SOUTH AFRICA, mev. In 1948, {cms_selflink page=”the-founder-joseph-kentenich” text=”Father Kentenich”} visited South Africa for the first time. Frank Manson-Kullin, who was a young boy at the time, shares his experiences and what it meant for him to meet Father Kentenich. Despite many difficulties, Fr. Kentenich arrived sixty-three years ago in South Africa at the Johannesburg airport and was met by three leaders of the Schoenstatt Sisters’ Family and Fr. Peron, O.M.I.
Considering that he had survived almost four years as a prisoner of the Gestapo in the concentration camp at Dachau, it is not surprising that after his arrival he said: “I should really not be here, if Our Lady had not intervened, I would not be here. She has cared perfectly.”
The young Manson-Kullin family who moved from Cape Town to Queenstown in 1926 with one daughter were welcomed into the Catholic community by Msgr. Vogel who was responsible for the conversion of the father of the family to Catholicism in 1929. The mother and Sr. Editha – the first Parish Sister – had become very close friends.
Mater habebit curam
In 1947 Frank had an experience that marked his young life: “My father was transferred to Witbank, and it was agreed that the family would remain in our parental home with our mother. Although it was very difficult for my parents to live apart, they placed the children first in reaching this decision, as it would be less disruptive for family life. Sr. Editha was a tower of strength in a supportive role as parish sister, and gave my mother a MTA picture. This was hung in mother’s bedroom. When she woke in the early morning, it was right there to help start the new day and also the last thing at night. Sr. Editha had imparted a message to my mother from Schoenstatt’s Founder ‘Child, do not forget your Mother.’ She was responding to ‘Mater habebit curam’ as an expression of her unconditional trust in the Covenant of Love. This led her to a very deep faith in Divine Providence, and I learnt the consecration prayer from her daily prayers in front of our special MTA picture in our home.
After waving goodbye to my father as his train disappeared out of sight, we walked home in silence and went straight to Our Lady’s picture. There the silence was broken, and questions asked about what now, [since] there is no father in the house, how was she to manage, just this young boy! Clearly distressed she turned to our MTA for help and placed me in her care: ‘Never lose your faith, trust in God and his Son Jesus, they together with Our Lady will always be with you.’ It was the beginning of something, that although not fully understood at the time, became more meaningful as the years passed.”
Father Kentenich’s arrival
“In December of that year, Fr. Kentenich finally arrived in South Africa on January 5, 1948 in Queenstown for his first visit. The next few days were spent in the mission fields with Msgr. Rosenthal, (he was consecrated Bishop on 23 May 1948). After serving at Holy Mass, Msgr. Rosenthal invited me to accompany him and Fr. Kentenich to Cathcart the following day, January 8, 1948.”
Frank remembers how impressed he was when he saw Fr. Kentenich’s reaction to the way he was welcomed by the local people: “The Founder was very touched by the generosity of this impoverished community and thanked them for their unexpected welcome and their lovely gifts.”
It was a great impact for him to see how Fr. Kentenich could be so aware of the needs of the people. He remembers how in one occasion when Fr. Kentenich gave a relatively short talk taking into consideration the heat wave of the Cathcart summer. After the talk, Father turned to the people and said he had a gift for them… rain! “This turned out to be a shower of sweets that he threw up into the air for the children to catch. There was an immediate mad scramble, and those too small to stand a chance went up to Father to receive a sweet personally from him. I wonder how many of those young children are alive today and what their memory of the day is!”
The ideal of the Immaculata
Each encounter with Fr. Kentenich was very enriching. Frank recalls two episodes during the celebration of Holy Mass. Father explained that just as Our Lord offers himself to the Heavenly Father from the cross, so he gives himself to the faithful in Holy Communion as sacrificial food. Father invited everyone to prepare a gift for the Lord every time they received Holy Communion. He said, ‘Please do not forget never to come to Holy Communion with empty hands.’ Frank also remembers: “In those days the priest had his back to the people, and most of the congregation could not hear or understand Latin. Well, Father Kentenich surprised us all; even the sisters were amazed, when he turned around to read the Epistle and the Gospel in English in a clear, firm and strong voice that I could hear from the back of the little church. Father preached in German, so with an English translator this took a little longer. Afterwards Father apologized for not speaking to those present in their own language.”
He remembers how under Sr. Editha’s direction, they put on a celebration in honour of Fr. Kentenich’s visit, and the theme was the “New man.” There “Fr. Kentenich caught my attention as he graciously and gratefully accepted his welcome as a gift to Our Lady and asked the Mother Thrice Admirable and Queen of Schoenstatt to bless all who had helped with the celebration. He asked the Mother of God to bless us and to form us into strong characters who could stand their ground at all times.”
Frank expressed how Father would talk about the ideal of the Immaculata, who stands out before us as the ideal of natural and supernatural fullness of life; and described her as perfect in every respect. Such a person would possess a clear mind, a strong will and a deep emotional life. “Little did I realize the impact those initial meetings with Fr. Kentenich at St Dominic’s, the Queenstown Mission of St Theresa and Parish Church in Cathcart would have in the future course of my married life,” he said.
What did it mean to meet Fr. Kentenich?
“Meeting and listening to Fr. Kentenich, as a young boy, can be difficult but the childlike trust inspired by the gradual introduction to Schoenstatt Spirituality by the Sisters removed most of those obstacles. The one exception was those times when tiredness took over. While traveling the road to Cathcart with Fr. Kentenich, he put me at my ease by confirming that we all need to sleep; some more so than others and that this was influenced by the physical actions in our daily living. The level of interest we expressed in a task, the pleasure we get out of doing the things we enjoy seem less tiring. Likewise our readiness to offer our entire lives to Our Lady required and took courage but in our achievements we receive immeasurable joy that helps us to do more in an outstanding way. This could be likened to our hope that the Triune God does not get tired of pouring out grace upon grace and that everything we do is recognized in heaven.
I have often traveled that road I traveled with Father Kentenich both physically to visit the Shrine or in my mind, searching for the full meaning of what he said on the road to Cathcart. Like all his talks and the things he said to so many people while I was in his company or close by, there were words or thoughts that required time to recall and ponder over.
I do remember that meeting Father Kentenich when I did gave me a wonderful insight and vision of the challenges of life; self-education and discipline with the proper balance and freedom to religious formation in my life. Here was a Catholic priest who made me aware that the Mother in a home is the best educator, and that by being attentive and helpful to my mother especially in the absence of my father from home would help her as a parent. It helped me to recognize at an early age that formation in our home would go a long way in developing me as a person, and that in accepting responsibility would assist my mother in more ways than one. To accept that in being responsible from an early age and to do whatever the challenge was extraordinarily well would bring much joy and happiness to my mother and personal satisfaction too. Fr. Kentenich’s actions, words, expressions, his life, and everything he did served and honoured our Queen and Mother Thrice Admirable and Queen of Schoenstatt.
Meeting the Founder as a young boy instilled the need to face up to the challenges of life in a responsible way that would have a positive result in developing a joyful, peaceful, and loving relationship with my parents, brothers and sisters, friends and everyone in life and most of all in our daily striving to build onto my relationship with God.”
