Thursday 31 December 2009

Rev. Fr Arnold Van Everdingen, C.SS.R. (1808-1856)

Father Arnold Van Everdingen was born at Cuylenborg in Brabant, Holland, on the 26th of August, 1808, of pious parents. He does not seem to have had any thought of the priesthood when a young boy. There is not much known of his youth and early manhood, beyond the fact that he ever preserved a lively faith and piety and a desire to serve God more perfectly. Later we find him studying Theology in the Seminary at Hagveld. After his term there he was ordained priest in the 39th year of his age, April 3rd 1847. His mother, a most holy woman, assisted at his first Mass, and it is related that she fainted from very joy.

He exercised himself in the duties of a secular priest for three years, and then entered the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. After his profession at St Trond in Belgium on the 8th September 1851, he was sent to Clapham, London, in 1853. Of his short stay there, we read, “His Zeal for the conversion of sinners was insatiable…” “In a short time he overcame the difficulties of English and preached with great fruit…..” “It was wonderful to see the number of persons, quite unknown to him that flocked to his confessional, and all went away from him in peace, testifying publicly, to his goodness, compassion, and zeal for the salvation of souls.”

In 1855, he took part in the great Mission at Kingstown, after which he went to Limerick (Ireland). He showed the same zeal in Ireland as in England, both at home and on Mission, sparing himself in nothing, until Saturday 20th December 1856, when he was seized with fever which obliged him to leave his confessional. Nevertheless, he returned to the same salutary work the next morning, and celebrated the eleven o’clock Mass. It was the last time he offered the Holy Sacrifice, for that day he took to his bed, to leave it no more.

He soon became delirious, but on Christmas Day, God gave him the full use of his faculties; he made a General Confession and received the Last Sacraments. From the moment he received the Viaticum he enjoyed peace and tranquillity until the evening of St Stephen’s Day when surrounded by the Community, praying for his passing soul, he finally expired.

He was the first Redemptorist to die in Ireland, and the first to be laid to rest in the crypt beneath the sanctuary of St Alphonsus’ Church.

The concourse of priests, secular and regular, and of the faithful at his obsequies, showed the esteem in which they held him whom they knew as “Father Arnold.” †

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Tuesday 29 December 2009

Rev. Fr John Baptist Lans, C.SS.R. (1808-1886)

Father was born in Haarlem, Holland, on the 15th July, 1808. He was ordained priest on the 16th April, 1833. He laboured on the secular mission for nine years, taking St Alphonsus as his teacher and model. He found in the writings of St Alphonsus the remedy for an undue severity which a Jansenistic spirit would impose on the people. From being a disciple he became a son; for he entered the Redemptorists and made his Vows on St Alphonsus' Feast, August 2nd, 1843. Ten years later he went to England where he was at the end of 1848 appointed superior at Hanley. In 1851, he proceeded to Bishop Eton, and from thence went to Limerick (Ireland) in 1852, for the Mission in St Michaels.

After the erection of the houses in Holland and England into a province, he became Rector of Clapham, and Vice-Provincial. During his life he filled in a firm and fatherly spirit every office, and endeared himself to all who knew him. His devotion to St Joseph was most remarkable. The desire he had long cherished of dying in the month dedicated to his favourite Saint was satisfied. After a most holy life he died a most holy death, 31st March, 1886, in the 78th year of his age. He had built his own monument in erecting the beautiful church at Bishop Eton. There his body reposes under the Lady Chapel, awaiting its glorious resurrection. †

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Saturday 26 December 2009

Rev. Fr Patrick Furlong, C.SS.R. (1835-1864)

Father's native parish was Bannow, Co Wexford, Ireland. He was born on the 22nd of February, 1835. At the age of fourteen, he went to St Peters College Wexford, where he studied for some years. A Redemptorist Mission, which he attended, was the means of bringing his stay at the college to an end. During that mission, God’s voice called him to the missionary life, and after a short interval the young student left all to correspond with his vocation. He entered the Novitiate at St Trond in Belgium, was professed October 15th 1856, and ordained priest in 1862 on 22nd of March, the day on which is celebrated the apparition of our Lady to St Alphonsus at Foggia.

