Letters of Mary Theresa of Jesus Gerhardinger Volume 1 Sowing the Seed, 1822-1840 Volume 2 Nurturing the Seedling, 1841-1848 Volume 3 Jolted and Joggled, 1849-1852 Volume 4 Vigorous Growth, 1853-1858 Volume 5 Living Branches, 1859-1867 Volume 6 Mission to North America, 1847-1859 Volume 7 Mission to North America, 1860-1879 Volume 8 Mission to Prussia: Brede Volume 9 Mission to Prussia: Breslau Volume 10 Mission to Upper Austria Volume 11 Mission to Baden Mission to Gorizia Volume 12 Mission to Hungary Volume 13 Mission to Austria Mission to England Volume 14 Mission to Tyrol Volume 15 Abundant Fruit, 1868-1879 Letters of Mary Theresa of Jesus Gerhardinger Foundress of the School Sisters of Notre Dame Volume 5 Living Branches 1859—1867 Translated, Edited, and Annotated by Mary Ann Kuttner, SSND School Sisters of Notre Dame Printing Department Elm Grove, Wisconsin 2009 Copyright © 2009 by School Sisters of Notre Dame Via della Stazione Aurelia 95 00165 Rome, Italy All rights reserved. Cover Design by Mary Caroline Jakubowski, SSND “All the works of God proceed slowly and in pain; but then, their roots are the sturdier and their flowering the lovelier.” Mary Theresa of Jesus Gerhardinger No. 2277 Contents Preface to Volume 5 ix Introduction xi Chapter 1 1859 1 Chapter 2 1860 39 Chapter 3 1861 69 Chapter 4 1862 93 Chapter 5 1863 121 Chapter 6 1864 129 Chapter 7 1865 147 Chapter 8 1866 175 Chapter 9 1867 201 List of Documents 223 Index 227 ix Preface to Volume 5 Volume 5 of Letters of Mary Theresa of Jesus Ger- hardinger includes documents from the years 1859 through 1867, a time of growth for the congregation in both Europe and North America. The documents in this volume refer to developments within the congregation as a whole and the missions in Bavaria. Volumes 6 through 14 contain docu- ments that refer to life in missions beyond Bavaria during the same time. As part of the process leading toward the beatification of Mary Theresa of Jesus Gerhardinger in 1985, 5,337 doc- uments, which she wrote, signed, or commissioned, were gathered and copied by hand. These copies were notarized, numbered, packed in a large trunk, and taken to Rome. On December 17, 1929, they were presented to the Sacred Con- gregation of Rites for further examination. This material is referred to here as the beatification collection. Since it was beyond the scope of this work to locate orig- inal letters still extant in numerous archives, translations into English were done from the notarized copies in the be- atification collection. Some of the material in this collection was copied from archival copies of the original documents and these copies did not always include a signature. This does not imply that the original document was unsigned. A few documents in the beatification collection were ei- ther undated or misdated. Further study of these docu- ments and their context helped determine probable dates, which are indicated in brackets. Since the documents in this volume are arranged chronologically, they are not always found in numerical sequence. A numerical list of documents can be found at the end of the book. Document 3748 in- cludes two letters addressed to two different persons, which are indicated by 3748 (1) and 3748 (2). x Words that appear in brackets were added for clarifica- tion. Italics are used to indicate underlined text found in the documents of the beatification collection. Mother Theresa’s use of the name, Poor School Sisters (Arme Schulschwestern), as well as the word order, has been retained in this translation. Place names found in the text are those commonly used in Mother Theresa’s time. If the same place is known by a different name today, a footnote supplies this information. Efforts were made to identify the recipients of each let- ter. Titles are used in the headings and salutations, but the nineteenth-century practice of repeating titles throughout the text and closing of a letter has been dropped for the most part in this translation. Formal closings have been simpli- fied and are usually given as “Respectfully yours.” After the beatification collection was delivered to Rome in 1929, additional documents were found that were writ- ten by Mother Theresa. Four of these documents are in- cluded in this volume and identified with a number followed by a letter, e.g., 2912 a. In this volume, documents that were not included in the beatification collection are classified as a transcript or a typescript. A transcript is an early, handwritten copy of an original document. A typescript is a typewritten copy of a document. xi Introduction “If you wish to accompany in spirit your daughters in Rome, then