administered did not belong to them. Poverty was to regulate all expenditures and the superiors were reminded that they were not free to disburse money as they pleased. (February 29, 1928)

A point stressed in a number of her circulars was repeated by Mother Kostka in the above-cited conference, namely: if a convent was fortunate to have a surplus of funds, the remaining money was to be sent either to the Motherhouse or the provincial house. The authorities would then be able to utilize the sum for needed expenses, especially to support the infirmaries, which had no independent income.

It was also at this February, 1928 conference that Mother Kostka provided the superiors with the list of prayers to be recited in every convent of the Congregation: novenas before great feasts, daily intentions, etc. At the same time they were reminded not to overburden the sisters with prayers of their own choosing; “...then prayer will lose its efficacy, it will be a chore, not a joy.” Also, at this conference, the superiors were instructed that henceforth the letters F.D.C. were to be used with the name of each sister.

The superiors were reminded that they were to set the prime example in fidelity to the vows and religious obligations. “It would be sad if a superior were to live as though her office dispensed her from her vows. The sisters know full well that their superior has certain orders to follow; if they see she neglects them they will do likewise.” (April 3, 1929)

At another time, she would chide:

Sometimes to gain human respect a superior will not really enforce all regulations. She wants to gain love through her geniality and indulgence… …The sisters should know that she will never allow whatever is forbidden by the Holy Rule, even if she is regarded as being too strict. (February 6, 1930)

Five years later she found it necessary to repeat the same exhortation:

If she (the superior) wants to safeguard her authority, she must be an example of giving full attention to the Holy Rule -- if she does not, the sisters can begin to be lax.. . . If a superior sees God in her higher superiors and accepts their orders as coming from God, then her authority stands on firm ground. She simply says:
“Reverend Mother wishes it!” (April 23, 1935)

Although she always worried about the spirit of the world creeping into the Congregation and lessening religious observance and fervor, Mother Kostka was aware that as an active, apostolic Congregation, it was impossible to shut out the world as the contemplative orders could do. Her solution:
“God and my vocation before everything else” should be the motto of each sister. She felt certain that if they held fast to this statement, the world would not harm their spiritual life. The superior, on her part, was obliged to see that the sisters progressed in the skills needed for their particular duties without being tainted by the spirit of the time. (October 24, 1928)

Clearly, whether exhorting or admonishing the members of the Congre— or the superiors she appointed as leaders of a province or a convent, -her Kostka’s message throughout her terms as superior general was the same: All were expected to be religious who were faithful to the Holy Rule and their vows.

The Congregation is a whole, comprised of many members--the sisters. ...As long as the branch is on the vine it will be fruitful; when it breaks off, it will be barren -- fit to be cast into the fire. .. .We wear the same habit and call each other Sister. .. . Love one another. (January 30, 1936)

Only with such a strong spiritual foundation, firmly imbedded in the heart of each Daughter of Divine Charity, did Mother Kostka feel that the Congregation could grow, flourish and survive in its apostolic mission to the people of God. So it had been planned by Mother Franciska, and so she would continue. It was this deep spirituality that Mother Kostka worked tirelessly to inculcate and strengthen not only by words, but especially by her own example of total dedication and fidelity in all things.

St. Augustine

2008-08-28T07:11:00.000-07:00

Today is the feast of St. Augustine. We were always told that he is one of our major patron saints, but, as a young sister, it was hard to identify with the long-ago and far-away bishop. As in all things, time brings understanding to those whose hearts and minds are open. Today I see

St. Augustine as a model for one who is passionately in love with God and who sees the reflection of His beauty everywhere in our world. The wisdom of St. Augustine who taught groups of consecrated persons how to live together in a reasonable and moderate common life. We join Mother Franziska in thanking the great Saint for the model of his Holy Rule.

September 2008 Franziska Notes

2008-08-21T10:56:00.000-07:00

Franziska Notes
No.5/9 September 2008

One of the greatest and most widespread sufferings of our day is loneliness. As the small neighborhoods and the front stoop disappeared many people became relegated to their own homes as their family members moved thousands of miles away. Mother Franziska was no stranger to loneliness. When she left the successful venture in Switzerland and came to Vienna, not at all sure of the future or where she would even get a livelihood, she suffered such loneliness that she became physically ill. In this pain she turned with all her heart and trust to God. She was ready to die if it should be his will but, perhaps more difficult, she was also patiently waiting for His will for her to become clear. She finally went out of her lonely room to do God’s work.

Loneliness can also make us ill today. It can also send us down useless paths as we try to fill the void in destructive ways. Loneliness can lead to addictions, to either substances or to the electronic passive companionship of the computer or television. In the life of Mother Franziska loneliness was a door to grace. She reached out first to God and then to a world of His needy children with effects right into our own day.

Everywhere there are people who are lonelier than we. In Church groups, in nursing homes, down our own street, we can find people who need our friendship and practical help. Beginning with a smile and greeting, advancing to kind words and companionship and finally to little acts of service.

The remedy for loneliness that is always ready at hand is the turning to the Lord in prayer. We are never really alone and He is the companion who loves us and may even come with tangible comfort. Jesus can open the landscape and show us to whom we can write a letter, make a phone call, pay a visit. We become His instrument bringing joy to other suffering souls.

Mother Kostka Bauer

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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.”