« Ma
vie s'éteint peu à peu dans la souffrance... l'Éternité se rapproche sans
cesse…
Bientôt, je vivrai de Dieu, qui est la Vie même. Le Ciel n'a pas de prix, et je
me réjouis
chaque minute de l'appel du Seigneur vers la patrie infiniment belle »
Sainte Anne Schäffer
Laïque bavaroise (+ 1925)
Anne Schaeffer (1882-1925) laïque, béatifiée pour une vie de souffrances offertes le 7 mars 1999.
21 octobre 2012 - canonisation à Rome de Jacques
Berthieu, Pedro
Calungsod,Giovanni
Battista Piamarta, Maria
Carmen Sallés y Barangueras, Marianne
Cope,Kateri
Tekakwitha, Anna Schäffer - Livret
de la célébration avec biographies en plusieurs langues.
À Mindelstetten, dans la région de Ratisbonne en Bavière, l'an 1925, la
bienheureuse Anne Schäffer, vierge. À l'âge de dix-neuf ans, alors qu'elle
s'occupait des soins domestiques, elle fut brûlée par de l'eau bouillante et
vécut, à partir de ce jour, pauvre, dans la prière, avec une âme paisible,
alors que son infirmité s'aggravait progressivement et qu'elle supportait ses
souffrances comme une croix pour le salut des âmes.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/12255/Sainte-Anne-Schaffer.html
Sainte Anna Schäffer
Femme invalide et mystique
Anna Schäffer naît
le 18 février 1882 à Mindelstetten (Bavière). Son père meurt à l’âge de 40 ans,
en 1896, laissant sa famille dans une grande pauvreté. Anne, qui aspire à la
vie religieuse doit d’abord travailler pour constituer son trousseau.
Dès l’âge de 14 ans elle
est employée de maison, ce qui représente des dangers pour sa vie morale, mais
elle peut y échapper grâce à la récitation du rosaire.
En 1901 elle tombe les
deux pieds dans une bassine de lessive bouillante. Gravement brûlée jusqu’à
mi-jambe, elle doit subir plus de 30 opérations et passera le reste de sa vie -
20 années - avec des pansements qu’on se contente de renouveler chaque semaine.
Au début, elle ne se résigne pas sans difficulté à son sort. Pour échapper aux
avanies de son frère buveur, sa mère déménage avec elle dans une petite maison
du village. Là elle commence à recevoir des visites dans sa chambrette de
malade.
Anne écrit ses pensées
sur douze carnets et entretient de la correspondance. Elle fait aussi de la
couture. Son emblème préféré est le Sacré-Cœur dont elle dessine ou coud les
flammes en forme d’épis de blé, traduisant ainsi sa dévotion eucharistique.
« J’ai trois clefs du paradis, dit-elle: la plus grande est de fer
brut et pèse lourd : c’est ma souffrance. La seconde est l’aiguille à coudre,
et la troisième est le porte-plume. »
Son entourage est
compatissant. Les enfants se sentent attirés par elle et elle les catéchise.
Parfois la fanfare lui offre une sérénade en passant sous ses fenêtres.
Tertiaire de Saint
François, elle reçoit, comme lui, les stigmates de la Passion à partir du 4
octobre 1910, (fête du saint), mais elle obtient ensuite la grâce qu’ils
deviennent invisibles. Elle est soutenue par la communion quotidienne et
parfois on la transporte à l’église, jusqu’au jour où même cela devient
impossible. Sa vie est une souffrance continuelle qu’elle accueille comme une
grâce. Parfois la douleur est si intense qu’elle ne peut même plus parler.
« Dans ces moments-là, dit-elle, je pense que mon Père du ciel doit
m’aimer particulièrement. »
Elle quitte,
paisiblement, sa demeure terrestre, pour la rencontre avec Dieu le 05 octobre
1925 à l’âge de 43 ans.
Anna Schäffer a été
béatifiée le 07 mars 1999, par Saint Jean-Paul II (Karol
Józef Wojtyła, 1978-2005), et canonisée le 21 octobre 2012, par le
Pape Benoît XVI.
SOURCE : https://levangileauquotidien.org/FR/display-saint/9a945a87-60f3-4059-95d2-21e46a2314cf
Anna Schäffer (1882-1925)
devient grabataire en 1900, à la suite d'un accident : une de ses compagnes de
travail, la bousculant par mégarde, l'a fait tomber dans un baquet de lessive
bouillante. Elle en a été retirée affreusement brûlée, et les vingt-cinq années
qui lui restent à vivre seront un martyre continuel, rythmé chaque jour par des
soins extrêmement douloureux. Elle a dix-huit ans au moment de l'accident, et
doit renoncer à ses aspirations à la vie religieuse - elle voulait être
missionnaire - pour se retrouver confinée à jamais dans une chambrette de la
maison paternelle, à la charge de sa mère, veuve d'un pauvre menuisier
bavarois. Pendant plusieurs mois, ballottée d'hôpital en hôpital, elle n'a fait
que survivre, grâce à sa robuste constitution : elle subira trente opérations !
Puis, avec une force de caractère peu commune, elle a accepté ses souffrances
comme une véritable vocation, et a fait à Dieu le sacrifice de sa vie. Cela ne
s'est pas fait sans luttes, sans tentations de découragement, de désespoir. Peu
à peu, elle s'est laissée saisir par la grâce divine, emporter vers les sommets
de la contemplation.
Depuis 1901, elle voit
son ange gardien. C'est la première des nombreuses grâces mystiques qui, après
la stigmatisation, en 1910, l'élèveront en 1914 au mariage spirituel avec le
Christ, puis l'établiront dans l'union transformante. Elle voit son ange, d'une
beauté indescriptible, qui se tient à sa droite, et elle l'appelle « mon plus
fidèle ami ». Lui confiant tout, elle recourt fréquemment à lui, en particulier
les jours où elle doit communier :
« Je veux m'adresser à
lui par la prière spécialement au moment de la communion : qu'il veuille bien
substituer à mes faiblesses et à ma misère l'ardeur de son adoration ! » (1)
Elle aspire de tout son
être à recevoir la communion sacramentelle, d'autant plus que son ange gardien
stimule sa ferveur eucharistique par des visions où il vient lui-même lui
apporter l'hostie, quand il ne l'emmène pas dans tel ou tel sanctuaire pour y
adorer le Saint Sacrement ou y participer à de grandioses célébrations
liturgiques. Simples visions, ou bilocations ? Sans doute un harmonieux
ensemble des unes et des autres : « Le 31 août 1918, je me trouvai dans
une grande église devant le Saint Sacrement exposé, devant lequel brûlaient
d'innombrables cierges » (2). Tout absorbée dans l'adoration, elle ne
remarque pas d'emblée les anges qui se tiennent en grand nombre autour de
l'autel. Quand, au bout d'une heure, elle voit un fleuve de lumière qui jaillit
de l'hostie pour s'écouler dans son âme, la comblant d'une joie indicible, elle
constate que cette lumière ruisselle jusqu'à elle à travers les choeurs
angéliques, et que deux anges majestueux se tiennent agenouillés de part et
d'autre du Saint Sacrement, dans une attitude de profond respect.
Plus d'une fois, son ange
gardien l'emmène - en esprit ou en réalité ? - au pied de l'autel dans l'église
paroissiale ou dans d'autres sanctuaires, afin qu'elle y passe une heure
d'adoration devant le tabernacle. En d'autres circonstances, il la fait prendre
part à des messes célébrées au loin, et elle y reçoit l'eucharistie.
Constamment à ses côtés, il l'assiste lorsque le curé de la paroisse vient
jusqu'à elle pour la communier, et il se produit alors un phénomène étonnant,
visible à tous :
Je me rendis tôt le matin
chez Anna. Je l'aspergeai d'eau bénite ; elle fit le signe de la croix, mais ne
dit rien. Vers 6 h 45, le prêtre arriva, avec la sainte eucharistie. Elle était
couchée dans son lit, comme un ange. Et lorsque le prêtre eut déposé la
parcelle consacrée sur sa langue, il y eut autour de son lit une lumière très
belle, indescriptible. Je demandai à sa mère : « Est-ce tous les jours ainsi ?
» Sa mère me répondit par l'affîrmative (3).
Anna Schäffer est morte
en 1925, en grand renom de sainteté. Elle a été béatifiée en 1999.
1: Anton Maria
Weigi, Geschichte einer Liebe, Altötting, Verlag St. Grignionhaus, 1966,
p. 71.
2: Ibid., p. 176.
3 : Ibid., p.
85.
Joachim Bouflet. Encyclopédie
des phénomènes extraordinaires dans la vie mystique, tome 3 : Les Anges et
leurs Saints - Le jardin des livres - BP 40704 - 75827 Paris Cedex 17.
SOURCE : http://www.spiritualite-chretienne.com/anges/ange-gardien/ref-17.html#288
SAINTE ANNA SCHÄFFER
1. LE CHEMIN
EXTÉRIEUR
« Une nouvelle étoile s’est levée à l’horizon
de l’église. » C’était par cette phrase marquante que Joseph Ratzinger, en tant
que cardinal à cette époque, commencait son homélie la veille de la
béatification d’Anna Schäffer à Rome, le 6 mars 1999. Entre-temps Anna Schäffer
a été canonisée le 21 octobre 2012 par Pape Benoît XVI. Desormais son étoile
brille pour toute l’église catholique entière. Avant d‘atteindre l’apogée du
ciel de l’église elle a du cheminer longuement. Son Chemin commencait dans son
village de naissance à Mindelstetten, qui se trouve à une vintaine de kilomètre
au nord-est d’Ingolstadt. Elle y est née le 18 février 1882. Elle a grandi dans
une famille d’artisan simple, étant le troisième de six enfants. À l’école
primaire elle avait des notes exellentes. D’autres formations ne lui étaient
pas possible. Son père est mort en janvier 1896. A cette époque Anna
travaillait depuis six mois déjà dans un foyer à Regensburg, enchainé par des
postes à Sandersdorf, Landshut et enfin à la maison forestière à Stammhamm. Ce
fut à Stammhamm, le 4 février 1901, que se déroulait l’accident qui
déconstruisait tous les projets entiers de sa vie. C’était le jour de lessive
et Anna, en compagnie avec une autre fille de service, avait le devoir de
recueillir le linge qu’on lavait dans un marmite. Le tuyeau de poêle n’était
plus correctement fixé à sa place. Pour réparer le dommage Anna montait au le
bord du Kessel. Elle glissait, perdait pied et tombait dans le Kessel plein de
solution alcaline buillante. Le liquide lui brûlait les jambes jusqu’à
l’hauteur de ses genoux. On la transportait à l’hôpital municipale de Kösching.
Aucun des efforts de guérison portait ses fruits. On finissait par abandonner
Anna en n’attendant que sa mort. Mais l’heure de sa mort n’était pas encore
venue. Son état de santé se restabilisait de sorte qu’elle n’était plus en
danger de mort. Six mois plus tard on l’a laissé sortir puisqu’on ne pouvait
plus rien faire pour elle. L’accident avait déclenché un long chemin de
souffrance dans la vie d’Anna. Les douleurs des brûlures ne cessaient pas de la
faire souffrir. Les blessures aux pieds ne se fermaient pas et il y avait des
trous ouverts qui suppuraient sans cesse. Malgré les soins réguliers de son
généraliste celui-ci ne réussissait pas d’améliorer son état général qui fût
misérable. Tout comme les deux séjours à l’hôpital universitaire d’Erlangen (à
chaque fois pendant plusieurs mois) qui restait an succès. Les thérapies y
étaient tellement douloureux qu’Anna, tant qu’elle s’en rappelait, éprouvait de
l’angoisse. Devenu raide par l’allongement long, on essayait plusieurs fois de
remobiliser ses Chevilles inverse et contre tout brutal. Sans succès également.
2. LE CHEMIN
INTÉRIEUR
Enfance
Sa sœur Kathi décrit Anna
comme enfant normal. Cependant sa mère se rendait compte du fait qu’Anna, déjà
en tant qu’enfant, était différente que les autres de son âge. Elle avait
l’habitude de se retirer à un endroit calme pour prier, de temps en temps. Il
semblait que dieu avait posé a main sur cette fille à un moment tôt dans sa vie
pour la tirer contre lui doucement, peu à peu. Le jour de sa première
communion, le 12 avril 1893, Anna faisait une expérience religieuse très
profonde. Pourtant, elle n’en parle pas plus précisément. Seulement, des années
plus tard, elle constate que cette journée était la plus belle de sa vie.
Probablement influencé par cette impression elle écrivait le jour même une
lettre à Jésus en lui faisant une promesse lourde de conséquence : « … fais de
moi ce que tu veux … Je suis prête à faire de la pénitence pour toi. Et si tu
le souhaites, mon Jésus, fais de moi un sacrifice de pénitence pour tous les
déshonneurs et les diffamations commis contre toi… » Par cette offre
au Seigneur Anna, ayant l’âge de 11 ans, dévoile son caractère déjà
capable de risquer le tout. Il est possible que son dévouement était influencé
par l’idée d’entrer dans un monastère ou par l’idée de travailler comme sœur
consacrée dans la mission. Il est certain qu’elle ne pensait pas à ce que lui
arrivait plus tard. Car, après son accident, elle gardait pendant au moins deux
ans l’espérance de guérir.
