SERVANT AND INSTRUMENT Chapter eleven

CHAPTER XI The Purchase of a New Mother House, Foundation in Szt. Ivan. For a long time Mother Franziska had been thinking of obtaining for the Congregation a new Mother House which would really be suited to its needs and which could again house the novitiate within itself as the nature of things required. If space was gained by the purchase of the Heart of Mary Convent, it also made its lack at the Marienanstalt all the more noticeable especially during retreats and Clothing celebrations. Therefore, Mother Franziska had already exerted great effort during 1888 to buy what she considered a suitable building site near the Botanical Gardens from the Commune of Vienna, but according to the ways of the Lord this was not to be the site of the planned Mother House. Let us listen to Mother Franziska’s words in a circular to her spiritual daughters, how the Congregation unexpectedly came into possession of one: “To my Spiritual Daughters! Wonderful are the designs of Divine Providence and inscrutable are the ways of the Lord. For more than twelve years we were wishing and hoping to enlarge the Mother House through purchase of the neighboring garden. God alone knows how many prayers were said, how many Holy Masses were celebrated and offered for this intention. You, dear Sisters, know that we, as we saw that our hopes in this regard were in vain, were dealing with the Vienna municipality concerning a building site near the Botanical Gardens and did everything to come into possession of this site in order to build a Mother House there which was suited to the needs of our beloved Congregation. During these dealings a man came and offered us, under the best conditions imaginable for sale, a house which is even more beautifully situated than the planned building site. This house is bordered on the north and west side by the Botanical Garden, cannot be obstructed by other buildings on three sides and is so high that one can see distinctly all of Vienna, even the suburbs surrounding it for a distance of two hours. The house has 32 rooms, hot-air heating, water and gas piping, an elevator from the cellar to the attic, etc. and was built only four years ago. We can move in without making one stroke of paint. One hundred sixty square ‘Klafter’ land from the Botanical Gardens were given Mr. Kerstan as an option for purchase by the Court Office for enlarging his garden, and this piece will surely be given us by our good Emperor. The house is in Jacquingasse nr. 4. The sale took place on the Feast of the Mother of Mercies (September 24) and we will probably be able to move in as soon as our Foundation Feast (November 21). What do you say, my dears, to this new Mother House? Don’t you recognize here the actions of Divine Providence? God tests our patience and perseverance in prayer, but you see that these were not useless. The All-Good gave us something much better for this. We must take this lesson to heart. God wanted us to receive such a fitting Mother House after twenty years of our existence. The year 1888 was in every way meaningful. God sent us much bitterness in this year, but much good has also come about in the Congregation.” Then Mother Franziska recounted the already mentioned enlarging of the foundations in Troppau, Krakow, Prague, Dolnja-Tuzla and St. Andre and closed with the words: “I have many worries about whether we can meet all the obligations we have incurred with the purchase of the new Mother House. Pray with great trust to our holy father, Joseph that he may send benefactors to us. The convent will bear the name “Mater ter Admirabilis” (Mother three-times admirable) and will be placed under the special protection of this good Mother; She will not abandon us. Pray also that the Lord may send workers into His vineyard. We have far too few candidates. Now I commend you to the protection of the Holy Angels and am, in faithful love, concerned about your spiritual and physical well—being. your, Franziska Lechner. Mother House, on the Feast of the Holy Archangel Michael, 1888.” From this letter we see how happy Mother Franziska was about obtaining the new Mother House, but her beautiful words also show how she related every event to God in order to heighten the joy of her spiritual daughters with this reference to the goodness and providence of the Lord. On October 31 the ownership of the Kerstan house was transferred to the Congregation and some sisters immediately moved in. On November 2 Mother Franziska took leave of the Marienanstalt in order to move with some additional sisters to the new Mother House. With emotion and gratitude to God she left the house which was so dear to her and had been the cradle of the Congregation and within which she had lived so many years alternating in joy and trouble. As once with the entrance into the Marienanstalt, so now her dear possessions, a crucifix, a statue of Mary and one of Joseph, accompanied her as she took possession of the new Mother House. She herself carried the cross, while two other sisters carried the statues of the Mother of God and of the holy Foster Father of Jesus in their arms. These were the actual statues which she had purchased twenty years before. Contrary to her own expectations Mother Franziska felt herself immediately at home in the new Mother House. Even today the sisters themselves like to tell of these early times. Mother Franziska helped with the unpacking, gave instructions about arranging things, lent a helping hand, cooked for the sisters while these were busy in the house or collecting alms, and when the sisters returned from their trips, sat with them, asked them how things went, recounted various things, in short, she lead a life with her little family as only a faithful, caring and loving mother can. One of her first concerns was to furnish a chapel in the new Mother House. Mr. Kerstner’s artists’ studio which stood attached to the house on the site where now stands the novitiate building, provided a suitable