Fr Hans Peter Lechler. During our Jubilee Year 2014 we want to touch and re-live Schoenstatt’s origins in an effective way. It was very similar eighty years ago. In 1934 the decision was taken to look for the remains of the Hero Sodalists, Hans Wormer and Max Brunner, who had fallen in battle, and to bring them back to Schoenstatt where they would be re-buried in the shadow of the shrine. Essentially this was due to the initiative of Fr Alex Menningen who had been appointed Spiritual Director of the Youth Branch in Schoenstatt.
In retrospect he described the basic idea of this effort in the following words, “to root our Schoenstatt Youth in the tradition of our Movement” by “telling them about the lives of our Hero Sodalists”. He then went on, “In the last few years this form of education was given a special impetus by the events going on all around us. (…) So much that was presented to youthful souls by the currents of the times had to be purified, re-directed or repelled. We did this without much argument or analysis, simply by presenting our young people with the patriotic, religious and moral heroism of our fallen Sodalists through their biographies.” This was done against the background of the strengthening National Socialist (Nazi) ideology just before the Second World War.
All for Schoenstatt
In addition to a group of Pallottine Fathers and contemporary witnesses, who were in cars, Fr Menningen travelled with a lorry filled with 41 Schoenstatters from the senior classes on what was to become a gruelling journey. They set off from Schoenstatt early on 13 August. On 15 August they were able to verify the remains of Hans Wormer in Verlud, and the next day those of Max Brunner in Neuville Saint Vaast. Former course members and ex-soldiers, now Pallottine Fathers, helped with the digging. The mortal remains were each placed in a new coffin and then transferred home to Schoenstatt. Max’s coffin was inscribed with the words he had called out with youthful enthusiasm, “Ave, Imperatrix, morituri te salutant!” (Hail, Empress, those who are prepared to die salute you!). They had literally come true. Hans Wormer’s coffin was inscribed with his personal ideal, “Aut Caesar aut nihil” (Either all or nothing!).
“Remain true to the heroic spirit that created our whole work in the beginning” (J.K.)
The group arrived back in Schoenstatt on Friday, 17 August, towards 7 p.m. The coffins were placed in the conference room behind the chapel in the Covenant House (Bundesheim). At their burial Fr Kentenich spoke in welcome. He emphasised the way the whole Schoenstatt Family had accompanied the undertaking, “You have conquered a place in the heart of the whole Movement. I don’t know whether you felt how proud our Women’s Federation and Sisters of Mary are of you. I don’t know if you are aware that you have completed an heroic act. (…) Yes, this act of bringing our Hero Sodalists home will become a memorial stone in Schoenstatt’s history. (…) Hear a warm Deo gratias from the lips of the Blessed Mother, and from the lips of all who have found a home here, as well as from my own lips and on my behalf. (…) Remain true to tradition! Remain true to the spirit of the Hero Sodalists! (…) Remain true to the heroic spirit that created our whole work in the beginning, and which we now serve!”
A large conference for youth followed, which was attended by seminarians, young men and high school students. The report mentions “almost a thousand participants”. The coffins in the Covenant House were opened throughout Sunday. A huge stone altar had been built on the Pilgrims’ Place in preparation for the solemn High Mass. That evening it became the setting for a play entitled: “Schoenstatt’s Secret”. The surrounding countryside became a huge backdrop for “about three thousand participants”. After the play the mortal remains were transferred to the shrine where “the Schoenstatt youth undertook a vigil that would last until the following evening.”
Black Crosses
On Monday 20 August a solemn Requiem Mass was celebrated in the morning at the Pilgrims’ Place, and the funeral took place in the evening. A delegate of the Pallottine Superior General in Rome, Fr Peter Resch, travelled especially to Schoenstatt for the occasion and presided at the liturgical celebration. The evening service was marked by the “sacred play ‘Ave Imperatrix’ written by Fr Hermes for the occasion. Between 4-5 thousand people attended.”
The “Hero Sodalists” who had fallen in battle were re-buried behind the Original Shrine to the accompaniment of impressive celebrations, and with an extraordinary number of participants from all the sections of the Schoenstatt Movement and beyond. The black cross marking Max’s grave was the original cross in the cemetery at Neuville Saint Vaast. That of Hans Wormer was a copy. Some of the classes in the College at Schoenstatt chose for themselves the name “The Generation of the Black Crosses”. They had set off not just to bring home the mortal remains of the Hero Sodalists, but also to conquer for themselves the original spirit alive in Schoenstatt.
Nothing without you, nothing without us
What was at first envisaged as a temporary arrangement – the simple graves beside the shrine – soon proved to be completely consistent and meaningful according to the judgement of the Schoenstatt Family. They wanted it kept as a permanent feature. The core message and symbolism of the juxtaposition of the shrine and the graves, to which those of Fr Reinisch and Fr Eise were later added, clearly illustrates the spirit alive in Schoenstatt from the beginning. It explains the principle on which Schoenstatt was built, “Nothing without you! – Nothing without us!” On the one hand God and the Blessed Mother, and on the other, the human instruments; both are essential partners in the covenant of love that is freely offered and freely accepted.
The words of our father and founder remain valid still today, “Yes, this act of bringing our Hero Sodalists home will become a memorial stone in Schoenstatt’s history”. This is how the original spirit remains present at the shrine. The “heroes” at the beginning of our history remain before us and bear witness to the many prayers and decisions connected with the origin and development of Schoenstatt. The names of Max and Hans are known throughout the world. To some extent they are the first “heirs” of contributions to the capital of grace that have been and continue to be presented to Mary, our Covenant Queen, during countless celebrations over the years at many other Schoenstatt Centres throughout the world. It is also often done really or spiritually “at the Heroes’ Graves”, and hence in connections with the witnesses of the start.
Original: German. Translation: Mary Cole, Manchester, England
