"A Priest from Norway: Fr Karl M. Schilling" by Sigrid Undset.

8/9/2019 "A Priest from Norway: Fr Karl M. Schilling" by Sigrid Undset.

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A PRIESTFROMNORWAYTheVenerable

Karl M. Schi l l ing,C.R.S.P.


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NIH IL 08STATRomae. 17-VII-1967Amalus Petrus Frutaz. SubsecrelariusS.R.C. pro Causls Sanctorum

IMPRIMATURRt. Rev . Giovanni M. BernasconiSuperior General of the BarnabitesRome. October 11 , 1967

ALL RIGHTS RESER VED

North American Edition and Publication byTHE NORTH AMER ICAN VOICE OF FATIMAYoungstown. New York 14174July 1976

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Contents

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . _ . _ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Introduction .. , . . . . . . . . . . . . _ . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6A Handsome Young Norwegian . . . . . . . . . . . 8Falling in Love? .. . , .. , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12The Return of the "Prodigal Son" . . . . . . . . 14A Different Love . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17The Barnabite Fathers in Norway . . . . . . . . . 20Farewell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23A Series of Difficulties . . . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . 26The Priesthood . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28In Exi le . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . . 32"Le Bon Pere" .. , . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. , . . . . . 35The Holy Man of Mouscron .. . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Prayer and Penance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Charity . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42The End . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 45Bibliographical Note . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . .. , . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48The Barnabite Fathers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

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Preface

Sigrid Undset (1882-1949) is one of the greatestScandinavian writers of the modern time; in 1928 .she won the Nobel Prize fo r l iterature.

Daughter of an archeologist, and artisticallytalented , she studied with enthusiasm the historyand the anc ient customs of Northern Europe. Shewas the author of autobiographic novels ("Jenny",1911): she skillfully wrote compositions inspired bythe medieval Catholic Norway, as the masterpiece"Kristin Lavransdatter", 1920-22, and "OlavAndunsson", 1925-27. a best seller.

In 1912, Undset married A. Svarstad, a painter,and in 1925 , she left him, search ing in Catholicism acertainty and a reason for life. She then devotedherself exclusively to the education of her fourchildren and to her art .After a few trips to Italy , where she had a chanceto approach truth and the beauty of her dreams, in1926 at Montecassino she converted to Catholic ism.Since then, her literary production was inspi red by avivid Catholic concep t ion of the world and itincluded many controversial themes, modernnovels. instructive books, and personal thoughts,that made her internationally known.

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The Nobe l Prize proclaimed her famous as aproductive writer, and as a religious personaHty.With magnanimous gesture, she donated the entireamount of the prize to three charitable institutions,and she set on the altar of the Blessed Vi rgin, in aChurch of Oslo, the symbo l ic laurel received on thatoccasion .

During the last world war. Undset went throughheartbreaking events and family sorrows and shehad to abandon her country. From the Un ited States,she inspired the Norwegian resistance with articlesand speeches, and in 1947 , she was awarded theGreat Cross of St. Olav "because of eminent literaryactivity and exceptional services to her country".

On June 10, 1949 Sigrid Undset, exhausted bythe sufferings that always accompanied herexistence, died of a brain tumor.

On Apr il 29. 1967, during an audience g iven bythe Pope to His Majesty Olav V, King of Norway, PaulVI with admiration commemorated "the greatnovelist Sigrid Undset, whose writings surpassedthe frontiers of her coun try for a worldw iderecognition and fo r an enrichment of the humancultu ral patrimony".

The following pages on the Venerable KarlSchilling are taken from the eighth chapter ofUndset's "Saga of Saints",

I am grateful to the Very Reverend Umberto M.Fasola, Postulator General of the Barnabite Fathersfor his assistance in preparing the present edition.

FA. ANDREA M. ERBA, C.A.S.P,Milan, September 1967

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Introduction

At the beginning of the eighth chapteraf "Sagaof Saints", Sigrid Undset briefly delineates thehistoric events that caused the flourishing ofLutheranism in the Scandinavian co untries (1537) .

After a description of the economic, pOliticaland social condit ions of Norway during the XVIcentury . the author affirms that the "Church hadbecome fettered to the State" through secularizationand the confiscation of her estates. With extremeabi li ty. the writer describes the events of that epochand with reference to historical documents, shevividly recounts moving episodes of Catholic faith,which survived among persecutions; she narratesthose incidents full of evangelical piety and charityin which the "poor people" were the protagonistsand she describes those heroic moments in whichthe pastors of souls lost their lives. On the otherhand, Undset does not ignore the errors and thedefections of those who advantageously abandonedtheir beliefs for the Reformation.

Undoubtedly that was a tragic and dramaticperiod full of serious consequences: provocationson one side and rebellions on the other; churchesfalling in to despair; suspicious conflicts amongCatholics , faithful to and sym pathizers w ith the oldreligion; underground groups spreading allover the

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country : groups of people "so innocent" that theydid not even know that a religious revolut ion hadtaken place; and the "Jesuit scares" which affectedthe general pub lic in such a way that people beganto conceive the Catholic Church as somethingterrible and terrifying .

The process of "protestantizing" could beconsidered accomplished with the peace treaty ofWestfalia (1648); in fact, after that treaty theconve rsions to Cathol icism were extremely rare.

However, in the 1700's, a phenomenon called"pietism" aroused in many a deep feeling of God ,genera t ing various rel igious sects in opposition tothe State Church, which by that time was a mereformalism and without any authentic spirituality.Almost as a reaction "people became earnestlyProtestant" and "fopery" became for them a nameof ter ror.

"Against this background ", Undset wr ites,"s tands the personal ity of Kar l Schilling".

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A HandsomeYoung Norwegian

It was with a superior smile that a tal l and goodlooking Norwegian stood watch ing the processionwhich moved slowly through the streets ofDusseldorf on the day of Corpus Christi in 1654.

