Michael October - November

Distressed by this scandal, Hildegard denounced

the exploitation of children in a pamphlet, drawing her

inspiration from the teaching of Pope Leo XIII in the

encyclical Rerum Novarum (1891). Charity towards the

poor must not be limited to relieving isolated instan-

ces of suffering, without seeking to right the injustices

that cause them. Each person must take responsibility,

including in the political realm, to pull out the struc-

tures of sin at their roots, and establish social jus-

tice. During the First World War, Hildegard defended

women who were replacing men in the factories who

had been called up. Her goal: to apply the principle of

“equal pay for equal work” on behalf of female work-

ers. In November 1918, the defeat of the Central Pow-

ers (Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire) led

to an insurrection in Vienna and the proclamation of

the Austrian Republic. Nominated as a candidate in

the parliamentary elections, Hildegard Burjan became

the only woman representative of the Christian Social-

ist Party. In Parliament, she promoted social reforms,

not as a revolutionary, but in fidelity to the social doc-

trine of the Church. She proposed laws to promote the

rights of workers and to protect children. At her insti-

gation, the parties agreed to pass a law offering social

security to home help.

The conscience of the Parliament

Hildegard said, “A consuming interest in public

affairs is part of the practice of Christianity.” Seventy

years later, Blessed John Paul II would declare:

“The

lay faithful are never to relinquish their participation

in ‘public life’, that is, in the many different economic,

social, legislative, administrative and cultural areas,

which are intended to promote organically and insti-

tutionally the common good”

(Post-synodal exhorta-

tion

Christifideles Laici

, December 30, 1988, no. 42).

During the two years of her term of office, Hilde-

gard won the respect of all the members of Parliament.

Chancellor Ignaz Seipel would say that he had never

met anyone more enthusiastic in his or her political

activity or wiser in his or her intuitions. Cardinal Piffl,

the Archbishop of Vienna, saw in her “the conscience

of the Parliament.” Invited to run in the 1920 elections,

and proposed for the post of Minister of Social Af-

fairs, she declined both these offers, in part due to her

poor health, but mostly to devote herself to organizing

Caritas Socialis (Social Charity), an initiative whose

goal and name were inspired by Saint Paul’s exclama-

tion (2 Cor. 5:14):

Caritas Christi urget nos

— For the

love of Christ impels us.

Hildegard understood that, in order to achieve

her goal and truly have an impact, those engaged in

social action needed to be entirely motivated by the

ideal presented in the Gospels.

From this came her

idea to found a community of women consecrated to

God to promote social justice in the heart of working

cities where Christianity had become foreign. Com-

pelled by divine charity, these women would live ac-

cording to the “Evangelical Counsels” (poverty, chas-

tity, and obedience), wearing a simple and discrete

religious habit, close to the workers. Hildegard formu-

lated the foundational intuition of Caritas Socialis in

these words: “Over the course of the centuries, the

Catholic Church has nurtured the most varied flowers.

In the face of each distress that has presented itself,

she has sent forth men filled with the Holy Spirit to

remedy it... Perhaps in its turn, our Caritas might, in the

midst of modern paganism, appear as its own branch

on the trunk of the Church.” The plan was approved by

Cardinal Piffl and blessed by Pope Benedict XV.

On October 4, 1919, the first ten Sisters of the

Apostolic Society of the Sisters of Caritas Socialis

made their commitment before God during a Mass in

Vienna. Lay associates would work alongside them.

The ambition of the Caritas was to dedicate itself to

new charitable initiatives — providing a roof for home-

less women, saving poor young women in danger, tak-

ing in single mothers to keep them from the temptation

to abort their children (a “Home for mother and child”

was opened in Vienna in 1924), rescuing prostitutes

from vice by rehabilitating them, caring for women

suffering from venereal diseases, etc. This apostolate

scandalized some Catholics, who saw in it an encour-

agement of, or at least an excuse for, immorality. In

reality, as Hildegard wrote, “It is not a question of only

relieving material destitution, but in fact of awakening

a new life in Christ.” These so-called “lost” or endan-

gered women were called to conversion and to lead

a Christian life from then on. Caritas gave them the

means to do so.

The leader of the Sisters

A married woman and the mother of a family,

as foundress Hildegard Burjan acted as the superi-

or of the Sisters, an anomaly that aroused criticism

from some of the faithful. But Cardinal Piffl answered

them: “Having Mrs. Burjan in my diocese is a grace

for which I will be accountable before God. It is my

holy conviction that she must remain the leader of

the Sisters until her last breath.” Overburdened, and

overwhelmed with work, the foundress used to say,

“I will rest and sleep only when I am under ground.”

