Therese Neumann

MORNING SILENCE

Konnersreuth

Silence hangs over the land –

golden wheat fields – dark

green forest all lay in quiet.

Dim sun slowly rises – eats

away morning mist.

Silence over a holy land –

saintly woman lived here – farm

girl – worked the fields – feed the

animals.

She loved flowers – fields – green trees

but loved the Lord more –

her Beloved!

Silence is the language of God –

silence hangs over the land.

I made a long trip to come here –

pilgrim’s way.

I came to touch Silence of God –

Silence of Therese Neumann –

Silence of morning’s landscape.

It will be a long trip home –

long car ride to the airport –

long flight over the ocean.

Memories will last of this holy land –

holy land!

Feelings – awe – wonder will not fade away.

My life – a pilgrimage – many

years have passed – how many more?

Only God knows! I have to

keep on walking - climbing the

mountain of life – like Therese Neumann.

Memories of this holy land

will help me along.

Robert Trabold

                                                   --------------------------

THERESE NEUMANN:

MODERN DAY MYSTIC

Robert Trabold

            I had the opportunity last summer to visit the birth place of Therese Neumann in Konnersreuth, Germany.  She was born into a small farming village in southeast Germany in 1898 and died there in 1962.  She was a farm girl and lived most of her life in this modest place.   She had a normal youth and worked hard on the farm and then had a serious of accidents in her work which left her bed ridden and blind for several years. She had a great devotion to Therese of Lisieux and on the day of the beatification of the latter, she was cured of her blindness and on the day of canonization, was miraculously able to walk again.  Therese Neumann was a devout person and attained the heights of contemplative prayer; many people testify to her union and intimacy with God. Shortly after being cured of her illnesses, she received the wounds of Jesus on her body and each Friday, from noon to 3 PM, she suffered in her bed and bled from her wounds. At that time also, she had many visions of the life of Christ which were then written down by people who spoke to her afterwards.

            In visiting the small village, one can go to the house where she lived and into the room with the bed where she suffered on Fridays.  In the cemetery, one can visit her grave and there is a small chapel to her honor where people place plaques of thanksgiving to Therese who interceded for their needs.  She loved nature and one can visit the garden she planted and see how artistically it is laid out with flowers blooming all during the summer. At a local home for the aged, there is an hour’s film of her life which is very impressive and touching; she lived in the modern era so that the film depicts her speaking to people and working in the town.

            During her life time, she had many visitors who came to talk with her and be present in her room when she suffered for the three hours on each Friday. The people who came were devout who wanted to experience this event recalling the suffering of Jesus.  Others were curious only wanting to see such a thing.  During the years, there were many people who came to the small town asking advice for their life and difficulties. After the Second World War, the American soldiers who occupied the town were very impressed and touched by Therese’s life and sufferings.  On returning to the United States, they talked about Therese and started movements to spread devotion to her.  The little town became a place of pilgrimage and it is the same until this day; pilgrims come as individuals or in groups and in buses to visit the various sites of her life. There is a movement now in motion to have her beatified and canonized.

            In reading the various books and pamphlets written about her, the writers testify to her ascent into mystical prayer.  She achieved a great intimacy with Jesus and this was manifest in her words and actions. After her many sufferings and visions, she would rest for many hours in the presence of God and felt intensely this friendship.  In visiting the various places of her life, such as her house, the room where she suffered, her grave and her garden, I did feel a silence.  From these places, there exuded a quiet which was the presence of the divine.  In making the pilgrimage to Konnersreuth, I did not feel that Therese drew me to herself but led me into the silence of God to rest there. In these moments, I was quiet just to be in the presence of Jesus. This sense of silence was most manifest in her room when I was next to the bed she suffered in and in visiting her grave where she is now resting. I spent long hours there and very much felt the presence of God within me and washing over me.

            Beside being so touched by contemplative silence, I was also moved that she was a stigmatic and manifested in such a deep way the sufferings of Jesus on Good Friday. She suffered with Jesus and her clothes and sheets of the bed were marked by the blood flowing from her wounds. This touched me deeply and in one way, grace was flowing over me. Also once Therese received the wounds of Jesus and became a stigmatic, she never again had to eat in her life nor drink water nor have to sleep. These were signs of her deep union with Jesus and hopefully will act to bring other people close to him. We can say that she was a mystic who attained deep union with God in contemplative prayer and silence entering deeply into His/Her presence. On the other hand, she was a stigmatic and manifested in her body the physical sufferings of Jesus. Certainly, these were miraculous things and helped the many pilgrims who came to see her have more faith. Wondrous things done by God can help us believe. Therese Neumann wanted her life to do this and not focus attention on herself.

            I did make a long trip to fly to Germany and drive to an out of the way place in that country. I wanted to be a pilgrim going to a holy place and experience the presence of such a great mystic and stigmatic. I went there also burdened with cares and troubles of the world and my life.  I left them there hoping that Therese would intercede for me and my world, bringing it more peace and justice. I was not disappointed and hopefully, the effects of this pilgrimage will play themselves out in blessing us all and our world which is so troubled.