The lights , the canopies, the priest who carriedthe Host , clothed in gold-embroidered silkgarments - it was, of course, very picturesque, andyoung Schitling had come to Dusse ldorf to paint.But when the crowd fell on their knees and the mentook of f the ir hats, Schilling could not but smi le fromwhere he stood, so straigh t and tall with his big blackartist's hat, planted firmly on his long, fair. wavinghair. The next moment the men around him hadrisen and his hat received a blow which sent it rightacross the street. Schilling was embarrassed and alittle self-conscious when he went home to hisquarters. The Eitels with whom he lived wereextremely devout Catholics, and good people whoseopinion he valued very much .

He realized now that as a resu lt of his earlyreligious education. he had been more uncivil thanhe had meant to be when he stood gaz ing at theprocession, and he certain ly did no t wish toembarrass the old sausage-maker, and his kind w ife ,

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and the young people in the house, especially inregards to their religious feelings. Actually , therewas a great deal in the Catholic rel igion which herespected; and he was not ungratefu l for thesympathy which he had received f rom the Eilels andfrom so many pleasant German peop le in thecharm ing town where he himself was known as the"handsome young Norwegian" .

Th e old people did not say very much whenSchilling came home, but one of the youngdaughters of the house explained to him bothcourageously and tactfully Whom he haddishonored. Schilling apologized .

He was nineteen years old , a good naturedyoung man , well educated religiously. and thereforethe affair made a strong impression on him . KarlSchilling and one of Eite l 's sons, who wished tobecome a priest , were of the same age and goodfriends . Schilling had ,of course, learned long beforethat much of what was general belief in Norwayregarding Catholic priests was nonsense. However,now he began to ask William Eitel about his religion.William would not say a great deal , but he suggestedthat Karl should attend Mass with him in themornings so that it might become easier to explainmatters.

Karl Sch illing 's father was a cavalry officer andhis children had been brought up to fear and honorGod, to go to church on Sundays and to live in anupright manner. Also they had been taught to behonest and fair-minded . However, they worshipedGod, as it were, at a distance. The conception of the

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actual presence of Our Lord in the BlessedSacrament of the Altar sent a thrill through theNorwegian young man . How wonderful it would be ifthis were ac tua lly possible, and If so, how couldpeople ever honor and thank God enough for thewonder of such love! Hestill could not believe such athing. It was altogether too good to be true. It was asif Karl Schilling felt a trembling ant ic ipation of theburning love o f Christ in the Blessed Sacrament,which was laterto fill his life . It was after Witliam Eite lhad expla ined all about the Sacrament of Penancethat he definitely declared that hewished to bec omea Catholic. William rest rained him. The th ing couldnot be done so quickly as he must receiveinstruction: however, on the second Sunday afterthe famous procession day, on the feast of thePrecious Blood, Karl Sch illing drew his friend withhim into one at the chu rches of the town and therehe vowed solemnly, "I will become a Catholic".

Two weeks laler, he went to a priest and beggedhim for instruction. The priest was cautious, butSchi ll ing swept aside enquiries as to whether h isparents would agree, and whether he could go backto Norway if he had become a Catholic. He wasconvinced that the Catholic Church was the rightchurch, and he wished to become a Cath olic .

He began his instruction and Frau Eitel, die guteMutter Eitel , did what she could. She went to theconvent o f the Holy Cross Sisters and co mm itted thewellbeing of the young Norwegian both here and ineterni ty, to the Reverend Mother, Sister Emily,whose canonization is now in the preparatorystages.

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fiord. 01 No . way, a "harlCI,.I.II" of the no. lhem counlflu.

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Falling in Love?Schilling's countrymen living in Dusseldorf,

who were also studying art, were thunderstruck untilthey found a natural explanation fo r Karl'sextraordinary conduct. He was, of course , in lovewith one of the charm ing young Eitel girls, and shewould not marry him unless he became a Catho lic.One of his fe llow studen ts, the most talented of themall, Olaf [sachsen, was also very much interested inCatholicism . When his mother heard of this, shewrote to him at once and told him that he must fleefrom this temptation immediately. and forbade himto go to Catholic churches with Karl Schilling.

Captain Schilling wrote a long letter to his son.He was naturally far froflll pleased, but he desirednothing bu t his son's happiness. If it were definitelyhis conviction , he would no t hinder him frombecoming a Catholic. With regard to the economicside of the question, he had given his bankers ordersthat Karl was to be allowed any money he needed.The way was clear. The last of the inhibitions of hischildhood, the fear of the convent. had disappearedwhen he made his acquaintance with Sister Emi ly ofthe Cross. Her untiring work among the sick and thepoor, her burning love lo r souls, her mystical l ifewith her Savior, made a very deep impression on theyoung man from Norway , Unti l his death, KarlSchilling could say 01 Sister Emily, "s he has helpedme more than anyone else in this world",

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Through Sister Emily, Schilling joined a club ofCatholic painters in Dusseldorf. William Schadow,the director of the Academy. was himself a convert.Around him was a little band of friends , Achenbach ,Ernst Deger, the Muller brothers, Jansen fromAntwerp, and several others. Each morning theywent to Ho ly Mass; they never began their workwi thout prayer and all they did was dedicated to thehonor of God . In 1849, they had formed a localbranch 01 the Society of S1. Vincent de Paul. and itwas through this work that they became the friends01 Sister Emily . Schilling was welcomed into thei rclub and he em braced the new life with zeal andhappiness.

His reception into the Catholic Church tookplace on the 11 of November, 1854, and on thesame day he rece ived Our Lord for the first time inthe Sacrament of the Altar. From the church , theyoung man went for a long walk in the country. Sofull of joy was he that he danced and sang aloud ashe went along the roads. It was unbelievable thatanyone cou ld be so happy.

