The Apostle of South Africa. Adalbert Ludwig Balling

numbered not quite twenty monks. At thirty-three years of age the Prior was five years his junior. He was away in France attending the annual Trappist general chapter. Until his return the candidate was put up in the guest quarters. Six weeks later, on 9 October, the feast of St. Abraham, he was given the habit of the Reformed Cistercians and a new name. As Fr. Franciscus (after the Poverello of Assisi) he became a member of the Trappist Congregation of de Rancé.

      His life was now ordered by the rule with its daily schedule of ora et labora.

      Abbot Francis:

      “My first assignment was to weed the garden. So I had to bend a lot. It was something my back did not like, but since no one asked me how I felt, I carried on, telling myself that in due time I would be given another occupation. I was mistaken. Instead, I realized that all that was expected of me was to help rebuild Mariawald … Time passed quickly. As I became better acquainted with the life of a novice and entered more deeply into the meaning of the Trappist vocation, things became easier. I even started to doubt if after all this was the life of penance I was looking for.”

      To an extent, it was. In mid-18th century Mariawald was certainly not a place of bliss. What annoyed the beginner (novice) was that the study of the Psalms (by Bellarmin) was constantly interrupted by a rigid schedule of prayer and work. He got on well in community but not with everybody:

      “One of the older monks who wanted to try me out was known to be difficult. He did not want to see me going flat out, because for him, who used his many private prayers as an excuse for not doing his chores, manual labour was an evil he shunned any time. It did not take me long to figure him out. He was not really a Trappist but what you would call a holy Joe. Himself neglecting his share of the work, he made sure others got more than they could cope with. For example, when we were repairing the roof he put so many slabs in my basket that not even two men could lift it. I carried it up a few times and would have continued doing so if my superior had ordered me to, but I also knew that it was against our rule to carry or assign too heavy burdens.”

      Fr. Francis worked with a will. Work was a pleasure for him. Before he knew it he had regained his former strength and felt better than ever before. The ascetic lifestyle – frugal diet and hard labour in the fresh air – had an invigorating effect. He did not wish for a change. To his family he wrote that though he had no mirror to look at himself he could feel his cheeks bulging out. He was busy the whole day, either chopping wood for torches or cutting and uprooting thorns: in short, cultivating barren ground. It was the kind of work that agreed with him, and it did not matter that his hands “like the hands of a farmer” were full of calluses and cracks. Rather, he must thank his father for teaching him early in life how to work with wood and soil.

      His former parishioners insisted on his return to Haselstauden. He did not think of it. Instead, he wrote to his bishop that he would renounce his benefice immediately after profession.8 So fully was he committed to the monastic life that once he had pronounced his simple vows, on 21 November 1864, he was appointed Sub-Prior.9

       Daily Striving for Perfection

      The monastic regimen is not soft on a man. The Mariawald community rose at a time when most other people are still asleep: at 2 a. m. on weekdays and 1 a. m. on Sundays and Holy Days. The Trappists kept perpetual silence: they did not speak 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