She dedicated a great deal of time to receiving

and advising the Sisters. She showed them the re-

spect due to women consecrated to God in the celi-

bate life. Modesty, discretion in speech, but also

charity and human warmth were the qualities she

showed in this spiritual direction. To reprimand a Sis-

ter for a fault cost her dearly, but she spoke frankly

when it was her duty. She did so in such a loving and

constructive manner that Sisters left these meetings

feeling won-over and at peace.

Such a consuming

job did not prevent Hildegard from remaining a very

loving spouse and available mother. A bit before

her death, she told her husband: “I have been very

happy with you. Thank you for all these beautiful

years that we have spent together, for your under-

standing and your assistance in my work.”

Prayer was a fundamental necessity for Hilde-

gard. Without God, nothing useful can be done (cf.

John 15:5). She prayed especially at night, for lack

of time during the day, taking time out of her sleep.

A diabetic, Hildegard had to give herself insulin in-

jections every day for fifteen years. She patiently en-

dured all the sufferings of this disease — pain in her

kidneys and intestines, exhaustion, hunger caused

by the strict diet she was prescribed, and above all,

a burning thirst. Every day, she attended Mass and

received Communion. According to the discipline in

effect at the time, to receive Communion, one need-

ed to fast from all food and drink, including water,

since midnight. Every morning, she waited for her

husband to eat his breakfast and leave for the office;

then she would go to Mass and only drink when she

returned home. She never asked for a dispensation

from the Eucharistic fast. Speaking from experience,

Hildegard wrote one of her nuns: “Believe me, for

everyone life is a battle. Aware of it or not, each of

us advances slowly on the rocky road to Calvary. Let

us thank God for giving us the opportunity to climb it

and, by his light, to enable us to see our faults.”

When all illusion ceases

On Pentecost 1933, she suffered a very painful

ren

al inflammation. In spite of the reassuring medical

prognoses, Hildegard calmly prepared herself for a

death she felt near. Her doctor gave the following ac-

count of her last days: “I have seen countless patients

near death. But the final hours of Hildegard Burjan re-

main in my memory as a unique case. Fully aware of

being close to her end, she was concerned about her

loved ones and her initiatives. With respect to herself,

she was without fear, and entirely surrendered; she

joyfully considered death a deliverance from earthly

existence, and showed an absolute confidence that

she would enter into eternal life.”

For her part, Hildegard confided, “My death is a

calm Deo gratias ! Twenty-five years ago, God, at the

time of this illness, drew me to Himself and chose me.

He carried me in His arms like a child, and now He is

delivering me from this illness to lead me to Himself.

I often think about what could be a cause for fear for

me, of the moment of appearing before God... Cer-

tainly I have done many bad things in my life, but I

know I have never sought anything but His will. And

this is why I see nothing I should fear.” She testified

to her calm faith in these words: “Sometimes over

the course of my life, the thought has come to me of

what the hour of my death would be like, this moment

at which all illusion ceases. I have wondered if then

everything would dissolve, would appear to me as a

dream... And now, I see that it is all true, that it is all

Truth.” On June 11, 1933, the Feast of the Most Holy

Trinity, she murmured, “How beautiful it will be to go

to rest in God!” Then, kissing her Crucifix, she said,

in a slow and clear voice: “Dear Savior, make all men

lovable, so that You might love them. Enrich them

with Yourself alone!” Shortly thereafter, she died.

At the time of Hildegard’s death, the Caritas So-

cialis numbered 150 members and 35 institutions in

Austria and abroad. Raised in 1960 to a religious in-

stitute of pontifical right, today this “Community of

Apostolic Life” comprises 900 sisters and lay collabor-

ators who perform various apostolates, particularly on

behalf of pregnant mothers in difficult circumstances

(women’s shelters), and for elderly persons suffering

from serious medical conditions (Alzheimer’s dis-

ease). Following a decree by Pope Benedict XVI, Hilde-

gard Burjan was proclaimed blessed on January 29,

2012, in Vienna. In their commitment vows composed

by Blessed Hildegard Burjan, the Caritas Sisters say to

God: “I thank You with all my heart for having deemed

me worthy to be an instrument of Your love.”

Let us ask Jesus Christ, sent into the world by His

Father to light the fire of Love (cf. Lk. 12:49), to make

us instruments of His redemptive Love as well.

Dom Antoine Marie osb

This article is reprinted with permission from

the Abbey of Clairval, France, which publishes every

month a spiritual newsletter on the life of a saint, in

English, French, Italian, or Dutch. Their postal ad-

dress: Dom Antoine Marie, Abbe, Abbaye Saint-Jo-

seph de Clairval 21150 Flavigny sur Ozerain, France.

Their website: http://

www.clairval.com.

“God gave us reason to identify the

distress of the times, the causes of

this distress, the means for remedy.

Not by accident He puts us together

with the outer circumstances, not

by chance He talks to our hearts,

not incidentally He leads us to this

work.” —

Hildegard Burjan

MICHAEL October/November/December 2013