Now he could begin to live in earnest. He wou ldtry to do al l that God wished him to do , to give Himhis soul, his heart, his work, his thoughts, and do allthe good he could fo r his fellowmen. He longed toreceive all that God offered him in His Church ;indefatigably hewen! to Massand to the Sacramentsand took part in all the devotions and religiousexercises in which the good folks of Dusseldorfdelighted . The worthy Catholic Rhinelanders wereexceedingly edified and touched by the young

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Norwegian artist, who only six months before hadinsulted the Most Holy One, and who was now sozealous in prayer. When the time came for theCatholics of Dusseldorf to go on their yearlypilgrimage to Our Lady of Kevelaer, the handsomeNorwegian. dressed in garbs of his national custom,walked at the head of the SI. Vincentde Paul Society,carrying its banner with the inscription , "His yoke iseasy, and His burden is light" which was certainlythe experience of this twenty-year-old young man .

The Retu rn ofthe" Prodigal Son"

His countrym en, on the other hand, weresorrowfully concerned , and in Christiania thereports of young Schilling's convers ion to Poperyand his relig ious practices caused very greatdistress . Kar l Sc hi lling prayed for his family and hisfriends , and for the wh ole of Norway that they mightall find the happiness that he had found. The lettershe wrote at th is time show that he was not quitecertain whether his family wished him to return. Hisfather wrote reassuringly ; he said that although hefound it difficult to understand his son 's action , andto him it was a great sorrow , it would make nodifference in his affection . The fo l lowing year, hesent Karl's younger brother to fetch him home. Theyo uth stayed with Kar l at the Eitels, and it did nottake him long to understand how it was that his

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Caplaln GOlllieb Schilling. falhe. of OIl' Venerable.

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brother had become a Catholic . In the summer of1855, they journeyed home together. CaptainSchilling was as good as his wo rd and received theprodigal son with unaltered affection.

At that time in Christiania, the first Catholicchurch since the Reformation was being built. TheCatholics had received permission to carry out theirreligious services in public , and a priest fromSirasbourg , M. Lichtte, had been given charge of thelitUe flock. Queen Josephine. the wife of King OscarI. also he lped them with her sympathy andgenerosity.

In 1856, the Church of SI. Olav in Christianiawas dedicated. Karl Schill ing had returned to his oldmaster Ecke rsberg and painted with him regularly,and every morning on his way to the studio heattended Mass.One day, as he came out of church, he met one

of his artist friends. young Krogh-Tanning. Theywalked along together and began to talk aboutCatholicism . Later on , Krogh-Tonning gave up hispainting and became a pastor and a doctor oftheology. one of the most learned theologians of thenorthern State Church and much loved in his parish.In 1900, he became a Cathol ic and his conversioncaused in Norway a consternation similar to that ofNewman 's conversion in England.

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A Different Love

During the following years, Schilling used to goto Dusseldorf fo r the winter, but he spent hissu mmer holidays in Norway. He painted a greatdeal,but most of his pictures have been lost because hesigned very few of them. There are only one ortwo ofthem in Norwegian museums. The paintings displaystrength , refined taste and deep sensitivity, butrarely any strong original talent. Possibly it hadalready dawned on Karl Sch illing that God did notintend him to be a painter. During his later visits toDusseldorf, he had become attached to theyoungest of the Eitel girls in a very intimatefriendship . They no doubt spoke of marriage, butboth of them seemed to have felt uncertain about it.They were both deeply religious, both zealouslyinterested in charitable works and both of themvisited the sick and the poor. She cared for them intheir homes and he gave her money forthis purpose,but the bond between them was not the love whichdesires to find its fulfillment in a home and home life .One summer when Karl was in Norway, the younggirl went to their jOint confessor - the same priestwho had received Karl into the Church - anddisclosed to him that she felt Karl was destined for

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some thing other than to be her husband. The priestconcurred with her , and the young couple agreed todrop the matter.

It seems that from then on Schilling gave upmore and more of his painting caree r. Prayer,meditation, and a loving service to all mankind filledhis life unceasingly. His Norwegian family becameapprehensive when they realized that he had begunto practice asceticism. His old nurse shed bittertears when she found out that Karl no longer caredwhether he lived comfortably.

In Norway , much happened In th ose years fromthe Cathol ic viewpoin t , although other people didnot pay much attention 10 these events. Christianiawas visited by a Norweg ia n-born Catholic priest,Father HolfeJdt-Houen. He stayed in the city for atime before going to his home in Bergen. where hefounded a small parish . Pope Pius IX had institutedthe so-called North Pole Mission, a somewhatfantastic undertaking with headquarters at Alten.Finmarken , embracing not only Norway but districtsall round in the polar reg io n. A chapel was built inTromso as well as a church in Altagaard. However. itsoon became evident that these arrangements wereinadequate and in 1869, Norway was made anApostolic Prefecture.

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KarlHalfdan Schilling. the young painter Ihat in Ge,many wascalled .. the handsome Norweglln."

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The Barnabite Fathersin NorwayFather Holfeldt-Houen was not the only

Norwegian born Catholic priest. Another native ofBergen, the young Paul Stub, was sen t to Genoa tofinish his business training. He received anoverwhelming impression of Catholicism from thedevout Italian family with whom he lodged. Itdiffered altogether from all that he had heard in hisown home town. He then converted to Catholicismand later he entered the Order of the BarnabiteFathers. This meant exi le for Paul Stub. He workedfor a number of years in northern Italy, where he wasknown as a devout priest and a good preacher. Oneday, that for which he had always hoped, but whichhe had thought was scarcely possible in his lifetime,came to pass - Catholic priests were again allowedto work in Norway. So Father Stub came home, andafter some time St. Olav's Church was given to theBarnabites. As pastor, with the help of two Italianpr iests, Father Stub took over the care of Catholicsthroughout the whole of southern Norway.

