The Apostle of South Africa

“I am leaving Agram for good. Tomorrow I travel to a Trappist Monastery in the Rhine Province in Germany. I recognize that this is God’s will for me, just as I recognized thirteen years ago that I should become a priest. My bishop in Brixen has approved of it … I have no desire for wealth, prestige or honour in this world. My only wish is to live poor and unknown for the rest of my life, if at all they can use me in the monastery. I beg you to pray for me that I may have the strength to do all that is asked of me … Farewell. Live in such a way that one day we will meet again in heaven! My brothers and sisters, support our old mother. Ease the burden of her responsibility for the family by rendering her obedience.”

Serious and Humorous Thoughts

By Francis Wendelin Pfanner

The principle I followed when I was in school was to do all my assignments, but not a thing more than was required!

Pride and foolishness belong together and are hatched by the same hen. As long as the world lasts there will be foolish and ignorant people.

The sinister fellow is not the one who looks for light and enlightenment in the dark, but the stay-at-home who, too lazy to think, does nothing but roar from the dark.

If the heart is at peace it is easy to pray. Look at the water. When its surface is calm, you can look through it and count every pebble on the floor.

It is an art to live in a religious community and rub off your shortcomings and rough edges on the shortcomings and rough edges of others.

IV.
Mariawald Monastery

Praying and Working with Silent Monks

Fr. Pfanner traveled to Cologne via Vienna. At Wuerzburg he looked up his “secretary of pilgrim days”, while in Cologne he waited impatiently for his connection to Heimbach, the station closest to Mariawald:

“For three long hours I sat in the cathedral, but this time I had no eyes at all for the gorgeous stain glass windows or the gothic architecture, which fourteen years earlier had cast such a spell over me. ‘Why should I?’ I told myself; ‘it’s pure vanity! Once in the monastery, I cannot share what I have seen with anyone’.”

Climbing for an hour through a gorgeous beech wood he arrived at Mariawald. The monastery had been secularized in 1802 and the monks expelled. Two years before he knocked on its door Trappists from Oelenberg in the Alsace had resettled it (1861), but the actual work of reconstruction had only just then begun.

Abbot Francis:

“The beautiful Gothic church had no roof, windows or doors; even the iron bars had been broken out of the ashlars and carried off. The miraculous picture of Our Lady had been transferred to the parish church of Heimbach, where it was preserved in a separate chapel. The beautiful Gothic windows ended up in a museum in England and the monastery buildings had served as a quarry for anyone who needed stones. – The farmland was extremely poor and rocky and there was hardly enough level ground to build on.”

When Fr. Pfanner arrived on 10 September, 1863, Mariawald numbered not quite twenty monks. At thirty-three years of age the Prior was five years his junior. He was away in France attending the annual Trappist general chapter. Until his return the candidate was put up in the guest quarters. Six weeks later, on 9 October, the feast of St. Abraham, he was given the habit of the Reformed Cistercians and a new name. As Fr. Franciscus (after the Poverello of Assisi) he became a member of the Trappist Congregation of de Rancé.

His life was now ordered by the rule with its daily schedule of ora et labora.

Abbot Francis:

“My first assignment was to weed the garden. So I had to bend a lot. It was something my back did not like, but since no one asked me how I felt, I carried on, telling myself that in due time I would be given another occupation. I was mistaken. Instead, I realized that all that was expected of me was to help rebuild Mariawald … Time passed quickly. As I became better acquainted with the life of a novice and entered more deeply into the meaning of the Trappist vocation, things became easier. I even started to doubt if after all this was the life of penance I was looking for.”

To an extent, it was. In mid-18th century Mariawald was certainly not a place of bliss. What annoyed the beginner (novice) was that the study of the Psalms (by Bellarmin) was constantly interrupted by a rigid schedule of prayer and work. He got on well in community but not with everybody:

“One of the older monks who wanted to try me out was known to be difficult. He did not want to see me going flat out, because for him, who used his many private prayers as an excuse for not doing his chores, manual labour was an evil he shunned any time. It did not take me long to figure him out. He was not really a Trappist but what you would call a holy Joe. Himself neglecting his share of the work, he made sure others got more than they could cope with. For example, when we were repairing the roof he put so many slabs in my basket that not even two men could lift it. I carried it up a few times and would have continued doing so if my superior had ordered me to, but I also knew that it was against our rule to carry or assign too heavy burdens.”