Jeunesse
La jeune Anna Schäffer
s’est consacrée à la vierge Marie à l’âge de 16 ans. Ses paroles de
consécration étaient : « Moi, je … te choisi aujourd’hui comme patronne et
intercesseur et je prévois fortement de ne jamais te quitter … » Tout au long
de sa vie, Anna gardait une relation très confidentiel avec la mère de Dieu. La
vierge était un appui pour Anna qu’elle puisse tenir sur son chemin de vie.
Plus tard, Marie est apparue souvent dans les rêves d’Anna. Une sorte de vision
émouvait gravement Anna Schäffer en juin 1898. Elle l’a noté personnellement.
Jésus, apparaissant en personne du bon berger, lui annonçait une souffrance
longue et lourde pour sa vie. « Un chapelet dans la main il me parlait de la
prière du chapelet et me disait je n’allais pas avoir plus que 20 ans et qu’il
me faudra porter une souffrance énorme… » Anna, paniquée, quittait Landshut le
lendemain en refusant de reprendre son travail. Du point de vue humain, sa
réaction était bien compréhensible. Même après elle n’a jamais cherché la
souffrance, mais elle l’a acceptée avec dévouement.
With 16 years Anna
dedicated herself to the Mother of God. In the formula used it says: „today I
choose you as my patroness and intercessor and am strongly resolved never to
leave you...” All her life Anna had a very intimate relationship with the
Mother of God, who helped her to persevere in her life of suffering. Later on
Mary often appeared to her in her dreams.
Procès de
maturation
Dans une lettre, de façon
préfigurant, Anna dit qu’elle a lutté pendant presque deux ans avant d’accepter
son sort lourd et avant d’y retrouver la volonté de Dieu selon la promesse
qu’elle avait faite le jour de sa communion. Ce fut environ neuf ans et demi
après son accident (le 9 octobre 1910) que Jésus lui confirmait : « Je t’ai
adopté pour faire de la pénitence de mon saint sacrément. Désormais, je
voudrais que tu ressens les souffrances que moi, j’ai ressenti lors de ma
sainte passion. C’est par ces souffrances que je t’ai sauvée, toi, pauvre rien.
Souffres, Sacrifie et fais pénitence dans le secret silencieux. » Le matin de
cette journée, en recevant la sainte communion par le prêtre, elle ressentait
cinq coup de feu, comme des éclairs, dans les mains, les pieds et dans le cœur.
Elle écrit : « Aussitôt il y avait une douleur immense dans ces parties de mon
corps … J’avais le droit de partager ces douleurs depuis octobre 1910 sans
interruption. La souffrance est plus lourde pendant certaines journées, particulièrement
les jeudis, vendredis, dimanches et les jours de fête. » Ce fut par cet acte
que le Seigneur a anobli la souffrance de sa servante, en l’unissant avec la
sienne. Ne pas pouvant se libérer de sa souffrance, elle essayait de souffrir
de la même façon que lui : Sans rébellion et sans querelle, mais avec
dévouement et prête à souffrir dans l’amour. Sur la croix, le Seigneur a gardé
l’amour jusqu’à la misère la plus grande (père, pardonne leur, car ils ne
savent pas ce qu’ils font). Elle voulait tenir de la même façon que le
Seigneur. A la fin elle écrivait: « C’est dans la souffrance que j’ai appris à
t’aimer. » Voilà, le chemin le plus dur et le plus haut de suivre le Seigneur,
à la fois. Grâce à cette attitude, sa prière s’est approfondi et devenait plus
essentiel, parfois en devenant une expérience mystique. Pour elle le chapelet
représentait une contemplation de la vie de Jésus. Si- empêchée par ses
douleurs immenses- elle était incapable de faire une prière longue, elle
envoyait des phrases courtes au ciel, comme des gémissements courts. Le
Seigneur lui offrait la grâce de la prière perpétuelle, à fin qu’elle était
toujours sans sa présence, même quand elle accueillait des gens chez elle et
quand elles parlaient avec eux.
Die meiste Kraft schöpfte
sie aus dem fast täglichen Kommunionempfang. Sie schreibt: „Wie glücklich ich
jedesmal nach der heiligen Kommunion bin, kann ich mit keiner Feder
niederschreiben… In jenen heiligen Stunden bin ich oft so selig, dass ich
mit keiner Weltfürstin, ja nicht um die ganze Welt mein Leidensbett tauschen
möchte…“ In diesen Momenten stärkte sie der Herr. Er belastete sie nicht nur
mit schweren Kreuzen, sondern er gab ihr auch himmlischen Trost. Sie wuchs
immer mehr in die Haltung der Liebe hinein, die sie vom Herrn übernahm. Das
befähigte sie, sich der Not und der Anliegen ihrer Mitmenschen zu widmen. Sie
schrieb aufmunternde Briefe, empfing Besucher, nahm ihre Anliegen an und
versprach, zu beten. Sie, die so hilflos war, dass sie nicht aus eigner Kraft
einen Fuß vor das Bett setzen konnte, wurde immer mehr zu einer Helferin für
viele. Am Ende bestand sie fast nur noch aus Hingabe und Liebe. Das Leiden
wurde ihr mehr und mehr zu einem Mittel, zu einem Kapital, das sie einsetzte,
um ihr Gebet für andere zu verstärken. Darin wurde sie Jesus immer ähnlicher.
So ging sie ihrer Vollendung entgegen. Am 5. Oktober 1925 holte sie der Herr
heim in sein Reich. Im Augenblick des Todes betet sie noch einmal mit letzter
Kraft: „Jesus, dir leb ich!“ Kostbar ist in den Augen des Herrn das Sterben
seiner Frommen…
La communion qu’elle
recevait presque tous les jours était sa plus grande source de force. « Il est
impossible d’exprimer sur du papier le bonheur que je vivait après chaque
sainte communion … Dans ces heures saintes je me sens souvent tellement
comblée, que ne serait prête à changer mon lit de souffrance contre une vie de
comtesse, même pas contre tout le monde entier… » Dans ces moments le Seigneur
lui a redonné de la force. Il ne la chargeait non seulement par des croix mais
lui donnait des consolations célestes également. Au fur et à mesure elle
adaptait l’attitude d’amour du Seigneur. Ce fait lui permettait de consacrer
son attention aux périls et aux intentions de ses semblables. Elle écrivait des
lettres encourageantes, accueillait des visiteurs, prenait leurs intentions de
prière et elle promettait de prier pour celles-ci. Elle, sans défense qu’elle
était incapable de se poser elle-même ses pieds devant son lit, devenait
davantage une aide pour de nombreux gens. A la fin elle débordait de dévouement
et d’amour. La souffrance lui était devenue un moyen, un capital dont elle
profitait pour approfondir sa prière pour les autres. C’est par cela qu’elle
ressemblait de plus en plus Jésus en avançant sur le chemin de la perfection.
Le 5 octobre 1925 le Seigneur l’a appelée dans son royaume. Au moment de sa
mort elle prie pour la dernière fois, au bout des forces : « Jésus, je vis pour
toi ! » La mort des dévots est précieuse aux yeux du Seigneur.
SOURCE : https://www.anna-schaeffer.de/538.html
Profile
Daughter of a poor
carpenter. Anna dropped out of school at age 14 to work as a maid, and had
hopes of a religious vocation, but her father’s death left her working to
support the family, and she was a lifelong lay woman.
In 1898 she received a vision of Christ who warned her that she had many years
of pain ahead of her. She was paralyzed by an industrial accident in 1901 when
she fell into a vat of boiling water and lost the use of her legs. From her
sick bed she carried out an apostolate through correspondence. Known for her
devotion to the Sacred
Heart. May have received the stigmata, but always tried to hide the signs
of it.
Born
18 February 1882 in
Mindelstetten, Bavaria, Germany
5 October 1925 in
Mindelstetten, Bavaria, Germany of
natural causes
11 July 1995 by Pope John
Paul II
7 March 1999 by Pope John
Paul II
21 October 2012 by Pope Benedict
XVI
Additional
Information
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other
sites in english
images
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
in italiano
Dicastero delle Cause dei Santi
Readings
Anna Schaeffer continues
to be present among us with her message of life, which is a solid anchor of
salvation when sad moments are experienced or when dark valleys are
crossed. – Pope John
Paul II at Blessed Anna’s beatification
Jesus, I live for
you. – Saint Anna’s dying words
MLA
Citation
“Saint Anna
Schaeffer“. CatholicSaints.Info. 30 June 2023. Web. 19 June 2024. <https://catholicsaints.info/saint-anna-schaeffer/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-anna-schaeffer/
Bl. Anna Schäffer was
born on 18 February 1882 in the parish of Mindelstetten, between Regensburg and
Ingolstadt in the heart of Bavaria. A quiet, reserved child, she learned piety
and the love of God from her mother, who raised her to be a good Christian.
After making her First Communion, she offered herself to the Lord. Wishing to
enter an order of missionary sisters, after finishing school she tried to earn
the necessary dowry in various places between Regensburg and Landshut.
Here, in June 1898, Anna
heard Jesus' call, which would be decisive for the rest of her life: she would
endure long and painful suffering. She left her job in great haste, but on 4
February 1901, at the forester's lodge in Stammham, her time of suffering
began. That day, the stovepipe over the laundry boiler had become detached from
the wall, but in trying to fix it, Anna unfortunately slipped into a vat of
boiling lye, scalding both legs to above the knees.
Despite intensive
treatment, the doctors were unable to heal her injuries. After she was released
from hospital as an invalid in May 1902, her condition continued to worsen,
confining her completely to bed. To her painful infirmity was added extreme
poverty. After futile attempts at rebellion, Anna learned to recognize God's
will in this harsh school of suffering and to accept it with ever greater joy.
In weakness and poverty she heard the loving call of the Crucified One to
become like him. This was her mission in life and its fulfilment. She
generously decided to offer her life and sufferings to God. Every day she
received Holy Communion from her wise spiritual guide and parish priest, Fr
Karl Rieger.
In the autumn of 1910
some extraordinary things happened. In visions, which she called
"dreams", Anna first saw St Francis, then the Redeemer, who was ready
to accept her sacrifice of reparation. From that time, and few people knew it,
she bore the wounds of Christ. Later, in order to suffer in secret and to avoid
any sensationalism, she asked the Lord to remove the visible stigmata. She was
now ready to accept even greater sufferings. At the same time, Anna intensified
her spiritual apostolate, promising her intercessory prayer and offering
consolation in word or letter to all who turned to her.
On 25 April 1923, Anna
was permitted to live the events of Good Friday: her condition considerably
worsened. Her legs became completely paralyzed; this was followed by painful
cramps due to a stiffening of the spinal cord and, finally, by cancer of the rectum.
But she was able to combine an active apostolate (she wrote countless letters
to the needy and to those who sought her advice; she gladly did embroidery for
churches and chapels) with one of prayer, sacrifice and suffering. In a letter
of 29 January 1925 she wrote: "The most important thing for me is to pray
and suffer for the holy Church and her Pastors. Whenever I receive Holy
Communion, I fervently pray to our beloved Redeemer to continue protecting his
holy Church and her Pastors, to grant me the most agonizing martyrdom and to
accept me as a little victim of reparation".
After accidently falling
out of bed five weeks before her death, Anna suffered a brain injury, causing
her to lose her voice; thus she became even more a "silent victim".
On 5 October 1925 she received her last Communion. As she was making the Sign
of the Cross and saying "Jesus, I live in you", she returned to her
Creator a soul purified by the fire of prolonged suffering.
Taken from:
L'Osservatore Romano
Weekly Edition in English
Various dates and pages in 1999
L'Osservatore Romano is
the newspaper of the Holy See.
The Weekly Edition in English is published for the US by:
The Cathedral Foundation
L'Osservatore Romano English Edition
P.O. Box 777
Baltimore, MD 21201
Subscriptions: (410) 547-5380
SOURCE : https://web.archive.org/web/20180726201756/http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/bios99.htm#Anna
SAINT ANNA SCHÄFFER
1. THE
OUTER WAY
„A new star rose on
the firmament of the church“. With these words the then Cardinal Joseph
Ratzinger concluded the sermon he gave on the evening prior to the
beatification of Anna Schäffer in Rome. It was the 6th of March 1999.
Meanwhile Anna Schäffer has
also been canonised on the 21st October 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI. Her star now
shines for the entire catholic church throughout the world. Before she reached
her zenith in the heavens of the church, she had to come a long way. It began
in her home village of Mindelstetten, where she was born on the 18th February
1882, around 20 km northeast of Ingolstadt. She grew up in a simple working
family, the third of six children. From her primary school days onwards she
brought home very good marks. But she did not get any further education than
primary school. In January 1896 her father died. At that time Anna already had
been working for more than half a year in a household in Regensburg. Further
jobs followed in Sandersdorf, Landshut, and finally in the Gamekeeper’s cottage
in Stammham.
