St. Mary, St. Bernadette, & St. Genevieve

Franz Jägerstätter was born o­n 20th May 1907 in St. Radegund, Austria. as the child of the unmarried farm worker Rosalia Huber. She and the father could not afford to marry.

In 1917, his mother wedded the farmer Heinrich Jägerstätter, who o­n marrying her, adopted his wife’s son. Inspired by his grandfather, Franz showed great interest in books as an adolescent, including religious literature.
 
From 1927 to 1930, Franz Jägerstätter worked in the iron ore industry. There, he felt spiritually and religiously uprooted // and went through a crisis // which made him question his faith and the meaning of life. But, in 1930, he returned to his home village // with a deepened belief in God.

His development continued - he could brawl with the best of them, and was the first in his village to own a motorcycle. He came to father a daughter.
 
In 1935, he met Franziska Schwaninger, a farmer’s daughter from the neighboring village. They married o­n Holy Thursday, 1936. At his suggestion, they traveled to Rome for their honeymoon.

His marriage marked a turning point in Franz Jägerstätter’s life. According to his neighbors, he became a different man.

Together, Franz and Franziska ran a farm. They prayed together, and the Bible became their book of reference for everyday life. Franziska says of this time: “We helped o­ne another go forward in faith.” From 1941, Franz Jägerstätter was also the sexton at the local parish. Three daughters were born to the couple: Franz o­nce said: “I could never have imagined that being married could be so wonderful.”
 
Storm clouds came over his country, Austria, when the Nazis took power in 1938. He viewed Christianity and Nazism as being completely irreconcilable. Franz had a dream: in it, he saw a train carrying innumerable people to perdition, and its meaning was “unveiled” to him, as representing the Nazi Party, and its attached organizations.

He was conscripted for military service twice, but the local mayor arranged for him to return to farm. A third conscription notice came, and Jägerstätter reported o­n 1st March 1943, but as the court-martial reports, he immediately stated:
 

• “that, due to his religious views, he refused to perform military service with a weapon, that he would be acting against his religious conscience were he to fight for the Nazi State
• …that he could not be both a Nazi and a Catholic
• … that there were some things in which o­ne must obey God more than men;
• due to the commandment ‘Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself’, he said he could not fight with a weapon. However, he was willing to serve as a military paramedic.”

 
Jägerstätter was then taken to the local military prison. Two months’ prison, with all the torture and bullying, precipitated a great crisis. The young farmer was in danger of losing his faith. Yet the experience of happiness with Franziska // remained with him // as a lasting sign of God’s presence.

At the beginning of May, Franz Jägerstätter was transferred to the military prison in Berlin-Tegel. He asked to be allowed to serve as a paramedic: this request was denied. On 6th July 1943, Franz was condemned to death for “undermining military morale” and was also “stripped of his worthiness to serve in the army and of his civil rights“.

Through a local priest, Franz learned that o­ne year before, another Austrian, Pallottine priest Father Reinisch had refused to perform military service for the same reasons, and died for his convictions. This news gave Franz support and comfort in his situation. The Eucharist, the Bible and a picture of his children were very important to him during this time.

On 9th August 1943, Franz Jägerstätter was taken to Brandenburg/Havel and executed. Forty +years later, he was beatified on 26th October 2007, with his wife and four daughters in attendance.

In our Gospel, we have the account of the disciples with Jesus, in the boat during a storm. Things become so serious, that they wake Jesus up, with a startling and bold question: ‘do you not care that we are perishing!’

Blessed Franz could have asked Jesus the same question, on multiple occasions. But he came to frame it in a different way: there are many ways in which I may die, but with God’s presence, I will not perish.

As our Gospel passage unfolds, a commentator concludes that Jesus came to deliver his disciples…but not from drowning. He came to deliver them from fear of the elements – to – the awe of God. Helping them cross over, from fear to awe.

On the day of his execution, a priest at the prison offered spiritual readings. With an unforgettable joy in his eyes, Jaggerstatter replied, “I am completely bound in // inner union with the Lord, and any reading would only interrupt my communication with my God.”

When the storms of life hit Blessed Franz, he was strengthened by God’s presence: present in the Eucharist, the Bible, his spouse and children, the martyrs, in his soul.

Blessed Franz Jägerstätter did not perish.

In fact, he lives.