Father Furlong proposed to himself nothing less than to imitate St Alphonsus , and to this end he copied the resolutions which the Saint had made for the guidance of his life as a priest, and carried them always in his Breviary. He was never without a book written by the Holy Doctor, whose writings, together with the rules and constitutions of the Congregation were the basis of his religious life. When the end came he was occupied in extracting from a new Life of St Alphonsus by Cardinal Villecourt, the Saints practice of the twelve virtues which the rule proposes to Redemptorists to exercise month by month.

Limerick was the destination fixed for him by the Superior He arrived in September, and at once set to work under Father Rector’s direction, for he wished to have the seal of obedience on everything he did. He was never idle, and this spirit of industry accounts for the number of Sermons and Instructions which he had written during his short apostolic life. He took part in eighteen missions, and on these the children were nearly always entrusted to his care. His heart and soul were in his work, and God blessed his efforts. At home he was most assiduous in the confessional as well as in time of Mission.

Although weak in health he was ever ready to help anyone who asked his assistance. He never lost his joyous serenity. From boyhood, it seems, he had suffered from palpitation of the heart. This malady increased with his years. At length it grew so alarming that he had to leave a Mission and return to Mount St Alphonsus, never to leave it again. He got worse day by day, but as his body grew weaker his soul seemed to acquire new strength. No one knew him, during his illness, to have uttered one word of complaint, and he was for ever thanking those around him for their charitable services.

His chest became worse and the oppression he suffered was very trying. To get some relief he had to change his position frequently. At these times he would think how Our Divine Saviour remained motionless on the Cross, and how He suffered oppression in His agony. The day before his death he said to the Brother infirmarian: “We must love Jesus Christ much. I never before this understood what it is to die.” His love for the Blessed Virgin was always great, and his confidence in her showed itself especially at the end. Then he would frequently exclaim, “Oh how good is our Mother, how good! Now I understand it.” His brother, Rev. Fr J Furlong, OSA, came to see him. He was a younger brother and had been recently ordained priest. The Rector, Fr Plunkett, gave Fr Furlong the last Sacraments on the 15th of December, and on Sunday, the 18th, at 10 o’clock, fully conscious, he asked for and received absolution, then sweetly reposed in Our Lord, supported in the arms of his brother, with Fr Rector, and Brother Michael near him.

The chronicler writes; “The deceased won the affection of everyone, and in our house, he spread abroad the good odour of Christ and left a memory full of blessings. All remember his singular rectitude in his judgements, words, studies, offices, and in all he did.” The Most Rev. Dr Butler, with the clergy of the city, secular and regular, assisted at his obsequies, after which his body was laid in the crypt. †

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Thursday 24 December 2009

Rev. Fr James Bradshaw, C.SS.R. (1818-1892)

This Father was one of those who formed the first Redemptorist Community on Mount St. Alphonsus, Ireland. He held the office of Prefect of the temporary church. He was gifted with a beautiful voice and had made a special study of music, so that he was well fitted to form and take charge of the first choir at Mount St. Alphonsus.

Being appointed to help Father Furniss in the children’s Missions, he acquired much of Father Furniss’ art, and to the end of his life, loved to devote himself to that work.

He was born in Lancashire, on the 12th of March, 1818 and grew up amidst the good traditions of that Catholic county. Having made his Ecclesiastical studies in the College of Ushaw, he was ordained Priest in his thirtieth year and, two years later, entered the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer.

About this time God called many Priests to the Congregation who made their novitiate with Father Bradshaw at St. Trond and were destined to do much for its extension afterwards.

From the time Father Bradshaw left Mount St. Alphonsus, the greater part of his religious life was spent at Bishop Eton, England. He loved the quiet of that house, for he was of a very nervous temperament. His death was very sudden. He had gone to bury his brother; on the morning of the burial he said Holy Mass; after the funeral he dropped dead.

This was on the 5th of July, 1892. His body was brought to Bishop Eton, and there, we confidently hope, it awaits a glorious resurrection. †

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Monday 21 December 2009

Rev. Fr Leo Vanderstichele (1825-1887)

Counting from his first Mission in 1851, at St John’s Mission Limerick, to his last one given in the Church of St Nicholas, Dublin, in the year 1884, this Father was occupied in constant missionary work for the long space of thirty-three years. Every year of this time was well filled up with Missions and retreats.

He was attached to the Limerick Monastery, Ireland, from 1859 to 1862, and again in 1871, remaining a member of the Community for five years. He had spent many years in Clapham, London, and in Bishop Eton; the last seven years of his life he lived at St Joseph’s Dundalk (Ireland).