That is where the
accident happened which upset the plan for her entire life. It was the 4th
February 1901, the day for the laundry. Together with another employee Anna was
dealing with the washing, which was boiled within a kettle. The stovepipe had
come loose, Anna climbed onto the rim of the kettle in order to deal with the
damage. She slipped and fell into the kettle holding the boiling suds and
scalded both legs up to the knees. She was brought to the district’s hospital near
Kösching. All efforts to provide healing went awry. Finally she was given up as
a lost cause and only waited for her death. But she was not yet meant to die.
Her condition stabilised so that she was no longer in mortal danger. Three
months later she was discharged, because there was nothing further that could
be done for her...
With the accident a life
of intense suffering began for Anna. The initial pains of her burns never left
her again. The legs did not heal. Open holes remained which festered permanently.
Even though her general practitioner regularly cared for her, he was not able
to change anything about her state of health. Not even two sojourns – several
months each - in the university clinic of Erlangen brought any results. The
therapies applied there were so very painful, that on reflection Anna was
filled with horror. The joints of her feet, which had stiffened due to long
periods of immobility, were more than once forcefully broken and forcibly bent
to make increase mobility. Again without any success.
2. THE INNER WAY
Childhood
Her sister Kathi
describes Anna as a normal child. But her mother remarks that even as a child
she had been different from others. From time to time she used to withdraw into
a quiet space to pray. God seems to have begun early to put his hand onto this girl
to slowly draw it onto himself.
On the day of her first
communion, it was the 12th April 1893, Anna had a deeply religious experience,
which she does not describe in detail however. Years later she only remarks it
had been the most beautiful day of her life. Apparently under the influence of
this experience she wrote a letter to Jesus in which she made him some very
consequential promises: „…do with me as you want… I want to atone and if you
will it my Jesus, let me become an expiatory sacrifice to atone for all
dishonour and all offenses which are committed against you.“ This offer reveals
that even as an 11 year old child, Anna possessed a character which enabled her
to go the whole way. Perhaps in her surrender to God she might have thought of
entering a religious order or working as a missionary sister, certainly not of
that which later happened in her life. Because after her accident for a period
of at least two years she hoped to recover her health.
Adolescence
With 16 years Anna
dedicated herself to the Mother of God. In the formula used it says: „today I
choose you as my patroness and intercessor and am strongly resolved never to
leave you...” All her life Anna had a very intimate relationship with the
Mother of God, who helped her to persevere in her life of suffering. Later on
Mary often appeared to her in her dreams.
In June 1898 Anna
Schäffer had a visionary experience that deeply touched her. She herself wrote
it down. Jesus appeared to her as the Good Shepherd to announce severe
suffering lying ahead for her. „He held a rosary in His hands, spoke to me of
praying the rosary and that I would not become 20 years old. That I would have
to suffer a great deal.“ In a panic, Anna left Landshut the following day and
nobody could make her go back to her work place.
Humanly speaking her
reaction was understandable. Also later she never looked for suffering – only
accepted it and abandoned herself to it.
Maturity
In a letter Anna hints at
the fact that she fought for about two years to recognise the will of God in
her difficult fate and to say yes to it, as she had promised during her first
communion. About 91/2 years after her accident (on the 4th of October 1910
Jesus confirmed to her) in a vision: „I accepted you in atonement for my holy
sacrament. And in future during holy communion you will feel the pains of my
holy passion, with which I have redeemed you, miserable nothing. Suffer,
sacrifice and atone in silent secrecy. On the morning of that quiet day, while
she received holy communion from the hand of her parish priest, she was touched
by 5 rays of fire, like lightening, striking her in her hands, her feet and her
heart. She writes: “at once unending pain began in these bodily parts...
I was permitted to suffer such pain from October 1910 onward. On some days it
is vastly increased, especially on Thursdays and Fridays and on Sundays and
Feast days.“
Thus the Lord ennobled
the sufferings of his handmaid and united it to his own. She herself tried to
emulate him, if she had to suffer, at least she tried not to do it in rebellion
or by revolting against her fate, but rather while surrendering, while being
ready to offer it up as a sacrifice, in love. Just as the Lord on the cross
persisted in his love up to the uttermost moment of distress (Father forgive
them for they know not what they do), she also wanted to bear it. At the end
she wrote: „In suffering I learned to love you“. That is the most difficult but
also the most elevated way of emulation.
In this attitude, her
prayers became ever deeper and more substantial, sometimes leading into deep
mystical experiences. For her the rosary was viewing the life of Jesus. And
when she was no longer able to formulate longer prayers due to her pain,
she sent brief
ejaculative phrases towards heaven. The Lord gifted her with the grace of
continuous prayer, so that she did not have to miss his presence, even when she
received visitors and talked to them.
Most of her strength she
drew from her almost daily holy communion. She wrote: „I cannot write down how
happy I always am after holy communion... In those holy hours I feel so blessed
that I do not want to change my bed of suffering with any noble, not for the
whole world...“ In those moments the Lord strengthened her. He not only
burdened her with heavy crosses, but also gave her heavenly comfort.
More and more she grew
into the attitude of love, which she took on from the Lord. This enabled her to
dedicate herself to the needs and concerns of the people around her. She wrote
encouraging letters, received visitors, took up their concerns and promised to
pray for them. She, who was so helpless that she was unable to stand on her own
feet, gradually turned into a helper for many. In the end she almost consisted
entirely of abandonment and love. Suffering for her increasingly became the
means, the resources she deployed to render her own prayer for others more
powerful. In this she became ever more similar to Jesus and approached her own
perfection. On the 5th October 1925 the Lord called her home into his kingdom.
At the moment of death, one final time she prayed with her last strength „Jesus
for you I live!“. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his holy
ones.
SOURCE : https://www.anna-schaeffer.de/biography.html
From a scalding to the
stigmata, this saint learned to suffer with Jesus
Larry
Peterson | May 22, 2017
Anna Schäffer told Jesus,
"Do with me as you want."
The saints are
spiritual gems whose stories can take your breath away. Say “hello” to one such
astonishing saint: Anna Schäffer.
Anna Schäffer was
born into a simple, hardworking family in Mindelstetten in
Bavaria on February 18, 1882. The third of six children, Anna was a fine
student who studied hard and received good grades. When she was a small child
she had felt a deep calling to the religious life but circumstances
sometimes hurl themselves into your path, changing your destination.
Anna’s dad passed away at
the age of 40, when Anna was 14. The year was 1896. Anna had already been
working part time for a household in Regensburg but now her family was thrust
into poverty. She had dreamed of one day entering a religious order but
circumstances now forced her to give up thoughts of any more schooling and find
full time work to help support the household. She acquired several positions
and finally landed a job in a pub called the Gameskeeper’s Cottage in
nearby Stammham. Part of her job description included doing the laundry.
The Victorian-era washing
machines they were using were designed to have a fire underneath and the rising
heat would boil the water in the tub above. These machines had galvanized metal
smoke stacks to vent the smoke outside the building. The stack on the machine
Anna was using came loose from the wall. Anna climbed up on the edge of the tub
to force the pipe back into the wall. She slipped and fell into the boiling,
sudsy water. In a flash she was up to her knees in the boiling cauldron
having her legs boiled.
Anna was rushed to the
nearby hospital. Everything they tried to do for her failed to help. They
operated more than 30 times and every time the pain was excruciating as
they had to scrape dead skin away and re-bandage the poor girl’s legs. She was
given up as a lost cause and the experts assumed she would die from infection.
Skin grafts would not take and Anna became immobilized.
However, for some
unexplainable reason, Anna stabilized and three months later was sent home.
The local doctors, unable
to help Anna, several times sent her to the University Clinic of Erlangen for
treatment. But this brought her nothing but anguish as the “experts”
experimented with various “new” treatments in their quest to help her. They
even forcibly broke the joints in her feet several times to free them up from
their immobility. The pain she endured must have been horrific.
There was nothing anyone
could do to help her and her mother would now take care of her daughter until
the end of her life. Anna embarked on a journey of having to endure
unimaginable pain every day as her legs would never heal. Open, festering
wounds would always be present. But Jesus was in her life coupled with her deep
devotion to the Blessed Mother. Anna Schäffer was about to inspire many
more than just those in her local community.
Anna had made her First
Holy Communion on April 12, 1893. At that time she had a
profound encounter with Jesus. She had not spoken to anyone about it but she
wrote a letter to Our Lord telling Him to “do with me as you want … I want to
atone and become a sacrifice to atone for all dishonor and offenses against
you.” She was 11 years old and was giving herself over to Christ.
In 1898 Anna had a vision
where Jesus appeared to her as the Good Shepherd and told her the suffering
that was going to be hers before the age of 20. She wrote that Jesus had a
rosary in His hands and wanted her to pray faithfully. At the time Anna became
frightened as the thought of all the suffering scared her greatly. But, as time
went on, she accepted the suffering that was hers and embraced it.
On October 4, 1910, Jesus
appeared to her saying, “I accepted you in atonement for my Holy Sacrament. And
in the future when you receive Holy Communion you will feel the pains of My
passion with which I have redeemed you.”
On that day Anna received
the stigmata. She wrote that she had the intense pain of the Passion which
increased on Thursday, Fridays, Sundays and on feast days. She became a beloved
person in the town and people began coming from everywhere to hear the gentle
and comforting words she spoke. Every day she drew closer and closer to Jesus
and the Blessed Virgin as Jesus united her suffering with His own.
In 1925 Anna developed
colon cancer and, at the time, there was nothing anyone could do for that. On
October 5, 1925, Anna was given Holy Communion. She opened her eyes wide and
said, “Jesus, I live for you.” Then she closed her eyes and journeyed home with
her Lord.
Since 1929, Over 15,000
miracles have been attributed to the intercession of Anna Schäffer. In 1998
alone, 551 miracles were reported through her intercession. Anna was
beatified by St. John Paul II in 1999 and canonized a saint by her fellow
Bavarian, Pope Benedict XVI, in 2011.
Saint Anna Schäffer, pray
for us.
Mindelstetten, Landkreis Eichstätt, Oberbayern: Anna Schäffer Gedenkstätte
Mindelstetten,
Landkreis Eichstätt, Oberbayern: Anna Schäffer Gedenkstätte
Blessed Anna Schaffer: A
life of pain and suffering
Published on 22 January
2012
Written by Rommel C.
Lontayao, Reporter
MOST people often
perceive suffering and illness as a curse or a punishment from God. However, to
some faithful, pain and suffering means an opportunity to offer one’s self to
God, to submit to His will and identify with the sufferings of Jesus Christ for
the sake of redeeming mankind..
Such was the case of Blessed Anna Schaffer, a German laywoman, who along with
Filipino Pedro Calungsod, is expected to be canonized this year—declared a
saint to be emulated by the universal Church.
As a Blessed she is ALREADY a saint but not entered in the roster of canonized
saints.
Anna was born on February 18, 1882, in staunchly Roman Catholic Bavaria,
Germany, to a mother who raised her to be a good Christian. Her family was not
rich but it was a Christian family. She was a strong and healthy girl and she
was among the best in school. She was modest and devout.
After her First Communion, the young Anna vowed to spend her life serving God.
And on finishing basic schooling, she wished to enter an order of missionary
sisters but to be able to so, it was necessary for her to earn the necessary
dowry. Her family was unable to raise the amount, so she tried to earn the money
working as a servant. But God had other plans.
In June 1898, when she was 16, Anna heard Jesus’ voice telling her things that
alarmed her. She would endure long and painful suffering. But she told Jesus
she would willingly accept whatever He, God the Son, wanted of her.
Then on February 4, 1901, at the forester’s lodge in Stammham, where she
worked, the stovepipe over the laundry boiler got detached from the wall. She
tried to fix it, but she slipped into a vat of boiling lye, which scalded both
her legs to above the knees.
The doctors tried their best but were unable to heal her injuries and as years
went by, her condition continued to worsen. She was bed-ridden and stricken by
extreme poverty. Anna recognized that her suffering was permitted by God and
accepted it with greater joy. Despite her condition, she received Holy
Communion every day, thanks to the ministration of the local parish church and
her relatives. She had a wise and good spiritual director, the parish priest,
Fr Karl Rieger.
Later, Anna started to see visions.
She saw Saint Francis, who was ready to accept her sacrifice of reparation.
From that time, she bore the wounds of Christ. Her stigmata was, however,
unknown to many people as she preferred to conceal it to avoid any sensationalism.
In order to suffer in secret, she even prayed for the stigmata to become
invisible but for the wounds to still remain and give her suffering.
Her fame as a holy person grew in her community. Many Catholics went to her to
ask for her prayers.
Growing weaker as her legs became completely paralyzed, she continued to serve
God by offering consolation in word or letter to all who turned to her. Later
on, she also suffered from painful cramps due to a stiffening of the spinal
cord and, finally, she had cancer of the rectum.
Yet, she was still able to do a lot of things like writing countless letters to
those who sought her advice and embroidery for churches and chapels.
She had more accidents. She suffered a brain injury after falling from her bed.
She lost her voice.
On October 5, 1925, she received her last Communion and as she approached
death, she made her final Sign of the Cross.
In a letter eight months before her death, she had written: “The most important
thing for me is to pray and suffer for the holy Church and her Pastors.
Whenever I receive Holy Communion, I fervently pray to our beloved Redeemer to
continue protecting his holy Church and her Pastors, to grant me the most
agonizing martyrdom and to accept me as a little victim of reparation.”
