Sr. M. Leonore Mohl

LED BY HIS WORD,

A WOMAN FOLLOWED,

OTHERS CAME.

MOTHER M. FRANZISKA LECHNER

1833 – 1894

Foundress of the Congregation

of the Daughters of Divine Charity

Vienna, 1993 – Manuscript Edition

Translated from the German by:

Sister M. Caroline Bachmann, FDC

assisted by:

Sister Marie Claire Weaver, FDC

Hackettstown, N.J., U.S.A., December, 1993

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword 2

Introduction 3

Rooted in Vienna ........................................................... 4

The Vision in her Soul – A Divine Revelation? ............... 4

Bavarian Earth – A rootedness that left its mark .......... 6

FRANZISKA ON THE WAY - GOAL ORIENTED

1. With the School Sisters in Munich ......................... 10

2. In the Royal Bavarian Central Institute

for Deaf and Dumb ...................................................... 12

3. As co-foundress of the Charitable work of the Priest

DePozzo in Switzerland ............................................... 14

Vienna - Night! The Vision Glows ................................ 18

Listen Daughter, see and incline your ear ................... 22

Open to the World ....................................................... 25

Mother Franziska builds the Lord a Church ................. 28

Mother Franziska's Community –

Reversals were not lacking .......................................... 32

Many-faceted Support ................................................. 39

The Deep Joy in the Wondering Heart ........................ 40

The Great Transformation ........................................... 45

How does it Continue? ................................................ 49

Unity in Diversity ......................................................... 51

2

FOREWORD

On November 21, 1993 the foundation day of the

Congregation of the Daughters of Divine Charity

comes again for the one hundred and twenty-fifth

time. Since a complete account of the life and work of

the Foundress, Mother Franziska Lechner is still in

process, these pages are intended to give at least a

small glimpse into the essential events which took

place along the way that God lead her.

In her soul Mother Franziska carried what she was

convinced was a God-given vision. She saw the

realization of this vision as her call. She succeeded

and this you will read in the following lines which

include also an account of the further development of

the Congregation after her death.

3

INTRODUCTION

One can go into a museum and make a superficial

contemplation of the events of the past. This will not lead

to a spiritual enrichment, if that was even desired. One

can open this little book and read it in the same way. The

deep relationship to the woman who inspired us as young

women to do as she did, should be carefully cultivated by

the Daughters of Divine Charity, therefore, let us look

beyond the familiar letters of the alphabet to the path that

the Foundress of our Congregation Mother Franziska

Lechner walked, pointed out by God as she firmly believed

and leading to a divinely appointed goal. All along the way

she encountered human beings marked by the

psychological confusion of the times and oppressed by the

social needs of the society, often cast out of their familiar

mileiux.

Here is an attempt, working from available sources, to

understand how Franziska Lechner came through her daily

experiences to a religious activity in response to God's call,

how she, in her own words, gave herself totally to God

alone in love, and how this love urged her to reach out to

people in need, for whom she finally founded her

Congregation.

To her program of life, which Mother Franziska gave her

daughters in the motto she herself chose, we also give our

"fiat" and are convinced that people still need us, but

continually "renewed" in the spirit of the call of Pope John

XXIII.

4

ROOTED IN VIENNA

It was on November 21, 1868, the Feast of the

Presentation of Mary, that Mother Franziska Lechner

founded the Congregation of the Daughters of Divine

Charity in Vienna.

The beautiful, bright May day of 1869 darkened

toward night. Slowly Franziska walked through the

empty rooms of the house which she recently

acquired in Fasangasse 4 in Vienna's third district. In

just a few days her first co-workers, — her first

sisters, would move into their Mother House, furnish

it and prepare it with her for the blessing on May 26.

Father Director Steiner from the Royal City parish

church of St. Augustine was to be the celebrant. Then

the young community, for the sake of his love, would

be totally present for God and for all the people in

need who were already reaching for her helping

hand. Her heart almost burst for joy as her

long-cherished inner vision began to live.

THE VISION IN HER SOUL – A DIVINE REVELATION?

"From my earliest childhood, I was imbued with the

desire to consecrate my entire life to the service of

God and the poor; with the companionship of

like-spirited young women, I yearned to make this

ideal a reality."

5

As the sixteen year old girl was discerning her

vocation, this vision was before her, having been

formed much earlier in her soul by God's guiding

hand. It could not have been something purely of her

own design, so wonderfully did it encourage her. She

saw herself in a group of contemporaries who shared

her life goal, wanting to dedicate themselves totally

to God and for the sake of His love, to invest all their

strength and abilities in serving the people who

struggled against material or psycho-spiritual need.

"All for God and all for the Poor" was the divine call

that was issued to her. To follow Jesus, to learn from

him to speak with and move among the people with

practical help — this could be done better together

than alone.

She learned to be with and to work with others as a

young child in school. Would bringing salvation,

"saving souls", as Franziska would often think and

say, now take place within a religious community as

well as for the many others.

Although not quite clearly, she already envisioned a

community whose members, through their lives and

work would proclaim and witness the Kingdom

already present.

She prayed to God, "All for our Congregation" so that

his call would receive a worthy response from herself

and her community. Franziska interpreted the vision

6

as she understood it, even though a way to bring it

about hadn't opened up. She did not spend much

time thinking about it.

Since God had kept her sight on this vision through

the various phases of her life, He surely would also

lead her on the path toward the fulfillment of His call

and her desire. Of this she was certain.

Her motto, "All for God, for the Poor and for our

Congregation" became the life program of the

foundress of the Congregation of the Daughters of

Divine Charity as well as the heritage and mission she

passed on to her sisters.

BAVARIAN EARTH

A ROOTEDNESS THAT LEFT ITS MARK …

In the rolling landscape of forest, field, and lakes of

upper Bavaria, held together by the flowing strand of

the Inn river, lies Franziska's home village of Edling,

near Wasserburg. Franziska's parents owned and

operated a large farm which included a license to

transport merchandise and produce. Her father

described himself as farmer and dealer in produce,

that is, a merchant.

Within the happy band of five sisters little Franzi, as

she was called at home, grew up under the watchful

7

and caring eye of her mother. Four other children,

among them the only boy, had died in early

childhood.

The nearby parish church, separated from the family

home only by the street, was soon considered by

Franzi to be her second home.

In the village school she soon attracted attention

through her lively spirit, her quick comprehension,

her good mind, her extraordinary eagerness to learn

and thirst for knowledge. Her vivid imagination often

found expression in her inborn speaking talent. She

demonstrated an outgoing friendliness and an affable

way with children. She would assemble the village

children after school and after Mass for fun and, as

people soon noticed, for lessons. Especially on

Sundays the little procession headed for the orchard

where there was also a shed. Most important was the

branch of the large pear tree which Franziska

designated as her pulpit. From this podium she

repeated the Pastor's homily, spiced with her own

additions so that even adults would join her

audience. With great emphasis she told the children

that they must be kind and friendly to one another as

Jesus was when the mothers brought their children to

him. If the children were attentive she rewarded

them with an exciting story or one that would move

them to tears. The village families were often very

8

pleased to know that their children were in Franzi's

care since the work in house and field took up all

their time and energy. On Sundays after Mass the

people of Edling often sat awhile in the inn to

exchange their joys and sorrows. All things then

became easier to bear and, in the meantime, the

Lechner's Franzi cared for the children.