Father Leo Vanderstichele was born in Belgium, on the 5th of April 1825. His religious Profession took place when he had just completed his twentieth year, and his ordination to the Priesthood six years later. His religious life was remarkable, chiefly, for a love of mortification, and for the exactness with which he performed the everyday exercises prescribed by rule for the members of the Congregation.

It has been said that his life, as a missioner for thirty-three years, was one well filled up with work. After this, there were three years, those immediately preceding his death, in which he could do nothing but pray and make acts of submission to God’s Will. Early in 1884 he had a paralytic stroke, which made him unfit for further missionary labours. He died a holy death, on the 8th June, 1887, and is buried beneath the sanctuary of St Joseph’s Church, Dundalk. †

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Saturday 19 December 2009

Br Joachim Kelly, C.SS.R. (1831-1898)

Brother was born in London, of Irish parents, on the 10th of December, 1831. The name given to him at Baptism was Walter. Br Joachim laboured in England, Australia and Ireland. He died at Clapham, on Lady Day, March 25th, 1898, and was buried in Mortlake. †

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Friday 18 December 2009

Rev. Fr James Thompson, C.SS.R. (†1890)

This true Redemptorist was one of that number of holy young priests to whom Almighty God gives very extraordinary gifts of mind and heart to suit them for the exercise of the sacred ministry, but from whom His Infinite Wisdom, for reasons not known to us, withholds strength of body and length of days. Father Thompson was a man of great talent, and a priest whose consuming passion was zeal for souls. His sympathy with the poor, and kindly disposition towards all were remarkable. To him, indeed, the words of the Apostle are very applicable, that he made himself all to all in order to gain all to Christ. And yet Father Thompson’s short career – he died when thirty-eight years old – was devoted to teaching rather than to missionary work among the people.

He belonged to a Scottish Presbyterian family, and was educated in one of the public schools in England. He used modestly to complain in after life that his masters had formed too high an idea of his abilities as a student, and that he had been in consequence advanced too quickly into the higher classes; but in this point his judgment may be doubted. It was not until college days were over, and he had already chosen and entered upon a secular calling that God gave him light to enter the Catholic Church, and when he was faithful to this, a further call to the priesthood and the Religious state.

He entered the Redemptorist Novitiate at Bishop Eton in 1876, and was admitted to the Vows on the 15th of October of the following year. Four years later he was ordained priest, continuing his Theological studies during the year after ordination. He was then for some years a professor in the House of Studies at Teignmouth. During this period when the summer vacations came round for the students, instead of taking some rest after the year's teaching, he was urged by his zeal for souls to spend the time giving Missions.

He was sent to Ireland to teach in the Juvenate in 1886, and an appointment some twelve months later as Director of the Juvenate, may be supposed to have been something of the nature of a trial to one whose natural bent seemed to impel him so strongly to the apostolic work of the Missions. If he felt it as such, those who saw him work in the Juvenate could hardly have thought so, he devoted himself so entirely to the boys. To him the education of those, who, he hoped, would later on do the work for souls so dear to his heart, was a great field for apostolic zeal.

It is told of him that on one occasion when he had taken part in the annual retreat given to the Confraternity of the Holy Family his interest in the boys’ studies became visibly increased, and when he feared that he might seem too exacting, he explained that the little experience which he had lately had of the great work to be done for souls, made him feel that anything that could be done in preparation for that work was not excessive.

But Father Thompson’s labours were drawing near their end. He had become so delicate that the Superiors, following the doctor’s advice, sent him to the warm climate of Australia in the hope that he might there recover strength. It was not, however, to be so. He grew ever weaker until his holy death on the 2nd May, 1890 at the Waratah Monastery. He now enjoys, we trust, the full reward of apostolic zeal. †

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Monday 14 December 2009

Br Charles Moucha (1817-1901)

Brother was Polish, having been born in Retibar on the 1st of December 1817, and professed on the 9th of the same month in 1845. When he died at Bishop Eton, England, on the 8th of August, 1901, he had reached his eighty-fifth year and had been nearly fifty-six years professed. He was the last survivor of the first Limerick (Ireland) Community, and surpassed them all in length of years and profession. He sacrificed himself by prayer and work at his trade, by these means opening to himself the gates of heaven. At his golden jubilee the Most Rev. Father Rector Major remembered him with a beautiful letter of which the good old man was justly proud. †

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Sunday 13 December 2009

Rev. Fr John Antwerpen, C.SS.R. (1822-1853)

Father Van Antwerpen was at the first Mission given in Ireland in 1851 and he was the first of the band of missionaries to go to his reward. He died at Bishop Eton on the 19th of October 1853, how full of merits, our short notice will reveal.