Catholic Heroes…
St. Anna Schaffer
October 3, 2017
By CAROLE BRESLIN
There have been a number of well-known saints who have endured the painful wounds given to them by Christ. St. Rita suffered a permanent wound in her forehead, representing Christ’s crown of thorns. Others such as St. Francis and St. Padre Pio suffered the stigmata, the wounds in the hands and feet representing the holes where the nails pierced Christ’s hands. St. Catherine of Siena suffered similar pains and so did a lesser-known saint, St. Anna Schaffer.
Anna was born on February 18, 1882 in Mindelstetten, Germany, about 75 miles west of the Austrian border. Anna was the third of six children. Her father, a carpenter, died in 1896 when Anna was 16 years old. This left the family in dire poverty. Thus, although Anna had been receiving excellent grades when she was in school, she was forced to quit in order to support the family.
Anna’s mother recalled that when Anna was a child, she would remove herself from the family and go off to pray. It seemed that God was pulling her closer and closer to Him. On April 12, 1893, she received her First Holy Communion, after which she received a special spiritual gift. On this day, she was inspired to write a letter to Jesus, “Do with me as you want….I want to atone and if you will it, my Jesus, let me become an expiatory sacrifice to atone for all dishonor and all offenses which are committed against you.”
Anna had begun working part time at the age of 14, but still held on to the dream of entering religious life. Two years later when her father died she began working as a maid in various households. First, she worked for a family in Regensburg about 25 miles northeast of Mindelstetten. Then she worked for a family in Sandersdorf, followed by employment in Landshut about 40 miles south of Regensburg.
In Landshut, at the age of 16, she consecrated herself to the Blessed Virgin Mary with these words, “Today I choose you as my patroness and intercessor and am strongly resolved never to leave you.” Then Jesus appeared to her as the Good Shepherd, holding a rosary in His hand. He asked her to pray the rosary. After this she left the employment at Landshut, and no amount of persuasion could get her to return.
Finally, she went to work for a gamekeeper in Stammham, which lies 10 miles west of Mindelstetten. For two years she worked for the gamekeeper when she received a vision from Christ who let her know that her life would be one of long, painful suffering. She pondered these words, wondering what the agony would be.
She found out three years later when while she was still working for the gamekeeper. On laundry day, February 4, 1901, Anna and a friend took the dirty clothes to the laundry and were boiling the water in a large kettle. When the rickety stove pipe became dislodged, the girls could not reach it to put it back in place.
Anna rashly decided she would climb up and reset the pipe, so she stood on the rim of the large kettle holding the soaking clothes and reached up for the wavering pipe. As could be feared, she slipped and fell into the kettle of boiling laundry. Her legs — up to her knees — were severely burned.
Immediately they rushed her to the hospital near Kosching where the attendants worked to treat her burns. However, all the efforts proved useless and finally the doctors relinquished all attempts to heal her.
The treatments were excruciating as the raw nerves were assaulted every time her bandages were changed. As the doctors stopped their attempts, Anna waited to die — she was nineteen years old. They released her from the hospital three months later and for two more years she hoped to be healed, but was not expecting to be delivered.
Now her long ordeal of suffering had begun as our Lord had told her. The crippling pains of her burns remained with her for the next 24 years. Her doctor continued to see her and she even spent two long stretches of time for three months each in Erlangen, location of an advanced medical clinic in the university.
These therapies were recalled years later with great horror by Anna. This is not surprising, considering that they forcefully broke her feet to try to increase their mobility. Her feet had become stiff, the joints frozen from months of inactivity. These treatments proved ineffective as well.
Despite the excruciating pains, Anna remembered Jesus’ words to her and so she gave glory to God, and her love and veneration for Mary increased. Daily reception of Holy Communion sustained her throughout her ordeal as she wrote, “I cannot write by pen how happy I am every time after Holy Communion. Oh, I forget my earthly sufferings and the longing of my poor soul draws me every moment to adore God and my Savior hidden in the Blessed Sacrament.”
The frail victim continued to struggle to endure this great cross. Even though she offered herself as a suffering soul on her First Communion, the reality of such pain was difficult to bear. Nevertheless, she prayed for the grace and the strength to endure.
Anna received another vision from Christ on October 4, 1910. He informed her that He accepted her offer to make reparation and spoke of her suffering to come. When she received Holy Communion that day, she felt five rays of fire strike her hands, feet, and heart — the stigmata. These pains intensified on special feasts and Thursdays and Fridays.
Human nature cannot comprehend how a person can endure such prolonged and intense suffering. Only grace provides the means to continue living. She not only endured the cross but she came to embrace it with a special joy. Pleasure comes from gratification of the senses and is a temporal experience that is fleeting. True joy, on the other hand, is spiritual and is eternal.
Anna wrote of such sentiments at the end of her life, “In suffering, I learned to love you.” She also began to receive mystical experiences, deepening her prayer life. She did not complain, but continued to receive visitors whom she comforted and consoled with her words of wisdom.
Cancer claimed Anna in 1925 while her increasing paralysis made it difficult for her to speak. Finally, on October 5, she received Holy Communion and exclaimed, “Jesus, I live for you!” She died just a few minutes later.
Amazingly, thousands of miracles have been attributed to her intercession. Her feast is celebrated on October 5. She was canonized on October 21, 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI.
Dear Anna, obtain for us the special grace to embrace the cross for love of Christ; there is nothing more pleasing to our Redeemer. Amen.
(Carole Breslin
home-schooled her four daughters and served as treasurer of the Michigan
Catholic Home Educators for eight years. For over ten years, she was national
coordinator for the Marian Catechists, founded by Fr. John A. Hardon, SJ.)
SOURCE : https://thewandererpress.com/saints/catholic-heroes-st-anna-schaffer/
Anna Schäffer: suffering
for love of Christ
Carlos Ferreira
Thursday, October 25,
2012
Among the seven new
saints canonized by Benedict XVI this past weekend, maybe one of the lesser
known new saints is Anna Schäffer, an example of how to accept pain and
suffering.
Anna was born in
Mindelstetten, German on February 18, 1882. Her family was not a rich family
and the death of her father at the age of 40 made things difficult. Although
Anna was only 14 years old started when she started working as a maid, she
nourished in her heart the desire to become a nun.
On February 4, 1901 while
working at a laundry, she slipped and fell while reattaching a stovepipe and
boiled her legs in the washing machine. She was taken to hospital but nothing
could be done about the painful burns. More than thirty surgeries followed. The
wounds had to be carefully dressed, which also caused much pain. Despite the
constant care, skin grafts did not succeed and Schäffer became completely
immobile, cared for by her mother until the end of her life. She had to abandon
her dreams of entering a religious order, something she had yearned for her
entire life.
Anna never lost her
optimism and became even more devoted to her faith while enduring constant
suffering. She was often unable to sleep, but continued to express her
adoration of Christ and Mary, especially the Sacred Heart. A local abbot would
bring her the Eucharist daily. She wrote: "I cannot write by pen how happy
I am every time after Holy Communion. Ah, I forget my earthly suffering and the
longing of my poor soul draws me every moment to adore my God and Savior hidden
in the Blessed Sacrament!"
In spite of her pain she
was always worried about how to get to heaven. She believed her writings,
enduring her pain, and the work of sewing clothes for her friends was the way
she would get to heaven.
After 1910 she started
having mystical experiences, including receiving the stigmata which she tried
to hide at all cost. In visions, which she called "dreams", Anna
first saw St Francis, then the Redeemer, who was ready to accept her sacrifice
of reparation. From that time on she bore the wounds of Christ, though few
people ever knew. Later, in order to suffer in secret and to avoid any
sensationalism, she asked the Lord to remove the visible stigmata. She was now
ready to accept even greater sufferings. At the same time, Anna intensified her
spiritual apostolate, promising her intercessory prayer and offering
consolation in word or letter to all who turned to her.
In 1925 Anna was
diagnosed with colon cancer. Her suffering was greater than ever and in January
of that year she wrote: “The most important thing for me is to pray and suffer
for the Holy Church and her Pastors. Whenever I receive Holy Communion, I
fervently pray to our beloved Redeemer to continue protecting his holy Church
and her Pastors, to grant me the most agonizing martyrdom and to accept me as a
little victim of reparation".
She died on October 5,
1925 after receiving communion. Although she had lost the ability to
speak, she spoke one last time to say “Jesus I love you”
Anna Schäffer's
writings were published in book titled "Thoughts and memories of my life
of illness and my longing for the eternal homeland" which was
translated in to English after the announcement of her canonization.
SOURCE : https://slmedia.org/blog/anna-schaffer-suffering-for-love-of-christ
Altar
der Pfarrkirche St. Nikolaus in Mindelstetten mit
einem Porträt von Anna Schäffer.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2012
Saint
of the Month (Round 2): Saint Anna Schaffer
St. Anna Schaffer
A Hidden Victim for
Sinners
Feast: October 5th
Anna Schaffer
(also spelled as "Schaeffer") is one of those holy souls who
during her lifetime passed quietly unnoticed ... but after she died, her
reputation for exceptional goodness did not fade with her earthly life, but
instead, guided by the hand of God, it slowly grew and grew until it finally
snowballed during the last 20 years; culminating in her
recent Canonization this past October 21, 2012.
This ministry normally
features just one Saint a month in this blog, but in the past week this author
noticed in the behind-the-scene stats that a lot of recent visits to this site
were due to searches for "[Saint] Anna Schaffer". I
can only speculate the recent Canonization events in Rome had many
people around the globe wondering who this obscure German laywoman
was ... and what it was about her that prompted the Church to proclaim her
one of its newest Saints (I, myself, only learned details about her 9
years ago). If you're one of those curious people, this posting will be
of interest to you.
To begin with, St. Anna
Schaffer was born to a poor yet devoted German couple on February 18,
1882, in Mindelstetten, Bavaria. She was a precocious and pious child,
who from her First Holy Communion at age 11, resolved to belong to Jesus
and to heroically suffer in expiation for sin.
At 13‐years-old, Anna
started working as a maid to raise money for the dowry needed to enter a
convent, which she hoped to do in the near future. This desire was
overshadowed by a visit from the Blessed Virgin in June 1898, when she was 16 -
Our Lady was in a great light and carried a rosary. She spoke to the teen
about the importance of praying it, before foretelling to Anna that she would
soon be subjected to a life of suffering.
On the fateful evening of
February 4, 1900, the 18-year-old Anna was seriously scalded at her
workplace after she slipped and landed knee-deep into a large vat of
boiling bleach, while attempting to fix a broken overhead stovepipe.
Obviously, the accident left the unfortunate young woman in atrocious
pain and horribly scarred ... and to make matters worse, all the medical
procedures she underwent proved futile. Poor Anna was eventually confined
to bed; her legs paralyzed due to dead tissue, and with open sores that needed
regular attention.
Initially, the invalid
was filled with anguish over the accident; her infirmities; and the monetary
hardship her situation caused for her mother (her father had died a few years
prior) ... but through the compassionate guidance of her parish priest, her spirit
rallied and she came to accept her painful condition as a special call from God
to imitate Christ Crucified in a more direct manner. So, she offered her
life as a sacrifice for sinners and for the spiritual needs of the Church, and
in this manner, she eventually found peace, joy, and a sense of purpose for her
sufferings.
Things took a more
extraordinary turn on the evening of October 3, 1910 when she received a vision
of St. Francis of Assisi and the Lord, himself. Jesus informed her that
he had accepted her sacrifice and would grant her a share in his Passion.
The following morning, as her priest was giving her Holy Communion, she
witnessed 5 rays of fire stream from the Host to her hands, feet, and side
marking her with the Sacred
Stigmata. Anna’s humility prompted her to ask the Lord to hide the
visible wounds, which he eventually did, but she continued to feel the pain of
the Stigmata for the rest of her life.
Anna spent her remaining
years living in poverty, embroidering to support herself and her aged
mother. Her day-to-day existence was made rich and fruitful by
prayer, atonement sufferings, and counseling those in need of spiritual
guidance through either personal contact or through an active letter-writing
apostolate. At times she suffered from diabolic physical attacks but
these were offset by heavenly visitations from Jesus, Our Lady, her Guardian
Angel, and Saints.
In addition to apparitions
of heavenly personages, the Poor Souls from Purgatory were also frequent
visitors, asking for her prayers.
Other spiritual gifts
this mystic possessed were prophetic insight into the future; having knowledge
of events occurring at a distance; and she was also reported to Bilocate, as
attested by witnesses who saw her ministering to the poor and infirm away from
her home, although she was physically incapable of leaving her own sick
bed. She was also seen in the battlefields of WWII assisting wounded and
dying soldiers ... and lastly, she was sometimes taken to distant chapels where
she was able to enjoy periods of Eucharistic Adoration.
The greatest favor
reported in this Saint's life occurred on November 22, 1914. On that day,
Anna celebrated the Mystical Marriage with Christ, sealing her profound union
with him in this life and for all eternity.