space for this. To the joy of Mother Franziska, this chapel was blessed by Msgr. Dr. Anton Horny on November 21, the Feast of the Presentation of Mary and Founding Day of the Congregation. He then immediately celebrated the first Holy Mass and reserved the Blessed Sacrament. Then followed the Clothing of three postulants and the blessing of the house. In this month the Congregation, through the graciousness of the Holy Father, received a new Cardinal Protector. In a letter dated November 26, 1888, His Eminence the Secretary of State, Cardinal Rampolla, informed Mother Franziska that His Holiness had, at her request, entrusted this office to Cardinal Serafino Vannutelli (earlier the Apostolic Nuntio to Vienna). Mother Franziska was overjoyed at this and soon shared the news with her spiritual daughters. On January 24, 1889 she received a very beautiful and fatherly letter from the newly-appointed Cardinal Protector. Soon the new Mother House would enjoy a visit from this honored guest. In March, 1889, Cardinal Vannutelli was sent by the Holy Father on business to Salzburg. When Mother Franziska heard of this she sent her General Assistant, Sister Ignatia Egger with Sister Helene Bonard there on March 30 to greet His Eminence in her name and to ask him to visit on an eventual trip to Vienna. The Cardinal cordially received the sisters and agreed to their request. On April 10 he came to Vienna and on the 12th he celebrated Mass in the Marienanstalt. He promised Mother Franziska to do all that was possible for the Congregation. Mother Franziska was all the more overjoyed to hear this promise because in a request dated March 7, 1889, she had asked from His Holiness, Pope Leo XIII the second Roman approbation, the actual recognition of her Congregation and its Constitutions, and therefore asked Cardinal Vannutelli to once more place this request at the feet of the Holy Father. It was a great desire of Mother Franziska to receive this second approbation, and before sending the request she once again paid a visit to all the Bishops under whose jurisdictions her institutes were operating, to receive from them letters of recommendation. On April 24, the Cardinal Protector celebrated Mass in the Mother House chapel and immediately thereafter viewed the house, guided by Mother Franziska. The house pleased his Eminence extraordinarily well. This exalted visit was a great joy and encouragement for Mother Franziska and the sisters. Now an event that happened in between must be brought to the fore. Soon after the blessing of the new Mother House, Mother Franziska had to take a trip to Budapest on December 3, 1888 on a matter regarding construction. Not many peaceful days, like those first ones in the Mother House, were granted to her. The Marian Institute in Budapest, which Mother Franziska had to enlarge as early as the year 1886 through the purchase of a neighboring house on Knezit Street, had long ago become once again too small. Therefore she decided to enlarge it with the addition of a side wing and a chapel tract. This was begun in February, 1889. In April of the same year Mother Franziska had the additional house purchased in 1886 demolished and replaced with a three story building which would be called the “Margaretinum” and would house the pupils of the Institute. These buildings were possible only with the help of noble benefactors and through the inheritance left from the estate of Mr. Konstantin Rokk in the amount of 17,200 florins. The blessing of the same took place on December 7 in the presence of Mother Franziska and countless guests. The terrible blow suffered by the Imperial Family, and with them all Austria through the unexpected death on January 30, 1889 of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Rudolf, was also a deep sorrow for Mother Franziska, more so in view of His Majesty being the greatest benefactor of the Congregation, of Her Majesty, the Empress as the exalted protectress of the same, and of the exalted Crown Princess, Archduchess Stephanie, the protectress of the Marian Institute in Prague. Mother Franziska prayed much and ordered prayers for the eternal rest of the deceased and. for strength for the severely tried Imperial Family. On February 3, she went to the Supreme Office of the Court and asked if she and the sisters couldn’t alternate spending holy hours by the body. Although on this day only the most exalted persons were allowed admittance, her request was granted, giving her great consolation. Not long after, another suffering touched Mother Franziska, whose grateful soul was always very touched at the death of her benefactors. On May 17, 1889 died the noble and much-tested Queen Mother Marie of Bavaria, who had also been so kind to her and took such a gracious interest in the growth of her Congregation. On May 31 Mother Franziska appeared before the exalted Archduchess Adelgunde in order to respectfully express her sympathy on the death of the Queen Mother. When she was announced to the exalted Lady, her brother, who was at the time in Vienna, His Royal Highness, the Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria, was also present. Mother Franziska was immediately admitted. The exalted personages graciously accepted her sympathy and spoke with her in the most familiar and kindly way. His Majesty was pleased at the mention that many Bavarians were members of the Congregation and was overjoyed at Mother Franziska’s promise that she and all the sisters would pray in a special way for him and for the deceased Queen Mother. The Exalted Archduchess Adelgunde soon returned Mother Franziska’s visit by unexpectedly coming to the Mother House on June 10, Pentecost Monday, just as the sisters were assembled on the veranda for supper. The exalted Lady felt that she had to bid Mother Franziska adieu before her departure for her summer residence, and conversed with her in the most kindly way. In fact, her Royal Highness often deigned to grant Mother Franziska the honor of a visit. For a