Years later Franziska would tell her Religious Sisters

how she would kneel in prayer every evening before

the crucifix in the large family room. There she

learned from her mother that the Heart of the

Redeemer was opened and burned with a flame of

love for all people but especially for children. With

her sisters she learned to ask everything from the

good God and to thank him also for all things: her

parents, her young friends, the poor in the village and

the world, for the many good things that she

possessed and for those that she was permitted or

urged to give away.

She was confirmed at the age of nine, but received

First Holy Communion only at age twelve. She

remembered the event as a great festival. On that

day she required no company. Franziska wanted to be

alone with Jesus, entrusting him with all that a twelve

year old had in her heart. For the first time she began

to think about the years after her schooling. A vision

wafted before her, unclear in its outlines, and

9

indistinct in its content. There was no time to

dialogue with Jesus about it. Her father had need of

her.

The carter, or transporter, did not only work his land.

He also purchased and sold small animals, fowl, milk

products and produce. Since he had no sons to learn

and inherit the carter's work, he counted on his

enthusiastic daughter, Franzi. Although she was a girl,

he considered her able to handle the duties of a

merchant. When she completed her education in the

village school she was permitted to accompany her

father to the market in Wasserburg. He, in turn,

enriched the heart and spirit of his daughter from his

own rich experience and vast knowledge acquired

through reading. He had great interest in the culture

of the Bavarian people and the common homeland he

shared with his family and the many persons he came

to know during his life.

Franziska understood that people recognized her

father for his integrity, honesty, sense of

responsibility and duty as well as his friendly,

outgoing manner. He was respected among his fellow

citizens.

Franzi had to learn wisdom, appropriate manners,

mathematics and precise book-keeping skills.

Weighing and selling produce had been her favorite

activities since childhood. Once a Religious Sister

10

passed by the Lechners’ stand at the market. Mr.

Lechner gave her only a basket of eggs, since she was

unable to carry more, having still to reach the

carriage for Munich. Without hesitation Franziska was

prepared not only to help her carry, but also to ride

along. This time her father waved her aside. He felt

Franziska still had to mature and learn much. He had

been noticing his daughter's serious interest in

religious life for quite awhile now, but had preferred

to remain silent.

FRANZISKA ON THE WAY - GOAL ORIENTED

1. With the School Sisters in Munich

Some months had passed since Franziska's 16th

birthday. Her two eldest sisters were already thinking

of marriage and their conversations were dominated

by that theme. The younger ones had remained in

church where a missionary told the school children

about the pagan children in Africa. Franziska was

alone with her parents. Her father soon noticed from

their conversation that she would not be following in

his footsteps, although he thought the future of the

family farm depended on her. He had been preparing

her for years for the work of carter merchant, while

her mother gratefully noticed how much work her

daughter had already taken from her. "Where there is

need, don't look away, but help generously; don't

11

pass by the social needs of the time, but do

something!" …weren't these the principles her

parents expressed? Now Franziska wanted to go her

own way, perhaps to the big city, where she could

lighten the burden of the poor and save souls,

because it was God's will for her.

Her parents were deeply religious and prayerful

people. Together they made a pilgrimage to Our Lady

in Altötting and then her father brought her to the

Poor School Sisters of Notre Dame in the convent on

Anger Street. "A blessing shall you be", thought her

father as he traced the sign of the cross on his

beloved daughter's forehead as his wife had quietly

done previously.

Was Franziska now on the path to the goal that the

Lord had chosen for her?

As a candidate she learned the book binding craft in

the convent's own shop. From written sources in the

Mother House of the School Sisters we learn that

Franziska was admitted to temporary vows in August,

1854 and, since the work in the book bindery, as she

herself said, was in the long run harming her health,

she was educated in and became a teacher in

needlework and handicrafts. In March, 1855, she

received the grade "Excellent, at the public

examinations. In the following years Franziska worked

in the preparation of fine needlework in the various

12

institutions of the School Sisters.

Comparable to the courses offered today, Franziska

was a needlework teacher with an additional

certification in the theoretical and practical domestic

sciences. The School Sisters did not make use of her

as a teacher and educator. Her natural inclinations

and inborn talents were not being used, she felt, in

the work that was given her. Her thoughts and the

movements of her soul at that time went with her

through life and into death. She never spoke of them.

Franziska was not used according to the essential gifts

of her being. She must have felt this deeply and her

personal identity suffered. As far as she could tell, her

situation was hopeless. After almost twelve years of

convent life with the School Sisters, she, herself,

decided to part company with them.

This happened in 1861. Her parents had died, one

after the other in 1860 and 1861 and, for obvious

reasons, the family property was sold.

2. In the Royal Bavarian Central

Institute for Deaf and Dumb in Munich

In spite of everything, Franziska did not feel alone.

Even now she felt herself safe in God's protection.

"Since you, O God, are my stronghold, send forth

your light and your truth; let these be my guide." She

had to pull herself together and find a way to earn

13

her living. In doing this she came face-to-face with

the burning questions of city life at that time. She

herself experienced the poverty of the masses, the

needs of women and girls who came in droves from

the country to the city looking for work and who, in

their inexperience, often fell victim to flatterers and

abuse of every sort.

She comprehended the new fortunes connected with

the first industrial revolution and noticed both those

who had much and who constantly strove for more

and those who had nothing and struggled simply to

survive. The spiritual poverty and loneliness of the

many touched her heart. She was certain that there

was a great safety anchor in the infinite love for

Christ. It was to Him that one must lead the spiritually

poor, and provide practical aide to those who

suffered in misery for lack of the material necessities.

Ozanam's St. Vincent de Paul Societies were a radical

breakthrough, declaring their solidarity with the poor

of their day and, as a community of prayer, doing the

works of salvation in the spirit of a lived Christianity.

They pledged themselves to a practical fight against

poverty in all its forms.

Franziska also heard the warning cry of Bishop

Emmanuel von Ketteler of Mainz. She understood the

necessity of social reform that was being demanded

with an ever-louder voice. She herself wanted

14

nothing more than to realize the total gift of herself

to the poor for the love of God. But just where did

God want to use her, where was the path to this goal

for her who had no material resources at all but only

herself to give?

In the Autumn of 1864 she received a reasonably

secure position as a teacher and educator in the

Royal Bavarian Deaf and Dumb Home in Munich. This

permitted her to give all her empathy and her

maternal warmth to children who were physically,

but also in a way, psychologically handicapped.

3. As co-foundress of the Charitable work of the

Priest DePozzo in Switzerland

In the summer of 1865 the Swiss Priest De Pozzo who

was taking an architectural course in Munich crossed

paths with Franziska. There are no literal sources to

tell us how this meeting came about.

In Franziska's later writings we learn that the priest

she came to know had a plan to found a social and

charitable work in Graubünden, his home. He had

already purchased a larger piece of property with his

own fortune and begun to outfit a house for the

purpose. For years he had been thinking of gathering

young people, especially girls, in his mountain home

to give them an educational opportunity that would

help them find their way in the rapidly changing social

circumstances. He wanted to include a place in his

15

institutes for the very poor. Later he would also take

care of the sick, those wounded in war, refugees, and

those in some other kind of misery. The land

surrounding the source of the Rhine had been for

many centuries, a region of travel and immigration.

Here De Pozzo chose Ilanz, the "first city on the

Rhine", as the center for his social work. He shared all

his plans with Franziska, whom he wanted to win over

as his first co-worker and co-foundress.

His plan, to found the "Charitable Congregation of

Divine Love", even though non-canonically based, but

with the ideal of loving God above all and one's

neighbor, caught Franziska's attention.