Born in Endhoven, in Holland, on the 29th of January, 1822. He had the great blessing of pious parents, and he grew up under their eyes like another St Gerard. Before he had reached the age of seven he used to shed tears when he heard that anyone had offended God. When hardly six years old, one day he was missed from home. His parents looked for him everywhere and at last, after long search, found him in the Church. He was kneeling in a quiet corner, praying to Jesus in the Tabernacle.

We do not know what passed between him and the Divine Prisoner, but we do know that from his tenderest years, he did penance for sin, and strove to lead other children to practice piety. After his First Communion his devotion to the Blessed Sacrament grew more and more. Even in these early years he is known to have passed hours in prayer in the church.

In due course he made the ordinary studies in a college of his native town. Here he advanced in learning, and still more in virtue. About this time he resolved to lead a life of perfect chastity, and no persuasion could ever induce him to change his mind. He had always wished to consecrate himself to God in religion, but he knew not where.

The Blessed Mother of God, to whom he had always been most devout, led him to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. He received the Habit on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in 1840. He made his profession on the same feast in 1841, a favour he won by prayer, for his health having given way, there would have been no hope humanly speaking of him making his profession in the Congregation.

He spent seven years in the house of Studies, at Wittem, living a life of great fervour, both when well and when ill; and was ordained priest in 1848. That same year he was sent to England. From the Monastery in Bishop Eton he went in 1851 to Limerick for the Mission in St John’s. There he inherited the name of good Father John, and was known by this title in the other Missions in which he took part. These were sixteen in all. The fervour with which he prayed, his devotion at the altar, the ardour with which he spoke especially of the Blessed Sacrament, impressed all who knew or heard him.

We cannot dwell on the power that God had given him to touch the hearts of sinners. In Letterkenny, for example, so great and evident was the change which he effected in the Ribbon-man that his Lordship the Bishop said, while shedding tears, “I never expected to see with my own eyes so great a blessing of God. “ All in the town and neighbourhood were converted. His simplicity and innocence drew every soul to him. But his heart went out especially to the poor and afflicted. He never measured his strength, which we know was not great, but worked as if he were one of the most robust.

His last Mission was in Wexford. Before leaving that town, when some said to him, “We shall soon see you again at the Renewal,” he raised his eyes to heaven and said, “No no …. I hope then to be in a better place.” He was indeed, worn out, and his superiors sent him home to Bishop Eton to rest. He knew that it was to be for a long rest, and he occupied himself only about his last journey. As he grew weaker the doctor was called in. The physician assured everyone that there was no danger and that the Father would soon be quite well. When he had left Father John said to his confessor, “Father, do not be deceived, I am certain that the time of my dissolution is at hand.” How can you know that:” asked the confessor, “your illness is not dangerous.” He then related how he had prayed that he might die when he had attained the age of our Blessed Lord. “My time,” he said, “is come and I feel that I shall soon die from this illness.

Soon the slight illness turned into typhoid fever. It made such progress that the last Sacraments were administered to him on the Feast of the Purity of the Blessed Virgin, that feast on which two years before he was present at the opening of the first Mission in St John’s. He received the Holy Viaticum on the 19th of October. From henceforth he was so weak that he could only say, O charity! O blessed sweetness!” He frequently pronounced the names of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.

After night prayers the Community surrounding his bed said the prayers for the agonising, to which they added the Litany of our Lady’s Sorrow’s. When they came to the words: “Lamb of God who takest away the sins of the world, spare him through our Blessed mother of Sorrows,” his most innocent and beautiful soul took, we confidently hope, its flight to heaven. Throughout life his presence brought a blessing wherever he went. †

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Friday 11 December 2009

Very Rev. Fr Gabriel Hampl, C.SS.R. (1814-1875)

Fr. Hampl was born on May 28th 1814, in Luditz, a city in German – Bohemia (Eger District). He studied grammar at the Piarist School, finished Secondary School with the Praemonstratensians in Saaz, Germany, and then entered the University of Prague where he attended Philosophy lectures for one year. Since he did not pass the examination at the end of the year, he was expected to repeat the course.

