Michael Lorenz (clergyman)

Michael Lorenz (born August 31, 1828 in Straubing ; † October 30, 1901 in Waldsassen ) was a Bavarian Roman Catholic clergyman, monastery administrator, pastor, district politician and benefactor. He is considered to be the co-founder of the Cistercian Abbey in Waldsassen .

Life

1828-1864

Lorenz grew up in Straubing, trained as a shoemaker with his father, then attended high schools, studied in Munich and entered the Regensburg seminary in 1853 . After his ordination in 1855 he officiated very successfully in Kirchberg (Upper Bavaria) , Tunding and (from 1860) in Landshut (as provisional for the parish of St. Nikola ). There he was also a confessor in the Seligenthal monastery and promoted the reform of monastic life (after an information trip through the Swiss Cistercian monasteries). In 1864 he was for a short time confessor of the Clariss monastery in Viehhausen .

1864-1901

When in 1864 the Seligenthal monastery sent prioress Cäcilia Schmid (born April 30, 1824 in Rieden ; † October 2, 1895 in Waldsassen) with three sisters to Waldsassen in order to revive the Cistercian monastery, which had died out since 1803 , with the support of Bishop Ignatius of Senestrey Lorenz with and acted as confessor, spiritual director, head of the schools and educational institutes to be founded, as well as administrator (until 1884, then 1891 to 1901) of the monastery, which was populated by 15 sisters in 1865 (including novitiate ). He bought the monastery building and several properties in his name (while accumulating large debts). He founded a cooperative Christian farmers' association and a Marian congregation , and worked restlessly in all areas of monastic and public life, not least in the Kulturkampf as a committed preacher and speaker against the German Empire . In 1876 he was elected as "District Administrator" in the Upper Palatinate district council. As a folk, always helpful, personally undemanding person who (following the example of Alfons von Liguori , Vinzenz von Paul and Clemens Maria Hofbauer ) always worked with extreme commitment, Lorenz earned himself a high reputation. For his funeral in Waldsassen in 1901 after 37 years of work in the service of the monastery (which now has over 100 nuns), numerous mourners attended (6000 death pictures were printed). On his 100th birthday in 1928, as well as on the 100th anniversary of his death in 2001, there were lavish celebrations that honored him as the re-founder of the Waldsassen monastery.

literature

• Robert Treml: "Confessor Michael Lorenz - a life picture on the 100th anniversary of his death". In: home. Tirschenreuth district . Series of publications, Vol. 13, Pressath 2001, pp. 187-204.
• Robert Treml: Commemorative publication on the 100th anniversary of the death of the unforgotten monastery confessor and administrator Michael Lorenz 1828–1901 on October 30, 2001 , ed. from the Cistercian convent Waldsassen (series of publications on the history and culture of the Waldsassen convent. Issue 1).

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