Anna’s final illness was
rectal cancer, which led to her holy death on October 5, 1925; her last words
were, "Jesus, I live in you". The funeral service that
followed was the biggest ever remembered in Mindelstetten and Anna’s grave
immediately became a place of pilgrimage where hundreds of cures and favors
were recorded by the town's parish church. She was beatified by the late
Pope John Paul II in March 1999 ... and Canonized on October 21,
2012. Her tomb (now within the parish church) continues to be a
place of pilgrimage, especially among German Catholics.
A Reflection
“The righteous call out, and the Lord hears them; He rescues them from all their troubles.”
~
Psalm 34:18
A Short Prayer
Dear St. Anna, pray for
me that I might have an abundance of Faith and Fortitude during my
own times of personal trial and illness. Amen.
SOURCE : https://guadalupehousehi.blogspot.com/2012/10/saint-of-month-round-2-st-anna-schaffer.html
St. Anna Schäffer
By Renae Kranz
Suffering is a fact of
life. It’s a hard fact to explain and endure, but it’s a fact we all face. Some
of us suffer a little here and there, seeming to skate through life mostly
unscathed. Some suffer greatly and suffer often.
I don’t know about you,
but I don’t like to suffer. I imagine no one likes it. The best we can do is
bear it and desperately swim to the other side. Thankfully we don’t swim alone.
One saint suffered
greatly throughout her short life and in more than just physical ways. St. Anna
Schäffer’s story is one of great faith and trust in God’s goodness and in the
power of the Eucharist.
Early life
Anna Schäffer was born
February 18, 1882, in Mindelstetten in Bavaria (Germany). Her family, already
poor, found themselves in dire poverty after her father died at age 40. Even
though she got good grades, Anna dropped out of school at 14 and worked as a maid
to help her family. They still struggled to make ends meet. Anna hoped to enter
a religious order, but her family’s situation made that impossible for the time
being.
At age 16, Anna had a
disturbing vision. Jesus came to her in this vision and told her she would
experience great suffering in her life. She was so upset by it that she left
the place she worked and couldn’t be convinced to go back.
Certainly she was
terrified and probably confused as to why she should suffer. She and her family
were already suffering due to their poverty. Why more?
If there is anything I’ve
learned in my life so far, it’s that we can’t understand why some suffer more
than others. I feel fortunate to have been relatively healthy and comfortable.
Most of the suffering I’ve endured cannot be seen outwardly. I think that is
probably the case with most people. We just don’t know what other people are
going through, do we?
Shattered dreams
For Anna, one fateful day
would change every bit of her life. On February 4, 1901, she had a terrible
accident while working at her job. She and another employee were washing linens
which was done with boiling water in a large kettle. When the stove pipe came
loose, Anna climbed up and stood on the edge of the kettle to reattach the
stove pipe. She slipped and fell into the boiling water, scalding her legs to
the knees.
She was taken to the
hospital, but there was little hope of helping her. Everything the doctors tried
only seemed to make things worse. They weren’t even certain she would survive
her injuries. After three months, more than 30 operations and many failed skin
grafts, Anna’s doctors released her to the care of her mother. She was
bedridden and in great pain.
At this point in Anna’s
life, things were looking pretty bleak. Her dream of becoming a religious
sister was gone. She was in constant pain and would be confined to her bed for
the remainder of her life.
When I imagine myself in
the position Anna was in, the picture doesn’t look very good. The devastation
and despair would be crushing. Anna struggled with her fate for about two
years, fighting depression and likely feeling angry about what had happened.
I think if she would have
lived during our time, she might have lost herself in television or online and
shut herself off from the world. I could see myself doing that. Just giving up.
Longing for the Lord
Thankfully, Anna
eventually found her strength in the Eucharist and in the Sacred Heart of
Jesus. She often couldn’t sleep, which led her into deep prayer in adoration of
Christ and in devotion to Mary. An abbot brought her the Eucharist daily. It
sustained her in her suffering, and she wrote a moving description of how it
fed her:
“I cannot write by pen
how happy I am every time after Holy Communion. Ah, I forget my earthly
suffering and the longing of my poor soul draws me every moment to adore my God
and Savior hidden in the Blessed Sacrament!”
The gift of the Eucharist
sustained Anna and can sustain us in our struggles in life. We shouldn’t
underestimate the power of the Lord’s body and blood to lift us up and
strengthen us for our journey, whatever the journey is.
Now that Anna had
accepted and abandoned herself to her suffering, she focused her energy on
three things she felt were her keys to entering heaven: her suffering, her
writing and her ability to knit clothes for her friends. Many people came to
visit her for comforting words and to ask for her prayers, which she always
gave. She became well known for her patience and kindness, especially in the
face of her situation.
Suffering patiently
In October of 1910, Anna
had another vision of Jesus. In this vision, he told her she would feel the
pains of his passion in atonement for his Holy Sacrament. When she took
communion that day, she was touched by five rays of fire on her hands, feet and
heart. The stigmata lasted the remainder of her life causing her pain in those
areas, especially on Thursdays and Fridays, Sundays and feast days.
Anna wanted nothing more
than to emulate the suffering of her Lord, accepting it patiently and without
rebellion. She united her suffering to His rather than fighting against it.
This unification made her prayers for others all the more powerful.
This is a difficult thing
for even the best of us to do. We have all heard that the best way to handle
suffering is to offer it to God as atonement for our sins and the sins of the
world. We are to use it to be fruitful for the greater good.
That’s a difficult ask.
Anna surely prayed constantly for the strength and grace to bear it. We must as
well.
When faced with
suffering, the best we can do is pray for God’s graces and ask him to help us
offer it up. Anna couldn’t do it alone and neither can we. Even if your
suffering is all internal, it’s a burden that is crying out for the Lord’s
help. Don’t turn away from him in despair. Give it to him. Let him carry you.
Fruits of suffering
In 1925, Anna learned she
had colon cancer which turned into paralysis of her spine. She died October 5
of that year only minutes after receiving the Eucharist. Since a few years
after her death, over 15,000 miracles have been attributed to her intercession.
St. Anna Schäffer was
beatified March 7, 1999, by Pope John Paul II and canonized October 21, 2012,
by Pope Benedict XVI. Her feast day is October 5. Pope John Paul II had moving
words about her during her beatification:
“If we look to Blessed
Anna Schäffer, we read in her life a living commentary on what Saint Paul wrote
to the Romans: ‘Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been
poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us’
(Rom. 5:5). She most certainly was not spared the struggle to abandon herself
to the will of God. But she was given to grow in the correct understanding that
weakness and suffering are the pages on which God writes His Gospel…Her sickbed
became the cradle of an apostolate that extended to the whole world.”
St. Anna Schäffer, pray
for us in our sufferings.
SOURCE : https://www.sfcatholic.org/bishopsbulletin/st-anna-schaffer/
Die
katholische Pfarrkirche St. Stephanus in Stammham
Sant' Anna Schaffer Vergine
Mindelstetten, Germania,
18 febbraio 1882 – 5 ottobre 1925
La storia della beata
Anna Schaeffer (1882-1925) è il racconto di come Dio sa trasformare i progetti
degli uomini. Mandando all'aria anche quelli che noi gli penseremmo più
congeniali. La giovanissima Anna, bavarese, voleva andare missionaria in terre
lontane. Di umilissime origini per raccogliere la «dote» allora necessaria per
entrare in convento era andata a servizio presso una famiglia benestante. Ma
all'improvviso la morte del padre sconvolge la costringe a rimandare quel
progetto: ci sono cinque fratelli e sorelle più piccole da aiutare. «Aspetterò
che diventino grandi», pensa Anna. Ma un incidente nella lavanderia dove lavora
la costringe inferma in un letto. A 21 anni è l'inizio di un vero e proprio
Calvario, durissimo da accettare. Ma è anche l'inizio di una serie di
illuminazioni. Quel letto, a poco a poco, diventa un punto di riferimento per
tante persone che vengono da lei a chiedere consiglio. La missione che pensava
di vivere in terre lontane la realizza nella sua stanza. Morirà il 5 ottobre
1925. È stata proclamata beata nel 1999 e santa nel 2012.(Avvenire)
Martirologio
Romano: Nel villaggio di Mindelstetten nel territorio di Ratisbona in
Germania, beata Anna Schäffer, vergine, che all’età di diciannove anni, mentre
prestava servizio come domestica, si ustionò con acqua bollente e, nonostante
il progressivo peggioramento delle sue condizioni, visse poi serenamente in
povertà e in preghiera, offrendo la croce del suo dolore per la salvezza delle
anime.
E' la terza degli otto
figli del falegname bavarese Michele Schaeffer e di Teresa Forster. Famiglia di
non molte risorse: tutti vivono sui modesti guadagni del padre. Anna riceve
l’istruzione elementare nelle scuole di Mindelstettene prende a coltivare un
sogno: diventare suora e andare missionaria in terre lontane. Ma occorre un po’
di dote per essere accolta in una congregazione religiosa, e per metterla
insieme lei cerca lavoro a Ratisbona (Regensburg). La prende a servizio una
famiglia di benestanti, e questo è il primo passo verso l’avverarsi del sogno.
Ma è anche l’ultimo,
sebbene Anna non lo sappia ancora. Un anno dopo, infatti, suo padre muore, e
lei deve tornare a Mindelstetten per aiutare la famiglia orfana, con cinque
fratelli e sorelle più piccoli di lei. Ancora lavoro, dunque, in casa e nelle
famiglie del posto. Trascorrono così alcuni anni; i piccoli di casa crescono e
forse presto non ci sarà più tanto bisogno di lei: forse potrà ripensare alla
missione lontana... Ma il 14 febbraio 1901, a diciannove anni, ecco la
disgrazia che fa di lei un’invalida per sempre. Accade nella lavanderia della
casa forestale di Stammham, presso Ingolstadt, dove lei lavora: una canna
fumaria sta per sfilarsi e cadere, lei si arrampica per rimetterla a posto, ma
va a cadere dentro una vasca di acqua calda con lisciva, e ne riporta ustioni
dolorosissime alle gambe, fino ai ginocchi. La curano nell’ospedale di Kosching
e poi nel centro medico universitario di Erlangen; ma c’è ben poco da fare contro
le piaghe che l’azione corrosiva del detergente ha provocato. Anna torna nella
sua casa di Mindelstetten dopo mesi di ricovero, e si ritrova invalida per
sempre, mentre i suoi sono diventati più poveri di prima.
Una disgrazia dopo
l’altra: la famiglia è in rovina, e lei prigioniera dei suoi dolori, resi
insopportabili dalla certezza che non hanno rimedio, che non finiranno mai.
Tutto questo a 21 anni: una situazione insopportabile, anche per lei così ricca
di fede. E infatti non accetta di ritrovarsi così. Si ribella a questo patire
senza speranza, lo dice ai suoi, alle amiche, a padre Karl Rieder, il suo
parroco.
La conquista della
serenità non avviene per illuminazioni improvvise. È una fatica lunga, che
porta Anna a convincersi: la sua non è una condanna; è un compito che le affida
il Signore al quale si è consacrata: essere “missionaria” così, dal letto e
dalle piaghe. Infine, ecco l’accettazione. Non come una resa, ma come atto di
volontà: Anna offre le sue sofferenze al Signore. E ne ha molte da offrire:
quelle dovute alla disgrazia in lavanderia e poi altre ancora: paralisi totale
delle gambe, irrigidimento del midollo spinale, tumore all’intestino... Così
piagata, parla dei suoi “sogni”, nei quali le appaiono il Signore e san
Francesco.
Consiglia e incoraggia la
gente venuta a chiederle aiuto e sostegno. Si scopre magnificamente necessaria,
indispensabile, ai sani e ai sicuri: da quel letto è sempre “in servizio”, a
voce e anche scrivendo lettere. Non lascia “ultime parole” o raccomandazioni
prima di morire. Nel settembre 1925, una caduta dal letto le toglie la voce. Si
spegne con un sussurro: «Gesù, io vivo in te». E resta dopo la morte una
presenza forte nel suo mondo bavarese. Sepolto dapprima nel cimitero, il corpo
verrà poi trasportato nella chiesa parrocchiale di Mindelstetten. Giovanni
Paolo II la proclamerà beata nel 1999 ed infine santa con Papa Benedetto XVI il
21 ottobre 2012.
Autore: Domenico
Agasso
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/92086
IL MISTERO DELLA CROCE
Con Anna Schäffer si pone
la domanda sul senso della sofferenza.
Anna visse e conobbe in
modo personale le parole che leggiamo nella lettera di San Paolo ai Colossesi:
«Perciò sono lieto delle sofferenze che sopporto per voi e completo nella mia
carne quello che manca ai patimenti di Cristo, a favore del suo corpo che è la
Chiesa» (Col 1, 24).
Attraverso il Cristo
divenne capace di accettare il mistero della croce nell'amore e nella
gratitudine.
Anna Schäffer è come un
portone aperto che accoglie le persone provate nella sofferenza. Ella dimostra
che anche il destino di una malattia inguaribile può essere sopportato
attraverso l'abbandono fiducioso nel Cristo. Nella sua travagliata vita si
rivela la grande verità cristiana, cioè che l'essere umano è amato da Dio,
specie nella sofferenza.