However, he was not willing to do that. Therefore he set out on foot from Prague to Freiburg in Switzerland, where he arrived on May 26th 1833, and asked to enter the Redemptorist Congregation. By good fortune the Rector of the House, Fr. Czech, was also a Bohemian. Fr. Czech cordially received the young student, whose academic records and outward appearances did not recommend him very much nor did his outspoken attitudes. But Fr. Czech did offer him admission, and Fr. Czech never had to regret his decision. The indolent philosopher soon became one of the most eager students, and a beloved son of the Prefect of Students, Fr. Neubert.

Until Autumn of that year Fr. Hampl attended lectures in physics and philosophy at the Jesuit College in Freiburg. His clothing ceremony was on October 28th 1833, and he remained at the Noviciate until April 24th 1834. Then, because of the persisting dissention between the Austrian and Swiss governments, the Superiors thought the best course would be to send him to Austria into the Noviciate in Weinhaus near Vienna. After a completed Noviciate he was sent to the University in Vienna to study for another year because the courses he took in a foreign country were not acknowledged at that time in Austria. His records were recognised only as a temporary identification card. Then in Autumn of 1835 he came to the Mautern monastery, made his Profession of Vows there on March 18th 1836, and was ordained a Priest on July 28th 1838.

After he was Socius to the Novice Master for a year in Eggensburg (Austria), he returned to Vienna where he was assigned as a preacher in the Redemptorist Church as well as to minor apostolic occupations. In March, 1841, he was appointed to Modena, Italy, and departed for that city, but went only as far as Innsbruck, where another order overtook him: do not go to Modena, but to Altoetting, Bavaria, where a new House had been founded.

In the following year he became involved with the Missions so that he could take part in prospective Missions in Bavaria with Altoetting as his base. The only exception was the short time he spent in Innsbruck and Vilsbiburg (Bavaria). After 1848 his missionary activity extended beyond Bavaria. As a Mission Superior on the Rhine, in Silesia, Wuerttemberg, Upper and Lower Austria, as well as in Bohemia, he displayed a wonderful effectiveness.

Everywhere Fr. Hampl went he was one of the most beloved Missionaries. He was a truly popular speaker. He did not sweep away the congregation with lofty, enthusiastic presentations, but by graphic comparisons, gripping examples, and practical applications in life. He made deep impressions on his listeners by arresting their attention. His style of speech was popular and noble; his delivery was vigorous and unaffected. All of his sermons were very carefully written. He didn’t hesitate to spend 3-4 weeks and sometimes longer on the preparation of one Mission sermon, especially one teaching dogma. With the greatest diligence everything from beginning to end was written down, and given for the most part word for word. Every sentence and every word was carefully chosen. No wonder that his sermons remained deeply fixed in the hearts and memories of the audience. An example of this is that a Brother could still repeat to this writer the main part of one of Fr. Hampl’s sermons 40 years after the Brother had heard it.

One was not inclined to believe that Fr. Hampl considered himself suitable to be a Local Superior because of his cheerful, droll frame of mind that he always showed around his confreres. But experience proved exactly the opposite. In 1854 he was named Rector of Bornhofen (Schleswig), and satisfied the trust of his Superiors’ to such a high degree that he was retained in that office for seven years. Then he was entrusted (Oct. 1861) with the office of Rector of Maria Hamicolt (Diocese of Muenster), and as the student advisor in academic respects. Then in April 1862 he became Provincial of the Lower German province, which office he filed laudably for 9 years until 1871.

In the Autumn of 1850 at the pilgrimage place of Bornhofen a branch of the order was founded. It was expected to strengthen and continue the splendid work begun in the preceding Spring in the Diocese of Limburg in Germany. The Superiors, however, were not in the position to fill the Bornhofen House with a sufficient number of Missionaries as there were few subjects at their disposal. The hopes of Bishop Peter Joseph Blum, who was very eager for souls, were not fulfilled in the first three years. In order to satisfy the Bishop’s justified challenge to some extent; Fr. Hampl was transferred from Altoetting to Bornhofen and named Rector of that House.

