Maria Crescentia Höss

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The holy Crescentia Höss of Kaufbeuren

Maria Crescentia Höss (born October 20, 1682 in Kaufbeuren ; † April 5, 1744 there ) was superior of the Kaufbeuren monastery and is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church .

Life

St. Crescentia Höss, Klauber engraving around 1790
St. Crescentia Höss, engraving around 1750

As the daughter of the weaver Mathias Höß and his wife Luzia, Anna, her baptismal name, was born on October 20, 1682 in Neue Gasse 15 a in Kaufbeuren . Since her family was poor and could not raise the necessary dowry , Anna was only able to be accepted into the Kaufbeuren monastery through the mediation of the Protestant mayor . After strict obedience exercises that filled her willingly took Crescentia her name after admission to the Order, important tasks in the monastery and was elected in 1741 to the Superior. She led the community with energy and care.

With the death of Crescentia Höß on April 5, 1744, an Easter Sunday , an incessant flow of pilgrims began, which made Kaufbeuren a center of religious life in Swabia and far beyond for a long time . In some years up to 70,000 people came to pray at the grave of Sister Crescentia, who was venerated as a saint. Thousands of votive offerings testify to the trust of the pilgrims who hoped for or received help through the intercession of Crescentia. Her beatification on October 7, 1900 was already an occasion for great joy for many believers. Her canonization on November 25, 2001 is a confirmation of her continued veneration throughout the world church .

She was always happy and happy ...

As superior, Crescentia made sure that the rules of the order were observed, applying the strictest standards to herself. Just as important to her was the understanding togetherness in the community. Joy and happiness should reign in the monastery . Their piety was based on conformity with God's will.

Crescentia also had considerable economic expertise. She ran the monastery so successfully that its material existence was secured for a long time and money could still be left for the sisters' social tasks. Crescentia was a strong and wise woman who served as a role model for many people and whose reputation spread rapidly.

A clever advisor

Many people from far and wide came to seek their advice. They valued her critical judgment and her clear view of things, as well as her extraordinary ability to empathize with interlocutors. In addition to the personal conversations "in which she could tell the truth better than a confessor" , as Elector Clemens August noted, she was in correspondence with many important personalities of her time, including over 70 princely people. The Bavarian Electress Maria Amalia was one of them, as was Elector Clemens August of Cologne and the Prince Abbot of Kempten .

"The letters reflect a clever, wise woman with common sense, who had the ability to recognize problems quickly and to solve them appropriately and sensibly."

- Karl Pörnbacher

The path to canonization

The Kaufbeurer Franciscan Maria Crescentia Höß is the first German saint of the 21st century . Through her canonization on November 25, 2001 in Rome, she is recommended to the entire Catholic Church as a role model and helpful advocate .

It took a long time to get that far. Immediately after her death on April 5, 1744, the pilgrimage to her grave in the Kaufbeurer Franciscan Church began. The monastery chronicle reports on 60–70,000 pilgrims annually. The beatification process was opened as early as 1775. However, it took a long time because the turmoil of secularization intervened. Only on October 7, 1900 did Pope Leo XIII speak . Crescentia of Kaufbeuren blessed.

Numerous answers to prayer and an incessant stream of believers prompted the monastery and diocese to seek canonization. On Wednesday, June 10, 1998, the diocesan bishop Viktor Josef Dammertz opened a canonical process for the canonization prepared by the vice-postulator Karl Pörnbacher from Sachsenried and the postulator Andrea Ambrosi from Rome.

The aim of the investigation was an answer to prayer for a girl who, after a swimming accident in June 1986 in which she had been underwater for 35 to 45 minutes, could be reanimated and became perfectly healthy. Family members believe that healing is due to the intercession of St. Crescentia. A commission of five medical experts determined after a detailed examination that this healing cannot be explained according to the current state of medical science.

A commission of seven theologians discussed the procedure on April 7, 2000 on the basis of the trial files and unanimously came to the same conclusion. Finally, on October 3, 2000, 15 cardinals and archbishops, members of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints , met as a third body and also voted unanimously for the canonization. On December 18, 2000, Pope John Paul II issued the relevant decree during a solemn event in the Vatican.

Maria Crescentia Höß von Kaufbeuren was canonized on Christ the King Sunday , November 25, 2001 in Rome by Pope John Paul II.

iconography

Saint Crescentia is often depicted with a crucifix in which she is absorbed like an open book .

