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Blessed Mary Theresa of Jesus Gerhardinger, S.S.N.D.
Do you remember the written account of the lives of saints when you were a child? One can recall deciding quite early that sainthood was probably not within his/her grasp simply because one was not of "noble birth" and frankly, it was hard to understand what a "hairshirt" was. Fortunately, someone can enter our lives to teach us that being a saint can be attained by acquiring a vision and working to implement that vision every day of one's life. On November 17, I985 Pope John Paul II proclaimed Mother Mary Theresa of Jesus (Caroline Gerhardinger), foundress of the School Sisters of Notre Dame, Blessed. Beatification is an official papal declaration establishing the sanctity of a deceased person and allowing limited veneration of her/him. The title "Blessed" is conferred upon the person and she/he is considered one of the "beati," those enjoying the Beatific Vision. Beatification usually leads to canonization. Shall we share in the vision of one of these beati? Caroline Gerhardinger was born in 1797 in Regensburg-Stadtamhof, Germany. Her parents and teachers, the Canonesses of Notre Dame, gave her the foundation for her faith and her openness to the world. At the age of twelve, Caroline witnessed the suppression and dispersion of her religious teachers due to the Napoleonic creation, the Confederation of the Rhine. She continued her secular education to become a state certified teacher. Meanwhile, Bishop George Michael Wittmann and Father Francis Sebastian Job were praying and working together for the education of girls of the poorer classes. They joined efforts to guide Caroline and two of her friends in the educational professionalism, to initiate them into the religious life, and to give them the Rules and Constitutions of St. Peter Fourier, founder of Caroline's beloved Canonesses of Notre Dame. By 1833 the political situation had improved so that Caroline could focus her vision of providing a solid formation and religious education for poor, neglected girls, and thus to contribute to the Christian formation of the family and the transformation of society. She attempted to fulfill this vision by establishing the Congregation of the School Sisters of Notre Dame in the tiny Bavarian town of Neunburg vorm Wald. The growth of the community might be likened to the words of Luke in Chapter 13:19: "It was like a mustard seed — it grew and became a tree." The young congregation spread quickly and widely throughout Europe. Within 14 years of its founding, invitations from American Bishops and missionaries were received, pleading that School Sisters come to teach the children of German immigrants. Mother Theresa, four Sisters and a novice journeyed to America. Their destination was the German colony at St. Mary's, Pennsylvania, then part of the Pittsburgh Diocese. Unfortunately, the individual who had represented the colony was not a truthful person. Besides learning upon their arrival in New York that no school existed in St. Mary's, it was also learned that the letters of introduction from the Archbishop of Munich were never forwarded to Bishop O'Connor of Pittsburgh and the funds from the Ludwig Mission Society were absconded and disappeared. Fortunately the Sisters were befriended by Father John Neumann, C.Ss.R. (now St. John Neumann), who was in charge of the Redemptorists in the United States at that time. Tragedy struck the small band when Novice Emmanuella became ill and died en route to St. Mary's. She was buried near Harrisburg, and the five distraught Sisters continued their Journey to St. Mary's. Upon their arrival, efforts were made to transform several abandoned log cabins into a school. Due to the remoteness of the area, Mother Theresa realized that the site would not be suitable for a Motherhouse. Mother Theresa traveled to Pittsburgh to meet with Bishop O'Connor. Since the representative of St. Mary's had not followed the usual ecclesiastical procedures, the visit was unpleasant. Mother Theresa returned to St. Mary's and urged two of the Sisters to provide the best education possible for the poor children. She then made plans for the other two Sisters to accompany her to Baltimore. The Archbishop of Baltimore offered the Sisters three schools to staff. Through the kindness of Father Neumann arrangements were made to purchase a building near St. James Church, which had been a former novitiate. Though only one Sister was present on the staff of each school, their expertise soon caused the parents and pastors to desire more Sisters. Within a year (1848) Bishop O'Connor was requesting Sisters for St. Philomena, Pittsburgh; St. Mary, Buffalo, New York; and Holy Redeemer, Rochester, New York. (The latter cities were then part of the Pittsburgh Diocese). Father Neumann assisted Mother Theresa in the spread of the Community in the following manner. He was preparing to visit all of the Redemptorist missions, and invited Mother Theresa and Sister Caroline to join him. In a letter written on May 10, 1848 from Pittsburgh, Mother Theresa describes their journey.
Imagine the inconvenience and fatigue resulting from such travel in 1848. However, each of the named dioceses requested School Sisters to staff schools. The grace of God was astonishingly present. After a year Mother Theresa returned to Europe and saw the spread of her Community to even more countries. As the Community flourished, the vision of this strong religious woman became clearer. She grounded her Sisters in a love the Eucharist, a sense of unity within the community and strong professionalism. At the time of her death on May 9, 1879, there were more than 2,300 Sisters serving in 300 missions. All of this accomplished within 40 years! Today as Mother Theresa enjoys the Beatific Vision, her apostolic vision encompasses the world. There are 7,500 Sisters praying and working in 21 provinces within 31 countries. From the tiny mustard seed of the original convent of Neunburg vorm Wald the tree had developed 825 convents peppering the continents of Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America. How true the words of Mother Theresa:
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