Ray
While the trip was a pilgrimage, there was really not much suffering or sacrifice - we were treated like VIPS for the most part. The most difficult part was the travel and jet lag. The travel there went very smoothly. I was nervous how the trip was going to go when we were at the airport. The novitiate had all packed lunches and snacks from the motherhouse in Mishawaka since we were leaving at 9:30 am and our flight wasn't until 3:15. I had packed an empty water bottle so that I could fill it in the airport - definitely a way that I have increase my poverty; I would have never packed any of that in my BC (before convent) life.
I sat in the middle section of the plane. It was hard to sleep as there was a lot of turbulence plus it was still afternoon in Indiana. We landed early at 5 am German time, 11 pm Indiana time. I slept about an hour and a half I think, but did rest for longer than that. When we landed, the airport was pretty empty - I think that is an unusual time for international flights to come in. We got into two busses and drove to Olpe, Germany. That was the hardest part of the trip for me. Five of us postulants were squished in a back seat, and I just wanted to sleep, but everyone was excited - talking and singing. I was really tired and grumpy. When we arrived at the motherhouse about 7:30, all the sisters were waiting at the door. It was like a receiving line with about 50 sisters! Sr. Magdelena, the general superior, was one of the first ones in line. It was funny because you had no clue who spoke English, so I just looked at everyone and said "Hallo" in a very American way and hugged them. One of the German sisters (Sr. Petra) knew the names of all the postulants from the website - impressive! Even Luke (the boy who was cured through the intercession of Mother Maria Theresia) and his family were there to greet us.
Once all 53 of us made it through the line, we went right to the chapel and sang the Te Deum in English (Holy God We Praise Thy Name) and then went right to the little room where Mother's casket was kept. Sr. Rose Agnes who went to Germany 2 weeks before us explained that the Vatican had sent a team to move her body from the old casket to the new casket and to gather relics of her body from her leg bone and that she had been there to witness it. She said at some point, wax was put on her as a preservation method, so you could see some of her features. She especially commented on her hands. In many pictures you can see her hands and how they were clearly arthritic. She seems to have really long finger though. It was interesting to hear about that. We said a prayer, ate breakfast, and then tried all day to stay awake. We really just hung out and kind of explored the motherhouse.
I went to the chapel and to the place where Mother's body was kept. As I sat in the chapel I was glad for the various faith experiences that we had as a family. For many, it was so hard to get past the non-traditionalism of the chapel that they couldn't see its unique beauty. While it was not the architecture I would have chosen for a church, it was quite unique and you could see symbolism in it. It made the old OLMC church seem bright and cheery. The walls were really dark and it had to have been at least 4 stories tall. The only lighting came from individual bulbs that hung from the ceiling. It seemed like the ceiling went forever! The only lighting came from individual bulbs that hung from the ceiling. It seemed like the ceiling went on forever!
I looked at the Stations of the Cross, which were metal
round plates with carvings in them and while not particularly striking in their
shape and style, there were some really beautiful interpretations. The artist really depicted Satan throughout
the whole Way of the Cross which I have not seen much. My favorite was station 12 – Jesus Dies on
the Cross. The station had Jesus on the
Cross and a snake holding an apple was at the bottom left of the cross. On the bottom right was a priest kneeling and
holding a chalice in consecration. Of
course I knew that the Eucharist is the representation of the sacrifice of
Jesus offered on Calvary, but you rarely see it portrayed that way in art. It really provided some great material for
meditation. The other one I really liked
was the 14th station – Jesus is placed in the tomb. It was a very different tomb than we are used
to seeing with no rock in sight. It
almost looked like a metal box with some accents. One night we were talking about it and
Celeste (another postulant) commented it looks like a tabernacle. I loved that!
That Jesus rose from the dead to open the gates of heaven, but still
leaves his body for us ever present in the tabernacle.