imagine them leaving their quiet rooms on Via della Pace every morning at six, walking down a long street and over the bridge across the Tiber, passing by Castel Sant’Angelo, quietly praying as they move toward the Vati- can, toward the Princes of the Apostles, where, with sighs and tears, they pray for a long time at their tombs so that 1 our cause will be heard.” These lines were written on March 25, 1858, in a letter to Mother Theresa from Sister M. Margaret of Cortona Wiedemann who, together with Sister M. Devota Bertoloc- cini, had been in Rome for one week, hoping to further the approval by the Holy See of the congregation’s rule which had been submitted two years previously. Little did the sisters realize that more than 14 months would pass before their prayers would be heard and the rule would be approved for six years on June 5, 1859. In Mother Theresa’s words, it was “truly a miracle that God brought the cause all the way to its goal! In the midst of the present turmoil of war, God sent our religious institute the olive branch of peace and strengthened the work founded by 2 God’s love. Blessed be the name of God for all eternity!” During the congregation’s second quarter century, Mother Theresa was confronted not only with the turmoil of war in 1859 and 1866 but also with growing hostility toward the Church and her sisters. The foundation of new missions became increasingly difficult and, in places where missions had already been opened, opposition to them was growing. Mother Theresa encouraged her sisters: “Let us continue to work quietly and lovingly in our schools, each sister at her 1. See M. Liobgid Ziegler, Mutter Theresia im Kampf um die Regel ihres Ordens (Typescript, Generalate) 148. 2. Quoted from Document 2912 a, pp. 18-19 xii post—as long as God wills. If God is with us, come what may, we have nothing to fear.”3 The truth of her words was verified, both in the periodic reports on the life of the con- gregation, which Mother Theresa sent to the cardinal pro- tector, and in the testimonials to the effectiveness of the life and ministry of the Poor School Sisters, which several bish- ops wrote in 1865 to support Mother Theresa’s petition to the Holy See for final approbation of the rule. Despite the tenor of the times, lay persons and members of the clergy wished to have sisters teach and care for the children in their respective surroundings, and they were willing to make sacrifices to achieve their goal. When called to open missions at these places, Mother Theresa considered the needs in light of the purpose of the congregation, the ability of her sisters to meet these needs, and the precepts of the Holy See which had approved the congregation’s rule. She recognized God’s will in these criteria and responded accordingly, even if it meant giving up a few promising mis- sions where the criteria could not be met. During the years 1859 through 1867, 32 missions were opened in Bavaria, 38 in European countries beyond Bavaria, and 66 in North America, all of them “living branches from one and the same root. These new branches, protected and supported by God, grew strong, flourished, and produced fruit in their own way.”4 In De- cember 1852, Mother Theresa wrote this description of her vision of the congregation’s structure, growth, and develop- ment. Decades earlier, she had learned from Bishop George Michael Wittmann the process of this growth and develop- ment: “All the works of God proceed slowly and in pain; but then, their roots are the sturdier and their flowering the 5 lovelier.” 3. Quoted from Document 5317, pp. 201-202 4. Quoted from Document 1275 in Letters of Mary Theresa of Jesus Gerhardinger, Vol. 3, Jolted and Joggled, 1849-1852 (Elm Grove: School Sisters of Notre Dame Printing Department, 2009) 230 5. Quoted from Document 2277 in Letters, Vol. 10, Mission to Upper Austria, 54 1 1859 2793: To Bishop George von Oettl Eichstätt Motherhouse January 12, 1859 J!M! 1 Most Reverend Bishop! Your Excellency! Supported by the undeserved, pastoral benevolence that you have always shown us, we present our order’s small di- rectory just as we did last year.2 During the past year, you gave us new evidence of your kindness by granting our sis- 3 ters in Gaimersheim the pleasure of a visit. We can express our gratitude for your episcopal protec- tion of our sisters in the diocese of Eichstätt only by praying that the Good Shepherd will alleviate the sufferings, which you, his noble representative, must endure, and change 1. George von Oettl (1794-1866), Bishop of Eichstätt (1846-66), stud- ied under John Michael Sailer (1751-1832), Bishop of Regensburg (1822- 32), and was ordained in 1817.