Having given up the idea of marriage, Schillinglived fo r the most part in Norway . His brother hadbecome a forester in Finmarken, and it was no doubtaccording to his father's wish that he went up andstayed with him for several months. From childhood,

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he had been accustomed to a country life, and hewas an excellent rider and sportsman. He thereforewent with his brother on all his long journeys, goingfrom one forest farm to another and visiting theLapps far up in the North .He hunted reindeer and bears and paintedseveral large pictures. Hewas often obliged to ski fortwo or three days to get to Mass at the small chapelsin Alten and Tromso where the priests longremembered him with affection. In the ir parishwilderness, they had found in him at least one eagersoul.

In 1864, Schilling was again in Christiania. Atthis lime, he founded together with Father Stub theChristiania (later Os lo) branch of the Society of St.Vincent de Paul whose fi rst president he was.remaining so until he left Norway for good.One day he had invited Father Tondini, one ofthe Barnabites , up to his studio . He wished to show

him a picture which he was painting for the yearlyoffi cial art exhibition. The Italian criticized it rathersharply . He thought that the figures were lifeless andstiff . "Th is is not your vocation," said FatherTondinifinally . Karl Schilling said nothing.

But at last one day he had the opportunity to talkthings over with Father Stub. The latter had askedhim whether he did not intend to get married.Schill ing answered "No" so violently that the priestwas surprised and said, "Are you then thinking ofbecoming a religious?" "Yes, yes, a religious andnothing else," was Karl's response .

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It was not easy for the son to speak of this to hisfather. His son's Catholicism had been a sorrow toCaptain Schilling but he had taken the matter withkindness and simplic ity. It would have been anotherand a greater sorrow when he would hear that hisson was considering the religious life. It was with thegreatest difficulty that Karl Schilling broke the newsto his family.

His father had always been so generous; he hadalways given him the opportunity of following hisinclination and of becoming a painter once hethought that was his vocation. When Karl told hisfamily that he firmly believed God had given him areligious vocation and emphasized that he had notbeen influenced by the priests, his father gave hisconsent once again. His son must follow hisconscience even if it took him far away from homeand family.

Since Schilling believed that he was called to bea priest, it was only natural for Father Stub to invitehim to become a Barnabite. ThisOrderhad enteredNorway and by join ing them, Schilling might later onhave an opportunity of working in his own country.He recommended his penitent in the warmest way tohis Provincial in France, and while they were waitingfor the decision, he began to instruct Schilling inLatin and French .

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FarewellFather Stub's Superior was very willing toreceive the postulant and in June of 1868, Karl

Schilling went by boat to his novitiate.He had brought his easel and painting box withhim, and when the steamer was right out in the

Christiania fjord, he threw it all overboard.His itinerary was via Dusseldorf. His first visit inthat city was to S1. Lambert's Church where,fourteen y e a ~ before, he had been received into theChurch. From there he went to the convent churchof the Sisters oflhe Cross. While he knelt before theTabernacle, one of Eitel 'ssonscame in and saw him .Together they went to the house which for so manyyears had been a second home to Karl. William. hisfriend. was now a par ish priest in a little village nearby. and Karl Schilling went out to see him . With thatvisit he had said good-bye to all that he held mostdear in his whole life.

He arrived at the 8arnabite monastery in Parison July 2 and a few weeks later he began hisnovitiate at Aubigny-sur-Nere.It was only human that the good Fathers would

be rather elated at receiving this postulant from a

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foreign land vaguely known to the majority of them.The tall, good-look ing foreigner, who hadrenounced the Lutheran Church and who had givenup a brilliant career as an artist (for it was naturallybelieved that Sch il l ing had been on the way to worldwide fame as a painter) was considered a romanticfigure. This attitude is clearly shown in the letterswritten at that time by his Superiors. Karl, himself,had a very attractive personality everyone wasimpressed by . The purity and kindness of hissoul byhis simplicity, by the se riousness of his devotion toobedience and work , and by his glowing devotion toOur Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. "An angel, a trueangel," is the expression which we find again andagain in letters written by the French priests inregard to the Norwegian novice. Dom Charles-MarieJoseph (his new name) was himself radiantly happy.He wrote to his father as often as he was permittedand he always tried to express to those at home howhappy he was, and how wonderfu l was this life ofprayer, obedience and work . If only they couldunderstand that now, for the first time,he was able toreturn to them something of the love they had shownhim! In fact, every day he could speak of them to hisSavior before the Tabernacle. Karen, his old nurse,must be su re that he remembered her every singleday. He asked his father to go and see Father Stuband sometimes to visi t the Catholic church. He letthe captain know, as ta ctfully and carefully as hecould, his long ing that his father might become aCatholic.

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A Series of Difficu Ities

The novitiate, however, was not withoutdifficu lti es for Dam Charles. The services, hisprayers and meditations , were all sources of greathappiness fo r him . but the amount of bodify workrequired was not enough fo r the former hunter andsportsman. The sedentary l ife and thecircumscribed su rroundings in which he was nowobl iged to move were precarious for his health. Hesuffered from insomnia , fever and headaches . Hewas thirty-four years old and it was difficult fo r himto learn the language; in fact, he never masteredFrench well enough to be able to preach. Booklearning did not come easy to him . His training as apainter and a hunter, his life in the open air , hadtrained his eye; now, however, he had to adapthimself to an entirely different way of living and hehad to learn from books and lectures . He put all hisenergies into the work, with the result that hebecame seriously ill. His Superior, Father Piantoni,was quite worried. He had written to Father Stut),"Schilling is a very saintly novice and will certainlybecome a priest". But now it seemed as if he wouldbe obliged to give up altogether. Charles wasconfined to his bed fo r long periods of time: he was

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))

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unable to work and even recreation became aburden fo r him since he was obliged to speakFrench.