In De Pozzo's description she could see the coming

about of a work such as she herself could envision.

Here, it seemed two people, independently, had the

same response to God's call giving themselves

unselfishly and without reserve to serve the needy.

Once again the vision of the future arose in

Franziska's soul. She did not hesitate long to give up

her secure position, and uproot herself from her

home soil. As early as the Autumn of 1865 – the Royal

Bavarian Central Deaf and Dumb Institute had given

her excellent references – Franziska accepted De

Pozzo's invitation to come to Ilanz in Switzerland.

Two years of common work, well organized and with

the tasks shared according to the founding gifts of

16

each one, caused the charitable work to grow and

prosper. Soon those who benefited recognized the

valuable work. The general praise, mentioned in De

Pozzo's letters, motivated him to seek means from

good persons, but also from government officials, to

further "the charitable activity of God's love."

In the first half of 1867 a school for the continuing

education of girls was opened in Dornbirn in the

Vorarlberg region of Austria and shortly before this,

an entirely new field of endeavor opened in

Ebersberg, Bavaria, very close to Franziska's own

birthplace. A nursery providing care and education

for the day-laborers' children provided a true social

service for the area.

De Pozzo, as initiator and founder, was the director

and as Priest, the spiritual leader of the entire

undertaking.

Franziska was co-foundress and manager of the

common work and Superior of the slowly forming

community of sisters which were to carry on and

secure the future of the work. De Pozzo had given her

a clearly articulated schedule and firm spiritual

guidelines.

We can see clearly from the preserved letters of De

Pozzo to Franziska how important a spiritual guide he

had become for her. She was unable to carry out all

his ideas. They learned from one another. The

17

essential spiritual counsels of De Pozzo, the

guidelines about the structure of a spiritual

community and how the members live and are

continually nourished by the spirit of love,

accompanied her throughout her life, and, combined

with her own principles, became more unconsciously

than consciously, the way she would live and in which

she would later also encourage her sisters.

Father De Pozzo, who in earlier years had been a

member of the Jesuits still remained true to the

motto of the Society of Jesus, "All for the Greater

Glory of God", to which he had added, "and all from

the love of God". He was described as a good person

by those who knew him. His unselfishness secured his

work. The sheer quantity of ideas which came to him,

causing a certain overextended working method that

was somewhat erratic, unduly burdening his own

nervous system and that of those in his environment,

brought on occasional misunderstandings with

Franziska, causing her suffering, as she herself tells

us.

A teacher from the Rhineland, Babette Gasteyer,

whom Franziska accepted, probably on De Pozzo's

instructions, came as a mature, educated women to

the Ilanz community. It seems that she and Franziska

never understood one another. Unintentionally, the

two women caused one another trouble, making

18

cooperative work almost impossible. De Pozzo,

however, finally found in Babette the co-worker who

could encourage and support him and share his

concerns. He recognized this at their first meeting.

The sisters' community was not yet firmly

established, the rules that De Pozzo had composed in

that era so difficult for the Church, still not approved

by the Bishop.

Franziska did not sever any firm bonds when, on her

own initiative, she left De Pozzo's fruitful ministry in

the late Autumn of 1867.

VIENNA – NIGHT! THE VISION GLOWS

In the spring of 1868 Franziska traveled to Budapest

and Vienna. In the Imperial City, which attracted her

very much, she discovered the same social problems

that she had encountered in Munich, that no one

would fight for the poor homeless girls, the young

women subjected without protection to the dangers

of the metropolis, with no hope of admission to the

institutes of higher education, which were not even

open as a matter of course to the daughters of the

wealthy. There were the children without a future,

who, working like adults in their parents' fields, far

from the city could not attend school, and also, the

destitute, the most forgotten.

19

Franziska soon made contact with some influential

men in the social services realm and with a priest who

encouraged her in her charitable plan to help, first of

all the homeless girls. She carried on correspondence

with some of these people and so, learned in late

summer that the city was calling for someone to open

just such an institute.

On October 25, 1868, Franziska went to Vienna with

her modest luggage and small savings with which she

hoped to survive the first months.

The priest, whom she never names, could only

encourage her in the unselfish work and her hoped

for patron told her that there would be no grant

available from the charity fund for an institute that

wasn't even in existence. He had been, as often

happens, misinformed. He was sorry, but could do

nothing.

Night with its darkness and anxiety covered Franziska,

alone in a foreign land. All the lights had gone out in

the city of her dreams.

Without funds, ill, and, as she felt, abandoned by all

who had approved of her plan to help the socially

destitute, she was certain that death was near. She

had placed her trust in people, in Christians, and was

totally disappointed. Did God now ask the sacrifice of

her life? She repeatedly prayed that she should die

rather than be in danger of neglecting to fulfill God's

20

will or her obligation to her neighbor with the proper

generosity. Suddenly, she did not know how, she got

up, took her heavy cloth bag and went out into the

streets of the city, went the way of her mission.

Sisters who drink from the fountain of Divine Love

and live this love out daily in community, sisters who

want to pass on this love to persons in need,

especially to children, this is the religious community

of the Daughters of Divine Charity which she wanted

to found and to lead as General Superior. Was this

the vision that God had planted in the heart of the

little country girl from Edling and was it His will that it

be fulfilled?

At the Ministry of Culture, where her steps had taken

her, Franziska received permission to found a

religious community according to the regulations she

had presented. As its purpose, Franziska had written:

The Convent is the focal point of spiritual life

and unselfish charitable activity.

The planned institute offers homeless girls

protection, trains them for their work, and in

case they become unemployed and in their

free time, becomes a home and a place for

continuing education, accepts them without

payment and cares for them when they are

unable to work.

Orphans are accepted without cost, trained,

21

taught and given a vocational education for

their future well-being.

On November 21 the written approval arrived along

with a permit to solicit alms for Franziska's work.

Franziska had sublet a tiny apartment with private

entrance in the Taubstummengasse 5. All alone she

celebrated the Foundation Day of her Congregation

on this already mentioned November 21, 1868, the

Feast of Mary's Presentation. She needed co-workers.

She trusted with unshakeable faith that God would

send them and concentrated on the vision in her

heart. She turned to various confessors and asked for

support. She also searched for her sisters literally

along the highways and byways, as she began

soliciting alms for her work. One of her first

co-workers, Juditha Köck, the later Sister M. Josefa,

who searched in vain for a "convent" up and down

the Taubstumnengasse recounted later, "As I climbed

the steps and timidly knocked the Foundress opened

the door and ushered me into the room with a

genuine friendliness. As she served me a little snack,

she inducted me into her plans and infected me with

so much enthusiasm that I forgot my disappointment

and courageously and decisively promised, since God

had brought me here, to be a good and faithful

daughter to her. So from that moment on I cheerfully

shared all the difficulties, efforts and sacrifices of the

22

early beginning of the Congregation with the

Foundress and her first companions."

In the meantime, the already mentioned Anton

Steiner, of St. Augustin, gladly accepted the post of

spiritual director and co-founder of the Congregation.

He was known in Vienna as an outstanding preacher

and recognized author.

In January 1869 the Foundress began dealings with

the owner of the house in Fasangasse 4 intending to

purchase it.

In May she took a crucifix, the statues of Mary and St.

Joseph, two glass candle sticks and the necessary

household articles with the little group of her sisters

to take possession of the first Mother House, whose

partially furnished rooms had been cleaned and

prepared for occupation by her industrious helpers.

