Maria Theresia Bonzel
Mother Maria Theresia Bonzel OSF (born September 17, 1830 in Olpe as Regine Christine Wilhelmine Bonzel ; † February 6, 1905 in Olpe) was the founder and superior of the Poor Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration . She was beatified on November 10, 2013 , and her annual feast day is February 9.
Life
Regine Christine Wilhelmine Bonzel, called Aline, was the older of the two daughters of Friedrich Edmund Bonzel (1808–1837) and Angela Maria Liese (1802–1865). Both parents came from old wealthy middle-class Olper families. She grew up in the house at Frankfurter Strasse 4, right next to the Martinus Church .
Since there was no further educational opportunity for girls in Olpe after elementary school, the mother sent her daughter Aline to the Ursulines in Cologne . Presumably there her desire to become a religious herself matured.
In 1850, when she was 20, she vowed celibacy and entered the secular 3rd order of St. Francis . She received the religious name "Maria Theresia". Aline soon became a member of the “Women's and Virgins Association to Support Poor, Helpless Sick People”. In 1857 she became the head of this charitable association in Olpe.
In 1859 Aline met the teacher Clara Pfänder . She wanted to begin a monastic life with her and her childhood friend Regina Löser . Together they rented a room from the widow Schürholz on Westfälische Strasse; that was the first "monastery". Right from the start, the young women took in orphans. This is how the first orphanage in the Sauerland was built in Olpe . In December 1860 the group, which had grown to nine women, was given the religious dress in the St. Martinus Church in Olpe. Aline kept the name Maria Theresia.
In 1863, Bishop Konrad Martin from Paderborn broke the Olper group from its initial ties to the Franciscan Sisters of Salzkotten and allowed the community to live according to the rule of St. Francis. In 1865 Theresia Bonzel was elected Superior General of the new congregation . In the great Franciscan Franziska Schervier from Aachen , the young founder of the order found a maternal friend who supported the young community with help and advice in the difficult early years.
From 1863 onwards, there is usually little talk of the founder of the order in the literature; from now on the so successful career of the religious community takes a large part. Due to the Kulturkampf , Mother Maria Theresa made the decision to gain new fields of work. In 1876 the first subsidiary in North America was founded in Lafayette, Indiana.
When Maria Theresia Bonzel died on February 6, 1905 in Olpe, she left 73 branches in Germany and 49 in North America. The community already had over 1,500 sisters.
beatification
The beatification process began on September 1, 1961 and ended on March 28, 2013. The beatification was solemnly carried out on November 10th on behalf of Pope Francis by Angelo Cardinal Amato SDB in the High Cathedral in Paderborn . On the day after the beatification, the mortal remains of the founder of the order were transferred from the burial chapel at the motherhouse of the Olpe Franciscan nuns to an adoration chapel in the tower of the St. Martinus parish church in Olpe and blessed by Archbishop Hans-Josef Becker .
Representations in art
In a glass window designed by Thomas Jessen in the side aisle of the Catholic Church St. Johannes Baptist in Höxter-Brenkhausen can be seen as the founder of the order. A bronze statue of her is in the garden of the mother house of the Order of the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Olpe. A bronze portrait can be found at the Olpe history fountain , which Karl-Heinz-Klein created.
There are two reliquaries, placed on the day of their beatification in Paderborn Cathedral by goldsmith and silversmith Matthias Engert from Zell near Würzburg, one of these reliquaries can be seen in the Angel Chapel in Paderborn Cathedral, the other in the church of the mother house in Olpe.
A representation was painted fresko-secco on the wall in the left side apse of the Romanesque church St. Clemens (Drolshagen) by Clemens Hillebrand in 2016. A portrait by Ippazio Fracasso-Baacke hangs over her grave in St. Martinus Church .
Literature (selection)
- Salesius Elsner: Mother Maria Theresia Bonzel and her foundation. The Cooperative of the Poor Franciscan Sisters of Eternal Adoration in Olpe , Werl 1926
- G (retel) K (emper): Mother Maria Theresia (Bonzel). Your life and your work. In: Annual Report 1981. St. Martinus. Ed .: Parish Council St. Martinus, Olpe, Olpe 1984
- Lothar Hardick : He leads, I go. Mother Maria Theresia Bonzel, founder of the Poor Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Olpe , Werl 1965.
- Ekkart Sauser : Bonzel, Maria Theresia. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 20, Bautz, Nordhausen 2002, ISBN 3-88309-091-3 , Sp. 234-235.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Press office of the Archdiocese of Paderborn: Biography of Mother Maria Theresia Bonzel OSF for the celebration of the beatification (accessed on June 28, 2014)
- ↑ www.Erzbistum-Paderborn.de March 28, 2013 accessed on April 3, 2013
Web links
- Homepage of the Olper Franciscan Sisters
- Homepage about Maria Theresia Bonzel on the occasion of her beatification
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bonzel, Maria Theresia |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bonzel, Regine Christine Wilhelmine (maiden name); Mother Maria Theresa (religious name); Aline (nickname) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Founder and Superior of the Poor Franciscan Sisters of Eternal Adoration |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 17, 1830 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Olpe |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 6, 1905 |
| Place of death | Olpe |