SOURCE : https://www.causesanti.va/it/santi-e-beati/anna-schaffer.html
Anna Schäffer
(1882-1925)
BEATIFICAZIONE:
- 07 marzo 1999
- Papa Giovanni
Paolo II
CANONIZZAZIONE:
- 21 ottobre 2012
- Papa Benedetto
XVI
- Piazza San Pietro
RICORRENZA:
- 5 ottobre
Laica, vergine, che
all’età di diciannove anni, mentre prestava servizio come domestica, si ustionò
con acqua bollente e, nonostante il progressivo peggioramento delle sue
condizioni, visse poi serenamente in povertà e in preghiera, offrendo la croce
del suo dolore per la salvezza delle anime
Il letto di dolore
diventò per lei cella conventuale e la sofferenza costituì il suo servizio
missionario.
VITA E OPERE
Santa
Anna Schäffer nacque il 18 febbraio 1882 a Mindelstetten, piccola
cittadina situata in Diocesi di Ratisbona, distretto di Riedenburg, provincia
del Palatinato Superiore, nell’allora regno ed oggi repubblica di Baviera. Era
figlia dei legittimi coniugi Michele Schäffer, falegname, e di Teresa Forster,
figlia di contadini. Nello stesso giorno della nascita Anna fu battezzata nella
chiesa parrocchiale in Mindelstetten dal parroco don Benno Steiger.
Sull’infanzia
della Beata si sa poco, anche se le scarse notizie pervenuteci sono sufficienti
a farci conoscere almeno le sue principali direttrici comportamentali. Sulla
base di quanto risulta dalle tavole processuali, Anna può definirsi una giovane
tranquilla e serena, non amante delle compagnie chiassose e dei giochi sfrenati,
piuttosto portata ad interessarsi alle pie pratiche ed a comportarsi bene in
ogni situazione, specie a scuola, dove in effetti risultò un’alunna molto
diligente. Il 1° maggio 1888 iniziò a frequentare le scuole elementari del
paese: tutto il ciclo, che allora durava sette anni, la vide emergere come una
delle migliori alunne. All’età di undici anni, il 12 aprile 1893, si accostò
per la prima volta alla mensa eucaristica: quest’evento ebbe una grande
importanza nel suo percorso spirituale, poiché in quell’occasione Anna assunse
l’impegno di voler diventare una vittima di espiazione. Nel 1896 morì il padre
a soli 40 anni, lasciando la famiglia in uno stato di gravissima indigenza,
tanto che la Beata già a tredici anni dovette lasciare la famiglia per andare a
servizio. Grazie all’aiuto del parroco del posto, Karl Rieger, Anna ottenne il
suo primo lavoro presso un’omeopata di Ratisbona, per un anno e poi come donna
di servizio a Landshut presso un pretore, per due anni. Seguirono ulteriori
attività di servizio in altri paesi, ma sempre per poco tempo.
La
svolta nella semplice e quieta vita di Anna Schäffer si verificò il 4 febbraio
1901: aveva 19 anni ed era a servizio presso l’ispettore forestale di Stammham.
Quel giorno, mentre si trovava nella lavanderia insieme ad una sua collega di
servizio, salì sul bordo della caldaia, in cui era a bollire la liscivia per il
bucato, al fine di rimettere in sede il tubo che alimentava il calore; ma,
avendo gli zoccoli pieni di neve, perse l’equilibrio e cadde nella caldaia. Per
i suoi arti inferiori l’esito fu devastante: subì orribili ustioni alle gambe,
tali che nessuna cura poté mai più farle ricuperare l’uso degli arti. Le
settimane che seguirono furono terribili. La carne, andata in cancrena, doveva
essere eliminata in continuazione con un coltello ed in parte fino alle ossa.
Dopo una degenza di 90 giorni in ospedale a Kösching, poiché l’obbligo di
sussidio da parte dell’assicurazione era terminato, Anna fu riportata a
Mindelstetten presso sua madre, la quale da allora in poi si prese cura della
povera inferma. Risulta chiaramente che il medico tentò di guarire le ferite,
da cui usciva continuamente un liquido purulento, con vari metodi: incisioni,
termocausticazioni, raschiamenti, trapianti cutanei e pomate. Malgrado
l’anestesia praticata, la Beata soffrì sempre di dolori terribili.
Il
ventennio che va dal 1905 alla morte di Anna Schäffer corrisponde al periodo
delle gravi sofferenze a letto: in questo lasso di tempo ella purificò il suo
animo fino ad entrare in uno stato di particolare unione con il Signore. Chi si
prese maggiormente cura di lei, con vera carità e sollecitudine, fu il Dott.
Wäldin, il quale intervenendo chirurgicamente per trenta volte, cercò di
guarirla con trapianti di pelle. Ogni volta la carne putrefatta veniva tagliata
fino all’osso o asportata con allume o con la pietra infernale (nitrato
d’argento). Anche il medico distrettuale di Riedenburg la visitò ripetutamente,
senza potere però aiutarla. Poiché nessuna delle cure intraprese diede
giovamento, alla fine il medico curante fasciò le gambe in suppurazione con
garza allo xeroformio. Questa cura restò la stessa per venti anni.
A
partire dal 1923, si presentò una nuova e tremenda sofferenza. Convulsioni
atroci, durante le quali la testa della Beata veniva gettata all’indietro con
grande violenza, si presentarono cinque o sei volte al giorno. Esse colpivano
anche le gambe paralizzate e le sue dita si contraevano al punto che era quasi
impossibile disserrarle. Nell’estate del 1925 cadde dal letto e subì una ferita
cerebrale che menomò le sue facoltà orali e visive.
La
sera del 5 ottobre 1925 Anna Schäffer venne liberata dalle sue pesanti
sofferenze: morì a 43 anni.
Rivestita
con l’abito del Terzo Ordine di San Francesco, dal 5 all’8 ottobre, data dei
funerali e della sepoltura, si ebbe la prova evidente della fama di santità di
cui Anna godeva presso una vastissima cerchia di persone. Un incredibile
afflusso di fedeli si precipitò nella casa dove la Beata era appena morta, a
cercare reliquie ed a pregare presso quel corpo che per loro apparteneva ad una
santa.
Tre
giorni dopo, l’8 ottobre 1925, venne sepolta accompagnata da un’immensa
partecipazione di persone.
La
tomba nel cimitero di Mindelstetten è ornata da una pietra, sulla quale sono
leggibili le seguenti parole: “Qui riposa in Dio la vergine virtuosa del luogo
Anna Schäffer. 1882 – 1925”.
Innumerevoli
persone, tra le quali anche l’Arcivescovo Michael Buchberger, hanno visitato,
pregato e deposto fiori su questa tomba a partire dal
1925.
Era
ancora giovanissima, aveva appena subìto il grave incidente alle gambe, che
Anna Schäffer incominciò ad essere considerata come una creatura speciale,
toccata particolarmente dalla grazia di Dio, per come accettava le sue
terribili sofferenze mutandole in gioiosa offerta per il bene del prossimo. Non
meraviglia quindi che era da tutti ritenuta una santa, tanto che di continuo la
gente bussava alla sua porta per vederla e scambiare qualche parola con lei.
Ciò avveniva particolarmente nei giorni della settimana in cui si svolgeva il
mercato di Mindelstetten. Tutte queste persone le portavano piccoli regali,
fiori, candele e generi alimentari, ottenevano consigli e consolazioni e si
affidavano alla sua preghiera.
Anna
poteva lasciare solo in rari casi il suo letto e quando lo faceva doveva essere
sorretta. Ogni tanto veniva portata in chiesa oppure anche nella cappella
riedificata alla fine del centro abitato.
Nel
1972 il vescovo Rudolf Graber di Ratisbona concesse, in seguito a molteplici
richieste, il permesso affinché i resti mortali di Anna Schäffer venissero
trasportati nella chiesa parrocchiale.
Il
26 luglio 1972 avvenne la solenne traslazione alla quale parteciparono circa
5000 persone, provenienti da ogni luogo circostante. Da allora non è mai
scemato l’interesse per Anna Schäffer, anzi ogni anno cresce il numero dei
pellegrini. Mindelstetten vive un giorno particolare in occasione dell’annuale
festività di S. Anna, il 26 luglio: durante la messa solenne, alla quale
partecipano migliaia di fedeli, viene ricordata dal popolo anche la vita santa
di Anna Schäffer.
La
bavarese Anna Schäffer di Mindelstetten, malgrado il trascorrere degli anni,
costituisce, specialmente per i laici, un richiamo ad accettare la missione che
Gesù ha stabilito per ciascuno, fosse anche quella di abbracciare, in
atteggiamento di umiltà, la più dura delle croci. La conformità alla volontà di
Dio era in lei abituale.
Il
parroco del luogo, che ebbe cura di lei per tutto il periodo della sua
sofferenza, asserì: “Non ho mai sentito, in 25 anni, una lamentela”. Il
silenzio e la pazienza che Gesù ebbe durante la sua passione, furono condivisi
dalla Beata.
È
significativo rimarcare che tra le sue letture, c’era il libro del mistico
Thomas da Kempis Imitazione di Cristo.
Durante
il periodo della sua sofferenza Anna ebbe delle esperienze mistiche, che lei
chiamava “Sogni”. Le riportò anche su carta e così sono state tramandate ai
posteri 12 quaderni, 183 lettere e bigliettini. La sua lingua è sempre semplice
e naturale, è il modo d’esprimersi di una fanciulla che non ha frequentato
altre scuole se non quella pubblica del luogo natio.
"ITER" DELLA
CAUSA
a) In vista della
beatificazione
Poiché
la fama di santità, di cui Anna Schäffer fu circondata nella sua vita, dopo la
morte aumentava e si diffondeva sempre più, il 17 marzo 1973 fu istruito, su
impulso del Vescovo Mons. Rudolf Graber, il Processo Ordinario informativo
sulla fama di santità, delle virtù e dei miracoli, presso la Curia Vescovile
di Ratisbona.
Trasmessi
gli Atti a Roma, fu emanato il Decreto sulla validità giuridica.
Ultimata
la preparazione della Positio super virtutibus, la stessa fu sottoposta al
giudizio dei Consultori Teologi, i quali, il 15 gennaio 1995, dichiararono che
Anna Schäffer ha esercitato tutte le virtù in grado eroico. Un esito parimenti
favorevole si ottenne nella Congregazione Ordinaria dei Cardinali e Vescovi il
successivo 25 aprile 1995. Il Santo Padre, l’11 luglio 1995 promulgò il decreto
sulle virtù eroiche.
In
vista della beatificazione fu presentato un presunto miracolo, riguardante la
straordinaria guarigione del signor Franz Zwirchmaier, il quale, contro ogni
aspettativa medica, era guarito in modo rapido, perfetto e duraturo dalle
conseguenze di un gravissimo incidente stradale, con trauma cranico e coma del
grado più severo.
Dopo
l’udienza pontificia e la lettura del Decreto sul miracolo in data 3 luglio
1998, si giunse alla beatificazione, che ebbe luogo il 7 marzo 1999.
b) In vista della
canonizzazione
Per
la canonizzazione della Beata Anna Schäffer è stata presentata alla
Congregazione delle Cause dei Santi l’asserita inspiegabile guarigione della
signora Christina Simon da ascite, conseguenza della cirrosi epatica.
L’Inchiesta
Diocesana è stata celebrata nella Curia Vescovile di Ratisbona negli anni
2003/2004.
La
validità giuridica venne decretata il 15 ottobre 2004.
Nella
Seduta del 30 settembre 2010, dopo che nel frattempo erano stati richiesti ed
eseguiti molti esami di laboratorio sia sulla natura della malattia principale
che sull’attuale stato di salute della sanata, la Consulta Medica della
Congregazione delle Cause dei Santi all’unanimità ha riconosciuto l’evento
“inspiegabile scientificamente”.
Il
caso è stato esaminato, con esito positivo, dai Consultori Teologi il 2 luglio
del 2011, e dai Cardinali ed Vescovi il 15 novembre 2011.
Sua
Santità Benedetto XVI ha autorizzato la Congregazione delle Cause dei Santi a
promulgare il decreto super miraculo.
SOURCE : https://www.causesanti.va/it/santi-e-beati/anna-schaffer.html
OMELIA DI GIOVANNI
PAOLO II
Basilica di San Pietro -
Domenica, 7 marzo 1999
1. "Chi beve dell'acqua
che io gli darò, non avrà mai più sete" (Gv 4, 14).
Nell'odierna domenica,
terza di Quaresima, l'incontro di Gesù con la Samaritana presso il pozzo di
Giacobbe costituisce una straordinaria catechesi sulla fede. Ai catecumeni che
si preparano a ricevere il Battesimo, ed a tutti i credenti incamminati verso
la Pasqua, il Vangelo mostra quest'oggi l'"acqua viva" dello Spirito
Santo, che rigenera l'uomo interiormente, facendolo rinascere
"dall'alto" a vita nuova.
L'esistenza umana è un
"esodo" dalla schiavitù alla terra promessa, dalla morte alla vita.
In questo cammino sperimentiamo a volte l'aridità e la fatica dell'esistenza:
la miseria, la solitudine, la perdita di significato e di speranza, al punto
che può succedere anche a noi, come agli Ebrei in cammino, di chiederci:
"Il Signore è in mezzo a noi sì o no?" (Es 17, 7).