Right after singing the TE DEUM in the temporary

chapel, whose tabernacle was still empty, "Frau

Mutter" as she wanted to be addressed, began

community life with them, Franziska's inner vision

giving way to the reality.

"LISTEN DAUGHTER, SEE AND INCLINE YOUR EAR…"

Ps. 45, 11

To be with Christ, to listen to Him, to give oneself, in

union with Him totally to the Father, trusting in the

23

guidance of the Holy Spirit, and then to try to

experience God's love among the people who need

us and there find the true meaning of our lives, is the

mission of the Daughter of Divine Charity until today.

Mother Franziska could put all the joyful and

sorrowful events of the day into context with a

spontaneously remembered quotation from the Bible

and so tangibly demonstrated how much her

spirituality was shaped by the Sacred Scriptures.

To follow Jesus, their Lord, was to be the most

beautiful and precious part of life, but the sisters

were never to forget that this included the Way of

the Cross with all its adversity. Each Station at which

Jesus was forced to halt, hid a new torment. Mother

Franziska had a deep devotion to the Cross and

always found new reasons to glance at the Crucified,

for suffering makes no truce in this world. The world

is beautiful but it also bleeds from countless wounds

and sisters are not excused from suffering. The

greatest misfortune is separation from God and

Mother Franziska expressed the common obligation:

People the Daughters of Divine Charity would seek

out for the sake of the Lord, or such people that God

simply placed in their path, would not be left isolated.

Perhaps they would let themselves be brought to

Jesus. The Foundress would take on any burden in

order to "save souls".

24

Mother Franziska had brought with her a large

crucifix with the Sorrowful Mother at its base which

had been in her family for two hundred years, as she

herself recounts. She clung to the Mother of God with

a childlike love, into which she enfolded all her

sisters. At the Clothing ceremony the sister's new

name would always be joined with that of Mary, a

great majority of her convents would be known by

the title of Mary and the sisters, according to the

example of the Jesuits, recommended Our Lady's

Sodalities, with the motto "To Jesus through Mary",

as a good Christian way of life.

Mother Franziska, and naturally, her sisters,

constantly called on St. Joseph in their many

temporal necessities. As Protector of the Holy Family,

an image familiar to her from the Church in her home

village, she felt he had to be a good steward and

would be able to get the necessary funds. He often

rewarded her persevering confidence.

Mother Franziska lived, rejoiced and suffered with

the Church. She kept the liturgical calendar always at

hand and lived it from the heart. Papal Encyclicals,

Bishops' letters, prescriptions and personal advice

which she often sought, became important guidelines

for her community. Besides participation in the daily

Sacrifice of the Mass, which from the beginning was,

and remains, the source and center of the spiritual

25

life, the sisters had specific private and common

obligatory prayers and very much work. Under the

leadership of their "Frau Mutter" they all wanted to

learn to make the work that took over a large part of

their day and often also the night, into prayer.

OPEN TO THE WORLD

"To do good, to give joy, to make happy and to lead

to Heaven" so Mother Franziska "with joyful heart

and happy personality" encouraged her sisters as

they went to their work.

As they had planned, the Daughters of Divine Charity,

from the earliest days, shared their house with young

girls who came to the metropolis seeking

employment - in factories or households - and

needed a roof over their heads.

In the early seventies of the 19th Century Mother

Franziska succeeded in opening Marian Institutes in

various cities of the Danube Empire, offering refuge

to homeless girls. In May 1869 she had already

received a license to function as an employment

agency.

In a time when there were as yet no laws regulating

care of the sick, accident victims, retired workers, or

unemployment insurance, the Foundress with her

special sensitivity for the needs of the socially

26

marginalized, and therefore especially endangered

young women, demonstrated that sisters motivated

by love and guided by practical feminine instincts,

while not solving social problems, could certainly give

concrete help to the afflicted persons.

In late Autumn of 1873 Mother Franziska built a large

convent in Breitenfurt near Vienna in the healthy

country air, for women who had become unable to

work in household service and often had to rely solely

on meager or nonexistent savings. The sisters

conducted a large farm in order to be able to shelter

and care for them for little or no -rent payment.

Mother Franziska called this convent which she loved

to visit often herself, and which also served for rest

and recuperation for exhausted or ill sisters, and as

recreation for the young candidate students, "St.

Joseph's Refuge".

A very short distance from the Refuge she purchased;

some smaller houses amidst a large park area in

fragrant air and set up various children's recreation

homes. "Maria Hilf", a house in a particularly

beautiful area of meadow and trees which soon grew

into a forest inviting longer walks, became a

convalescent home. The quiet house accepted older

priests who needed quiet and yet wanted to continue

some spiritual service. The doors of this house were

also open to servant girls who were dismissed from

27

hospitals and needed a place to convalesce and

restore their health.

Mother Franziska did not stop at seeking

employment, providing temporary housing, caring for

the old and sick. She worked first for the careful

training of the servant girls in the basics of domestic

science, enlarged the Mother House in order to

provide one or more year courses of continuing

education in economics, commerce and banking,

fashion and household sewing, and handicrafts. Later

music and foreign languages followed. These

beginnings led to the elementary and higher schools

that the Congregation conducts to this day.

Mother Franziska knew all too well that education

could not just be grafted on. At the end of the first

decade as she had a greater number of educated

sisters on hand, she opened Kindergartens in all her

convents and soon added a thriving system of basic

education to which she attached provision for

boarding students. In the decades to come the

Daughters of Divine Charity completed their

educational enterprises with academic and technical

high schools in several countries of Europe and North

and South America.

Education must be deeply rooted, include the total

person and lead to a Christian mastery of life. From

her personal experience, Mother Franziska saw

28

education as capital that would bring high return

provided it was properly invested.

Mother Franziska invested much interest and energy

in schools, from the writing of rules to the curriculum,

from advice to principals to distribution of report

cards. She cared about her teachers, herself wrote

down important principles of education, admonished

the teaching sisters to prepare conscientiously for

their classes, and to be there for their students with

heart and soul. She never neglected to mention that

special concern for the poor and neglected belonged

to the very essential obligations of a convent school.

She loved after-school events, praised the

advancement of culture and useful occupation of free

time.

MOTHER FRANZISKA BUILDS THE LORD A CHURCH

Totally unexpected, in September of 1888, the

Foundress was offered the purchase of the Kerstan

House, built in 1884, at Jacquingasse 14, adjacent to

the Botanical Gardens, very near the Mother House.

She acted immediately. The Mother House, in spite of

the addition, still suffered from lack of space since it

now had to house, besides the servant girls, also the

necessary rooms for the home economics, continuing

education and the first grade of a private elementary

29

girls' boarding school for "the daughters of civil

servants and from lower middle class or very poor

families.

When Franziska Lechner arrived in Vienna the Church

was struggling against liberalism and defended the

recently signed Concordat of 1855. With her

Congregation, which she brought to birth in Vienna,

she wanted to serve God and the poor and to work

completely according to the mind of the Church and

within its regulations. As her work, with the

generosity and sacrifice of the first sisters was firmly

established in the '70s, developing and prospering

quickly, winning general approval everywhere, the

Foundress found the one-sided rupture of the

Concordat by the Austrian State very painful.

Mother Franziska had arrived at a time when the

significance of the private Catholic School as an

institute of Christian education and formation was

becoming visible. The mandate of Christian formation

as experienced in the schools conducted by religious

women, often connected with a teacher training

institute, as witnesses of faith, leading young people

to a mature belief and practice of faith, moved the

ministry to the servant girls to second place as it took

primacy in the Constitutions as the aim of the

Congregation.

