Katharina Lesniewicz, 1911 - 2003, Instituto de las Familias de Schoenstatt Katharina Lesniewicz, 1911 - 2003, Institute of the Schoenstatt Families Katharina Lesniewicz, 1911 - 2003, Institut der Schönstattfamilien Foto: Defrancesco © 2003
Misa en la parroquia de Vallendar Mass in the parish church in Vallendar Messe in der Pfarrkirche in Vallendar
El P. Günther Boll durante la homilía Fr. Günther Boll during the sermón P. Günther Boll bei der Predigt
Concelebración Concelebration Konzelebration
Francisco Nuño sobre la vida de Katharina Lesniewicz Francisco Nuño about the life of Katharina Lesniewicz Francisco Nuño über das Leben von Katharina Lesniewicz Fotos: POS Brehm © 2003
Con el Padre Fundador, 1968 With Father Kentenich, 1968 Mit Pater Kentenich, 1968 Foto: Defrancesco © 2003
Corona de Nazaret Nazareth Crown Nazereth-Krone Foto: Neiser © 2003

SCHOENSTATT, mfk. "Sadness and gratitude are even mixed with pride". These were the words of Francisco Nuno at the memorial service on 6 June for Katharina Lesniewicz, almost 92 when she died, the first Superior General of the Institute of Schoenstatt Families. Many families of the Institute, and representatives of the Schoenstatt Movement, had come together to celebrate a Votive Mass to the Holy Spirit in the parish church in Vallendar in keeping with the last wishes of the departed. In his homily, Fr Boll, while describing her motherly presence in the community, underscored the words of Francisco Nuno by saying that she had understood the language of the heart.

Families, young and old, as well as representatives of the various Schoenstatt communities, had gathered that hot June day in the parish church in Vallendar to take leave of Katharine Lesniewicz, or rather, to thank God for her life, because she had belonged to Schoenstatt from its earliest beginnings. Just as she had wished, the Votive Mass of the Holy Spirit was accompanied by joyous and uplifting hymns.

Faith was her strength in life

All her life she drew strength from her faith, said Fr Boll, Assistant to the Institute of Schoenstatt Families. This strength enabled her to become a living witness. "She lived her faith with inner strength, without making a great fuss about it. She was quiet, but strong," he said. This faith marked her path through life in a very particular way after Father Kentenich appoint her and her husband the first Superior General Couple in 1968.

Fr Boll, who had returned the day before from Latin America, told those present that wherever he went in Latin America he was asked how Mrs Lesniewicz was doing. The couples there told him that Mrs Lesniewicz had always understood them well, although she was unable to speak their language. "Human life and human suffering always affected her deeply, and quickly found their way to her heart." She understood and spoke the language of the heart. Even though it was saying a lot, yet, Fr Boll concluded, it could be said of her in all earnestness: "She was a little everyday saint".

A motherly presence

"When Mrs Lesniewicz was called home by our heavenly Father on Friday last week, many of us, who have been closely associated with her for years, were more filled with gratitude for her life than with sadness. Our sadness and gratitude were even mixed with pride," said Francisco Nuno, the Superior General of the Institute of Schoenstatt Families, at the end of Mass. "We are proud, not just that we have known her, but also because we have been able to entrust ourselves so often and for so long to her moral leadership, and to her spiritual, motherly guidance. When I say "we", I am speaking on behalf of my wife and myself, but also for many families in Germany, in Europe and the whole world. Mrs Lesniewicz, together with her husband, as the first Superior General Couple of the Institute of Schoenstatt Families, have a lasting place in the hearts of hundreds of families in Germany and overseas. This is shown by the many testimonies, phone calls and letters we have received in the days of leave-taking. Her love, her motherly wisdom and steadfastness, her irresistible human warmth, her modesty, humility and her profoundly supernatural being, are mentioned again and again. The people who met her remarked on her inner radiance."

Francisco Nuno characterised Mrs Lesniewicz by means of four fundamental features, adding that with her a part of Schoenstatt’s earliest history had been taken into eternity.

