Mother Mary Diary
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STUDIA DE HISTORIA SALVATORIANA No. 10 Sectio 2.13 Doc DIARY Mary of the Apostles 1875 –1907 Translation from the German Study Group “Mary of the Apostles” Villa Salvator Mundi Rome – 2010 ii Printed with permission of the General Administration of the Sisters of the Divine Savior (Salvatorian Sisters) Translation from the original German by Sister Demetria Lang, SDS The text was adjusted and prepared for printing by Sister Aloysia Kliemke, SDS and edited by Sister Aquin Gilles, SDS iii CONTENTS Preface v Introduction to the English Edition vii Technical Information ix Photo x Facsimile of Diary, Notebook 1, Page 1 1 Notebook 1 3-59 Photo 60 Notebook 2 61-140 Photo 141 Notebook 3 143-279 Facsimile of Notebook 4, Page 1 280 Notebook 4 281-292 Appendix 293 I Early Members of the Congregation and Society 1. The first Sisters of our Congregation 295 2. Our Sisters’ Countries of Origin in the German Empire296-297 3. Our Sisters from Danube Monarchy, other Countries 298-299 Notes regarding the Membership Lists 300 4. List of Sisters and Candidates 1888-1907 301-312 5. Fathers, Brothers and Clerics mentioned in Diary 313-316 II Salvatorians mentioned in Diary 317-328 III Houses of Congregation 1888-1907 329-330 Bibliography, Archives, Abbreviations, Corrections 331-334 SHS Series 335 iv v PREFACE Quite unexpectedly God breaks into the lives of persons who are called. It is they who embody His calls, His love and concern for humankind, and who give them form. God speaks to human persons. He touches them, takes hold of them. He breaks them open and touches them deeply within. And the unending call lures them on paths that previously were unknown to them. Such was also the experience of Therese von Wüllenweber. And she set out towards the realization of this call of God. It was a long search and her path led her to various places. She noted the events of her last four life-stations in her Diary, permitting us thereby to take part in her life – first in Neuwerk, then in Tivoli near Rome and in Rome itself (at Via Lungara and Salita Sant’Onofrio). Theresa followed God’s call; and after the encounter with the Founder, Father Jordan, she so entered into the spirit of his foundation that she could become the groundwork of the new Community of Sisters. The more the Community grew and spread into various countries, the more difficult it became to note all reports in the Diary. Yet, Mother Mary wrote down the most important events in Neuwerk, in Tivoli, and later in Rome, until shortly before her death. From 1903 onwards, she could only dictate her entries, as her vision had weakened. Whoever has come to know Mother Mary, is familiar with her spontaneity, which shows itself also in the style of her Diary. She often notes down the events in short, concise sentences. The content of a statement, its substance and meaning are important to her, and so the correct spelling of names or the correct dates are, at times, left behind. However, each little line, each exclamation mark bears witness to her viewpoint. Mother Mary knew a number of languages (German, French, Italian, as well as some English and Dutch) and was therefore able to communicate and have contact with many people. vi We owe much gratitude to Sister Avellina Tietz, SDS, who made Mother Mary’s chronicle books available to Salvatorians already in 1970. She published them with adapted spelling, supplemented them with footnotes, and included Mother Mary’s short autobio- graphies as well as various letters, statutes, daily orders, articles and other historical material. In spite of the limited technical possibilities of the time, the “Chroniknotizen” remains a treasure chest for study purposes. For many years, we, the members of the Study Group “Mary of the Apostles” were concerned about the publication of Mother Mary’s Diary. Much preparatory work was necessary: the scanning of texts; searching for sources; and the identification of the original pages. After the fundamental decision was taken to make an exact transcription, many hours were spent with corrections. Carefully the pages of the originals were turned, page by page, and words, dots, commas, lines and dashes were compared. At times it was almost a solemn action, but it was also a back-breaking work. There was likewise the task to check the many footnotes and put them in place. Thanks are due to all Sisters of the Study Group for their persevering collaboration. The reader now finds an interesting text. True, it is not a spiritual diary, as we know it from Father Jordan; rather, it is the account of every-day life with a wealth of information. The members of the Study Group are happy that