long time now Mother Franziska had been preoccupied with a plan for building a Novitiate house next to the Mother House, and especially, to build a church, which she intended to meet an urgent need of this neighborhood because of the great distance of other churches. The space next to the Mother House with its artist studio-turned chapel was, however, too small to allow this plan to be carried out. Therefore, her fervent wish, which she had already expressed in the previously mentioned circular of the Feast of St. Michael, 1888, was to receive a piece of the Botanical Gardens as a building site through the graciousness of the Emperor. In case this wish should be fulfilled, she had the intention to build a church in honor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mother Most Admirable in gratitude for the favor of His Majesty and as a lasting memorial of the coming marriage of her Royal Highness the Archduchess Maria Valeria with the Archduke Franz Salvator. In His wise providence God saw to the fulfillment of these wishes. How this happened will be shown in the following letter in which Mother Franziska gives her spiritual daughters the joyful news: “To My Dear Spiritual Daughters, Good children are always happy when their Mother receives a pleasant surprise, and all the more must you rejoice when the entire Congregation receives special graces! Five weeks ago we made the decision to turn with our request for a gift of the piece of the Botanical Garden that borders on the Mother House to the exalted Bride, the Archduchess Valeria so that she could ask this of our much loved Emperor. In the request, which was warmly supported by our good Cardinal (She means the Rev. Dr. Ganglbauer of Vienna) we stated that we are asking to receive this building site because a church is urgently needed for our Mother House as well as for people in the surrounding streets. This church is to be dedicated to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and Our Mother Most Admirable and the cornerstone of the building will be laid on the day before the wedding of the exalted Bride and that, upon its completion, special daily prayers will be offered at Holy - Mass for the exalted Imperial Family. The exalted couple was so overjoyed with this request of ours that the good Archduchess went straight to her Imperial Father and asked His Highness to grant the request immediately. We had a plan made so that the exalted lady could see how the church and the connected convent eventually would look. The good Archduchess succeeded so that our beloved Emperor immediately gave the order that as much of the Botanical Gardens as we need would be transferred to us by the Court Steward’s Office. Yesterday the Secretary of the Court was here and we will receive a gift of 900 square meters-besides the church there will still remain a nice garden. You will understand what an act of extraordinary graciousness this is on the part of His Majesty. May you, dear sisters, see this as a happy and extraordinary event for our Congregation. The Mother House will be enlarged and the church will be attached to the novitiate building. I am so happy that God has made us worthy to build a church in His honor and I hoped also that, according to God’s will, the Mother House will soon be brought to its completion. God is infinitely good to us! All these signs of grace oblige us to show our gratitude to God by faithfully keeping our Holy Rule. Pray that you may always recognize your election to the religious life as one of the greatest graces. Only then will you constantly live and work as good religious women. May the Precious Blood of Jesus which is to be specially honored this month not have been poured out in vain for any one so that someday we will all see one another again in Heaven! God bless all! Your, faithful mother, Franziska Lechner. Mother House, July 11, 1889” From now on the lively spirit of Mother Franziska was often occupied with the building of the church and this was also the favorite topic of conversation. Before it could be started, however, she took over a new foundation. The Archabbot of Martinsberg, Claudius Vaszary now Cardinal and Primate of Hungary, asked Mother Franziska to send sisters of the Congregation to direct the school which he had built in Szt. Ivan near Raab in Hungary on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Emperor’s reign and which was given a capital grant by Canon Vitus Molnar. This last named, also joined in the plea of the Archabbot. On August 21, 1889 Mother Franziska therefore traveled to Szt. Ivan and found the house to be very nice and suitably built, and the school and kindergarten well equipped with useful learning materials. From there she traveled to Martinsberg to thank the Archabbot for his trust and was received in a very friendly manner. On September 25 six sisters moved into the house, and Mother Franziska also traveled again to Szt. Ivan to arrange the house with them and to be present for the blessing set for the 29th. This last was solemnly celebrated by the Archabbot and Mother Franziska had opportunity on that day to be convinced that the people of Szt. Ivan were very happy to have sisters in their town. On November 4, 1889 Mother Franziska expressed to the Emperor the humble gratitude of herself and the entire Congregation for the extraordinary graciousness signified by the gift of the church building site and His Majesty showed himself most gracious toward her. With the same kindness she was received on January 9, 1890 by the exalted Archduchess Valeria to whom she respectfully expressed her thanks for the intercession with His Majesty. On February 19 Mother Franziska gave Archduchess Immakulata, for herself and her son, Archduke Franz Salvator, a picture of the future church and the connected convent, and on the next day she went for the same reason to the Archduchess Adelgunde. Their royal highnesses took the sketches kindly and deigned to express pleasure at the beautiful work planned.