The light of Mariannhill

by Sydney Duval · Published May 24, 2009 · Updated February 11, 2021

By Sydney Duval

The celebrations about to begin at Mariannhill are a commemoration of extraordinary life and light a good moment to reflect on signs of holiness and heroic virtue that may end in sanctification and South Africa would have its first saint.

The life belongs to a Trappist monk whom Pope John Paul II extolled in this way in a special message dated October 22, 2002 to the Congregation of Missionaries of Mariannhill: Your congregation is the fruit of the many gifts bestowed by God on your founder, Abbot Franz Pfanner. These gifts continue to shape your community and, as I invited Institutes of Consecrated Life in my post-synodal apostolic exhortation Vita consecrata, you too are called to propose anew the enterprising initiative, creativity and holiness of your founder in response to the signs of the times emerging in todays world.

Pope John Paul added: As your founder knew, holiness must be actively sought and prayed for. He underlined this in his motto: Currite Ut Comprehendatis straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Phil 3: 13-14). Abbot Pfanner, a man on fire for the building of the Kingdom, a man who courageously persevered in the face of obstacles, beckons you to go forward in hope as you respond to Gods call in Christ Jesus.

Abbot Pfanner was ever ready to take a leap forward into the unknown. He was 54 when he proclaimed, with characteristic impulsiveness, the decisive words that would begin his great religious adventure at Mariannhill: If no one will go, I will!

He went on to give lasting shape to those words which have been transformed into a living legacy of churches, mission stations, convents, schools, institutions, workshops and agricultural projects that continue to nourish people in spirituality, education, training, formation, social development and food security.

From my earliest years I saw Mariannhill as a place that combined the interior light of silence and the shining light of hard work. The workshop of Br Totnan the blacksmith roared and clamoured as the bellows stoked the flames and white-hot metal was hammered on the anvil. The monastery thrived on a prodigious work ethic.

There were other contrasting sounds. In 1986, when I began a supportive association with the Mariannhill Missionaries UmAFRIKA newspaper, I was able to note: Through my window I can hear the productive chords of industry; and hidden in the giant umkhuhla tree across the way I can hear the oriole in thrilling song what is robust is softened by what is gentle.

I think of light. The month of May in KwaZulu-Natal, from the coast to the Midlands, is a time of ineffable autumn light. I have seen the valley beside the Umhlathuzana river where Abbot Pfanner settled his pioneering band of Trappist monks drenched in that light. The monastery complex, cathedral, convent, schools and hospital reflect that light together they form a lighthouse of hope and renewal.

Fr Adalbert Balling CMM and Sr Annette Buschgerd CPS are illuminating and inspiring sources of information about the personality, spirituality and work of Abbot Pfanner.

Sr Annette weaves a moving account of the abbots last days and death, the centenary of which we observe this month, based on the testimony of Fr Joseph Biegner OCR, the abbots companion and medical assistant at Emaus from 1905 until the abbots death on May 24, 1909; and Sr Angela Michel CPS, who was with the abbot when he died. It is reported that his last word was Light!

May the life of service rendered by Abbot Francis be a transforming light in this land as it seeks healing, renewal and reconstruction.

Sydney Duval is a retired journalist. His association with Mariannhill goes back more than 65 years, starting in his early childhood.