He wrote to Father Stub to explain the matter,and added: "In spite of everything, I have a feelingthat one day I shall be allowed to say Mass", Hewrote this at a time when it seemed hopeless for himto continue in the novitiate, however, never had hehimself felt the call to the consecrated life morestrongly. There were other reasons why he decidedagainst returning home - he was afraid that hisfriends in Christiania would take this as acorroboration of their judgment on the monastic life .

He made novenas to St. Teresa and to 5t.Alphonsus de Liguori, and at last his Superior founda new doctor who did him much good. Little by little,he recovered his health. They told him , however,that he could never seriously hope to become apriest, but they were quite willing to keep him in theOrder as an oblate. Schilling made no objection -"God's will be done" - and on November 19, 1869,

Dam Charles took the vows to live in poverty ,chastity and obedience "for three years" - "and forever" he added in his heart.

In the meantime, he took each day as it came,and fulfilled his duties scrupulously as sacristan andmanual worker and teacher of German to thenovices.

During the Franco-Prussian War, he was able ,more than once, to help the people in the little village

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of Aubigny. He could speak German with theinvading troops and he induced them on severaloccasions to forego their unreasonable demands.

His health was good on the whole, but as timewent by he could not but suffer from the thought thatthe th ree years were almost up. What would happento him then? Would they allow himtobeordained?

The Priesthood

His Superior took the matter in hand and onDecember 18, 1872, Schilling took his final vows. Hewas naturally overjoyed and seemed to have nofurther wish on earth. A couple of months later camea letter from the Superior General of the Ordersaying that Schilling was to take up his studiesagain. so that later on he might be ordained.

The French language was still a great difficultyfor him, but he had learned to leave everything inGod's hands and therefore he did not worrywhetherhe would be able to carryon his studies. He hadgiven up evelYthing he had owned in this world andhe devoted himself to the consecrated life. Thiscaused him a velY great happiness. Finally, withoutdifficulty he passed the different examinations andreceived minor orders.

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Father Stub wrote to Schilling regularly. He wasin Bergen now at S1. Paul's Church; he rejoiced atthe thought that he would soon be joined by aNorwegian priest to help him. He expected that greatthings would happen - especially in the schoolsamong the children.

On December 20, 1873, Charles was to beordained sub-deacon at Bourges. On the morning ofthe 19 , he rose at four o'clock, receivedCommunion in the chapel and set off. He had to walka few kilometers over desolate country and througha little woods before he met the mail-coach. Thedistrict was asleep, sunk in snow and darkness, andbi tterly cold. Dom Charles, full of joy andthankfulness at the thought of the life which , Godwilling, laid before him, walked swiftly along.Suddenly he became aware of a dark shapefOllowing him, half behind and half beside him ,hiding itself among the trees. Instincts almostfo rgotten rose up in Schilling's mind, and he turnedquickly, advancing with bent knees towards thewolf. The creature turned and fled. When he finallyreached the stopping place, there was no sign of thecoach. He waited patiently, whispering to himselfasa prayer, "Volo, volo ordinari" ("I want, I want to beordained"). At last, he was certain that the coach hadbeen held up on account of the weather. Eventually.he walked back to the nearest coaching stationwhere he found the coach and managed to persuadethe driver to take him to his destination; at last, manyhours later, he arrived at Bourges in the evening.

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He wrote to the Eitels, to Father Stub and to hi

home . He longed and rejoiced at the thought thaone day he would be allowed to turn his step,homeward as an ordained priest in the Order aftheBarnabiles. so as to work with Father Stub in hi 'homeland .

On December 18. 1875,he was orda ined a priesin Bou rges. Th e following day he celebrated his firsHoly Mass at home in the monastery."He is a mode l priest," wrote his Superior. The'made h im sacristan and novicemaster and allow

him to look after the sick , and undertake th,religious instruction of th e lay brothers . FatheSchilling seemed to be overjoyed at every task whicwas given him . He would strive fo r perfection . Ahome, he had been taught that it was presumptuouto dream of reaching perfection. But O ur Lord hasaid, "Be perfect" . It must therefore be a possiblgoal to be attained w ith His help . There were alsindulgences , about which at home in Norway the'had such a wrong conception . Father Schi l linco llected indulgences - prayed ali the prayers ancarr ied out all the devotions to which indulgencewere attached . But he explained to one of hiconfreres with his charming and restrained smiletha t all the indu lgences he gained he gave to thMother of God, so that she migh t distribute thewhere the y were most needed.

He never spoke of his own earlier life. Howeverduring recreation his novices would sometimeinduce him to tell them about Norway, and hewoul

describe to them the wilderness and the open spaceof Finmarken, the northern light over the snowfields, and the extraordinary customs of the Lapps.Or he wou ld tell them about the fjords, and the forestregions in the south of the country , the bear and sealhunting. Sometimes he expressed himself rathercomically , bu t it was always obv ious to his listenersthat he had looked at everything with the eye of anartist.

One night in March 1876, a fire broke out in themonastery church. The flames had reached thechoir and one of the Fathers rushed up to the allarand rescued the Blessed Sacrament. It lookedhopeless to save the altar furnishings or to reach thesacristy where the vestments were kept, but FatherSchilling, after he had begged a blessing from hisSuperior, rushed into the choir, going in and outbetween the burning rafters which fell around him ,and carried out load after load in his long arms, untilall the objects of value belonging to the church hadbeen brought to safety.A few years passed and Father Schilling hadheard nothing of being sent back to Norway; hehimself never asked for it. " It looks as though they'rego ing to keep me here, and I will stay here if Godwishes so. It is He Who decides the matter throughou r Father General. I am quite happy here; I studyand I work. I am useful and make progress in the lifeof the Order," he wrote to Father Stub.

