Helga moonlight

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Helga Mondschein (born March 12, 1933 in Erfurt ; † November 2, 2020 there ) was a German Roman Catholic religious educator and children's book author .

Life

Helga Mondschein grew up in Erfurt. Her father died in 1945 as a Soviet prisoner of war. Her grandmother and a Catholic neighbor were formative for the preoccupation with her faith and the choice of profession. In 1951 she graduated from secondary school in Erfurt and started training as a teacher. From 1953 to 1957 she worked as a math and German teacher at the Pestalozzi School in Sömmerda . In 1954 she lost an eye in cancer surgery. The resulting restrictions and the increasing pressure of the GDR regime to use the education system for a socialist upbringing led her in 1957 to the decision to give up teaching and join the pastoral assistant seminar in Erfurt. After community work as a pastoral assistantAt the Erfurt Severikirche she was active in training from 1963, initially as an assistant to the diocesan seminary for pastoral care and Caritas in Erfurt. In 1966 she took over the leadership of the pre-seminar and three years later also became a consultant in the children's pastoral care department of the Episcopal Ordinariate . Bishop Hugo Aufderbeck commissioned her in 1975 with a catechetical visiting service for the training of young priests and pastoral workers. She repeatedly traveled to Czechoslovakia , where she supported the priest training that was carried out underground during the communist church persecution with catechetical instructions.

After the fall of the Wall in 1989 , she took over the development and management of the school department of the Erfurt diocese . In July 1994, Bishop Joachim Wanke appointed her ordinary councilor. She was one of the first women in the Roman Catholic Church in Germany to carry this title. A year later she gave up her management function at her own request and took on catechetical tasks again as a consultant for parenting education in the pastoral office. At the beginning of 1998 she retired and last lived in a nursing home in Erfurt.

As the author of catechetical and entertaining children's literature, which was published by St. Benno Verlag in Leipzig , Helga Mondschein was one of the most influential figures in the catechetical work of Catholic parishes in the GDR. She was also frequently involved in the annual preparation of the materials for the Religious Children's Week . Its goal was to "support young parents in the upbringing and teaching of their children's faith". She was convinced that “church service ... full commitment” required. Following this claim, she remained celibate all her life. In addition to the catechetical and children's books, she wrote several contemporary history books, some of them autobiographical.

Publications (selection)

  • Our saints. with Günther Hunold, Leipzig 1968.
  • Give us your spirit. A book for young Christians on the way to coming of age. The House Church , Volume 15. Leipzig 1973.
  • Catechetical workbook for teaching the faith of twelve to fourteen year olds. A manual on the didactics and methodology of high school catechesis. Leipzig 1976.
  • On the way to faith. A book for parents who take their children's religious education seriously. Die Hauskirche , Volume 17. Leipzig 1977.
  • You love us A prayer book for children and their parents. Leipzig 1979.
  • Father Fridolin and his gang of rascals. A story for communion children and their friends. Leipzig 1983. (8th edition 2000. ISBN 978-3-7462-1380-4 .)
  • ... Greetings Monika. Leipzig 1986. ISBN 978-3-7462-0053-8 .
  • Praying with Christoph and Barbara. A prayer book for children up to 10 years. Leipzig 1988. (Licensed edition Styria Graz 1988. ISBN 978-3-222-11827-2 .)
  • Bishop Hugo Aufderbeck. Life testimony. Heiligenstadt 1996. ISBN 978-3-929413-32-8 .
  • Chronicle of the pastoral assistant seminar Erfurt 1948 - 1966. (Ed.) Erfurt 1999.
  • News from Father Fridolin and his gang of rascals. Stories for bright children and their friends. Leipzig 1999. ISBN 978-3-7462-1354-5 .
  • Ottostrasse - my home. A street in Erfurt through the ages. Heiligenstadt 2000. ISBN 978-3-929413-57-1 .
  • The white raven. My life as a pastor. Autobiography. Leipzig 2001. ISBN 978-3-7462-1427-6 .
  • Dream your way to tiny wonderland. The most beautiful bedtime stories. Leipzig 2002. ISBN 978-3-7462-1500-6 .
  • With God and Father Fridolin. Humorous children's stories. Leipzig 2014. ISBN 978-3-7462-3787-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Ulrich Neymeyr: Writer and well-known church personality: Helga Mondschein (87) died. Diocese of Dresden-Meißen , November 3, 2020, accessed on March 27, 2021 .
  2. ↑ a b Passionate catechist. In: Day of the Lord . 10/1998, March 8, 1998, accessed March 27, 2021 .
personal data
SURNAME Moonlight, Helga
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German religious educator and children's book author
DATE OF BIRTH March 12, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH Erfurt
DATE OF DEATH November 2, 2020
PLACE OF DEATH Erfurt