Fr. Francis worked with a will. Work was a pleasure for him. Before he knew it he had regained his former strength and felt better than ever before. The ascetic lifestyle – frugal diet and hard labour in the fresh air – had an invigorating effect. He did not wish for a change. To his family he wrote that though he had no mirror to look at himself he could feel his cheeks bulging out. He was busy the whole day, either chopping wood for torches or cutting and uprooting thorns: in short, cultivating barren ground. It was the kind of work that agreed with him, and it did not matter that his hands “like the hands of a farmer” were full of calluses and cracks. Rather, he must thank his father for teaching him early in life how to work with wood and soil.

His former parishioners insisted on his return to Haselstauden. He did not think of it. Instead, he wrote to his bishop that he would renounce his benefice immediately after profession.8 So fully was he committed to the monastic life that once he had pronounced his simple vows, on 21 November 1864, he was appointed Sub-Prior.9

Daily Striving for Perfection

The monastic regimen is not soft on a man. The Mariawald community rose at a time when most other people are still asleep: at 2 a. m. on weekdays and 1 a. m. on Sundays and Holy Days. The Trappists kept perpetual silence: they did not speak without permission and then only what was absolutely necessary. Communication was by signs or the sign language. Their diet was frugal.

Abbot Francis:

“We eat everything except meat, butter or lard, eggs, fish, sweets or delicacies and use no spices. Oil is used only for salads. Instead of (Arabic) coffee we drink a brew made from barley and an additional mug of wine or a pint of beer … The Brothers take three meals a day. A hot meal is served at noon. Mornings and evenings we eat bread.”

Like everything else, the liturgy at Mariawald was sombre, devoid of all decorative detail. On special feasts such as Corpus Christi, Sacred Heart, Peter and Paul and the Visitation, the Prior preached a sermon. For Fr. Francis, who was used to preach every Sunday, this was something to get used to. He did not always manage. Once, when the Prior was again in France and he substituted for him, he preached to his heart’s content. The Brothers were delighted but some of the older monks were not. They complained and also criticised him for hearing Confession in Heimbach, where, as they had heard, people were flocking to his confessional. They warned the Prior that if Fr. Francis was not stopped, his popularity would destroy him. The result was a heated altercation between the Prior and his Sub-Prior – the one a Prussian and the other, a Vorarlberger. Fr. Francis, who seems to have taken it lightly, later referred to it as a lesson he needed to learn:

Mariawald Monastery in the Eifel, Germany, where Wendelin Pfanner entered to become a Trappist

“I have never regretted coming to the monastery. The Prior is not the monastery. Nowhere except in the monastery would I have known how deeply the tapeworm of my own ego was still lodged in my heart. Neither would anyone have pulled it out for me, for that favour they will do you only in the monastery.”

Soon afterwards Abbot Ephrem van der Meulen – Abbot of Oelenberg and Founder and Pater immediatus10 of Mariawald – recalled the Prior and appointed Fr. Eduard Scheby his successor. Scheby, Danish by birth and originally a member of the Lutheran Church, had converted to Catholicism in Vienna. First he had joined the Redemptorists in The Netherlands where he was ordained, but later he had become a Trappst at Mariawald.

Abbot Francis:

“Scheby was one of those people who dream a lot and allegedly hear God speak to them in visions. Such men may be capable after a fashion but they definitely do not make good heads of monasteries because they only confuse and mislead their unsuspecting subjects.”

Wendelin Pfanner, now Fr. Francis, could distinguish between an authentic monk and a fake one or “holy Joe”. Scheby had hardly assumed office when he made the former Sub-Prior his private secretary and Master of Brothers. Fr. Francis filled these positions to the best of his ability. But before long, he found himself at odds also with the new Prior. Scheby accused him of using the confessional to instigate the Brothers against him. The fact was, however, that Scheby himself had forfeited the Brothers’ trust and respect on account of his gross mismanagement. He also upbraided his Sub-Prior and secretary for lack of monastic piety and discipline. Was he not actually breaking holy silence quite frequently and without reason? In short, Scheby did not think too highly of Francis. And the other monks, how did they see him? Br. Zacharias spoke for several others when he suggested that Fr. Francis lead them in establishing another monastery where they could follow the strict observance of the rule without any hindrance. Would he consider such an undertaking? Fr. Francis was not disinclined but needed time to discern. Time was not granted him, however, because when the proposal was put to Abbot Ephrem he took matters into his own hands. He ordered Scheby to send Fr. Francis and Br. Zacharias to find a suitable place for a new monastery somewhere in the Danube Monarchy (Austria-Hungary). They were to be the vanguard; later he would send more monks.

Off to an Unknown Future

When the day of departure came, Fr. Francis had only one wish: to be given permission to say a word of farewell to his fellow monks. But no permission was given him. All he and Br. Zacharias were allowed to do was to exchange the customary kiss of peace – in silence! Their letters of reference, issued by the Prior, stated that they were seasoned monks and in every respect capable and worthy to prepare the ground for a new foundation. They were provided with “an old Missal, a second habit and travel fare to last us for a few days”. It took them as far as Mannheim where they would have been stranded had not a kindly man taken pity on them.