The person, who feels sent by God for a special

30

mission, recognizes all the events of life as part of His

Providence.

Mother Franziska now resided in the Jacquingasse

house with the sisters charged with administration.

In July 1889, she invited her spiritual daughters to

rejoice over the fact that the Emperor Franz Joseph

had granted her wish and donated a portion of the

Botanical Garden as a building site for a church. The

extraordinary promptness of the response was

because her request was supported by the Emperor's

youngest daughter, Archduchess Marie Valerie and

had the warmest recommendation of the Archbishop

Dr. Ganglbauer. These facts heartened Mother

Franziska to go forward with the building plans. A

large convent structure was intended to attach the

church to the existing house. The entire complex,

including a formal garden that rises on the north and

westside toward the Botanical Gardens, was solemnly

declared by the Foundress to be forever the Mother

House for all Daughters of Divine Charity wherever

they may wander for love of God and neighbor,

bringing their service to those who need them in

Europe, or even across the ocean.

The building and furnishing of the church was

entrusted to a team that had done much work on

churches in Vienna and even beyond its borders —

"the design architect Richard Jordan, the Court

31

Builder, Josef Schmalzhofer, the painter Josef Kastner

the Younger and the stone sculptor, Eduard Hauser."

The newspaper, WELT-BLATT gave an extensive

report about the blessing of the Mother House

Church on April 22, 1891 in the presence of the

Emperor Franz Joseph and preserved the event with a

full front-page drawing.

Mother Franziska rejoiced with the large group of

sisters who had come to the Blessing, with the pupils,

countless benefactors and simple people. The Mother

House Church was intended also to serve as "an open

pastoral church in the Fasan neighborhood,

criss-crossed by many new streets where countless

people who would be in need of pastoral care were

arriving.

The church is dedicated to the Most Sacred Heart of

Jesus and Mother Franziska determined that the

Feast of the Sacred Heart which Pope Pius IX opened

to the entire Church, would be the Main Feast of the

Congregation.

"Let the one who thirsts come to me, let the one who

believes in me drink. As Scripture says: From within

Him flowed streams of living water."

Finding herself accepted into the love of the Heart of

Jesus enables the sister to live with Jesus and urges

her to give this love to others. Mother Franziska

taught that this is the root of all apostolic activity. The

32

chief Patron of the church is "MATER TER

ADMIRABILIS", whose picture crowns the high altar.

In many ways the Mother House primarily stands in

service to the Church.

The Mother House contains the Postulancy and

Novitiate and serves the educational needs of the

young women preparing to become Sisters in Mother

Franziskafs Congregation.

Today the Mother House contains the Provincial

Administration. Mother Foundress could envision it in

a world wide context. She opened a "Kindergarten

which, in just a few days, was filled with one

hundred-seventy children. At the same time a Sunday

school for girls employed in factories was opened".

In the 20th Century the Mother House erected a

building across the street on land donated by Baron

von Wiener-Welten, for further apostolic purposes.

MOTHER FRANZISKA'S COMMUNITY –

REVERSALS WERE NOT LACKING

Mother Franziska had composed a daily schedule for

her future community before even one member had

joined her. The necessary work of the household and

earning their living were carefully considered and

balanced in such a way that all would be carried by

33

prayer.

Mother Franziska, as well as her early companions

brought, like a priceless dowry, courage and a

readiness to accept the unknown deprivations before

them, in order to bring Franziska's beautiful vision to

reality. Each one was convinced that it was God's

providence that had turned her steps toward

Franziska's two-room convent on the

Taubstummengasse.

As already mentioned, they then enthusiastically

followed her to their first Mother House in

Fasangasse, in order to help the suffering for the sake

of the love of God! Such an enterprize also called for

material means which didn't exactly fall from heaven.

The first sisters were surely happy together and

looked to the future with total trust in God, but now,

many hours of the day in the first months, actually, in

the first years of their existence, had to be occupied

with soliciting "alms" to enable the establishment and

growth of the work. For this, the sisters required

permission from various authorities in the

Austro-Hungarian lands and far beyond its borders.

Some crude rejections caused pain and sometimes

even illness. In the exact moment of need came the

solution and so the thorny way proceeded. The force

that made them forget effort and fatigue, hunger and

thirst remained the old and ever new motto: "All for

34

God, for the Poor and therefore, for our

Congregation!"

Newly admitted members, bringing some basic

education, prepared themselves as early as autumn,

1869 through studies, learning a craft or the running

of a household, for the various activities of the

Congregation. Mother Franziska was moved as she

noticed the patience and perseverance with which

the sisters continued their education into the evening

and on Sundays and holidays in spite of the fatigue

caused by their heavy work. The soliciting sisters,

especially needed her personal interest, spiritual

direction and tangible support, and she provided it

generously.

On January 24, 1869, Mother Franziska introduced

herself and her work to the Archbishop of Vienna,

Cardinal Othmar von Rauscher. In this person, who

understood and valued her social mission, she won,

from that moment on, a steadfast counselor and

protector. He visited the Mother House, spoke with

the sisters, pupils and servant girls and celebrated

Mass for them.

In October of 1869 he advised the Foundress and her

sisters to make a "profession with promises" now

that her humanitarian organization and also Mother

Franziska's works were very appreciated. Religious

vows could only be considered after a structured

35

conventual and spiritual life could be assured. There

was as yet no novitiate as the Church prescribes for

religious communities because the sisters were so

busy from the first day of entrance with the many,

varied activities involved in the early development.

Notwithstanding all the efforts of the Foundress for a

proper prayer life and a life style totally focused on

the three evangelical counsels and other customs

usual in convents not withstanding, we must admit

that, in the early days of the Congregation's founding

the basic spiritual introduction to religious life and

the nurturing of a prayer life were missing, especially

among the soliciting sisters, which in the early days,

was really everyone.

The year 1876 was in this sense a great interlude for

Mother Franziska's community. The rule which she

had composed for sisters with the help of Director

Steiner, received repeated corrections from the good

Archbishop Rauscher. At the same time he attentively

followed the interior development and the rapidly

growing membership of the Congregation with

spiritual help and good suggestions. Mother Franziska

saw that she and her sisters had to bring the

constitutions they had written together into a

concrete form of life, in spite of additional fields of

activity in lower Austria, Bohemia, Moravia and

Hungary.

36

Her first co-workers, who had, so to speak, been

tossed into the water to learn to swim, gathered on

All Saints' Day in 1876 for a so-called "Profession

Novitiate". This began with the Spiritual Exercises

followed by several weeks set aside to provide a true

spiritual renovation and a renewal of their physical

strength.

Again and again, Mother Franziska worked on the

Holy Rule with the Spiritual Director Horny who held

that position since 1876. In the late 70's she

approached the Jesuit Fathers, requesting a careful

examination, necessary changes and additions to the

now finished product. Much happened. She chose the

Rule of St. Augustine for Religious Women as the

basis of her religious life. Mother Franziska's mission,

"living one heart and one soul", for the love of God,

combining a contemplative way of life with apostolic

action, was like that inspired by the spirit of

Augustine. The Constitutions were arranged into

chapters, outlined, printed and bound.

In July, 1884 "the aims of the Congregation were

accepted and the Constitutions approved in Rome. In

1891 they received temporary approval and on

August 18, 1897 came the final approbation of the

Congregation of the Daughters of Divine Charity" by

Pope Leo XIII.

