His bishop had dictated an anti-Nazi letter to be read in all the parishes several years earlier. Jagerstatter’s own pastor had been jailed for delivering an anti-Nazi sermon. Catholics in Germany were facing severe restrictions, including the prohibition of Mass outside of Sundays, even for the holiest solemnities and feast days. The Catholic Church in Austria had warned against Nazism for years. In 1938, around the time their eldest daughter was born, Germans invaded Austria. Jagerstatter and Franziska had three girls together, and remained close to his other daughter. In fact, he once told his wife, “I could have never imagined that being married could be so wonderful.” A Sad Hour for the Christian Faith Three of Franz Jagerstatter’s four children: Maria, Louisi and Rosi./Styria Verlag. He began to memorize the Bible and learn the lives of the saints. This led to him becoming a daily communicant. Jagerstatter became the sexton of the village Church, meaning he assisted at all the liturgies and maintained the building. On their honeymoon, they received a papal blessing from Pope Pius XI.įranziska’s effect on her husband was subtle but persistent. He married Franziska Schwaninger on Holy Thursday 1936. This is their wedding photograph./Styria Verlag. How Marriage Changed His Life Franz and Franziska Jagerstatter after they returned from Rome, probably in April or May 1936. However, Jagerstatter received a passable education in the village’s one-room school schoolhouse before becoming a farmer. Gordan Zahn, whose book In Solitary Witness is the definitive work on Jagerstatter’s life, discovered that Jagerstatter was exiled from his community for several years, during which time he stopped attending Mass. He was a womanizer, and even had a daughter born out of wedlock. His mother married when Franz was 10.įranz was a wild child. He was the illegitimate child of a maidservant in a tiny village in Upper Austria. ![]() From right to left: Franz Jagerstatter his stepfather, Heinrich Jagerstatter his mother, Rosalia Jagerstatter and Aloisia Sommerauer, Franz’s cousin and foster sister. Thérèse Franz Jagerstatter poses on his motorcycle. This principle is demonstrated by the martyrdom of Franz Jagerstatter, a father and martyr during the Nazi occupation of Austria. Even in the most isolated circumstances, saints have a profound union with God. One theme unifies the stories of all the saints: Christians are never alone.
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