Anche quella donna di
Samaria, così provata dalla vita, avrà pensato tante volte: "Dov'è il
Signore?". Finché un giorno incontra un Uomo che rivela a lei, donna e per
di più samaritana, vale a dire doppiamente disprezzata, tutta la verità. In un
semplice dialogo Egli le offre il dono di Dio: lo Spirito Santo, sorgente di
acqua viva per la vita eterna. Le manifesta se stesso come il Messia atteso e
le annuncia il Padre, che vuol essere adorato in spirito e verità.
2. I santi sono i
"veri adoratori del Padre": uomini e donne che, come la samaritana,
hanno incontrato Cristo ed hanno scoperto, grazie a Lui, il senso della vita.
Essi hanno sperimentato in prima persona quello che dice l'apostolo Paolo nella
seconda Lettura: "L'amore di Dio è stato riversato nei nostri cuori per
mezzo dello Spirito Santo che ci è stato dato" (Rm 5, 5).
Anche nei nuovi Beati la
grazia del Battesimo ha portato la pienezza del suo frutto. Essi si sono a tal
punto abbeverati alla fonte dell'amore di Cristo, da esserne intimamente
trasformati e da divenire a loro volta sorgenti traboccanti per la sete di
tanti fratelli e sorelle incontrati lungo la strada della vita.
3. «Hemos recibido la
justificación por la fe, estamos en paz con Dios [. . .] y nos gloriamos
apoyados en la esperanza de los hijos de Dios» (Rm 5, 1-2). Hoy la
Iglesia, al proclamar beatos a los mártires de Motril, pone en sus labios estas
palabras de San Pablo. En efecto, Vicente Soler y sus seis compañeros agustinos
recoletos y Manuel Martín, sacerdote diocesano, obtuvieron por el testimonio
heroico de su fe el acceso a la "gloria de los hijos de Dios". Ellos
no murieron por una ideología, sino que entregaron libremente su vida por
Alguien que ya había muerto antes por ellos. Así devolvieron a Cristo el don
que de él habían recibido.
Por la fe, estos
sencillos hombres de paz, alejados del debate político, trabajaron durante años
en territorios de misión, sufrieron multitud de penalidades en Filipinas,
regaron con su sudor los campos de Brasil, Argentina y Venezuela, fundaron
obras sociales y educativas en Motril y en otras partes de España. Por la fe,
llegado el momento supremo del martirio, afrontaron la muerte con ánimo sereno,
confor tando a los demás condenados y perdonando a sus verdugos. ¿Cómo es
posible esto? -nos preguntamos-, y San Agustín nos responde: «Porque el que
reina en el cielo regía la mente y la lengua de sus mártires, y por medio de
ellos en la tierra vencía» (Sermón 329, 1-2).
¡Dichosos vosotros,
mártires de Cristo! Que todos se alegren por el honor tributado a estos
testigos de la fe. Dios los ayudó en sus tribulaciones y les dio la corona de
la victoria. ¡Ojalá que ellos ayuden a quienes hoy trabajan en España y en el
mundo en favor de la reconciliación y de la paz!
4. Le peuple qui campait
dans le désert avait soif, comme nous le rappelle la première lecture, tirée du
livre de l’Exode (cfr 17, 3). Le spectacle du peuple spirituellement assoiffé
était aussi sous les yeux de Nicolas Barré, de l’Ordre des Minimes. Son
ministère le mettait continuellement en contact avec des personnes qui, vivant
dans le désert de l’ignorance religieuse, risquaient de s’abreuver à la source
corrompue de certaines idées de leur temps. C’est pourquoi il ressentit le
devoir de devenir un maître spirituel et un éducateur pour ceux qu’il rejoignait
par son action pastorale. Pour élargir son rayon d’action, il fonda une
nouvelle famille religieuse, les Sœurs de l’Enfant-Jésus, avec le devoir
d’évangéliser et d’éduquer la jeunesse délaissée, afin de lui révéler l’amour
de Dieu, de lui communiquer en plénitude la Vie divine et de contribuer à
l’édification des personnes.
Le nouveau Bienheureux ne
cessa d’enraciner sa mission dans la contemplation du mystère de l’Incarnation,
car Dieu étanche la soif de ceux qui vivent en intimité avec Lui. Il a montré
qu’une action faite pour Dieu ne peut qu’unir à Dieu et que la sanctification
passe aussi par l’apostolat. Nicolas Barré invite chacun à faire confiance à
l’Esprit Saint, qui guide son peuple sur le chemin de l’abandon à Dieu, du
désintéressement, de l’humilité, de la persévérance jusque dans les épreuves
les plus rudes. Une telle attitude ouvre à la joie du cheminement vers
l'expérience de l'action puissante du Dieu vivant.
5. Wenn wir schließlich
unseren Blick auf die selige Anna Schäffer richten, dann lesen wir ihr Leben
gleichsam als lebendigen Kommentar dessen, was der heilige Paulus an die Römer
geschrieben hat: "Die Hoffnung läßt nicht zugrunde gehen. Denn die Liebe
Gottes ist ausgegossen in unsere Herzen durch den Heiligen Geist, der uns gegeben
ist" (5, 5).
Je mehr ihr Lebensweg zum
Leidensweg wurde, umso stärker wuchs in ihr die Erkenntnis, daß Krankheit und
Schwäche die Zeilen sein können, auf denen Gott sein Evangelium schreibt. Ihr
Krankenzimmer nennt sie eine "Leidenswerkstatt", um dem Kreuz Christi
immer gleichförmiger zu werden. Sie spricht von drei Himmelsschlüsseln, die
Gott ihr gegeben habe: "Der größte davon ist aus rohem Eisen und schwer
von Gewicht, das ist mein Leiden. Der zweite ist die Nadel und der dritte der
Federhalter. Mit all diesen Schlüsseln will ich täglich fest arbeiten, um das
Himmelstor öffnen zu können".
Gerade im größten Schmerz
wird Anna Schäffer die Verantwortung bewußt, die jeder Christ für das Heil
seiner Mitmenschen hat. Dazu gebraucht sie den Federhalter. Ihr Krankenbett
wird die Wiege eines weit gespannten Briefapostolats. Was ihr an Kraft bleibt,
verwendet sie für die Anfertigung von Stickereien, um damit anderen eine Freude
zu bereiten. Ob auf den Briefen oder bei der Handarbeit, ihr Lieblingsmotiv ist
das Herz Jesu als Symbol der göttlichen Liebe. Dabei fällt auf, daß sie die
Flammen aus dem Herzen Jesu nicht als Feuerflammen, sondern als Weizenähren
darstellt. Der Bezug zur Eucharistie, die Anna Schäffer täglich von ihrem
Pfarrer empfangen hat, ist unverkennbar. Das so gedeutete Herz Jesu ist deshalb
das Attribut, das die neue Selige bei sich tragen wird.
6. Carissimi Fratelli e
Sorelle, rendiamo grazie a Dio per il dono di questi nuovi Beati! Essi,
malgrado le prove della vita, non hanno indurito il loro cuore, ma hanno
ascoltato la voce del Signore, e lo Spirito Santo li ha ricolmati dell'amore di
Dio. Hanno potuto così sperimentare che "la speranza non delude" (Rm 5,
5). Sono stati come alberi piantati lungo corsi d'acqua, che a tempo opportuno
hanno portato frutti abbondanti (cfr Sal 1, 3).
Per questo, oggi,
ammirando la loro testimonianza, tutta la Chiesa acclama: Signore, tu sei
veramente il salvatore del mondo, tu sei la roccia da cui scaturisce l'acqua
viva per la sete dell'umanità!
Dacci sempre, Signore, di
quest'acqua, perché conosciamo il Padre e lo adoriamo in Spirito e Verità.
Amen!
SOURCE : https://www.causesanti.va/it/santi-e-beati/anna-schaffer.html
OMELIA DEL SANTO PADRE
BENEDETTO XVI
Piazza San Pietro
Domenica, 21 ottobre 2012
Il Figlio dell’uomo è
venuto per servire e dare la propria vita in riscatto per molti (cfr Mc 10,45).
Venerati Fratelli,
cari fratelli e sorelle!
Oggi la Chiesa ascolta
ancora una volta queste parole di Gesù, pronunciate durante il cammino verso
Gerusalemme, dove si doveva compiere il suo mistero di passione, morte e
risurrezione. Sono parole che contengono il senso della missione di Cristo
sulla terra, segnata dalla sua immolazione, dalla sua donazione totale. In
questa terza domenica di ottobre, nella quale si celebra la Giornata
Missionaria Mondiale, la Chiesa le ascolta con particolare intensità e ravviva
la consapevolezza di essere tutta intera in perenne stato di servizio all’uomo
e al Vangelo, come Colui che ha offerto se stesso fino al sacrificio della
vita.
Rivolgo il mio saluto
cordiale a tutti voi, che riempite Piazza San Pietro, in particolare le
Delegazioni ufficiali e i pellegrini venuti per festeggiare i sette nuovi
Santi. Saluto con affetto i Cardinali e i Vescovi che in questi giorni stanno
partecipando all’Assemblea
sinodale sulla Nuova Evangelizzazione. E’ felice la coincidenza tra questa
Assise e la Giornata Missionaria; e la Parola di Dio che abbiamo ascoltato
risulta illuminante per entrambe. Essa mostra lo stile dell’evangelizzatore,
chiamato a testimoniare ed annunciare il messaggio cristiano conformandosi a
Gesù Cristo, seguendo la sua stessa vita. Questo vale sia per la missione ad
gentes, sia per la nuova evangelizzazione nelle regioni di antica cristianità.
Il Figlio dell’uomo è
venuto per servire e dare la propria vita in riscatto per molti (cfr Mc 10,
45).
Queste parole hanno
costituito il programma di vita dei sette Beati che oggi la Chiesa iscrive
solennemente nella gloriosa schiera dei Santi. Con eroico coraggio essi hanno
speso la loro esistenza nella totale consacrazione a Dio e nel generoso
servizio ai fratelli. Sono figli e figlie della Chiesa, che hanno scelto la
vita del servizio seguendo il Signore. La santità nella Chiesa ha sempre la sua
sorgente nel mistero della Redenzione, che viene prefigurato dal profeta Isaia
nella prima Lettura: il Servo del Signore è il Giusto che «giustificherà molti,
egli si addosserà le loro iniquità» (Is 53,11); questo Servo è Gesù
Cristo, crocifisso, risorto e vivo nella gloria. L’odierna canonizzazione
costituisce un’eloquente conferma di tale misteriosa realtà salvifica. La
tenace professione di fede di questi sette generosi discepoli di Cristo, la
loro conformazione al Figlio dell’Uomo risplende oggi in tutta la Chiesa.
Jacques Berthieu, né en
1838, en France, fut très tôt passionné de Jésus-Christ. Durant son ministère
de paroisse, il eut le désir ardent de sauver les âmes. Devenu jésuite, il
voulait parcourir le monde pour la gloire de Dieu. Pasteur infatigable dans
l’île Sainte Marie puis à Madagascar, il lutta contre l’injustice, tout en
soulageant les pauvres et les malades. Les Malgaches le considéraient comme un
prêtre venu du ciel, disant : Vous êtes notre ‘père et mère’ ! Il se fit
tout à tous, puisant dans la prière et dans l’amour du Cœur de Jésus la force
humaine et sacerdotale d’aller jusqu’au martyre en 1896. Il mourut en disant :
‘Je préfère mourir plutôt que renoncer à ma foi’. Chers amis, que la vie de cet
évangélisateur soit un encouragement et un modèle pour les prêtres, afin qu’ils
soient des hommes de Dieu comme lui ! Que son exemple aide les nombreux
chrétiens persécutés aujourd’hui à cause de leur foi ! Puisse en cette Année de
la foi, son intercession porter des fruits pour Madagascar et le continent
africain ! Que Dieu bénisse le peuple malgache !
[Jacques Berthieu, nato
nel 1838, in Francia, fu ben presto conquistato da Gesù Cristo. Durante il suo
ministero in parrocchia, ebbe il desiderio ardente di salvare le anime.
Diventato gesuita, voleva percorrere il mondo per la gloria di Dio. Pastore
infaticabile nell’Isola Santa Maria e poi nel Madagascar, lottò contro
l’ingiustizia, mentre recava sollievo ai poveri e ai malati. I Malgasci lo
consideravano come un sacerdote venuto dal cielo, dicendo: Lei è il nostro
‘padre e madre’! Si fece tutto a tutti, attingendo nella preghiera e nell’amore
del Cuore di Gesù la forza umana e sacerdotale di giungere fino al martirio nel
1896. Morì dicendo: «Preferisco morire piuttosto che rinunciare alla mia fede».
Cari amici, la vita di questo evangelizzatore sia un incoraggiamento e un
modello per i sacerdoti, affinché siano uomini di Dio come lui! Il suo esempio
aiuti i numerosi cristiani oggi perseguitati a causa della fede! Possa la sua
intercessione, in questo Anno della fede, portare frutti per il Madagascar e il
continente africano! Dio benedica il popolo malgascio!]
Pedro Calungsod was born
around the year 1654, in the Visayas region of the Philippines. His love for
Christ inspired him to train as a catechist with the Jesuit missionaries there.
