Franziska Lechner

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Franziska Lechner (1833-1894)
Crypt chapel in Breitenfurt near Vienna, built by Clemens Holzmeister

Franziska Lechner (born January 1, 1833 in Edling ; † April 14, 1894 in Breitenfurt near Vienna ) was the founder of the Roman Catholic Congregation of the Daughters of Divine Love and was proposed for beatification in 2005 .

Life

Sister Lechner was born in Edling near Wasserburg am Inn in 1833 as the fifth of ten children . From an early age she felt called to serve God. At the age of 16 she began - against the wishes of her parents - in the institute of the poor school sisters in Munich with the novitiate , which she successfully concluded in 1854 with temporary profession . In search of her real calling, she first worked as a teacher and educator at the Munich Deaf-Mute Institute .

After changing stations, she decided to make a fresh start during her retreat and went to Vienna in 1868 . In October 1868, only 35 years old, Sr. Lechner fell seriously ill. She saw herself near death, but then the unexpected happened: She made a full recovery.

In the same year she founded the Society of the Daughters of Divine Love (FDC - Filiae Divinae Caritatis). Since there was no state welfare office, she wanted to help young, destitute women and offer them a roof over their heads, food and an education. In 1871 she and the first sisters moved into the motherhouse at Fasangasse 4 in the 3rd district of Vienna . The construction of her own church, the Mother of God Church , was certainly the crowning highlight of her work. In 1883, Sister Lechner in Breitenfurt near Vienna bought the "Hönigmühle", which was built in 1808 by Rosalia Hönig and acquired by Anton Tauchner in 1819, and turned it into the St. Josef refuge. In 1884 their community was officially recognized by Rome as the Congregation of the Daughters of Divine Love.

Mother Lechner died on April 14, 1894 in Breitenfurt near Vienna. She could look back on a fulfilled life. By the time she died, almost 600 sisters had joined the congregation and were active in 30 communities in the various countries of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy .

The nuns were particularly involved in educational work and in the establishment of kindergartens and schools throughout the Danube monarchy. Today about 1,280 sisters (as of August 31, 2005) in Europe , North and South America and a mission station in Africa ( Uganda ) belong to the congregation. It is active in a total of 19 countries, with seven branches in Austria . The parent company is now in Jacquingasse in the 3rd district of Vienna.

beatification

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn opened the beatification procedure for Sister Franziska Lechner on November 24, 2005. However, years can pass before the final beatification is reached due to the complicated and lengthy process. The first thing to do is to gather evidence to justify a beatification. In addition, the life and work of the candidate must be precisely documented and assessed. In addition, the veneration must be proven. An essential prerequisite for beatification is the description of a miracle that the candidate must have performed after his death. The documents are checked by a commission and only after a positive conclusion of the procedure are the documents forwarded to Rome. There all documents are checked again by a papal commission and then submitted to the Pope for a decision.

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