The transformation of yesterday and today

In time of transformation we look to our history to inspire us and motivate us.

Here we share the story of M. Maria Mechtildis, our Superior General from 1959 to 1969,

who steered our congregation through the transformations following the independence of many African states and the Second Vatican Council.

Born Hildegard Balmerth on 15th February 1916 in Erbach (Germany) she grew in war and hardship in a family of great faith and courage. At the age of eighteen, in 1934, she entered the postulate in Trier. She was active and very energetic, ready to take on anything in order to be of service. On 1st May 1935 she received the white habit of the Congregation in the novitiate of Trier with the name Sr. Maria Mechtildis. The novice mistress, M. Madeleine de la Croix passed on her own love for the mission, with the apostolic spirit she had received directly from M. Marie-Salome and our first Sisters.

Nominated as a teacher in Zambia in 1939, M. Maria Mechtildis was forced to remain in Germany by the devastating Second World War. She worked mainly for hospitals and nursing school. Without her realizing it, this experience in various tasks prepared her for responsibilities other than those of a teacher…

In June 1951 the added charge of Assistant provincial was given to her, and in 1952 she would take over as Provincial from M. Madeleine de la Croix whose age and state of health forced her to retire.

In 1957 the Vice-province of Germany could at last be created with posts in the dioceses of Karema (Tanganyika) and Abercorn (Northern Rhodesia). M. Mechtildis visited these six communities from May to July 1957 and the Sisters were struck to see how quickly she understood the problems and needs of these missions about which she had dreamt for so long!

General Chapter of 1959

In May 1959 M. Mechtildis left for St. Charles to participate in the General Chapter, thinking she would soon be back in Trier. Active and always ready for hard work, on the evening of the day before the opening of the Chapter she started scrubbing the old wooden staircase of the Motherhouse… probably better than it had ever been scrubbed before!

The Sisters of the Motherhouse who saw this big cleaning going on had no idea that this tall, strongly-built, young-looking capitulant would become their Superior General.

The following day, Saturday the 16th, the eve of Pentecost, the Chapter gave the Congregation its new Superior General, M. Maria Mechtildis and her Council. The average age was 45.

The organizational gifts of M. Maria Mechtildis had been observed along with her missionary spirit, the reliability of her perception of events and the value of her judgment. Her personal experience of the horrors of the war would be of service to her as the struggles for independence of African nations came with similar scenes of fire and bloodshed and at times left behind the same effects of ruin, wounds and hatred. It was necessary to bind up wounds, to pacify, to repair… and to rebuild. The mandate of M. Mechtildis would be specially marked by this and made her task more difficult.

The first big decision of the 1959 Chapter was the transfer of the Generalate from Algeria to Rome. There had been question of this already in 1953 but that Chapter had not seen any immediate necessity. In 1959 the war in Algeria had considerably disrupted the country and communications. The reasons cited for installing the General Council away from this context and at the centre of Catholicism were now more compelling.

On their return from a last pilgrimage to the Basilica of Our Lady of Africa, on 23rd July 1960, Mother Mechtildis addressed the whole Congregation in a circular letter written from Saint-Charles:

Tomorrow we shall leave Saint-Charles. You can easily imagine our feelings as we leave behind us the graves of Vénérée Mère and all the other good missionaries who have gone before us. But we are taking with us as our most precious keepsake and a token of the Vow of 1885, the lovely bronze Virgin of the cemetery, placed on the highest point of our property as Guardian of the Vineyard. From Rome, she will continue to protect the workers in the Vineyard of the Lord, even to the most distant missions; and each night as we pray to her for Africa… we shall bring you all to her feet, asking her to keep us always more united. We are still as close to you as ever, by moving away we are brought nearer to you all in spirit…”

Another important matter was the creation of the African Provinces. With Provincial Councils residing in Europe and Canada, meetings of the provincials were difficult. In times of trouble and difficult circumstances in almost all the countries of Africa this difficulty was even bigger. Rapidity and flexibility in administration seemed necessary in order to deal with changing situations and emergencies which were heavy with consequences.

Let’s remember that all this happened during a time of unrest and outright war and that our sisters endured terrible personal hardships and left their posts only when obliged.

We can easily imagine the upheaval these changes created, feelings of confusion and the anxiety for the future.

Presenting the decisions and wishes of the Chapter to the Sisters, Mother Mechtildis wrote:

I feel (…) the need to share with you the anxiety we have all felt during our long sessions when comparing the difference that exists between our possibilities and the demands of our missionary and African vocation… As I wrote to you in my first Circular letter, we are not numerous enough: so, let us be more holy!”

