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Plans for a New Foundation The Seer of Wittelsheim

Though the Pasha of Banjaluka was aware that Prior Francis had a building licence from the Grand Vizier he pretended not to know. Whenever an opportunity presented itself he did everything in his power to outwit him. Fr. Franz, however, was not hoodwinked by a Turk. More often than not he drew a red herring across the Pasha’s track. With his opponent kept at bay, the number of monks and buildings increased. But not everything went smoothly at Mariasterrn. In the spring of 1873 “we lost all our cattle to anthrax”. This was a major disaster and one which taught the Prior a lesson. He made sure it would not be repeated. He asked his brother to “find him some fine Allgau cows and a breed bull.” The animals were transported to the border by rail and from there driven to Banjaluka. Prior Franz: “Once we had a new breed, farmers came for calves, as also did the Pasha, who of course wanted his for free!”

In December 1874, the Prior reviewed Mariastern’s progress for the “Vorarlberger Volkszeitung”:

“Where five years ago there was nothing but wood and the occasional Turkish maize field or a patch of ownerless land, you will now find a monastery and a church though both still need plastering. The two buildings form a quadrangle enclosing a garden. The longest wall measures 130’. (40 m). – The following projects have been completed: a farm house with stables and barns, a flour mill and a saw mill, a large prune drier, a small brewery and several trade shops. At a short distance from the monastery we have a brick yard to make bricks and shingles, and a little further, a quarry from which we get all our stones. We split the rocks with either a pick axe or dynamite. – Two major events this year were the arrival of our new novice master, Fr. Bonaventura Bayer, and the ordination to the priesthood of Fr. Joseph Biegner, who has been with us practically from the beginning. It was Bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer who at the cathedral of Djakovo in Slavonia conferred Holy Orders on him.”

As early as September 1874, Prior Francis presented a plan for a second Trappist monastery in Bosnia to the general chapter at Sept-Fons. The name he had chosen for it was “Mariannaberg”. But before he could begin with the construction there were obstacles to overcome. One was the Franciscans. To his greatest surprise he discovered that the bishop, also a Franciscan, was making common cause with the Pasha to obstruct Mariastern’s further development. Despite the fact that the bishop had been the first one to support his plan for expansion and despite the repeated requests by the surrounding Catholics for pastoral assistance, Vuicic turned against the Trappists. His opposition went as far as “not to allow our priests to hear Confession except of fellow monks”.

Visit to the Seers of Wittelsheim

In 1874, Prior Francis was late for the annual general chapter at Sept-Fons. This was due partly to poor train connections but partly also to his own scheduling. On their way to France he and Br. Zacharias stopped at Wittelsheim in the Alsace to meet “the seers”. In a brochure entitled “Something for Unbelievers”. (Graz, 1874) he tells us that he was driven mainly by curiosity. He wanted to know if the visionaries and their visions were as trustworthy as they were given out to be. If so then one or the other might tell him whether God wanted a second monastery in Bosnia or not. They began their inquiries by calling on the parish priest at Krueth. He gave them what information he had about the seers – twenty altogether. After that they went straight to Wittelsheim, where most of them lived. Stopping over at the “The Stork”. (inn) they were told by the innkeeper’s wife that three of the seers, including a Mrs. Maria Schott, were probably more reliable than the others. So they got in touch with Mrs. Schott without, however, telling her who they were. It was agreed that they meet the following morning after Mass.

Prior Francis:

“Mrs. Schott told us what she had seen during Mass: ‘I saw Our Lady standing on the main altar and on her side, St. Joseph and the Holy Father, the latter looking quite depressed.’

In another vision she described the Prior’s late parents “so accurately and detailed” that he could not have done better. Her words imprinted themselves on his memory. This is what he wrote in old age:

“Mrs. Schott knew nothing about me and even less about my relatives. How could she know that I came from Turkey to test the truth of her visions? I had been careful not to tell the innkeeper who we were. Even the villagers did not know what to make of me on account of my red beard and long red coat. But at a certain point, when I began to be convinced about the seer’s integrity and the genuineness of her visions, I introduced myself to her. Even so, I did not stop questioning her, just to make sure that I was not deceived. I asked her: ‘What do you see about my deceased Brothers in the monastery?’ She answered without a moment’s hesitation: ‘I see two Brothers dressed in brown like the Brother next to you; one appears golden, the other is still dark.’ I asked myself: How can this ordinary woman know that we have already lost two Brothers to death?”

