Eustachius Kugler

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Frater Eustachius Kugler (born January 15, 1867 in Neuhaus near Nittenau ; † June 10, 1946 in Regensburg ; actually Josef Kugler ) was a friar of the Merciful Brothers of St. John of God and builder of the hospital of the Merciful Brothers in Regensburg. His commitment was particularly directed towards the sick and disabled. On October 4th, 2009, Fr. Eustachius was beatified by the Catholic Church .

Life

Josef Kugler, the son of a farmer and farrier , had an accident at work during his apprenticeship as a building fitter in Munich . He fell off a scaffold and sustained a leg injury that has suffered all his life.

In 1884 he came back to Reichenbach in the Upper Palatinate and moved in with his sister Katharina, who was married to the blacksmith Josef Reichenberger. He was able to go back to work with his brother-in-law. At that time, the Reichenbacher church was only used irregularly for church services, and so it became common for the limping Josef Kugler to pray the rosary on Sunday afternoon . The people in the village then called him the "Klostersepp".

After the Barmherzigen Brüder acquired the Reichenbach am Regen monastery in 1890/91 and wanted to use it as a nursing home for the poor , epileptic and mentally ill , there was a lot of work for the blacksmith Reichenberger and his journeymen. He got to know the brothers and religious life, which led to his entering the monastery in Reichenbach on January 11, 1893 . When entering the novitiate he took the religious name Eustachius .

But his way into the Order was not easy. The Convention in Wörishofen refused admission Eustace 'to the profession from his foot injury due. Only when the provincial had the election repeated could Fr. Eustachius make profession in Reichenbach in 1898.

From 1905 to 1925 he was in charge of the facilities for disabled people in Straubing and Gremsdorf as well as the St. Wolfgang Hospital in Neuburg an der Donau . In 1925 Fr. Eustachius was elected Provincial of the Bavarian Order Province and was thus responsible for hospitals, nursing homes, an educational institution and a priest hospice .

However, the construction of the Barmherzige Brüder hospital in Regensburg can be described as his greatest achievement , as the financing of the major project was controversial and the implementation of the construction project was accordingly difficult. Kugler replied to questioners: “I settled the matter with my Lord God. Nothing will be missing! ”During the Second World War, the Regensburg hospital was very endangered because it was in the immediate vicinity of the Messerschmitt works . Despite the bombing of this company on August 17, 1943, the hospital was spared from the bombs. Today the hospital is known far beyond the borders of Regensburg with a wide range of services and as the teaching hospital of the University of Regensburg .

Fr. Eustachius Kugler died on June 10, 1946 in the hospital of the Barmherzigen Brüder in Regensburg. Streets in many Bavarian towns, as well as a chapel in Neuhaus and a workshop for the disabled in Straubing are named after him.

beatification

On December 19, 2005, Frater Eustachius was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI. the heroic degree of virtue awarded. Since then he has had the title of Venerable Servant of God . On January 17, 2009, Benedict XVI confirmed. by decree a miracle that is said to have happened at the intercession of Eustachius Kugler. On October 4th, 2009, he was beatified in Regensburg Cathedral. The Pope's representative at the ceremony was the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints , Archbishop Angelo Amato . It was the first beatification in Bavaria after Benedict XVI. 2005 decided that beatification celebrations should take place in the home dioceses of the new blessed.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Beatification of Brother Eustachius Kugler on October 4th, 2009 in Regensburg. Merciful Brothers Bavarian Order Province, July 9, 2009.
personal data
SURNAME Kugler, Eustachius
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kugler, Josef (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Friar of the Brothers of Mercy and builder of a hospital in Regensburg
DATE OF BIRTH January 15, 1867
PLACE OF BIRTH Neuhaus near Nittenau
DATE OF DEATH June 10, 1946
Place of death regensburg