Joseph Peruschitz

Father Joseph Peruschitz, OSB

Father Joseph Peruschitz , OSB (civil Benedict Peruschitz , March 21, 1871 in Straßlach ; † April 15, 1912 in the North Atlantic when the Titanic sank ). was a German Benedictine priest . He was one of the victims from the ranks of the ship's second class passengers and was known through reports from survivors of his exemplary behavior in the sinking of the Titanic.

Life

Peruschitz lived in Dorfen from 1872 , where his father Mathias Peruschitz opened a building material trade. His mother was Elisabeth Peruschitz, née Neudecker. Benedikt attended elementary school from 1877 to 1882 before he became a student at the Royal Freising College of Studies (now Dom-Gymnasium Freising ) from 1886 . There he graduated from high school in August 1890. He then took up his studies in philosophy and later theology at the Royal Lyceum.

In the sixth semester he entered the novitiate of the Scheyern monastery . On April 28, 1895, he was ahead of his religious vows in Scheyern by Archbishop Anthony of Thoma for priests ordained. From then on he was called Father Joseph OSB and took on teaching activities in the subjects of mathematics, music and sport in Scheyern. The Holy Week , he spent the year 1912 at the Benedictine monastery of St. Augustine in Ramsgate (county Kent ). From there he went to Minnesota , where he was to take up the position as director of a Benedictine high school.

On the Titanic

He booked the second class passage from Southampton to New York for £ 13 (around EUR 650 today) on the Titanic. According to statements made by some survivors of the catastrophe, he regularly read Holy Mass on board in German and Hungarian for the 3rd and later also the 2nd class of the ship, together with his English-speaking brother, Father Thomas Byles . When it became apparent that the ship was going to sink, the clergy prayed with the believing passengers, heard the confession and spoke well to the desperate. When the priests were offered seats in a lifeboat , both refused to board.

“ When the disaster struck and women and children were taken into the boats, the Benedictine Father Joseph Peruschitz from Scheyern and Father Byles from England were immediately on hand to help everyone as far as possible. [...] When the last boat was lowered, the occupants of this boat clearly saw the two priests praying the rosary and heard a large number of kneeling passengers responding in fervent prayers. Then the lights of the Titanic went out so that one could no longer see; but one heard neither cries of lamentation nor cries of terror. "

- America magazine, New York 1912

Peruschitz did not survive the Titanic disaster and could not be identified among the victims recovered.

Commemoration

Memorial plaque in the cloister of the Scheyern monastery

On May 4, 1912 - 17 years to the day after Peruschitz's ordination - the Scheyern Monastery received the news of the certain death of Father Joseph Peruschitz. In Scheyern today a plaque made of Solnhofen limestone in the east wing of the cloister commemorates him:

RIPRPJosephus Peruschitz, OSB qui in nave ista Titanica the 14.IV.1912 pie se devovit aetatis anno 42. sacerd. et profess. 17.

Father Joseph Peruschitz, OSB, who sacrificed himself in a godly way on the famous ship Titanic. In the 42nd year of his life, in the 17th year of his priesthood and religious profession.

In 2012, one hundred years after the catastrophe, Perutschitz 'home parish Mariä Himmelfahrt in Dorfen and the Scheyern Monastery organized some commemorative ceremonies and exhibitions under the title "The angel of consolation from the Titanic" .

literature

Jens Ostrowski: Calling Titanic: The Journey of Benedictine Father Joseph Peruschitz . Füssen 2001, ISBN 978-3831114665 .

Web links

Individual evidence

personal data
SURNAME	Peruschitz, Joseph
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Peruschitz, Father Joseph (full name); Peruschitz, Benedikt (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German Benedictine priest
DATE OF BIRTH	March 21, 1871
PLACE OF BIRTH	Straßlach
DATE OF DEATH	April 15, 1912
Place of death	North Atlantic

[1] ttp://www.kloster-scheyern.de/geschichte/schicksal-titanic/leben-vor-der-beruft.html

[A-2] radio.de: Bavarian Benedictine died in the Titanic disaster - The monk on the Titanic

[3] ttp://titanic3.tripod.com/facts.html

[4] ttp://www.kloster-scheyern.de/fileadmin/media/User_Files/_Centerimages/Geschichte/2012_pressemitteilung.pdf