without permission and then only what was absolutely necessary. Communication was by signs or the sign language. Their diet was frugal.
Abbot Francis:
“We eat everything except meat, butter or lard, eggs, fish, sweets or delicacies and use no spices. Oil is used only for salads. Instead of (Arabic) coffee we drink a brew made from barley and an additional mug of wine or a pint of beer … The Brothers take three meals a day. A hot meal is served at noon. Mornings and evenings we eat bread.”
Like everything else, the liturgy at Mariawald was sombre, devoid of all decorative detail. On special feasts such as Corpus Christi, Sacred Heart, Peter and Paul and the Visitation, the Prior preached a sermon. For Fr. Francis, who was used to preach every Sunday, this was something to get used to. He did not always manage. Once, when the Prior was again in France and he substituted for him, he preached to his heart’s content. The Brothers were delighted but some of the older monks were not. They complained and also criticised him for hearing Confession in Heimbach, where, as they had heard, people were flocking to his confessional. They warned the Prior that if Fr. Francis was not stopped, his popularity would destroy him. The result was a heated altercation between the Prior and his Sub-Prior – the one a Prussian and the other, a Vorarlberger. Fr. Francis, who seems to have taken it lightly, later referred to it as a lesson he needed to learn:
Mariawald Monastery in the Eifel, Germany, where Wendelin Pfanner entered to become a Trappist
“I have never regretted coming to the monastery. The Prior is not the monastery. Nowhere except in the monastery would I have known how deeply the tapeworm of my own ego was still lodged in my heart. Neither would anyone have pulled it out for me, for that favour they will do you only in the monastery.”
Soon afterwards Abbot Ephrem van der Meulen – Abbot of Oelenberg and Founder and Pater immediatus10 of Mariawald – recalled the Prior and appointed Fr. Eduard Scheby his successor. Scheby, Danish by birth and originally a member of the Lutheran Church, had converted to Catholicism in Vienna. First he had joined the Redemptorists in The Netherlands where he was ordained, but later he had become a Trappst at Mariawald.
Abbot Francis:
“Scheby was one of those people who dream a lot and allegedly hear God speak to them in visions. Such men may be capable after a fashion but they definitely do not make good heads of monasteries because they only confuse and mislead their unsuspecting subjects.”
Wendelin Pfanner, now Fr. Francis, could distinguish between an authentic monk and a fake one or “holy Joe”. Scheby had hardly assumed office when he made the former Sub-Prior his private secretary and Master of Brothers. Fr. Francis filled these positions to the best of his ability. But before long, he found himself at odds also with the new Prior. Scheby accused him of using the confessional to instigate the Brothers against him. The fact was, however, that Scheby himself had forfeited the Brothers’ trust and respect on account of his gross mismanagement. He also upbraided his Sub-Prior and secretary for lack of monastic piety and discipline. Was he not actually breaking holy silence quite frequently and without reason? In short, Scheby did not think too highly of Francis. And the other monks, how did they see him? Br. Zacharias spoke for several others when he suggested that Fr. Francis lead them in establishing another monastery where they could follow the strict observance of the rule without any hindrance. Would he consider such an undertaking? Fr. Francis was not disinclined but needed time to discern. Time was not granted him, however, because when the proposal was put to Abbot Ephrem he took matters into his own hands. He ordered Scheby to send Fr. Francis and Br. Zacharias to find a suitable place for a new monastery somewhere in the Danube Monarchy (Austria-Hungary). They were to be the vanguard; later he would send more monks.
Off to an Unknown Future
When the day of departure came, Fr. Francis had only one wish: to be given permission to say a word of farewell to his fellow monks. But no permission was given him. All he and Br. Zacharias were allowed to do was to exchange the customary kiss of peace – in silence! Their letters of reference, issued by the Prior, stated that they were seasoned monks and in every respect capable and worthy to prepare the ground for a new foundation. They were provided with “an old Missal, a second habit and travel fare to last us for a few days”. It took them as far as Mannheim where they would have been stranded had not a kindly man taken pity on them.
Abbot Francis:
“A cleaner of street lamps in the service of the Grand Duke took us to his house and gave us enough to continue on our journey. We were like the girl in the fairy tale ‘A Girl with Empty Pockets’.”
From their letters (decrees) of obedience the two pioneers learned what plans their superiors had and how they were expected to carry them out. The letter issued to Fr. Francis read:
“We, Father Eduard, Prior of the Monastery of Mariawald in the Order of Citeaux or La Trappe, extend to the priest Francis, professed member of this monastery our best wishes for his journey.
It has long been our desire to see our Order – the Reformed Order of Citeaux originating in France – spread also to countries in the south eastern parts of Europe. But until now we have not been able to carry it out because of the few admissions we have had to our relatively new monastery in Germany. However, with God’s help membership has increased. Therefore we have decided to open another monastery in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. We send you, Fr. Francis, to find a place for it in Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia or one of the neighbouring countries. We grant you a three-months leave-of-absence to carry out this mandate and we ask all rectors of churches to grant you, a genuine monk, admission to the Sacraments and other spiritual assistance … We affix our signature and the Seven Seals of Mary of Citeaux to this letter as proof of its authenticity. – Given at the Priory of Mariawald, on the 23rd day of July, 1867. Fr. Eduard, Prior.”
There it was. Fr. Francis and Br. Zacharias were given a bare three months to make a new foundation in totally unknown territory! But they were monks under obedience and would do their level best. The first thing they did was to split company: Zachariah continued to solicit support and vocations for the new monastery and Francis went to Vorarlberg from where he would travel to the Balkans. So one fine day a Trappist monk appeared in Langen-Hub to the surprise of everyone. His mother, however, soon realized that her son needed assistance and without further ado she paid his ticket to Hungary. There his search for a site began in earnest. Success, however, was not in coming. So he crossed into Croatia, where he could at least hope for free bed and board with the Mercy Sisters whom he had abruptly left four years earlier. If he had thought that Croatia would put no obstacles in the way of a monastic foundation, he was mistaken, for even that Catholic country held next to no chance.
The going was rough and traveling, an uninterrupted hardship.
Abbot Francis:
“We lived as it were between heaven and earth and I am sure that most gypsy families were better off than we. The only advantage we had was that we travelled light, unencumbered by personal effects. Not that Mariawald was too poor to provide us with more, no, it was simply the rule. A Trappist was given no traveling coat and only very rarely a hat or a second vest, underpants or anything like that. Common underwear was distributed every fortnight; habits and scapulars were washed twice a year. We had two habits: a coarse (hairy) one for winter and a second hand one for summer. Socks were sewn from thick cloth. Instead of boots we usually wore wooden shoes and leather ones only for church. It was a rule which also applied to the Prior. So it simply did not occur to us to ask for more.”
While Br. Zacharias promoted the new foundation, Fr. Francis inspected one estate or manor after another, hoping against