Abbot Francis:

“A cleaner of street lamps in the service of the Grand Duke took us to his house and gave us enough to continue on our journey. We were like the girl in the fairy tale ‘A Girl with Empty Pockets’.”

From their letters (decrees) of obedience the two pioneers learned what plans their superiors had and how they were expected to carry them out. The letter issued to Fr. Francis read:

“We, Father Eduard, Prior of the Monastery of Mariawald in the Order of Citeaux or La Trappe, extend to the priest Francis, professed member of this monastery our best wishes for his journey.

It has long been our desire to see our Order – the Reformed Order of Citeaux originating in France – spread also to countries in the south eastern parts of Europe. But until now we have not been able to carry it out because of the few admissions we have had to our relatively new monastery in Germany. However, with God’s help membership has increased. Therefore we have decided to open another monastery in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. We send you, Fr. Francis, to find a place for it in Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia or one of the neighbouring countries. We grant you a three-months leave-of-absence to carry out this mandate and we ask all rectors of churches to grant you, a genuine monk, admission to the Sacraments and other spiritual assistance … We affix our signature and the Seven Seals of Mary of Citeaux to this letter as proof of its authenticity. – Given at the Priory of Mariawald, on the 23rd day of July, 1867. Fr. Eduard, Prior.”

There it was. Fr. Francis and Br. Zacharias were given a bare three months to make a new foundation in totally unknown territory! But they were monks under obedience and would do their level best. The first thing they did was to split company: Zachariah continued to solicit support and vocations for the new monastery and Francis went to Vorarlberg from where he would travel to the Balkans. So one fine day a Trappist monk appeared in Langen-Hub to the surprise of everyone. His mother, however, soon realized that her son needed assistance and without further ado she paid his ticket to Hungary. There his search for a site began in earnest. Success, however, was not in coming. So he crossed into Croatia, where he could at least hope for free bed and board with the Mercy Sisters whom he had abruptly left four years earlier. If he had thought that Croatia would put no obstacles in the way of a monastic foundation, he was mistaken, for even that Catholic country held next to no chance.

The going was rough and traveling, an uninterrupted hardship.

Abbot Francis:

“We lived as it were between heaven and earth and I am sure that most gypsy families were better off than we. The only advantage we had was that we travelled light, unencumbered by personal effects. Not that Mariawald was too poor to provide us with more, no, it was simply the rule. A Trappist was given no traveling coat and only very rarely a hat or a second vest, underpants or anything like that. Common underwear was distributed every fortnight; habits and scapulars were washed twice a year. We had two habits: a coarse (hairy) one for winter and a second hand one for summer. Socks were sewn from thick cloth. Instead of boots we usually wore wooden shoes and leather ones only for church. It was a rule which also applied to the Prior. So it simply did not occur to us to ask for more.”

While Br. Zacharias promoted the new foundation, Fr. Francis inspected one estate or manor after another, hoping against hope to find something suitable and affordable. To complicate matters, two more Brothers were sent from Mariawald: Jacob, the smith, and Benedict, the cook. But when checking their decrees he found that they were issued for Oelenberg, not Agram. So he sent them back to get themselves proper papers lest by their disobedience they jeopardize the new foundation. However, the two Brothers had no desire to go to Oelenberg where Abbot Ephrem might hold them back and never let them join the new foundation. Could Fr. Francis not let them go somewhere else? After due thought he sent them to Vienna to make themselves useful with the Capuchins and from there apply for fresh letters of obedience.

“Big Bang”

The first mandate of the pioneers had not yet expired when Prior Scheby extended their leave of absence by three more months. If this surprised them they were even more puzzled when another letter arrived on the heel of the first one. This one was not official but private and written by Abbot Ephrem, who ordered Br. Zacharias to come to Oelenberg and advised Fr. Francis to return to the world. This is what according to Abbot Francis’ Memoirs he wrote: “My dear Fr. Francis, you may not return to the monastery. I forbid you to return to either Mariawald or Oelenberg. Instead, go back to the world where you can still do a lot of good. I gladly provide you with a letter of reference to any bishop to whom you may wish to apply.”