In 1668, along with other young catechists, he accompanied Father Diego Luis de
San Vitores to the Marianas Islands in order to evangelize the Chamorro people.
Life there was hard and the missionaries faced persecution arising from envy
and slander. Pedro, however, displayed deep faith and charity and continued to
catechize his many converts, giving witness to Christ by a life of purity and
dedication to the Gospel. Uppermost was his desire to win souls for Christ, and
this made him resolute in accepting martyrdom. He died on 2 April 1672.
Witnesses record that Pedro could have fled for safety but chose to stay at
Father Diego’s side. The priest was able to give Pedro absolution before he
himself was killed. May the example and courageous witness of Pedro Calungsod
inspire the dear people of the Philippines to announce the Kingdom bravely and
to win souls for God!
[Pedro Calungsod nacque
intorno al 1654, nella regione di Visayas nelle Filippine. Il suo amore per
Cristo lo spinse a prepararsi per diventare catechista con i missionari Gesuiti
di quel luogo. Nel 1668, assieme ad altri giovani catechisti, accompagnò il P.
Diego Luis de San Vitores alle Isole Marianas per evangelizzare il popolo
Chamorro. La vita là era dura e i missionari soffrirono persecuzioni a causa di
invidie e calunnie. Pedro, però, dimostrò fede e carità profonde e continuò a
catechizzare i molti convertiti, dando testimonianza a Cristo mediante una vita
di purezza e di dedizione al Vangelo. Molto intenso era il suo desiderio di
guadagnare anime a Cristo, e ciò lo rese risoluto nell’accettare il martirio.
Morì il 2 aprile 1672. Testimoni raccontano che Pedro avrebbe potuto mettersi
in salvo ma scelse di rimanere al fianco di P. Diego. Il sacerdote ebbe modo di
dare l’assoluzione a Pedro prima di essere lui stesso ucciso. Possano l’esempio
e la coraggiosa testimonianza di Pedro Calungsod ispirare le care popolazioni
delle Filippine ad annunciare il Regno di Dio con forza e guadagnare anime a
Dio!]
Giovanni Battista
Piamarta, sacerdote della diocesi di Brescia, fu un grande apostolo della
carità e della gioventù. Avvertiva l’esigenza di una presenza culturale e
sociale del cattolicesimo nel mondo moderno, pertanto si dedicò all’elevazione
cristiana, morale e professionale delle nuove generazioni con la sua illuminata
carica di umanità e di bontà. Animato da fiducia incrollabile nella Divina
Provvidenza e da profondo spirito di sacrificio, affrontò difficoltà e fatiche
per dare vita a diverse opere apostoliche, tra le quali: l’Istituto degli
Artigianelli, l’Editrice Queriniana, la Congregazione maschile della Santa Famiglia
di Nazareth e la Congregazione delle Umili Serve del Signore. Il segreto della
sua intensa ed operosa vita sta nelle lunghe ore che egli dedicava alla
preghiera. Quando era oberato di lavoro, aumentava il tempo per l’incontro,
cuore a cuore, con il Signore. Preferiva le soste davanti al santissimo
Sacramento, meditando la passione, morte e risurrezione di Cristo, per
attingere forza spirituale e ripartire alla conquista del cuore della gente,
specie dei giovani, per ricondurli alle sorgenti della vita con sempre nuove
iniziative pastorali.
«Que tu misericordia,
Señor, venga sobre nosotros como lo esperamos de ti». Con estas palabras, la
liturgia nos invita a hacer nuestro este himno al Dios creador y providente,
aceptando su plan en nuestras vidas. Así lo hizo Santa María del Carmelo Sallés
y Barangueras, religiosa nacida en Vic, España, en mil ochocientos cuarenta y
ocho. Ella, viendo colmada su esperanza, después de muchos avatares, al
contemplar el progreso de la Congregación de Religiosas Concepcionistas
Misioneras de la Enseñanza, que había fundado en mil ochocientos noventa y dos,
pudo cantar junto a la Madre de Dios: «Su misericordia llega a sus fieles de
generación en generación». Su obra educativa, confiada a la Virgen Inmaculada,
sigue dando abundantes frutos entre la juventud a través de la entrega generosa
de sus hijas, que como ella se encomiendan al Dios que todo lo puede.
[«Donaci, Signore, il tuo
amore: in te speriamo». Con queste parole, la liturgia ci invita a fare nostro
questo inno a Dio creatore e provvidente, accettando il suo progetto nella
nostra vita. Così fece santa Maria del Carmelo Sallés y Barangueras, religiosa
nata a Vic, in Spagna, nel 1848. Ella, vedendo realizzata la sua speranza, dopo
molte vicissitudini, contemplando lo sviluppo della Congregazione delle
Religiose Concezioniste Missionarie dell’Insegnamento, che aveva fondato nel
1892, poté cantare insieme con la Madre di Dio: «Di generazione in generazione
la sua misericordia si stende su quelli che lo temono». La sua opera educativa,
affidata alla Vergine Immacolata, continua a portare frutti abbondanti in mezzo
alla gioventù mediante l’impegno generoso delle sue figlie, che come lei si
pongono nelle mani del Dio che tutto può.]
I now turn to Marianne
Cope, born in 1838 in Heppenheim, Germany. Only one year old when taken to the
United States, in 1862 she entered the Third Order Regular of Saint Francis at
Syracuse, New York. Later, as Superior General of her congregation, Mother
Marianne willingly embraced a call to care for the lepers of Hawaii after many
others had refused. She personally went, with six of her fellow sisters, to
manage a hospital on Oahu, later founding Malulani Hospital on Maui and opening
a home for girls whose parents were lepers. Five years after that she accepted
the invitation to open a home for women and girls on the island of Molokai
itself, bravely going there herself and effectively ending her contact with the
outside world. There she looked after Father Damien, already famous for his
heroic work among the lepers, nursed him as he died and took over his work
among male lepers. At a time when little could be done for those suffering from
this terrible disease, Marianne Cope showed the highest love, courage and
enthusiasm. She is a shining and energetic example of the best of the tradition
of Catholic nursing sisters and of the spirit of her beloved Saint Francis.
[Rivolgo ora lo sguardo a
Marianne Cope, nata nel 1838 ad Heppenheim, in Germania. Quando aveva un anno
soltanto fu portata negli Stati Uniti, e nel 1862 entrò nel Terz’Ordine
Regolare di san Francesco a Syracuse, New York. In seguito, come Superiora
Generale della sua Congregazione, Madre Marianne accolse di sua volontà una
chiamata a prendersi cura dei lebbrosi delle Hawaii, dopo che molti altri
avevano rifiutato. Si recò là con sei consorelle, per gestire un ospedale a
Oahu e successivamente fondare l’ospedale Malulani a Maui ed aprire una casa
per ragazze i cui genitori erano lebbrosi. Dopo cinque anni, accettò l’invito
ad aprire una casa per donne e ragazze nella stessa isola di Molokai,
coraggiosamente andandovi lei stessa ed in pratica terminando il proprio
contatto con il mondo esterno. Là si prese cura di padre Damiano, già famoso
per la sua eroica attività fra i lebbrosi, curandolo sino alla morte e
prendendone il posto fra i lebbrosi maschi. Quando ancora si poteva fare poco
per quanti soffrivano di questa terribile malattia, Marianne Cope dimostrò
l’amore, il coraggio e l’entusiasmo più alti. Ella è un luminoso e forte
esempio della migliore tradizione cattolica nell’accudire alle sorelle e dello
spirito del suo amato san Francesco.]
Kateri Tekakwitha was
born in today’s New York state in 1656 to a Mohawk father and a Christian
Algonquin mother who gave to her a sense of the living God. She was baptized at
twenty years of age and, to escape persecution, she took refuge in Saint
Francis Xavier Mission near Montreal. There she worked, faithful to the
traditions of her people, although renouncing their religious convictions until
her death at the age of twenty-four. Leading a simple life, Kateri remained
faithful to her love for Jesus, to prayer and to daily Mass. Her greatest wish
was to know and to do what pleased God.
[Kateri Tekakwitha nacque
nell’odierno stato di New York nel 1656 da padre Mohawk e da madre cristiana
algonchina, che le trasmise il senso del Dio vivente. Fu battezzata all’età di
vent’anni e, per fuggire dalle persecuzioni, si rifugiò nella missione di san
Francesco Saverio vicino a Montreal. Là lavorò, fedele alle tradizioni del suo
popolo - anche se rinunciò alle convinzioni religiose della sua gente - sino
alla morte all’età di 24 anni. Vivendo un’esistenza semplice, Kateri rimase
fedele al suo amore per Gesù, alla preghiera e alla Messa quotidiana. Il suo
più grande desiderio era conoscere Dio e fare ciò che a Lui piace.]
Kateri nous impressionne
par l’action de la grâce dans sa vie en l’absence de soutiens extérieurs, et
par son courage dans sa vocation si particulière dans sa culture. En elle, foi
et culture s’enrichissent mutuellement ! Que son exemple nous aide à vivre là
où nous sommes, sans renier qui nous sommes, en aimant Jésus ! Sainte Kateri,
protectrice du Canada et première sainte amérindienne, nous te confions le
renouveau de la foi dans les premières nations et dans toute
l’Amérique du Nord ! Que Dieu bénisse les premières nations !
[Kateri ci impressiona
per l’azione della grazia nella sua vita in assenza di sostegni esterni, e per
il coraggio nella vocazione tanto particolare nella sua cultura. In lei, fede e
cultura si arricchiscono a vicenda! Il suo esempio ci aiuti a vivere là dove
siamo, senza rinnegare ciò che siamo, amando Gesù! Santa Kateri, patrona del
Canada e prima santa amerinda, noi ti affidiamo il rinnovamento della fede
nelle prime nazioni e in tutta l’America del Nord! Dio benedica le prime
nazioni!]
Anna Schäffer aus
Mindelstetten wollte als Jugendliche in einen Missionsorden eintreten. Da sie
aus einfachen Verhältnissen stammte, versuchte sie die nötige Aussteuer für die
Aufnahme ins Kloster als Dienstmagd zu verdienen. In dieser Stellung erlitt sie
einen schweren Unfall mit unheilbaren Verbrennungen an den Beinen, der sie für
ihr ganzes weiteres Leben ans Bett fesselte. So wurde ihr das Krankenlager zur
Klosterzelle und das Leiden zum Missionsdienst. Sie haderte zunächst mit ihrem
Schicksal, verstand ihre Situation dann aber als einen liebevollen Ruf des
Gekreuzigten in seine Nachfolge. Gestärkt durch die tägliche Kommunion wurde
sie zu einer unermüdlichen Fürsprecherin im Gebet und zu einem Spiegel der
Liebe Gottes für viele Ratsuchende. Ihr Apostolat des Betens und des Leidens,
des Opferns und des Sühnens sei den Gläubigen in ihrer Heimat ein leuchtendes
Vorbild, ihre Fürbitte stärke die christliche Hospizbewegung in ihrem
segensreichen Wirken.
[Anna Schäffer di
Mindelstetten, da giovane, voleva entrare a far parte di un Ordine religioso
missionario. Essendo di modesta provenienza, cercò di guadagnare come domestica
la dote necessaria per essere accolta in convento. In questo lavoro ebbe un
grave incidente con ustioni inguaribili alle gambe, che la costrinsero al letto
per tutta la vita. Così, il letto di dolore diventò per lei cella conventuale e
la sofferenza costituì il suo servizio missionario. Inizialmente si lamentava
della propria sorte, ma poi giunse a interpretare la sua situazione come una
chiamata amorevole del Crocifisso a seguirLo. Confortata dalla Comunione
quotidiana, ella diventò un’instancabile strumento di intercessione nella
preghiera e un riflesso dell’amore di Dio per molte persone che cercavano il
suo consiglio. Possa il suo apostolato di preghiera e di sofferenza, di
sacrificio e di espiazione costituire un esempio luminoso per i fedeli nella
sua Patria, e la sua intercessione rafforzi il movimento cristiano di hospice [centri
di cure palliative per malati terminali] nel loro benefico servizio.]
Cari fratelli e sorelle!
Questi nuovi Santi, diversi per origine, lingua, nazione e condizione sociale,
sono uniti con l’intero Popolo di Dio nel mistero di salvezza di Cristo, il
Redentore. Insieme a loro, anche noi qui riuniti con i Padri sinodali venuti da
ogni parte del mondo, con le parole del Salmo proclamiamo al Signore che «egli
è nostro aiuto e nostro scudo», e lo invochiamo: «Su di noi sia il tuo amore,
Signore, come da te noi speriamo» (Sal 32,20-22). Possa la testimonianza
dei nuovi Santi, della loro vita generosamente offerta per amore di Cristo,
parlare oggi a tutta la Chiesa, e la loro intercessione possa rafforzarla e
sostenerla nella sua missione di annunciare il Vangelo al mondo intero.
SOURCE : https://www.causesanti.va/it/santi-e-beati/anna-schaffer.html
Voir aussi : https://www.clairval.com/lettres/fr/2002/09/15/5040902.htm
https://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/misc/PHP/purg_ba_schaffer.pdf