She was the loving daughter of the heavenly Father, ever at his service

Just as our Lord revealed his childlike self-surrender to the wish and will of his Father in his prayer, work and suffering, so Mrs Lesniewicz surrendered herself to the will of the Father through his earthly representative, Father Josef Kentenich, Schoenstatt’s founder. In the post-World War II period, she came into contact with Schoenstatt through a number of Schoenstatt priests, and received a first visit from Father Johannes Tick in 1946. Together with her husband she took part in a Congress for the Family Movement in 1949. In 1953 they joined the fourth course of the Family Federation. During the founder’s exile, they took over responsibility for the Family Movement in closest collaboration with Fr Tick. In 1962 they, and a number of other couples, agreed to build up the Family Institute. In 1968 the founder personally appointed them the first Superior General Couple of that Institute.

She was her husband’s loved and loving helpmate and associate

At a time when marriage and the family are under particular attack, Schoenstatt’s founder created a community that should proclaim the dignity and greatness of marriage and the family to the Church and world by their lives. Mr & Mrs Lesniewicz were commissioned by the founder to build up this completely new type of community of families. The years that followed were hard and decisive, but their dedication to a common work cemented their love as husband and wife.

Just as Abraham heard the Lord saying: "Leave your land and your father’s house and go to the land I shall show you. I will make you a great people and I will bless you," so they left their home and farm in Heidelberg and went to the new Promised Land, Schoenstatt. Mrs Lesniewicz helped her husband to set up a spiritual and temporal home for the families in Schoenstatt. We can see the fruits of their labours today on Mount Nazareth – Haus Nazareth, the "Shrine of the Families" and the "House of the Family". They all testify to the life-work of Ernst and Katharina Lesniewicz.

Although she never learnt another language, Mrs Lesniewicz joined her husband when he visited America in 1974 to take up contact with the families there. It was the start of a series of visits to North and South America, and led to the extension of their community to other lands. Their greatest desire was to build up the Institute in the spirit of the father and founder. She remained the Superior General of the Institute until 1982.

She was a loving Mother, ever ready to help others

Even after a new Superior General Couple had been elected, Mrs Lesniewcz was constantly called upon for motherly advice and help by young and old, inside and outside Germany. She was remarkable for an inexhaustible energy that belied her years. In the latter years of her life she repeatedly remarked, "My hard drive is not working so well and there are no spare parts any more!" Nevertheless she always found the right word for each one who came and for every situation. Her home was a favourite destination for many pilgrims to Schoenstatt from many different countries. They sought hope and counsel, and shared their suffering with her. She always led them to the Blessed Mother, Queen of the Family. For her, the Mother of the Lord was the great educator of the family through her attitude and her virtues. So she entrusted all the needs and cares of families, and the community as a whole, to Mary’s intercession. As a member of the Adoration Circle of the Institute, she represented the families and their needs before our Lord in the tabernacle and presented them to him.

The crowning of the Blessed Mother was particularly close to Mrs Lesniewicz’s heart in the latter years of her life. It gave her great joy to attend the crowning of our Lady as "Queen of Mount Nazareth" on 24 March 2003.

Mrs Lesniewicz had mastered the language of the heart

Although she never learnt another language, she was visited by people from Brazil, Chile, Spain, the Czech Republic, Belgium and many other countries, and conversed with them without an interpreter. She spoke the language of the heart. She shared their joys and hopes, she showed young people that they had a future. She was convinced of the wonder and greatness of Christian marriage and family life, and her enthusiasm overflowed. The gave practical hints about ways and means of building up a marriage together, and the education of children.

Mrs Lesniewicz remains an example to our Institute of Schoenstatt Families. We are determined to uphold her fundamental convictions and values. We have lost a mother who showed us the way, and we will miss her greatly.

Nevertheless, we want to console one another with the words of leavetaking from the early Church:

"Let us not mourn, because we have lost her, but be grateful that we have had her, indeed, that we still have her; because those who return home to the Lord remain in the community of God’s family and have only gone before us."

Translation: Mary Cole, England