Then came the blow of March 29, 1880, when allreligious orders and congregations who had notreceived special authority were banished from


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France. In the autu mn of the same year , theBarnabites we re obl iged to leave Aubigny . OnSeptember 5. in the morning, the Fathers saidMass for the last ti me in their l itt le church. It was fullof weeping and embittered peop le from Aub ig nyand the sur roundi ngs . In th e evening. the policecame to bar the church and to escort the Fathersth rough the crowds of people who shouted , "Longlive Ihe Fathe rs, long live religion, long livefree dom" .

The next day the li tt le comm unity was scatteredto the wi nds. Father Schilling an d a nov ice from theTyrol went to Tur in .

Still he heard no wo rd about Norway.

In Exile

The Barnabites had a novil iate in Monza andFalher Schilling was sent there . As soon as he hadlearned a little Italian , he was made a vice-master ofnovices . As time went by . year alter year. we hear ofhim from his confreres i n the Order who always saythe same thing until it becomes almost monotonous:"Father Sch illing is an example in a ll he does: in thelove fo r Our Lord, in child li ke devot ion to the Motherof God. in t rust in the sa in ts. in compassion fo r souls,both living and dead. He is a ve ry sa intly priest. Henever tires. he is modest and humble, and hisobedience is most edifying ."

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His rudimental. awkward Italian gave to the tall ,stately priest, who was now becoming gray-haired ,amark of almost ch ildlike innocence.In Monza, it was not possible forall the priests tocelebrate daily Mass. If it happened that the priest

who was appo inted to say Mass was incapaci tated,Father Schilling. who otherwise never expressed awish for himself . always begged . "O h. Father, allowme, I would like so much to say Mass."Little by little, the foreign priest, who neve rpreached because he spoke such poor Italian,became a well-known figure in the neighborhood.

When he met another priest he always knelt downand asked his blessing . One day when a monk fromone of the out lying monasteries came to give aLenten address to the brothers, he met Schilling inone of the corr idors of the monastery, an d the tw opriests knel t simultaneously so that it was the mostnatural thing in the world for each to give the otherhis blessing.

His father died in 1886, a good Protestant , as hehad lived . Father Schill ing had now given up all hopeof retu rning to Norway. The Barnabites ' mission inNorway was at th is time experiencing greatdifficulties, but Father Schi lling continued to hopethat eventually these might be overcome. He tried tointerest the novices in his country, and began toinst ruct one or two of them in the Norwegianlanguage. He had co mposed a prayer for the returnof Norway to the Catholic faith , and received the

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permiSSion of Pope Leo XII I to have it printed,together with 300 days indulgence for those whosaid it . It is to be found to this day in theScandinavian prayerbooks:"Good Jesus, I humbly fall at Your feet and prayYou by Your Holy Wounds and by the PreciousBlood which You have shed for the who le wo rld , tolook in mercy on the Scandinavian peoples. Ledastray hundreds of years ago, they are nowseparated from Your Church and denied theinestimable benefit of the Sacrament of Your Bodyand Blood, and also, the many other means of gracewhich You have instituted for the consolation of the

faithful in life and in death.Remember, 0 Savior of the world, that for thesesouls also You have shed Your Precious Blood andhave endured untold sufferings.Good Shepherd, lead these You r sheep back tothe wholesome pastures of Your Church, so thatthey may be one flock together with us under YourVicar here on earth - the Bishop of Rome, who inthe person of the Holy Apostle Peter was

commissioned by You to care both forthe lambs andfor the sheep.Hear, 0 merciful Jesus, these our petitions,which we make to You with full trust in the love ofYour Sacred Heart towards us, and to Your HolyName be glory, honor , and praise for all eternity."

Seven years went by, then Father Schi llingreceived orders to break camp again, and to go toBelgium - to Mouscron .

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"Le Bon Pere"

Ever since the novitiate at Aubigny had beenc losed, the Barnabites of the French province hadbeen seeking a new home. They found Mouscronquite close to the French border - an ancient villageon the fertile Flemish plain, which had developedinto a manufacturing town . It was a poor town andfrom the religious point of view, the inhabitants wereneg lected . A couple of old parish churches, one ortwo convents and whatever else was found forreligious instruction, were quite insufficient nowthat the village had become a kind of industrialcenter.

The Barnabites were able to buy a piece ofproperty and to make it liveable and they regroupedas many as possible those Fathers who had beenexpelled from Bourges. Father Schilling arrived inMouscron in 1887.He found new and difficult tasks awaiting him.The villag e, for many centuries, had had a nucleus ofold and faithful Catholic families. The farmers in theneighborhood were on the whole very devout, butthey were superstitious and poorly instructed in thefaith. The rest of the migrant population had in themajority of cases sprung from Catholic homes.

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Many were opposed to religion, but many of themhad preserved from their childhood Catholiccustoms and teachings often oddly unorthodox.Father SchWing faced everything with a

boundless generosity . He came from the pure andhappy surroundings of the novitiate in Monza. Forhim, all these people, however gravely they hadsinned. were poor s inners, who "knew not what theyhad done". He could never think that anyone couldsin from 111 will . He was certain that all wished to actrightly, and he explained their wrongdoings ascaused by ignorance or human frailty ,

As he believed , so it came to pass. TheNorwegian Fatherwho spoke such very poor Frenchfound his confessional crowded from earlymorning - as soon as he had said Mass - withpeople who wanted his advice and help. All day longthe bell of his confessional was ringing. There wasalways someone who sought him . It might happenthat a single penitent would keep him for a wholehour . Others came several times a day before theywere able to see him . to tell him their needs and theirdifficulties and to obtain his counsel. FatherSch illing 's patiencewas quite inexhaustible;Heavenrejoiced more over each sinner who was comforted ,over each laborer who came at the eleventh hour,over each lost sheep who was found again than overthe ninety-n ine who had never gone astra y.