While it was difficult to stay up, I couldn’t believe how
much we ate! From the sack lunches at
the airport, meals on the plane, 2 meals at the motherhouse, and one at the hotel,
we at 6 meals in 24 hours!We finally were able to check into the hotel. I think we took up 90% of the hotel. It was a really nice hotel – especially for Europe. There was the main building and a second building across a little creek that was refurbished several years ago. We were in the refurbished building and each of us had a bed. I was with 2 other postulants, and it felt like a slumber party with lots of girl talk. The showers were very nice. You could adjust the temperature and pressure and there were heated towel racks. Luxury! The other building did not have heated towel racks or even hot water on a regular basis. Sr. Marie described it as showering in a frozen daiquiri. So we were extra blessed, especially because our rooms were bigger with fewer people. I went to Sr. Margaret Mary’s room which had 4 sisters – all perpetually professed – and their room was only about half the size of ours.
There was a chapel across the street where we had Morning Prayer each day. It was built in the 1730’s and Mother Theresia herself had prayed in the chapel. I was surprised to learn that it was so unusual to have churches this old in Germany. So many churches were destroyed by bombs in WWII. The parish church in Olpe was destroyed by fire shortly after Mother’s death (1907). They rebuilt and then it was heavily damaged by a bomb in 1945. There were originally 2 huge bell towers, but they never rebuilt the one that was destroyed by the bomb to serve as a reminder of what war can do son now there is just one bell tower. The original mother house was also severely damaged by the bomb. That is when they built the new motherhouse which is just outside of town. Our hotel was a few blocks from the old motherhouse but about ¾ of a mile to the new motherhouse. It was all uphill – and pretty steep, but I chose to walk it most of the time. It took about 15 minutes. The old motherhouse was 2 blocks from St. Martin’s church, and Mother’s house that she grew up in is right next to the church. It was for sale a while ago and the sisters tried to buy it, but someone heard they were interested and hiked the price so high they could not afford it. It is now a restaurant. One day during our free time, Rachel, Kim and I went to the restaurant and got French Fries and Coca-Lights just so we could be in the house that Mother grew up in. It was fun to imagine what might have been where and knowing that she sat where we were sitting. The sisters gave us a tour of Olpe so we could see all the sights that are important to the history of our order. We postulants are learning about the history of the order right now in our class. It makes the history of the community seem more alive because you can now picture everything. Each day we read something from the history of our community at supper. Last night was the dedication of the chapel in the new motherhouse. Every single one of us could picture exactly what they were talking about.
One other note about the war. On the first day at lunch, I
was sitting with the German Sr. Petra (We also have a Sr. Petra in the Eastern
Province and it is extra confusing because German Sr. Petra is the most fluent
in English in the German Province and American Sr. Petra is the most fluent in
German in the Eastern Province! Our Sr.
Petra spent 4 years working in Austria and then worked for the Austrian government
in Washington, DC before joining the convent.
There is also a Sr. Veronica in the German and Eastern Provinces and a
Sr. Margaret Mary in the Western and Eastern Provinces.) Anyway, Sr. Aline from our province was talking
about how her grandparents came from Germany and spoke German at home but that
her Dad wouldn’t let them teach his kid’s German as he fought in WWII and
wanted to disconnect his family from Germany in every way possible. Sr. Petra was also talking about the war, and
I just had tears in my eyes as I looked at all of us there – there was really a
family feel in the greeting of the sisters and the interactions with them, and
to think in the lifetime of many of the sisters, our countries were mortal
enemies. That my grandfather was
fighting against the fathers or grandfathers of the sisters. And here we are today with no hard feelings,
no fear, no anger. It also made me
reflect on the difficult job of the provincial at the time. I had heard it was almost impossible for her
to communicate with the other provinces during the war and that many of the
German convents were bombed, so she had a lot on her plate. To think that even during that time, faith transcended
culture or citizenship and that the sisters were still united. What a blessing to be part of this community.
OK, that is the background. Next, I’ll provide the big
highlights which I am sure will be interspersed with lots of side notes. Next Germany Reflection: Saturday – The Vigil in
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