Cherubine Willimann

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Cherubine Willimann OP , baptized Maria Josepha (* March 12, 1842 in Rickenbach ; † December 18, 1914 in the Arenberg Monastery near Koblenz ) was the superior general in Koblenz.

Life

Cherubine Willimann was one of four daughters of the farmer Alois Willimann († 1857) and his wife Elisabetha, b. Steiger († 1862). She grew up on the Holderstud farm in Niederwil near Rickenbach. When she was in her early 20s, her mother died after her father had been killed in an accident five years earlier.

In January 1865 she entered the Dominican convent of St. Peter am Bach in Schwyz , where her two sisters were already living . She was given the name Maria Petrina , but had to break off her novitiate again in February 1866 because she was unable to cope with the long, nocturnal prayer and fasting regulations due to poor eyesight and poor health. In the meantime, she stayed in St. Peter as the porter and housekeeper of the priest.

During this time, in Arenberg near Koblenz, pastor Johann Baptist Kraus (1805–1893) sought sisters from various religious orders; These were supposed to look after the holy places he laid out in 1845 , a late romantic pilgrimage complex, and take over social tasks in the parish, for which he had a small monastery built in 1864. Finally, in 1868, the Dominican Sisters of Schwyz were ready, with the approval of Pope Pius IX. to found a Dominican convent of the Third Order aimed at schools and nursing in Arenberg . For this purpose, Hyazintha Bucher was appointed as superior and Aloysia Rüber as novice master in Arenberg in 1865 and, from 1867, seconded for four years.

For Josepha Willimann, the Rhenish start-up project opened up the possibility of trying a new entry into the monastery under conditions that were more suitable for her. She traveled to Arenberg, where she was allowed to begin her postulate on June 17, 1868 . On July 22, 1868 she received the religious dress and the religious name Maria Cherubina , the meaning of which was derived from the cherub , supernatural, angelic being ; their self-chosen name cherubine probably developed because this form of name was used in official letters. She made her vows on August 17, 1869.

Fierce conflicts soon broke out among the Arenberg sisters about the direction and importance of contemplation and social work, so that the continued existence of the monastery was endangered. In addition, there was the Franco-German War, which prompted the Swiss women to flee home to Schwyz in 1870. After the end of the war, Cherubine Willimann returned to Koblenz, also at the request of Pastor Kraus, accompanied by some Dominicans of the Third Order, who had fled from France to St. Peter. Gundisalva Gottfring from Bonnay Monastery near Autun became prioress . From then on the founding of the monastery in Arenberg stabilized and Cherubine Willimann took over the post of subprioress on January 31, 1875.

As a precautionary measure , the Arenberg monastery was now detached from the parish and made independent during the Kulturkampf . The laws directed against the orders forced the Dominicans to concentrate entirely on nursing, because in Prussia all orders and congregations , with the exception of nursing staff, were banned in 1875 , and the admission of new sisters was no longer permitted. The Arenberg Monastery then moved the novitiate to the Netherlands in 1879 , but after the sisters there had adopted a contemplative way of life, the cohesion of the two locations broke, so that the Trier bishop Michael Felix Korum separated the two convents in 1885 and installed cherubine Willimann in Arenberg as prioress.

As a result of their initiative, the first branch of the Arenberg monastery was built in Moselweiß in 1887 . To do this, she used a property that a sister had inherited and opened an orphanage in it. She also made sure that the Arenberg monastery complex was expanded and drafted constitutions; she also ensured the further expansion of the community. In 1889 she took on some women in Berlin who worked as nurses and had already led a religious community life, and in 1890 she included women who looked after orphans in Styrum . In the same year the first edition of the Constituionen of the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Dominic for the German Congregation of St. Catherine of Siena of the Arenberg Dominican Sisters, who provided for an apostolate in care, upbringing and the education of girls.

On May 28, 1896, Cherubine Willimann became the first Prioress General of the new congregation, the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena with the mother house Arenberg. The branches in Moselweiß, Berlin and Styrum were given the status of priorates. In the Rhineland, Priority General Cherubine Willimann Häuser in Cologne , there the St. Agnes Abbey in Mittelstrasse, in Heerdt near Düsseldorf , in Bedburg-Kirchherten , in Niederembt and Elberfeld . She visited the branches in the Rhine Province as well as the eleven foundations in and around Berlin and Breslau and was in constant, intensive correspondence with the priories. In 1909 the Arenberg Dominican Sisters opened the Trinity Hospital in Cologne on Aachener Strasse .

Because the office of Prioress General was limited in time, she was no longer eligible for re-election in the upcoming election in 1902 due to the corresponding restrictions of the constitutions and thus initially performed a task in the Berlin area. Then she was entrusted with the office of prioress at Heerdter Dominikus Hospital.

Even when Cherubine Willimann did not officially hold the office of Prioress General, thanks to her strong position, rich experience and her high reputation she still had considerable influence on the leadership of the Congregation, so in 1908, using an exception clause, she was again in the office of Prioress General elected.

The congregation was recognized papally in 1914 .

At her death the community comprised 662 women religious in 42 branches. There has been a mission in Bolivia since 1963 and in 1981 a branch was established in her home town of Rickenbach.

She was buried on the monastery grounds in Koblenz-Arenberg.

Honors

  • In Koblenz, the Cherubine-Willimann-Weg, which leads to the Arenberg Monastery, was named after her.
  • In 1996 the congregation founded the Cherubine-Willimann-Foundation Arenberg , which is to continue the institutions of the congregation in the Christian spirit and in the spirit of the founder.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ willimann, Cherubine (Josefa) OP - Orden-online.de. Retrieved April 28, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Healing love as a basic task. Retrieved April 28, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Willimann, cherubins
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Willimann, Anna Maria Josefa; Willimann, Maria Josepha; Willimann, Maria Josefa; Maria Petrina, sister; Cherubins, sister; Willimann, M. Cherubine; Willimann, Maria Cherubine; Willimann, Maria Petrina; Willimann, Josepha; Willimann, Josefa; Willimann, M. Cherubine
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss nun, superior general of the Dominican Sisters in Koblenz
DATE OF BIRTH March 12, 1842
PLACE OF BIRTH Rickenbach
DATE OF DEATH December 18, 1914
Place of death Arenberg Monastery near Koblenz