He understood how to remedy the sad state of affairs at the House in every way. Since he was already known as an excellent Missionary, a number of Missions were requested by parish priests and were held with great success. Furthermore, Fr. Hampl made every effort to train the young priests, who hitherto had received no comprehensive instruction in preaching. Through guidance and example he taught them to become eager missionaries. Fr. Hampl knew how to command respect by his valiant character and candid appearance as well as by his extensive knowledge in every social situation without damaging religious moderation and humility. He was listened to readily at Missions, but also at Spiritual exercises, which he held for priests and cloistered nuns at various locations.

In conversation with people of all social classes he understood how to act in a natural but still very dignified manner. In this way he won the trust of high-ranking clergy and also of the laity. The dethroned King of Portugal, Don Miguel, greeted Fr. Hampl after the Mission in Heubach (Wuerttemberg) in a very gracious way. The Countess Hahn-Hahn came to Bornhofen for several days every year to take part in religious exercises under Fr. Hampl’s guidance, and in one of letters she did not think it unworthy of her rank to describe her stay in Bornhofen to present and future generations.

Fr. Hampl also succeeded in improving the material conditions of the Bornhofen House during his years as Rector by prudent saving, but also by setting up ornamental gardens and planting a number of the best fruit trees, which gave the House a more beautiful exterior appearance. Fr. Hampl had proved himself to be an efficient Superior in every respect in Bornhofen, and later on also for a short time in Maria Hamicolt. Then in 1862 he was assigned to an even more important office as Provincial of the Lower German Province.

What qualified Fr. Hampl in particular for this office was his great love for the Redemptorist Congregation to which he had given himself from his early youth. He had absorbed the unalloyed essence of the Congregation in Freiburg and Vienna through acquaintance with the pupils of the late St Clement Hofbauer. Therefore in conversation and in his conferences he referred with special priority to these old Redemptorists: Frs. Czech, Neubert, Schoellhorn, Passerat, etc.

He cited examples of them, namely their zeal for souls, their mortification, their poverty, and other characteristics like these, as well as the miraculous advancement the Congregation experienced since those times.

Fr. Hampl often used to tell of the saintly Fr. Heinzl, his former Rector in Mautern, who displayed all sorts of edifying character traits. Fr. Hampl also told of Fr. Heinzl’s three fondest wishes, which had been completely fulfilled:
1. To be allowed to honour the late Alphonsus de Liguori as a saint.
2. That at least 50 Fathers would be active this side of the Alps.
3. That he would see the Congregation spread also into America.

Fr.Hampl gave great importance to the general well-being of the Congregation. One day when he heard of an unhappy misunderstanding in one of the Provinces, he expressed himself in these words: - ‘I would gladly give one of my fingers if that would remedy this grievance.

By his unremitting efforts he succeeded in improving the material situation of the Province to a considerable degree. In particular, he rendered outstanding service concerning the defrayal of charges to the students at all times. And he did this with great self-denial in that he economised on his travels in every possible way, and went short of bread, so to speak, in order to spend less on himself. With great effort he showed distinct proof of his love for the Congregation by collecting all the relevant reports from the Bornhofen Monastery into a chronicle. Also with bee-like diligence he set up a day to day Provincial Chronicle, which consisted of approximately one thousand closely written pages in the ledger, and which went up the year 1871.

As Superior he was very considerate towards his subordinates. He understood how to show great patience with the weakness of others, and, if a correction was necessary, to delay rectification until a suitable opportunity. Then he would give his opinion frankly and candidly so that everyone understood what was expected of him.

After Fr. Hampl had held his offices as Provincial for nine years with great self-sacrifice and astuteness, he was relieved of this heavy burden in 1871. The two following years he spent in Trier as a Minister and Provincial Advisor until he was exiled from the German Empire in 1873, and so returned to his homeland, Austria, where he spent his last days, in the Leoben House. Repeated attacks of apoplexy had broken his mental and physical strength. The suppression of the monasteries in the Rhineland and Westphalia where he had worked so long, depressed him to such an extent that his earlier bright frame of mind never again revived.

New attacks weakened his mind even more, until in 1875 a severe stroke almost reduced him to an infantile state. He received the Last Sacraments and died soon afterwards on March 1st 1875. May he rest in peace. †

[Translated from German by Mrs Marianne Lang]

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