Innumerable pen itents testified that when "Iebon pere " spoke about our Savior. it was impossibleto remain cold and indifferent. because every word

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he said showed such a marvelous love of God andsuch a tenderness towards all mankind. Thesimplest things he said , the most ordinary counselwhich he gave became something new - "Many hadalready to ld me this , but when Fa ther Schi l lingspoke of it I understood what it meant." Throughcontact with him, many people received their firstinsig ht into the real wonders of holiness - they sawit alive in him .

The Ho ly Manof Mouscron

Father Schill ing was chosen as confessor forseveral convents. a coup le of hospitals. andboarding schools. Many of the priests from the townand from the neighborhood, as well as many fromthe other side of the French border. wished toconfess to him. Hewas known amo ng the people asthe "ho ly man of Mouscron" - "the tall saint" .People sought him out to talk to him: they stoppedhim on the streets. Many came to him w ith the mostextraord inary requests; they wanted him to foretellthe future , or to remove the cu rse that "witches andwicked people had pu t upon them." to bring themluck in business transactions, cure illnesses by thelaying-on of hands, restore peace in unhappyhomes. Father Schilling looked upon it all quite

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LUI pholO 01 the Vene.ab le Karl Schil!ill9

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simply, saying that the poor folk had not beenproperly instructed regarding the priestly power -they had conceptions which were certain lysuperstitious. He helped everyone as best hecould - they had to prepare themselves really wellto receive Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, andtell Him al l about their sorrows and difficulties . Hehimself wou ld pray for them and remember them inhis Mass.

He aged very quick ly . The life in Belgium, themortifications which he practiced, his work whichincreased from day to day, as he was sought moreand more even during the night, weakened hispower of resistance. His feet were sore, for he hadalways taken the boots which were given out to himwithout a wo rd as to whether they fitted him or not.When he was ill , he said not a word to his Superio rs.Mothers sent fo r him when their small children weredying, and he watched and prayed beside the littleones until the peril was over, or the ch ild died. Hewas often sent for when a fallen away Catholic wasnear death 's door, and refused to see a pr iest. Then amother or wife in her anxiety would send for the"Norwegian priest", Kneeling in a corner of therOQm , he prayed unceasingly, losing himself inprayer, while the sick man's cries and curses weredirected towards him, In the end, the priest oftenwon - "Well , anyway, you might come over hereand talk to me," and Father Schilling would get upand sit beside the sick man and begin to tell himabout " Ie bon Oieu" . There we re not many people

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wh o could resist Father Schilling , once he had beenallowed to ment io n th e name 01God .

He reaped his g reat reward whenever he wasallowed to carr y the Sacrament to any of the sic k.Somet imes, his Superio r w ished to send anotherpr iest so that Father Schilling cou ld rest , but healways begged , "Let m e go, Father, it is to me suchwondrous g race w hen I am al lowed to carry myLo rd".

Prayer and PenanceAny f ree time that he was ab le to have, he spe nt

in the choir. He not on ly prayed and meditated there,but he studied and w rote lette rs. He used to say thateverything was better done befo re the Tabernacle.He even made himsel f a kind of little office withbooks and everything he might need in his cho irstall. At the end his Superio r had to ask him to car ryall his things back to his room forit wo uld have beenquite inappropr iate if all the Fathers would havefo llowed his example and set themselves up in thechoi r. Fath er Schilling listened wi thout saying aword. He arranged, however, to spend every freemoment he had on h is knees before the altar, and hewas parti cularly happy when he could be qu ite alonein th e chu rch .

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No matter how cold it was, he would not haveany heat in his room . He accustomed himself tosleep on bare boards which he hid under his sheetand carried out as well all the mortifications whichwere not actually forbidden him by his Superior. Itwas all he could do for his fatherland - offering allthat he had to God , praying to Him grac iously torece ive his offering.

He had given up every idea of seeing Norwayagain . An ordinary tawdry picture postcard from hishome would bring tears to his eyes, but when hisSuperior told him that he could go home for a visit ,he only shook his head.Father Stub had died in Bergen in 1892, and hehad been buried ' in SI. Paul's Church. TheBa rnabites had given up their last house, and forsome years only secular priests had worked in

Norway , which had become an apostolic vicariateunder a titular bishop, the Most Rev. Msgr. Fallitzefrom Luxembourg.

In 1895. he received a visit from fellowcountrymen. a school prinCipal , Sorensen. and afriend of Dr. Krogh-Tanning. Both of these menwere feeling their way towards the Church, but theywere still uncertain . The first meeting betweenSorensen and Father Sch illing was far from happy .The dialogue with the Norwegian pedagoguedisturbed Father Schilling 's usually mild and gentledisposition . He wanted Sorensen to become aCatholic immediately . and only managed to rousethe school principal's latent ill-feeling about

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fanatical monks. "When I meet a Lutheranc lergyman from Norway," burstout Father Schilling ," I feel stirred in my innermost heart, for I think - youmisled me when Iwasyoung ,you have misled all myfamily, you have misled the whole Norwegiannation ." He wi llingly acknowledged that theProtestant clergy did not mislead their peopleknowingly or willfully, but the school principal wasnevertheless very much upset by the Father 'sremarks regarding their fatherland and its statereligion , However, they corresponded from t ime totime, and when Sorensen finally became a Catholicin 1900, Father Schilling was one of the first towhomhe wrote saying that he had decided to take the finalstep .

