He Leads, I Follow
The Life of Mother Maria Theresia Bonzel
He Leads, I Follow
The Life of Mother Maria Theresia Bonzel
Foundress of the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration
P. Lothar Hardick, O.F.M.
Translated from the German by Sister M. Honora Hau, O.S.F. and Sister M. Clarahilda Fischer, O.S.F.
Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division
Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.
Huntington, Indiana 46750
Nihil Obstat
John A. Schulien
Censor Librorum
Imprimatur
Archbishop of Milwaukee
March, 25, 1971
The Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur are official declarations that a book is free from doctrinal or moral error. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed.
Copyright © 2018, 1971 Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration. Published 2018.
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All rights reserved. With the exception of short excerpts for critical reviews, no part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means whatsoever without permission from the publisher. For more information, visit: www.osv.com/permissions.
Our Sunday Visitor Publishing Division
Our Sunday Visitor, Inc.
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ISBN: 978-1-68192-272-0 (Inventory No. T1960
eISBN: 978-1-68192-273-7
LCCN: 2018930279
Cover design: Lindsey Riesen
Photos: courtesy Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration
Printed in the United States of America
Contents
Chapter I The Years of Childhood
Chapter II Maturing of Vocation
Chapter IV The Way of the Cross Begins
Chapter V Compelled into Her Characteristic Way of Life
Chapter VI With the Blessing of God
Chapter IX New Developments in the Homeland
Chapter X Again Anew to America
Chapter XII Motherhouse in Olpe
Chapter XIII “She was Mother to Us”
Chapter XIV Loyal Daughter of Saint Francis and Holy Church
Foreword
His Excellency Archbishop of Paderborn, Dr. Lorenz Jaeger, in the preface of his festive talk celebrating the centenary of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration in Olpe, wrote: “We hope confidently this jubilee year 1963 will give us a new and comprehensive biography of the life and works of Mother Maria Theresia.” Unfortunately, this wish, expressed also by many others, could not possibly be accomplished during the jubilee year of the Community. A biography of this nature above all demands a progressive development through research to discover the greatness and value unsurmised at first. Whoever wishes to write such a biography must first allow himself to be led by the person whose life he wishes to portray. He must learn to really love that person to be able to place himself into his life and thinking. Only then can he attempt to delineate this life for others and awaken in them a like love and respect. Therefore this book should not be written hurriedly but with ever renewed, though time-consuming, examination of the sources.
An attempt was made not to write so much of the various periods and problems of Mother Maria Theresia’s life, but to let her own words speak as far as possible. One could select words ever so honorable and pleasing regarding her heroic endurance, her quiet patience, her maternal goodness, but these, however, would be the words of another. Consequently, they are not so valuable as her own. In her modest and unassuming manner, her own words disclose all. In using this method there is hope that her life will draw the reader close to Mother Maria Theresia.
Her own writings constitute the most valuable source material of her life. From her hand we have the following:
a. Records relative to the beginning of the Community. These are characterized by extreme poverty and are displayed in a small notebook of 116 pages of which only pages 3-35