GERMANY, Sr. M. Louise Schulz. Two thousand years have passed since the first authentic mention of “Dietershausen in Fulda”. It was in the year 810, and the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary have worked in this town in the Rhone region for 75 years. Therefore a nursery from this region has dedicated a new rose to them. The baptism of the “Marienhohe Rose”, named after the hill where the Schoensatt Center is located (Marienhohe = Mary’s Hill), took place within the framework of the town’s festive anniversary week. The pastor of Dietershausen, P. Jörg Stefan Schütz blessed the new rose with a solemn rite with great participation by the residents of the place. The common prayer was made in solidarity for the sudden and serious illness of the grower of the “Marienhohe Rose”.
The new rose can be admired in front of the provincial house of the Sisters of Mary. The dedication plaque reads: From now on, the”Marienhöhe Rose” will bloom in gratitude for the loyal service to the residents of Dietershausen. The Sisters have worked in this peaceful town at the Portal of the Rhone since 1935. They built a kindergarten, took care of the sick, and they committed to work with the parish and in training little girls and women. Since the Sisters opposed the Nazi regime, they were prohibited from all public activity. They were expropriated and had to abandon the Diocese of Fulda. But the courageous neighbors of Dietershausen befriended them at great danger to themselves. After the war, a Sister of Mary went with a white flag to the American tanks that were approaching the town, and in this way saved it from sure destruction.
A refuge for many
After the war, the Sisters began the transformation of Dietershausen into a place of repose with the establishment of a home for convalescent mothers at the Joseph Engling House. The Shrine was blessed in 1957 and with this, the development of the Schoenstatt Center began, which presently offers many people a place to strengthen their faith for their continued formation and for rest. For example the event, “Ten minutes at the manger,” which is held annually during Christmas for the whole family, attracts more than three thousand people each year. The Shrine is a quiet refuge for many more than just those who belong to the Schoenstatt Movement. The book of petitions and the jar, which is always filled with petitions and of thanksgiving, are testimony of this.
“Intimacy with the Lord and his Mother is very good”: was the experience of the many visitors who participated in the closing celebrations of the 1,200 Anniversary of Dietershausen on July 18th: it was quite a celebration everywhere with the Schoenstatt Center as “a zone for peace and reflection”.
Solidarity in difficult times
The Schoenstatt Family from Fulda united the Covenant Mass with the birthday celebration of the Sisters. Although it was vacation time, many friends and acquaintances of the Sisters came to celebrate seventy-five years of their presence. Father Rudolf Liebig, Father Ulrico Schäfer, Father Dagobert Vonderau, and to everyone’s joy by Father Klaus Desch, a Schoenstatt Father, who works in Nigeria con-celebrated the Eucharist. Father Desch was born in the Diocese of Fulda, and he was on vacation at his home. Helena, Esther, and Frederic were the three youth who enlivened the celebration with magnificent songs accompanied by guitars. In a flash, the Sisters showed the best of their history with the presentation of “Images and Anecdotes of the 75 Years”; a delicious buffet rounded out the successful family celebration.
The extensive chronicle of the 1,200 years of the Dietershausen’s existence captured the attention of everyone. This chronicle was the fruit of an investigation that was lovingly and carefully made, and it included the history of the Sisters of Mary. It also described in detail the conflict they had with National Socialism (the Nazi party). For example, there was a Fulda police report that was directed to the security office of the Reich, in Berlin, in 1938; in it was described how the work of the Sisters with the children and youth undermined them from belonging to the “German kindergartens” and to the “League of German girls, (BDM)” both were Nazi organizations. The Nazi mayor demanded that the Sisters participate in a National Socialist demonstration. If they did not participate it would demonstrate their opposition to the party. Needless to say, the five Sisters stayed home. The conflict was aggravated during the plebiscite of 1936, when a Sister publicly and solemnly deposited a null vote. The district leader considered this an affront to National Socialism. He personally went to Dietershausen to arrest the Sister. When he did, this he commented: “Now I have to drive my auto into this dunghill.” The Sister was quickly released, but the reprisals continued, until finally in 1939 they were expelled with a pretext.
The solidarity with their Sisters that the residents of Dietershausen demonstrated during difficult times is still felt today through the good relationship between the community and the Schoenstatt Center.
Translation: Celina Garza, Melissa Janknegt, USA