But more transformation was on the way…

The Second Vatican Council took place in several sessions between 1962 to 1965. It brought a profound redefinition of the catholic church on a global scale with particular attention to update the dialogue with the faithful (Gaudium et Spes) and with other religions (Nostra Aetate).

The renewal requested by John XXIII was expressed especially in the Constitution of the Church, Lumen Gentium, that had been completed on 21st November 1964.

Pope John XXIII had also ordered a revision of Canon Law aimed at fostering an “adapted renewal of religious life”. Each Institute was called upon to organise a special Chapter in order to promote this “aggiornamento” and asked that this Chapter be prepared by a broad and free consultation of all the members.

General Chapter of 1965

At that time the General Council had just about settled in the Villa Vecchia near Frascati and prepared the General Chapter of 1965.

Even before the Vatican had asked for a broad consultation of all the members of the Congregation, our Chapter had been preceded by provincial and pro-provincial Assemblies during the Summer of 1964. Besides this, all the Bishops in Africa who had White Sister communities in their dioceses had been asked to give their opinion about the apostolic work of the Sisters as well as the needs and desires which they had discerned concerning the apostolate.

This chapter re-elected M. Maria Mechtildis as Superior General and continued its work seeking the norms for its renewal in the light of our specific charism and in the spirit of the Vatican Council.

After a four-year-long experience of Provinces in Africa the Chapter no longer hesitated to pursue this organisation in face of the new situation in all the African countries. But deeper structural reforms were necessary. Without further delay the Chapter decided on some modifications of the structures which would facilitate more participation.

The General Council had also began working on a revision of the Constitutions. The Capitulants confided the draft to the General Council the care of preparing the project in view of presenting to the extraordinary Chapter of “aggiornamento”.

In communicating all these Chapter decisions to the Sisters, M. Mechtildis tried to help them understand the spirit which had inspired them. She wrote:

When the rigidity of discipline or the cult of observance become an obstacle to the apostolate, it is legitimate to doubt whether in such cases they are still a valid expression of our fidelity. On the other hand, accepting out of love for God the daily renunciation inherent in our apostolic tasks, in indispensable self-forgetfulness and continual gift of self to others, prevents illusions and places the apostle firmly in the footsteps of Christ. Then our obedience unites us to His obedience as Son in the work of Redemption.”

The Sisters were called to more personal responsibility and to become more aware of a process of spiritual liberation which, while freeing the best in the congregation, involved also some risks. Thus, the entire Congregation was invited to make an effort of profound renewal, in an entirely new way.

Some Sisters were shocked to see the transformation of the framework of obedience, Rules and Superiors, which suited them well and to which they were accustomed.

Others, on the contrary, experienced this framework as an unbearable yoke and felt relieved at seeing it become lighter or even disappear. Some would have gone further still… Tensions sprang up which called for a lot of mutual charity, open-mindedness and also true fidelity

Extraordinary General Chapter of 1969

In 1967, Mother Mechtildis presented the project of the Constitutions to the study in all communities. The draft had been prepared according to the wishes of the Chapter of 1965 and would be looked at by the extraordinary Chapter on the “aggiornamento” which opened in January 1969.

There was a pre-capitular session which had allowed the capitulants to get to know one another, to follow some conferences on various topics of actuality and problems, in particular on interpersonal relations and work and exercises in groups, and to study and improve the rules for the Chapter. Feelings of joy and hope filled the assembly as they accepted the Spirit’s call addressed to them through the Church.

This first assembly dispersed in March for a pause of four months after two and a half months of discussions. Faced with the length of the work, the capitulants felt it was too costly from all points of view to convene the next regular Chapter for 1971 — which was now too near – and decided that the second session would be the “ordinary Chapter” with elections.

Work was resumed in August and Sr. Blandine (Marie-Josée Dor) was elected as Superior general. The following events are recent history of our congregation which continue to evolve and adapt to the times.

M. Mechtildis continued her apostolate first as Provincial Assistant in Germany for twelve years and then four years as Superior in Switzerland. She retired and died in 1997 in Trier, Germany at 81 years old.

Her example of steadfast faith and service is still an inspiration to many sisters. During the changing and transformations that we are living through today, personally and as Congregation we can choose either to embrace and guide the process, or to be dragged unwillingly into the future.

As Vénérée Mère herself wrote,

If our predecessors could endure the heavy work, the trials, the hardships which have made our Congregation what it is today, it is because they found the necessary strength in their great mutual charity”.

And our sisters did find the necessary strength and the mutual sisterly love to sustain them in the transformation.

Capitular Acts of 2023 say: “The transforming Love of the Risen Christ calls us to journey together without fear…!”

Transformation is a way of life for the whole creation. Although change may inspire initial confusion, it is not optional but part and parcel of our missionary call.