When on the following day the Prior celebrated Mass, Mrs. Schott attended. Afterwards he and Br. Zacharias asked her more questions and understood from her answers that she had actually seen some of their deceased relatives. Much emboldened, the Prior asked her what she saw about their monastery. “I see Our Lady”, she replied, “and, look, she is blessing you with a star in her hand!” A star: Mariastern (Mary, the Star)! When he told her that they wished to start a second monastery, she continued: “Now I see Saint Anne with the Child Mary. Mary is blessing you with an anchor – a sign of hope for you!”

Fr. Francis confided to her that he was traveling to Rome but would return and bring her the blessing of the Holy Father. Would she kindly hold him and Mariastern in prayer, because it was not easy to face a hostile world and all the obstacles laid in his way? She replied: “You need not fear, for at today’s Mass the Mother of God offered you a crown, and what a beautiful crown that was! If only you had seen it for yourself!”

The long train ride to the Eternal City gave the Prior plenty of time to ponder what he had heard. He still had his doubts: What if the devil was playing tricks on him? But after turning the matter over many times he drew the following conclusion:

“If these visions are from the devil, he must be a stupid one, because what he has achieved is the opposite of his own natural intention. He has set my heart on fire with a stronger faith, greater hope and more love than I ever felt before. He has also made me pray more fervently. So he has failed miserably at his own game! I should thank him for that! … It is simply not possible to believe that the devil goes around, like a guardian angel or missionary, urging people – many people! to be good! Satan cannot be anything but evil and incite others to evil. Therefore, the visions of Wittelsheim cannot be tricks the devil plays with peoples’ minds.”

But what are the facts about these apparitions particularly Mrs. Schott’s? Fr. Karl Luttenbacher CSSp, himself a native of Alsace and for many years confessor to the Missionary Sisters of the Precious Blood at their motherhouse in The Netherlands, did the necessary research. From Mrs. Schott’s youngest daughter, Mary, he found out that her mother had died in 1897 and that her father had followed her two years later. Her blood sister Eugenia had become a nun at Nancy. She had been cured of a serious illness at Lourdes and lived on for another thirty-eight years. Her brother, Abbe Schott, had been a parish priest in Paris for fortythree years and died at Wittelsheim in 1945, at the age of eighty-two. She also told the Prior that after he had published his brochure about the visions many more people had come from Germany, Austria and Switzerland to personally see the place, but with the outbreak of World War One their number had dwindled and not increased again. Her mother had been taken into custody for six weeks when another woman had slanderously accused her of telling lies about her deceased family members. However, the parish priest, Waltzer, had always defended her mother and especially when the case was taken to the local ordinary. Waltzer had regarded her mother as “the main seer of Wittelsheim”, and had taken care that the relevant documents were eventually archived in Strassburg.

So much for Wittelsheim. At Mariastern, progress was in full swing. Vocations poured in from everywhere. Shortly after the Prior’s return, the diocesan priest, Karl Gabl from the Brixen diocese entered and was given the religious name Dominic. With the number of priests increasing, a new foundation was just a matter of time. On 18 November 1874, Nuncio Ludovico of Vienna sent a five-page dossier to the Cardinal Prefect of Propaganda Fide, explaining Mariastern’s intention to found a second monastery and an orphanage in the interior of Bosnia. What he did not mention was Vuicic’s resistance. That is a subject we must leave for another chapter. First, we will look at one of the Prior’s most unique vocational appeals.

Reflections

By Francis Pfanner

The Good Lord knows that I have never sought office or leadership. When I was appointed to my present role I accepted it in obedience to God and I am also ready to lay it down again when asked to. – A kind word spurns me on to sacrifice; but I do not bow to accusations and threats.

Pettish, thin-skinned people lack flexibility. Touch them and you will find that they are as brittle as glass. They break as soon as anyone tries to change them, if ever so gently.

What exchange! God gives himself to us if we give him the little we have!

Open your eyes: The world is one big wonder! We are surrounded by wonders!

To rejoice with Jesus means to have triumphed with him.

The joyful cry “Christ is risen!” is a pledge that the promises Jesus made in the Eight Beatitudes – to the poor in spirit, the meek and peaceful, the bereaved and those of pure heart, the merciful and persecuted for his sake – will be fulfilled.