To complete the story it is noted that the

37

Constitutions were approved again in 1924 after they

were harmonized with the revision of Canon Law in

1917. After Vatican Council II the Constitutions were

revised and renewed, adapted to the Canon Law of

1983 and approved by Rome in 1989.

We go back again some years to November 21, 1884!

"That was the day that the Lord has made" for

Mother Franziska and her daughters. After the

"Recognition with praise" of the Congregation by

Rome, the profession of perpetual vows was

permitted for the first time.

Cardinal Dr. Ganglbauer celebrated the Solemn High

Mass. His great sermon inspired faith-filled courage,

strong hope and an enthusiastic, self-giving love.

Then Mother Franziska and forty of her oldest sisters

solemnly offered their vows of Poverty, Chastity and

Obedience for life. Honest gratitude and inner

emotion filled their hearts as they proceeded to the

Table of the Lord and received the One to whom they

had promised life-long fidelity. Mother Franziska

rejoiced as the vision God had planted in her soul

many years before unfolded in this high point of

community life. During this blessed moment, gone

were the many bitter trials on the stony path to the

goal, the material deprivation, and the opposition.

This came sometimes even from within the

community as some priests, doubting the future

38

stability of the Congregation counseled the sisters to

leave and turned individuals, and once an entire

group, against her. All of these things had attacked

her heart, but the storms eventually calmed and the

joyful experiences in the Lord's service far

outweighed the sorrowful.

Without fanfare and in an unlikely way God had

called the Daughters of Divine Charity into existence.

Now the sisters, inspired by their Foundress and the

original ideals, bound themselves with the chords of

love extending from the very earliest days of the

Church forming a network of human relationships

that reached out to all they were called to serve.

More than four decades later, a song composed by Sr.

M. Donata Reichenwallner rang out to all who would

hear, that Mother Franziska's spirit lived on in all the

communities of the Daughters of Divine Charity:

Daughters of Divine Charity,

with heart and soul,

To keep our Rule and win our souls

Poverty, Obedience and Chastity

remain our holiest vow,

Which we gave the Lord

and to whom we consecrated our lives.

39

MANY-FACETED SUPPORT

In justice and with grateful hearts we want at this

point to thank our many benefactors. They enabled

the early development and spread of the

Congregation and promoted with word and deed,

with their counsel and with financial means, the work

of love that benefited many. The factory-owner

brothers Lang, for whom a street in the 15th district

of Vienna was named, provided the help that enabled

Mother Franziska to purchase the first Mother House.

Later she herself wrote in the Chronicle, "The first

benefactor was Mr. Anton Lang a manufacturer in

Fünfhaus. He and his brother later became and

remained trusted friends and patrons of the

community." One of the Lang brothers would always

accompany the Foundress on trips that included an

important purchase. They were constant helpers in

time of financial need.

The uprightness, unaffected simplicity, the

transparency of her being, her native intelligence and

sharp decisiveness in action, her spontaneous, open

directness also seemed to open the door to the

imperial palace of Emperor Franz Joseph. The great

monarch received her often when she came with

wishes that only he could fulfill. The widespread

Hapsburg family followed his example, especially

when various Duchesses were asked to assume the

40

patronage of a long line of apostolates.

Many noble families, then ordinary citizens, some

farmers, and in the years; of the blossoming

educational enterprises, also the parents of the

students, supported the Foundress' works. She

expressed her gratitude by including their intentions

in the sisters' daily prayer and working in social and

educational ministries to the best of their ability.

The time given Mother Foundress and her daughters

was well spent, benefited many and embraced all as

it became a concrete expression of love. So Mother

Franziska's motto was realized.

THE DEEP JOY IN THE WONDERING HEART

The Congress of Berlin of 1878 had placed the Balkan

provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina under Austrian

administration. The occupation, welcomed by some,

but despised by the majority of the population was a

great governing and management challenge for the

military and many civilian officials of the

Austro-Hungarian government. The good

development of the economy and culture, especially

health and education provided by the outstanding

Austrian direction soon reconciled the people to the

new rulers.

The Archbishop of Sarajevo, Dr. J. Stadler, actually

invited Mother Franziska in 1882 for the second time

41

to spread her circle of influence to Bosnia. As early as

March he sent a telegram, "I will buy a little house

with a garden for you if you consent to send sisters."

Mother Franziska turned to the Emperor Franz Joseph

since there was concern to elevate the culture of the

former Turkish provinces. In the requested audience

the Emperor willingly promised her his protection,

initiated a system of financial support, and, to the

great surprise of the first sisters, assured her the

protection and support by the local authorities. The

Empress Elizabeth took over the patronage of the first

foundation in Sarajevo. In quick succession, until the

end of the decade a number of schools and

educational institutes for girls and later also for boys

arose in Sarajevo and its environs. A secondary school

was soon attached to the elementary school in

Sarajevo. The sisters soon opened a teacher-training

institute so that they could be educated on site and

also study the Croatian language. Though all the

schools were conducted in the German language,

Mother Franzika thought it advantageous that some

instruction be in the local languages.

The large agricultural lands which Mother Franziska

acquired near Sarajevo, and also in two other places,

had first to be put in order before one could sow and

harvest. The agriculture was intended to help support

the educational institutions. Soon, however, model

42

farms were set up so that the interested local

inhabitants could learn gardening, farming and

animal husbandry. The Turkish farmers were

especially enthusiastic to learn and carefully observed

the sisters in the domestic sciences around kitchen,

laundry and household cleaning.

Before her first trip to the Balkan States, Mother

Franziska had considered it a mission, but she saw

that the inhabitants were characterized by a very

good ecumenical spirit among the various religious

affiliations. There was also ran exemplary

cooperation among the various nationalities.

This all changed long after the death of the Foundress

during both world wars 'and thereafter as the

population all too soon forgot what they owed to the

earlier generations. Her followers, — the regional

center having been moved from Sarajevo to Zagreb,

— suffered expulsion, persecution, and 'the painful

curtailment of their ministerial possibilities. As they

were just beginning to recover the present war

struck.

In this short history of the life, the divine mission and

the essential ministries of the Foundress of the

Daughters of Divine Charity and her sisters, it is

obvious that many details, surely also important

ones, and so a certain completedness, will be lacking.

43

"O Lord, you gladden me with what you do; I

sing out for joy at the works of your hands.

How great your works are, O Lord — how

deep your thoughts, O Lord!"

In two circulars, in May and October 1893, Mother

Franziska prepared her Daughters, for the celebration

of the 25th Anniversary of the Founding of the

Congregation.

Her written reverie highlighted the way that God had

determined for her, the way whose goal was "the

community of like-spirited young women" such as

were needed by the Church and which God Himself

brought about through her, His "poor instrument".

She reminded her sisters of her first steps in Vienna,

truly led by God's invisible hand: on the sowing of the

first seeds that God had poured into her hand, on the

taking root of her "idea" in the hearts of her future

daughters, on the fact that some roots didn't grow, or

that the plant later withered and wounded her soul,

on the many branches that grew strong and spread

over the countries of Europe. These convents,

founded as she was certain by God's will, passed

before her sight as she counted them, especially the

latest.

As so often before, she allowed her joy to overflow

visibly because she knew that her daughters shared

it. She thanked the Lord and wanted her sisters to

44

join in her gratitude and to include therein all

benefactors and everyone who would have need of

the sisters' service. A Triduum of silent and common

prayer was the preparation for the Feast. In each

convent the daily routine was exalted by special

festive liturgies. She invited her first co-workers to

the Solemn Mass in the Mother House, along with the

sisters who throughout the years had borne the

special burden of soliciting alms.