Dumbstruck at this sudden turn of events, Fr. Francis did not know what to do. Years later he explained:

“The abbot’s order was tantamount to asking me to break my vow of stability. How could a superior, any superior, leave alone the highest superior of our Congregation, because that is what Ephrem was, act like that? I prayed and reflected, reflected and prayed. Finally, I put the case before the very best canonist of the day, none other than my former professor, Dr. Joseph Fessler. He had become vicar general of Feldkirch and then Bishop of St. Poelten in which capacity he was appointed secretary general to the Vatican Council. – The one thing about which I was certain was that I would never go back to the diocesan clergy. I had become a Trappist and a Trappist I wished to remain.”

Fessler replied at once. He could not deal with the case personally, he explained, but he would refer Fr. Francis to a competent authority in Rome. This was good advice. Fr. Francis and the Brothers Zachariah, Jacob and Benedict, who had meanwhile received proper papers, left for the Eternal City. They arrived on New Year’s Eve 1868 and reported to the Trappist procurator general who resided at the French National Church of St. Louis overlooking Piazza Navona. Abbot Francis Regis11 gave them accommodation, listened to their story and promised to do everything in his power to assist them. The Brothers might chop wood for him, but Fr. Francis would need to stay by himself to write an official letter of complaint – in Latin. He hired a room for him at the German College dell’Anima, where by God’s gracious Providence his host was Rector Msgr. Gassner, another Vorarlberger!

The story of four stranded Trappists soon made its round in the City. The German curial Cardinal August von Reisach heard of it and offered to mediate. Before long, Pope Pius IX sent them to Tre Fontane.12 The year was 1868, the 18th centenary of the Beheading of St. Paul in the very ruins of Tre Fontane. Flocks of pilgrims were expected to pour in for the occasion and someone had to be on hand to show them around. So on 18 February 1868, the would-be founders from Mariawald left Rome. For the next eight months they carted away the debris that had accumulated in the sacred places, cultivated a garden and in general got things ready for the centenary. With the Brothers working outside, Fr. Francis was porter and interpreter. Several times he sent Br. Zacharias to the cardinal to enquire about their case, but each time the answer was that this was Rome; things were done the Roman way and they should be patient. Abbot Francis tells us that once they went on an excursion to Subiaco, and it is not hard to guess what their purpose was. Surely they wanted to ask Saint Benedict, patriarch also of the Cistercians, to intercede for them in their difficult situation. But would it be too farfetched to suggest that they also needed to breathe fresher air than they got in the deadly Campagna? After all, malaria had already killed Br. Benedict, the cook.

Pfanners Memoirs recount a strange incident. One day while he was working in the garden during the time of siesta, a silver-haired man stood at the outer iron-gate.

“He kept looking at me but I took no notice of him. Annoyed, he shouted to me, ‘Why are you wasting your time here? Go to Turkey! There is more work there for you than here!’ – Now it was my turn to be annoyed. What business did that old man have to meddle with me? I turned around to shoo him away but did not see him anymore. Where was he? Gone, and not a trace of him! Strange, I thought, very strange! Only much later, when I was laying a road for our monastery in Bosnia (then part of Turkey), did I remember him again: the beggar of Tre Fontane.”

Finally, on 17 July (1868), Fr. Francis was summoned to the cardinal. The case had been adjudicated in their favour and they were free to continue with the foundation. He handed him a decree of authorization, this time issued by the competent Vatican office, and wished him well. The three Trappists were overjoyed and intoned the Te Deum! After slaving away for nearly eight months at Tre Fontane they could not wait to leave. They had drained the swampy ground and started to plant eucalyptus trees to suck up the stagnant water. The favour they thus did future generations was not forgotten. The monastery of Franciscan Conventual Friars Minor across the road from Tre Fontane installed a plaque in their grounds to the memory of “Francis Pfanner, Trappist”.

The three monks celebrated their last Mass in the ancient ruins and then called on Procurator Francis Regis. After all, this good man – “one of the kindest I have ever met” – had been instrumental in making their sojourn in Rome both possible and profitable.

Before they left the City for good, Fr. Francis submitted their plans to the Holy Father: they would continue to look for an estate, large enough to build a monastery for approx. two hundred monks! That number, he stated, was not unrealistic for they were already receiving applications from Bavaria, Prussia, Baden, Hungary, Croatia and other parts of Europe. Therefore they would begin to admit candidates as soon as they were settled. They had collected enough money and the cardinal of Agram had graciously bid them welcome.

They embarked at Trieste and returned to Agram where they were welcomed again by the Mercy Sisters. However, things did not turn out as they had hoped. National sentiment in the Austrian Crown land was even less favourable to a religious foundation than before. Its citizens were clamouring for independence and foreigners, especially Austrians, were hated. Accordingly, the parliament, newly constituted in May 1868, turned their application down in its first session. It was a hard blow and one that made them ask what the future had in store for them. Closing the door on them in Croatia, would God open another? Certain signs pointed in the direction of Bosnia.