750 years of the monastery and 10 years of St. Crescentia

The Kaufbeuren Monastery (Crescentia Monastery)

The Kaufbeurer Crescentia Monastery was first mentioned in a document in 1261. Since then, Franciscan Sisters have lived and worked in this place in the spirit of St. Francis . In 1315 they accepted the rule of the Third Order of St. Francis and placed themselves under the leadership of the Franciscan Order.

After the secularization , King Ludwig I of Bavaria approved the resumption of members on the condition that the sisters devote themselves to teaching the female Catholic school youth of Kaufbeuren. There are currently 48 sisters living in the Crescentia Monastery.

The Crescentia Monastery, all Kaufbeurer parishes and the city of Kaufbeuren celebrated the double anniversary with the Faith Festival 2011. The Crescentia pilgrimage route leads 90 kilometers through important places from the life of the saints such as Kaufbeuren, Irsee , Ottobeuren and Mindelheim .

Memorial days

  • Catholic : Last Sunday in April
  • April 5th - the anniversary of the death of St. Crescentia
  • October 20 - birthday of St. Crescentia
  • November 25 - Anniversary of the canonization

literature

  • P. Cyprian Fröhlich : The blessed M. Kreszentia from Kaufbeuren. A book of edification and prayer in honor of the blessed, along with an appendix. Reflections on St. five wounds . Eberle & Ridenbach Einsiedeln, Switzerland 1903.
  • Karl Pörnbacher: The holy Crescentia Höß of Kaufbeuren . Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg im Allgäu 2002, ISBN 978-3-89870-050-4
  • Karl Pörnbacher: Meeting Crescentia Höß . Sankt Ulrich Verlag 2001, ISBN 3-929246-64-3
  • Franz Josef Körner: Sophie's Labyrinth - A book over four centuries, three famous women, love and the eternal questions of life . Bauer Verlag, Thalhofen 2008, ISBN 978-3-941013-00-1
  • Sr. M. Franziska Stahl, Sr. M. Irene Schlegel: Traces of life, traces of faith . Bauer Verlag, Thalhofen 1999, ISBN 978-3-930888-70-2
  • Sr. M. Franziska Stahl: On the way into the secret: the life of the monastery sister Crescentia Höß von Kaufbeuren (1682-1744) . Bauer Verlag, Thalhofen 1999, ISBN 978-3-95551-103-6
  • Friedrich Wilhelm Bautz :  Höss, Maria Kreszentia. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 2, Bautz, Hamm 1990, ISBN 3-88309-032-8 , Sp. 937-939.  ( Article / beginning of article in Internet archive )
  • Karl Braun: The adoration of the Holy Spirit of the holy Crescentia Höss . Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg im Allgäu 2001, ISBN 978-3-933784-79-7
  • Karl Pörnbacher: Crescentia monastery Kaufbeuren . Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg im Allgäu 1996, ISBN 978-3-931820-02-2
  • Karl Pörnbacher: Crescentia Höß von Kaufbeuren and her responsibility for other people . Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg im Allgäu 2000, ISBN 978-3-89870-025-2
  • Karl Pörnbacher: Crescentia Höß. A saint for our time . Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg im Allgäu 2004, ISBN 978-3-89870-041-2
  • Karl Pörnbacher: Memorial of St. Crescentia from Kaufbeuren . Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg im Allgäu 2005, ISBN 978-3-89870-246-1
  • Karl Pörnbacher: The Way of the Cross of St. Crescentia from Kaufbeuren . Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg im Allgäu 2008, ISBN 978-3-89870-476-2
  • Karl Pörnbacher: On the way to God and to people. For the 750th anniversary of the Crescentia Abbey in Kaufbeuren . Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg im Allgäu 2011, ISBN 978-3-89870-588-2
  • Karl Pörnbacher: Maria Crescentia Höß - letters to Clemens August of Cologne . Kunstverlag Josef Fink, Lindenberg im Allgäu 2013, ISBN 978-3-89870-817-3
  • Peter Stoll: Crescentia Höß of Kaufbeuren and her Vision of the Spirit as a Young Man . University Library, Augsburg 2014 ( full text )

documentary

  • Tine Kugler, Gerald Maas: The miracle of Kaufbeuren , 2002
  • Georg Ried: Crescentia - The Saint of Kaufbeuren , 2007

Web links

Commons : Maria Crescentia Höss  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Maria Crescentia Höss  - Sources and full texts
personal data
SURNAME Höss, Maria Crescentia
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Höss, Anna
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Saint, Mystic, and Franciscan Superior
DATE OF BIRTH October 20, 1682
PLACE OF BIRTH Kaufbeuren
DATE OF DEATH April 5, 1744
Place of death Kaufbeuren