November 21, 1893 became a great and uniquely

festive event. The sacred liturgies began the evening

before, went on throughout the Jubilee Day and

ended with the intonation of the TE DEUM. The entire

assembly, the Bishops, countless priests, members of

the Imperial Family and representatives of the

Kingdom, the State and the City of Vienna, the sisters

and the young people entrusted to them, the church

congregation and all the people, were the recipients

of the Apostolic Blessing of His Holiness, the Pope,

imparted by the celebrant.

Many facets of the celebration continued to brighten

the coming days, but Mother Franziska felt ill.

The Emperor had bestowed upon her the "Golden

Cross of Merit with Crown in recognition of her

service in the education of youth and for the welfare

of the poor of the monarchy", but she was unable to

accept it formally. Even as the many newspapers

45

picked up and spread the story and countless

congratulations arrived at the Mother House, the

sisters were afraid to share this joyful event of the

entire Congregation with their Mother. The Rector of

the Church, Father Karl Kummer, later very carefully

dared to talk about it and ignited a spark of joy in her

already severely weakened heart.

The sisters who were permitted to take hourly turns

watching by their ill Mother witnessed in the quiet

sufferer the deep faith of the religious woman with

the unshakable trust in God who carefully guarded

the fragile flame of her almost burned out life as long

as God still granted it to her.

They never forgot this comforting experience.

THE GREAT TRANSFORMATION

February 1894 had passed but there was no change in

the General Superiors' condition. She still took a vital

interest in all the events of the Congregation, giving

directions and advice, accepting the 'narks of

gratitude of her daughters and informed herself with

touching concern about the ill sisters. She hid her

own pain which was guessed only by her closest

companions, — the suffering that the Foundress

experienced at the thought of having to leave her

sisters and her work which, from a human

perspective, was still incomplete. It still needed to

develop and be fruitful in service to the needy in

46

future ages. She herself kept it as a closed secret of

her soul. It was enough that God knew. Intimately

united with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to whom she

had consecrated her life and her Congregation, she

looked death fearlessly in the eye. "Who may climb

the mountain of the Lord, who may stand in His holy

place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart"

were the words that often came to her.

She was given a letter from Cardinal Protector

Serafino Vanutelli which brought her great

consolation, the Blessing of Pope Leo XIII.

On the Feast of St. Joseph she performed her last

official act as Foundress. She signed the contract of

donation and purchase which acquired the Convent

of Hochstraß with forested hills and farmland about

an hour's drive from Vienna, for the Congregation.

On one of the sunny days after Easter, as she with

great difficulty went to the Mother House garden for

some fresh air and to escape the narrow confines of

her room, a group of young sisters, moved to tears,

gathered in a tight circle around her. Her speech left

her. In mute pain she returned to the house.

On March 27 her glance passed over the large group

of her "Mother House children" as she liked to call

the sisters, as these were speaking more with their

mother than the General Superior. Almost inaudibly,

yet fully comprehended she whispered, "I will not

47

return."

A coach brought Mother to Maria Hilf in Breitenfurt.

She had not lost her heartening sense of joy and her

encouraging words did good to the busy sisters in the

house and garden. How often had she preached

obedience to her own, demanding order, discipline,

but above all, loving dedication in their work with

people! Now she obeyed without protest the orders

of the doctor, and the wishes of her caregivers,

thanking them for every service. The ill Mother

always had a friendly glance and a good word ready,

never asking anything for herself. Once when she was

asked about this she said simply that she had

arranged everything with the loving God. She now

had it good. Constant prayer according to her

strength and a steady vision inward where Jesus

resided made her striving nature gentle and patient.

On April 12 she was surprised by visitors from the

Mother House. Sister Ignatia, the first General

Councilor, came with the Rector, Father Kummer,

who heard her Confession, for the last time. The next

day she attended Mass with the sisters' community in

the little chapel and received Holy Communion, the

Viaticum, bread for the journey from this earthly

existence with its mysteries, over the dark boundary

of death, home to the Father in His kingdom of

everlasting love. She didn't yet know that her way

48

was rapidly approaching that border.

On Saturday, April 14 great weakness came upon the

good Mother. The nurse sisters knew what to do and

washed the sufferer with a mixture of vinegar and

water. She soon fell into a deep sleep which brought

improvement, but only temporarily. A violent

hemorrhage brought death. Mother Franziska still

breathed, still wanted to speak. The strength for this

was lacking and in the arms of Sister Valentine, her

faithful nurse, she returned her life to the Lord. "For

your faithful, O Lord, life is changed, not ended and

when this earthly pilgrimage is ended, a heavenly

dwelling is prepared for us. The priest who was

summoned prayed before the gathered sisters.

Her remains were placed into a simple wooden coffin

and this into a silver colored metal coffin which was

lowered into a tile-lined grave in the village cemetery

of Breitenfurt. It was exhumed on July 30, 1924 to

place the remains into other coffins and enshrine

them in the beautiful crypt chapel in the new sisters'

cemetery.

Here we want to gratefully mention with deep

emotion the long time chaplain of the Refuge, Msgr.

Joseph Enzmann, still known to many sisters, who

from his own means employed Professor Clemens

Holzmeister to plan and create the uniquely beautiful

cemetery and crypt chapel.

49

HOW DOES IT CONTINUE?

The Hapsburg Monarchy, since 1866 relegated to the

lands of the Danube and in 1867 declared a double

realm of Austria-Hungary, extended its protective

roof over the little nations in central Europe.

It was in the Capital, the Royal Residence City of this

realm, Vienna, that Mother Franziska founded the

Congregation of the Daughters of Divine Charity. Here

she established the Mother House. It was from this

center that her convents with the same goals were

established in many nations of the Danube

Monarchy. While constantly relying on God's

Providence she also counted on the protection of the

Catholic Imperial House of Hapsburg and promotion

by the Church. She was not disappointed and

accomplished much.

When the old many nationed Austrian union of States

broke apart in the great war of 1914-1918, the

Empire also crumbled because the various states in

the center of this region, wishing to be nations, but

forgetting the large number of minorities within their

borders, could not unite in the time allotted.

Mother Franziska's Congregation also saw itself

suddenly split up within independent States which

were no longer connected in any way with a very

small Austrian Republic. Would the Mother House

now be able to provide a secure common roof over

50

all the convents of the Congregation of the Daughters

of Divine Charity? Would these continue to submit to

leadership of Vienna?

Mother Franziska herself had already met the

challenge of cultural and linguistic diversity and their

influence on persons. In the early years, German

speaking sisters necessarily held the posts of superior

in most foundations, while the remaining community

members were assigned without any consideration of

country of origin. The early growth phase was

accomplished in an enthusiastic cooperation with and

for one another under the strong leadership of the

Foundress. It was her pedagogical method to speak of

her plans in every community of sisters, rejoicing

when the sisters understood, supported and

accepted her suggestions, and often were eagerly

ahead of her plans. Unanimously they joined in the TE

DEUM, in gratitude toward God, the giver of all good

gifts, shared joy and sorrow wherever they were.

They were "one heart and one soul".

During the war and thereafter the Mother House also

remained the empathetic and responsible center of

all events. After many discussions which preceded the

meeting of the General Council and with

representatives of all the sister's communities, they

voted to establish provinces.

