Franz Vogel (priest)
Franz Vogel , baptismal name "Michael Vogel" ; (* August 29, 1850 in Grünstadt , Palatinate ; † May 17, 1926 in Würzburg ) was a Catholic priest from the Diocese of Speyer , entered the monastery to repent for a brother who had fallen away from the faith, became a Father of the Franciscan Minorites and Guardian ( Abbot) in two places. He worked u. a. as a German pilgrimage chaplain in Loreto , Italy and is regarded by the southern German Minorites as one of their most authentic and important members of the order.
Life
Origin and priest in Speyer
Father Franz Vogel was born as Michael Vogel in Grünstadt, in what was then the Bavarian Rhine Palatinate, and was baptized there on September 1st, 1850. He came from a poor family with 7 children; two of his brothers - Karl Vogel (1835–1918) and Georg Vogel (1843–1872) - also chose the profession of priest. Franz Vogel is described as a "quiet but eager to learn" boy. He was weak and small in stature and was therefore generally called "Michelsche". The parents died prematurely and the older siblings took care of the boy. At great financial sacrifice, he was able to visit the Konvikt in Speyer and study theology. On August 17, 1873 he was ordained a priest in the Speyer Cathedral from Bishop Daniel Bonifazius von Haneberg . In the service of his home diocese, he initially worked as a chaplain in Busenberg and Steinfeld (Palatinate) .
Entry into the monastery and religious life
The news of an apostate priest did not let him calm down and he decided to enter the monastery as an atonement for the brother. At the Klausenfest in Königsbach an der Weinstrasse, he worked with other clergymen until late into the night as a pastor. They noticed that the otherwise taciturn chaplain Vogel seemed extraordinarily talkative, even cheerful. The next morning he had disappeared leaving a note with the inscription: “Goodbye dear friends, I am going to the monastery” .
He knew the Order of the Minorites through the Palatine monastery in Oggersheim . In the mother house of the German order province of Würzburg, Kaplan Vogel was accepted into the community on September 13, 1877 and was given the name of the order "Pater Franz". At first he led a secluded life of inner reflection and penance in the monastery. In 1879 he looked after the orphaned parish of Lambsheim in his home diocese for three weeks and solemnly introduced his successor, Pastor Franz Bettinger , his old schoolmate from the Speyer Konvikt and later Cardinal Archbishop of Munich. From 1890 to 1909, Father Franz Vogel worked as a German-speaking confessor and pastor in the world-famous Italian pilgrimage site of Loreto . In a personal letter in 1892 he recommended Damian Kreichgauer, whom he knew from his home diocese of Speyer, to Saint Arnold Janssen , founder of the Steyler missionaries . Father Kreichgauer was later a famous physicist and cultural anthropologist and ethnologist there .
Vogel returned to Germany to be Guardian (Abbot) at Schönau Monastery from 1909 to 1911 and in Würzburg from 1911/1912. From 1912 to 1915 he worked again as a pilgrim chaplain in Loreto.
From 1915 he finally returned home and lived as a monk in the Minorite Convent of Würzburg. Here he held the offices of clerical magister, the instructor of the lay brothers, was a librarian and worked particularly as an experienced confessor in the Valentinus Chapel. The population - even from the wider area - valued him as a soul guide in the sacrament of penance, and his confessional hours in the monastery chapel became an institution. Already during his lifetime the faithful saw Father Franz Vogel as “holy” and after his death many people came to touch objects of worship on his body, which was laid out in the monastery mortuary chamber. The Würzburg bishop Matthias Ehrenfried himself took part in the funeral ceremonies of the city-famous monk. In memory of the reason for its entry, the order had the motto written on its death pictures: “Priest and sacrifice” .
Post fame
Because of the general admiration of Father Vogel, the order collected and archived material about him, which should serve a possible later beatification. In 1971, several pages of the book are dedicated to Father Franz Vogel in the commemorative book "In the service of the community - 750 years of Minorites in Würzburg" and he is described as a "model of the ascetic, Franciscan basic attitude of penance, prayer and apostolate" . The current website of the Würzburg Minorites states something similar. In a commemorative article in the Speyer diocesan newspaper " Der Pilger ", No. 3, from January 15, 1950, it is said that Father Vogel was "a true Francis from the Palatinate" and died "in the name of holiness" . The writer goes on verbatim: “If these lines go public, then they never want to serve a meaningless propaganda, but they will turn the gaze of many depressed pastors to this noble helper from heaven. As a former chaplain from the Palatinate, they certainly have a loyal patron in him (Father Vogel). "
literature
- Father Antonius Grimm: A true Francis from the Palatinate . In: Der Pilger Nr. 3, from January 15, 1950, p. 50.
- Father Meinrad Sehi: In the service of the community - 750 years of Minorites in Würzburg . Schwabenverlag, Ellwangen 1972, pp. 127, 128, as well as 221 and 234.
Web links
- Website of the Diocese of Würzburg on the Minorite Convention there, Father Franz Vogel at the end of Chapter No. 8 ( Memento from February 17, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ( Page no longer available , search in web archives: PDF file on the history of the Minorites Würzburg, Father Vogel on pages 24 and 25 )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Klausenfest Königsbach ( Memento from November 21, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Vogel, Franz |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Vogel, Michael (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German Minorite Father and Guardian |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 29, 1850 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Grünstadt , Germany |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 17, 1926 |
| Place of death | Wurzburg |