Marthe Robin

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Marthe Robin

Marthe Robin (born March 13, 1902 in Châteauneuf-de-Galaure , Département Drôme in France , † February 6, 1981 there ) was a French mystic . The documents of her beatification process have been with the Holy See since 1998 .

Life

She was born in Les Moïlles, a district of the municipality of Châteauneuf-de-Galaure, as the sixth child of Joseph Robin and Amélie-Célestine Chosson. There are indications that a farm worker from a neighboring farm is Marthe's biological father. The parents ran a small farm, were Catholics, but did not practice the faith. In November 1903 Marthe fell ill with typhus . She survived but has been sick many times since then. She attended elementary school, but missed the final exam due to an illness. After that she worked in her parents' farm.

We know from Marthe that the first communion on August 15, 1912 had a strong impact on her adolescent life. She said later: "I think the Lord must have taken possession of me then."

In the summer of 1918 she suffered from headaches and fever, on December 1st her condition worsened, she fell into a coma for four days and in the following months could not bear light and was partially paralyzed. In July 1919, she lost sight for a few months. From 1921 onwards, phases of short-term improvements alternate with new outbreaks of the disease. It is believed that she suffered from Economo's encephalitis . The local residents thought Marthe Robin was a hysteric and largely avoided contact with her. In October 1927, she suffered from digestive bleeding and went into a kind of coma for three weeks. From May 1928, she could not get up because her legs were paralyzed . On February 2, 1929, there was complete paralysis of all extremities ( tetraplegia ), which was accompanied by severe pain. From 1930 onwards she could no longer swallow anything and take no more food apart from communion . Besides, she could hardly sleep anymore. In 1940 she went blind.

On October 15, 1925, she dedicated her life and suffering to God. On December 3, 1928, the Capuchin Father Marie-Bernard Spagnol (1883–1943) had a conversation with Marthe during a popular mission, about the content of which nothing is known. She later said about it: “One will only know what has happened in heaven.” From that day on, she saw a broadcast in her illness, no longer complained about her pain and always tried to be happy. On February 24 or 25, 1930, she entered the Third Order of St. Francis a. From October 1930 she was stigmatized and regularly experienced the suffering of Christ from Thursday to Friday so intensely that blood ran from her forehead and oozed from her eyes.

At her suggestion, a Christian school for girls was opened on October 12, 1934, which was later followed by a secondary school and a home economics school. On February 10, 1936, she expressed the wish to Georges Finet that a “ Foyer de Charité ” (German: “House of Charity”) be built. This “foyer” should be a community of priests and laypeople who, through their life of prayer and work in the world, give testimony to light, charity and love of God and hold the spiritual exercises . The first retreat for women began on September 7th of the same year in the school building. Mixed retreats for men and women were also held later. On May 17, 1948, a separate building for the “Foyer de Charité” was built in Châteauneuf-de-Galaure. The idea of ​​the Foyers de Charité was also inspired by the life's work of Thérèse Durnerin , who had a fate comparable to Marthe Robin.

Four bishops and more than 200 priests concelebrated at Marthe Robin's Requiem on February 12, 1981 . There were about 7,000 people in attendance. Since 2000, around 40,000 people have visited the room in which Marthe had spent most of her life every year. On March 26, 1991, her beatification process was opened in the diocese of Valence . Pope Francis awarded her the heroic degree of virtue on November 7, 2014 .

meaning

Numerous “Foyers de Charité” were built first in France and later all over the world, such as in Switzerland (1969 in Bex ) and in Germany (1972 in Gunzenbach, municipality of Mömbris ). In 2002 there were over 70 branches, in 2011 75 worldwide. In 2006, the construction of a foyer began in Austria , which is now in the pilgrimage site of Sonntagberg in Lower Austria.

Her reflections and prayers, which she initially wrote herself and later dictated, are particularly well known in the French Catholic Church . The philosopher Jean Guitton wrote Portrait de Marthe Robin in 1985 . She has been visited by tens of thousands of pilgrims in the course of her life, who valued her advice and has also had a strong influence on the emergence of new spiritual communities, such as the Community of St. John or the Community of Emmanuel . The postulator of the beatification process is a priest of the Emmanuel Community.

literature

  • Matthias Haslauer: "Mary's beautiful mission is to lead everyone to Jesus who comes to her." - Mary's role in the life of Marthe Robin and the Foyers de Charité . Diploma thesis, Vienna 2003.
  • Elisabeth Loeben: Marthe Robin: Experiences of God and prayers . Offset Büttner, Westerngrund 1997.
  • Elisabeth Loeben: Marthe Robin: A sacrificial gift from a great soul of our time . Frank, Munich 1984.
  • MJ Henri Nouwen : Jesus, meaning of my life. Letters to Marc . Herder, Freiburg 1989. ISBN 3-451-21329-X .
  • Raymond Peyret: Martha Robin 1902-1981 . The Cross and Joy . 2nd edition, Christiana, Stein am Rhein 1988. ISBN 3-7171-0863-8 .
  • Bernard Peyrous: The Life of Marthe Robin . Parvis, Hauteville 2008, ISBN 978-2-88022-809-5 .
  • Eva Sigert: Suffering is love: The spirituality of Marthe Robin . Diploma thesis, Vienna 1987.
  • Marthe Robin 1902-2002 . German translation of "L´Alouette". Châteauneuf-de-Galaure 2002.
  • Theresia Westerhorstmann: Passion for the priests. The special mission of Marthe Robin . With a foreword by Paul Josef Cardinal Cordes. Be & Be, Heiligenkreuz 2012.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bernard Peyrous: The Life of the Mystic Marthe Robin , p. 18.
  2. ↑ Bernard Peyrous: The life of the mystic Marthe Robin , p. 48. The same writes on p. 66 that the consecration of Marthe Robin in his opinion could not have taken place in 1930.
  3. ↑ According to the statement of Father de Malmann, mentioned in Bernard Peyrous: The life of the mystic Marthe Robin , p. 66.
  4. ↑ [1]
  5. ↑ [2]
  6. ^ Promulgazione di Decreti della Congregazione delle Cause dei Santi. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office , November 8, 2014, accessed January 15, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME Robin, Marthe
BRIEF DESCRIPTION French mystic
DATE OF BIRTH March 13, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH Châteauneuf-de-Galaure , Drôme department in France
DATE OF DEATH February 6, 1981
Place of death Châteauneuf-de-Galaure , Drôme department in France