On October 11, 1919 the Czech, Polish Hungarian and

51

Yugoslavian Provinces were established and the

provincial councils elected as well as that of Sister

Ignatia Egger, General Superior and first successor of

Mother Franziska. This was one of the most

important measures to be taken. We can clearly see

in the writings and the decisions, binding on the

entire Congregation and signed by her, how close she

was to the Foundress whose right hand she had been.

For more than three decades Mother Ignatia strove

to guide the Congregation in the spirit of the

Foundress.

UNITY IN DIVERSITY

It was the pioneer work of Sister Theresina Werner

who, as she often repeated, felt herself called to the

missions, which brought the Congregation to England.

It is true she had to return to the Continent without

having accomplished an enduring foundation, but

still, she cleared the way that brought two sisters

from Vienna, followed by others after the World War,

to Swaffham, Norfolk. In spite of difficulties from

many directions they achieved cooperation in a true

ecumenical spirit with the largely Anglican population

which is as alive today as it was during the difficult

beginnings. The major apostolate in England was

education and boarding schools. A province was

established only in 1973.

52

Sister Theresina Werner, leaving with a second sister

and some candidates for Brazil in April 1920 became,

in a German settlers colony in the south of the great

Latin American country, the foundress of the first

convent their of the Congregation of the Daughters of

Divine Charity. In today's Cerro Largo in Rio Grande

do Sul she began her work with a small school soon

followed by other foundations. Sister Theresina, who

almost never stayed long in one place, left in 1926 for

Rio Grande do Norte in the tropical region of

Northeastern Brazil with a population of -mixed race.

A modest foundation became the beginning of a work

totally different than that in Europe. At the request of

the General Administration many European sisters

made their way across the Atlantic in the 20's and

30's. They enlarged and strengthened the works that

had as early as 1939 become a Province each in the

South and Northeast of Brazil. "Total Human

Promotion", a principle that became after the Second

Vatican Council a driving motto for many, was the

mission of the sisters. They combined ecclesiastical

pastoral ministry with unique social activities. Their

struggle was against illiteracy. They conducted

schools, by and by for those who had something and

for those who had nothing. In the evening came

adults who strove for education or continuing

learning. Ministry to the poor, in the many forms it

can take, was very important, totally in line with the

53

spirit of the Foundress Mother Franziska Lechner.

Soon the sisters were also ministering in hospitals

where they found an important part of their pastoral

efforts to be the preparing of the seriously ill for

death.

The fact that the renewal of ecclesial life after the

Second Vatican Council brought native-born sisters to

all leadership positions may be seen as a decree of

Divine Providence.

Mother Ignatia knew that she was fulfilling a heart's

desire of the Foundress as she sent Sister Valeria and

Sister Kostka from Budapest to New York in 1913 to

do cultural work according to the mind of the Church

in the Hungarian settlements of the United States.

The priests in charge of the Hungarian immigrants, in

spite of friendly invitations of three pastors in three

different locations, now that they arrived, were

unable to overcome the obstacles to the

well-intentioned goal of working in parochial schools.

This bad news, did not however discourage the sisters

who had been prepared to dedicate themselves to

God and children. God, the Lord, who had led them

safely to the land of unlimited possibilities, would

surely not now abandon them. Suddenly they came

upon the idea to do in New York what Mother

Franziska had done in Vienna. They would establish a

home for Hungarian girls seeking employment. The

54

thought became the act. With the blessing of

Archbishop J. M. Farley of New York they acquired a

house, their first convent, in the East of the city on

72nd Street. The first girl came on November 15. On

November 21, 1913, forty-five years to the exact day

of the founding of the Congregation, they opened

their "St. Mary's Home". As six other sisters arrived in

New York from Budapest at the end of the month

they could begin with instruction in religion,

Hungarian, needlecraft and music lessons. The

newcomers, meanwhile, used every opportunity to

learn the English language. Almost as a consolation

for the earlier disappointment, Sister Valeria and

Sister Kostka received a joyful welcome from a

Hungarian pastor in Perth Amboy, New Jersey in

January, 1914. With grateful hearts and shirking no

effort, the sisters began their pastoral work here and

in neighboring parishes. In Sunday school they taught

mainly religion and Hungarian language and culture

along with recreational activities to protect the young

from the seductions of the large cities, which even

then appeared in many and changing forms. As soon

as they knew enough English - some sisters along

with some candidates with ability attended the Jesuit

University - a parochial school was taken over by the

sisters.

Ecclesial ministry in the wider sense of the term and

work in the parochial schools were and remain the

55

chief ministries of the sisters in the United States. In

ten States, the sisters served in Hungarian parishes.

In 1926 the number of Daughters of Divine Charity

grew through a group of Croatian sisters, who under

the leadership of Sister Leonore Vurnik came to work

with the immigrants from Yugoslavia.

The years passed more quickly than the workers in

the vineyard of the Lord realized. Again and again

others came from Europe and for many America

became their new home. Those to whom they

ministered, especially children and youth, considered

themselves American and the bends with Europe

became secondary.

In 1919 the Hungarian sisters acquired a large

property in Staten Island, New York, which became

after many years the heart of the first province in the

United States.

St. Joseph Province received this status in 1921 and

Mother Kostka Bauer, the first Provincial Superior and

from 1926 to 1943, the General Superior of the

Congregation had laid the foundation for the glorious

development of this area of ministry. Their successors

continued to build with a like love and many creative

gifts and even more hidden industry. In the late

fifties, the leadership and administration could be

turned over to totally American sisters. "New wine

must be put into new wineskins".

56

The Croatian sisters called their newly created

province, "St. Mary's Province" and moved its center

from Rankin, Pennsylvania to Akron, Ohio, where the

Provincial House is also a large and practically

furnished home for the elderly. The especially good

cooperation with the laity should be highlighted.

In 1972 "Holy Trinity Province" was established in the

midwestern United States, with the Provincial House

in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The sisters established a

"St. Mary's Home", so close to the heart of the

Foundress, in Detroit, Michigan. In this home the

sisters care for younger women for whom the streets,

where they were abandoned, damaged their health

and retarded their spirit so that they no longer could

apply themselves sufficiently to master a career.

Social cases of our technical, industrial society!

Similarly as this Province came about from a larger

one, so the Slovakian Province was born in 1928.

According to a General Chapter decision of 1965 the

General government and administration moved to

Rome by December 1, 1968. Mere, too, it was Sister

Theresina Werner, who took refuge here during the

Second World War and then founded a children's

home in a rented house, which was the impulse for

setting foot in the Eternal City, the center of the

Catholic Church. After a visit of the General Superior

elected in 1947, Mother Huberta Buchanan with the

57

Provincial Superior of St. Joseph Province, the

American Province purchased and gave to all the

Daughters of Divine Charity the villa in Grottaferrata,

surrounded by a garden lying among the Alban hills

and very close to Rome.

When the General Government left the Mother

House in Vienna, this, as center, and together with

the missions in Austria and Germany, received the

status of a Province in 1967.

As before the First World War the Congregation

experienced a growth hardly imagined even by the

Foundress, so after the Great War, it developed

fruitful fields of endeavor in countless lands of "North

and South America.

Central Europe was tired, starving and very poor, but

for many decades it gave to America its most precious

capital in the form of self-sacrificing, educated sisters

for the service of humanity.

If all the Daughters of Divine Charity, here and across

the ocean, inspired and encouraged by the General

Government, make the effort to bring the name and

motto of their Foundress, Mother Franziska into

reality, then, in spite of all diversity of culture and

language, UNITY, will be able to be achieved.

Then doors would open…

58