Josef Engling

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Josef Engling in the First World War.

Josef Engling, SAC (born January 5, 1898 in Prositten , Warmia , † October 5, 1918 near Cambrai in France ) was a member of the Schoenstatt Movement and one of the strongest representatives of the working day holiness. England's Catholic Memorial Day is October 4th.

biography

Josef Engling was born as one of seven children of the master tailor August Engling in the Catholic parish of Prossitten, Rößel district in Warmia / East Prussia. At the age of 14 he came to Vallendar near Koblenz to the Pallottine study center to attend high school and to prepare for the priesthood. There, as a sodal and prefect of the Marian Congregation, under the guidance of the spiritual Father Josef Kentenich, he experienced a deepened bond with the Blessed Mother Mary , whom he called his “dear little mother”.

At the age of 18 he was called up for military service in the First World War in 1916 and had to interrupt his studies.

During his time as a soldier he kept a spiritual diary that reflects his religious and personal development. His main goal was to become a Marian weekday saint.

Josef Engling tried to shape his faith in concrete terms, even in the harsh reality of fighting at the front, and to leave his life entirely to God and Mary, the Mother of God.

On October 5, 1918 he fell in the 4th Komp./ Res.-Inf.-Rgt. No. 25 on the battlefield at Cambrai. He is probably buried in the German military cemetery on the outskirts of Cambrai.

Spiritual pursuit

With the Kentenich pedagogy, Josef Engling learned four methods in order to be able to maintain his striving for holiness in everyday life and also in war:

  1. In his diary he always noted a current particular examination (PE) . This is understood to mean a resolution that you consciously want to keep over a certain period of time.
  2. Then there was his personal ideal (PI) , his original “vision of life” that God had put into him. His ideal was: "I want to become everything to everyone and to be my own with Mary."
  3. His Spiritual Agenda (GTO) was also particularly important to him , with which he was able to maintain his love for God and the MTA in the trenches. At the GTO you can find religious exercises such as B. Morning prayer and rosary , which were important to Josef Engling and which he checked in writing every day.
  4. Finally, Josef Engling sent an annual report to Josef Kentenich every 14 days, in which he gave information about his resolutions and his GTO. The accountability report served as a control for his pursuit.

It was his concern to be faithful in everyday life and to establish a living relationship with God through small deeds. Especially during his life as a soldier, he made clear signs of solidarity with his fellow soldiers. From his spiritual depth he was also able to overcome dangerous situations.

Canonization

The process for his beatification was initiated in 1952, when Engling's classmate Alexander Menningen was Vice-Postulator . The process was completed at the diocesan level in 1964 and handed over to the Holy See . This process was suspended for years because of disputes between the Pallottines and the Schoenstatt Movement, who have legally separated. Both groups have been pursuing the beatification together since 2000, with Joachim Schmiedl having been the vice-postulator since 2003 .

Josef Engling is considered the first “saint” of the Schoenstatt Movement .

Engling and the Schoenstatt Movement

Engling's importance for the Schoenstatt Movement is to be understood less in terms of external life events than in terms of his inner development. This is decisively influenced by the “Consecration to Mary”, which took place for the first time in 1915 when he was admitted to the Marian Congregation , as it is also in his personal ideal “Volo omnibus omnia fieri, specialiter Mariae mancipatus” - “I want to become everything to everyone, Mary completely own ”(December 1915) expresses itself. This consecration spurs him on to raise himself through small resolutions and a clear spiritual daily program to a personality who is able and willing to accept and promote the most diverse people with their characteristics.

On June 3, 1918, Engling offered his life to the Blessed Mother "for the tasks that you set our congregation". Because of his striving for holiness, regarded as heroic in the community, his struggle for self-education and apostolate, Engling is seen in the Schoenstatt Movement as a “role model and patron”.

In France, its importance for the reconciliation of the former war opponents is particularly emphasized.

literature

Source texts
  • Letters and diary notes (Part I: 1910–1916; Part II: November 19, 1916 - December 31, 1917; Part III: January 4 - October 4, 1918) compiled by Paul Hannappel. Printed as a manuscript, Neuwied o. J. (1979–1980)
  • Josef Engling. A collection of texts . Compiled by JM Klein, Vallendar-Schoenstatt 1988
Biographies
  • René Lejeune: Joseph Engling (1898–1918) et la spiritualité de Schoenstatt . Editions du Parvis, Hauteville (CH), ISBN 2-88022-052-1 (French)
  • Alex Menningen: Maria is completely her own . Patris-Verlag, Vallendar-Schoenstatt 1977. ISBN 3-87620-054-7
  • Alex Menningen: Hero in the working day. A picture of life . Pallottiner-Verlag, Limburg / Lahn 1938 (= From Schoenstatt's Spiritual World 7)
  • Alex Menningen: Josef Engling. A picture of life . Self-published, Vallendar-Schoenstatt 1952
  • Heinrich Schulte PSM: Omnibus omnia. Life picture of a youthful heroic soul from Schoenstatt's founding days , 2 volumes (= From Schoenstatt's spiritual world 1). Pallottiner-Verlag, Limburg (Lahn) 1932; DNB 560193963 ; 2nd edition [in one volume] 1937; DNB 36268782X )
items

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ List of losses, 2nd column, last quarter. Retrieved October 3, 2017 .
  2. p. 222: Report on the tomb. (PDF) Retrieved October 3, 2017 .