Charity

Sometimes during recreation, the other Fatherswould prevail on Father Schilling to speak to themabout Norway. Then he would forget himself indescribing the beauty of the summer nights and thethrills of hunting . "Oh , Father, that must be differentfrom Belgium, we have only these flat plains whichwe have saved from the sea, and the smoke of thefactories." The old Father Schilling shook his whitehead . "No, no , it is good here, and it is also quitecharming . God has made this land also and theclimate - do not let us grumble about the climateit is as God wishes it to be."

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In the winter of 1902 to 1903.Mouscron was verybadly ravaged by an epidemic of small-pox . Thescourge claimed many victims . especially amongthe child ren . Father Schilling worked untiringly dayand night . ob taining help fo r the poverty-strickenhomes. watching over the sick and comforting thosewho were frightened or bewildered: and in a greatmany cases people said that it was Father's prayersthat brought their children back 10 life. People werewhispering that God had answered his prayers in amiracu lous way . Mental cases had been cured whenhe had placed his hands on them, and it was quiteuseless for anyone to keep back sins from him in theconfessional. Many a t ime he knew all there was tobe known about a soul before a word had beenspoken . One glance from his eyes was enough toaffect a hardened sinner. Those who came to him indistress and temptation received from himwondrous help. And if he should at any timecondemn, not the sinner, but the sinful action. hiswords and his holy grief would affect the penitentmost deeply. One day a working woman wished tospeak to him . Sobbing. she told him that her littleboy. her only child, had died . Father Schilling stoodstill as if lost in his thought, then he said. "Do notgrieve, the child is not dead , but he is sleeping.Come. we wi l l praylogether." They prayed.and thenhe said aga in . "Go home, your child is not dead."The mother went home and found the child sleeping,alive and well. This story is not included in thedossier which has been forwarded fo r FatherSChi lling 's beatification, for the child 's death was notcertified by a doctor , but the story is known in

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Mouscron . Father Sch illing himse lf did not care tospeak of the occurrence; he always repeated , "Theboy was not dead. God Himself told me so."During the summer of 1906, it became clear tothose near him that the end was not far off. One dayon his way home from the death-bed of one of hispenitents , he rang the bell of the house of one of hisfriends . They were obliged to help him into theliving room where he sat on the first chair - arocking chai r - and gratefully took and emptied aglass of wine which they gave him . No one had everseen him do such a thing - sit on a rocking chai r

and drink wine with his friends.Troubled , his friends followed him home andsaw him dragg ing himself towards the monasteryseeking support from the walls of the hous es as he

went along.

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The End

Three days later, when he came out of hisco nfessional, he COllapsed and had to be helped tohis bed .He took his illness as a gift from God ; now hewould have t ime to prepare himself before his Lordand Master called him to Himself. Then his strengthre turned to him littl e by little, in spite of theharshness with which he had treated his body. Henever got up again , but from his sick bed he was ableto carry on a great deal of his work. He received visitsfrom pr iests whose spiritual director he had been formany yea rs , and he wrote letters to his penitents andold friends.

He lived through Christmas, but on January 3,1907, in the afternoon , it was apparent that his endwas imminent. Some of his students from these minary of Mouscron were allowed to visit him. Hegave them his blessing and said with his kind smile ,"You must become saints , great saints." He hadreceived the Last Sacraments, and shortly after theyo ung boys had gone, he sank rapidly . He held hisRosary in his hand, and kissing the crucifix said, "MyJesus . make me love You more and more." Thosewe re the last words he ever spoke . After this hebreathed his last quite peacefully, and without astruggle. Two days later, he was buried in the

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monastery church, and the sick and the sorrowfu l,the distressed and the poo r, wh o could no longerseek h im as before, came to his grave with theiranxieties and troub les, sure that his love fo r themand his desire to help were still as great as ever.Later on, there we re many who said that theyhad rece ived supernatu ral blessings through thedead priest's intercession.

In 1924, the Barnabites in Mouscron wrote toBishop Waf felaert asking that the process for FatherSchilling's beatification be opened.

Since that time, a stream of witnesses ofsupernatu ral answers to prayer which have beenascribed to the intercession of Father Schilling havebeen added to the dossier submitted to Rome. Hisgrave is constantly visited by pilgrims from Belgiumand northern France. The Norwegian Catholics turnto Father Schilling in their prayers, begging him tohasten the "second spring" in Norway, so earnestlydesired and hoped for.

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Prayer

o merciful and eternal God , Who on calling tothe True Faith Your Venerable Karl M. Schilling,have made him a model of Christian virtues and anapostle of good, we supplicate You to deign toglorify him on earth by granting us the grace .. whichwe ardently implore , through the merits of Our LordJesus Christ . Amen .

Th ose who rece ive favors through the intercessionof the Venerable Karl M. Schilling, are kindly askedto communicate with : The Barnabite Fathers,1023 Swan Road, Youngstown, New York 14174

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The Barnabite Fathers

TH E BARNABITE FATHERS are ClericsRegular, that is, clerics doing any priestly work , butliving together under a special Rule, bound bysolemn vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.SAINT PAUL is the Patron Saint of the Order

fr om whom the Barnabite religious inspirethemselves in spreading the devotion to ChristCrucified and to the Holy Eucharist.

THE ORDER WAS FOUNDED 400 years ago bySaint Anthony M. Zaccaria (1502-1539), a learnedand charitable Doctor of Medicine. Believing thatsouls were more in need than bodies, he became apriest .THE CLERICS REGULAR OF ST. PAUL 're

commonly called Barnabites from their first majorChurch in Milan, Italy, which was dedicated to S1.Barnabas.

EVERY SIX YEARS, a General Assembly inRome elects the Superior General , his fourASSistants, the Provincial Superiors, and theSuperiors of the local Communities.FOLLOWING THE EXAMPLE of their Holy

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"A Priest from Norway: Fr Karl M. Schilling" by Sigrid Undset.

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