they are finally able to make these original texts available, since these texts convey a faithful image of Mother Mary’s personality. S. Ulrike Musick, SDS vii INTRODUCTION TO THE ENGLISH EDITION Finally we can say that the translation of Mother Mary’s Diary into English is ready for publication, and we are certainly happy to present it to the English-speaking members. Already many years ago, two translations were made of the Diary – one by S. Christophora Oelschig, the other by S. Demetria Lang (+1991). The latter translation was chosen as the basis for publication. It was still a rather delicate task to get the text ready for printing, and S. Aquin Gilles accomplished the great work of checking the text that had been adjusted by S. Aloysia Kliemke. We now may feel confident that the text is both faithful and readable. Specific Remarks regarding the English Version As in the German edition, the page numbers indicated in the text correspond to those in the original notebooks. Also, if it was not given, the year has been added on the same line as the page number. For easier location, the dates are in bold print. Later insertions by Mother Mary were added in italics, and as far as possible at the place to which they refer. Their original place is indicated by a footnote. While the German edition follows the original also in the layout of the individual pages, in the English the various recorded ideas form separate paragraphs. Though in general, the footnotes correspond to those in the original edition, some have been added, adjusted or enlarged. When feasible, the Sisters’ family names have been added in the text (in brackets and italics), rather than in footnotes, omitting also the added “SDS”. A rather important point is that the spelling of the Sisters’ names has been unified throughout the book according to the spelling used in the Congregation’s “General Directory”. If Mother Mary used a different spelling, this is indicated in the List of Sisters and Candidates (No. 4 of the appendix, cf. p.301f). The same holds good for the names of members of the Society, corrected according to their online “Membership Directory” of viii December 8, 2009 (cf. p.313f). Other differences in the spelling of names of persons or places have usually been corrected and indicated at the end of the book (cf. p.333f). Appendix (p. 293f) I. Early Members of the Congregation and Society Sections 1-3 try to show from where our early Sisters came. In fact, an important change in the just mentioned “List of Sisters and Candidates” (Section 4) is, that the Sisters’ country of origin is indicated according to the contemporary rather than the present situation – as far as this was possible. The information was taken from the “Profession Book”, and S. Helene Wecker helped to clarify the country of the German Empire, the Danube Monarchy, or other countries from which the Sisters came (cf. chart and maps, pp. 295-299). Section 5, (p. 313f) lists the Salvatorian Fathers, Brothers and Clerics, mentioned in the Diary. II. Salvatorians mentioned in the Diary (p.317f.) This section indicates the pages on which the individual Sisters, the Fathers and Brothers are mentioned. (While the previous lists are ordered according to the members’ first names, this list is arranged according to family names, which shows existing family relationships, and makes cross referencing easier.) Since, in the meantime, it has been decided to include the SHS volumes in our Congregational Internet site, it is no longer nec- essary to have a more detailed index of persons, places, and other items in this volume, since they can now be found by means of the search machine. III. Houses of the Congregation 1888-1907 A list of the Congregation’s foundations till the death of Mother Mary at the end of 1907, rounds out the information. (p. 329f). The books and publications indicated in the footnotes are listed (on p. 331f), with the abbreviations used throughout the book. We hope that the publication of Mother Mary’s Diary will help to gain a better understanding of both Mother Mary and Salvatorian History, especially of the Sisters’ Congregation. Sister Aloysia Kliemke, SDS ix Technical Information The Exterior of the Notebooks Mother Mary used four different notebooks into which she recorded the current events in chronological order and in a rather free form. Notebook 1 November 1875 – November 21, 1888 A notebook with a cover, mottled in the colors yellow-brown and white, already somewhat bleached out. Size: 6.9 x 8.27 in. (17,5 x 21 cm). Notebook 2 November 21, 1888 – June 2, 1895 A notebook with a cover, mottled in the colors orange-brown and black, inside with light blue lines. The back cover is damaged at the corner.