Saint of the Month - November 2020: Sr. Josepha of Jesus Lindmayr

The Servant of God

Sr. Josepha of Jesus

(a.k.a. Maria Anna Lindmayr)

Once again it's November, the month especially dedicated by Holy Mother Church to the remembrance of the Poor Souls ... and today I am happy to feature a holy Carmelite who had a great devotion to them.  She isn't officially a Saint yet, but her Cause for Canonization was opened by her diocese, which speaks well of the worthiness of her character.

A painting of Maria Anna Lindmayer,

the future Sr. Josepha of Jesus.

Born on September 9, 1657, Maria Anna's father was Franz Lindmayr, a valet to the Duke of Bayern-Leuchtenberg, and her mother was named Eva Maria.  Together, the Lindmayrs had 15 children who the couple raised in a strict Catholic upbringing.  This daughter, in particular, was extraordinarily gifted in spirit from her early childhood - so much so, that she was reportedly favored with an apparition of the Blessed Virgin at just 8-years-old!

At 12 Maria Anna was introduced to the Church's teaching about the Poor Souls, whose sufferings tugged at her heart.  She maintained a life-long devotion to them, offering prayers and intense voluntary sacrifices on their behalf (more will be shared about her devotion to the Holy Souls further down in this post).

Now despite her childhood piety and experiences, Maria Anna did not decisively surrender herself to Christ until age 15 when, through the influence of her Carmelite confessor, she began discerning the Lord's will for her life.  Her commitment to belong solely to God was solidified during a deep conversion experience after having made a general confession.  A few years later she attempted to enter three local convents but was unsuccessful due to chronic poor health.  Returning home each time, she plunged herself into a regimen of deep prayer, self-mortification, and extreme penances (she secretly wore a spiked belt next to her skin and habitually fasted).  At about the same time mystical graces resurfaced and escalated in her life, which included apparitions of Jesus and other heavenly personages, and the Sacred Stigmata.

On July 16, 1687, Maria Anna became a Carmelite Tertiary and was clothed in the Order's Brown Scapular.  She continued living as a consecrated laywoman, running her household and caring for her younger siblings, while heavily involved in the building of a church in Munich honoring the Holy Trinity; she had prophetically encouraged the citizens to construct the church to ward off a plague and the encroachment of an ongoing war, which it effectively did.

In October 1711, at the mature age of 54, Anna Maria was finally admitted into a newly established Discalced Carmelite cloister that was built next to the church she helped to raise; her profession took place on May 1713 under the religious name of Sr. Josepha of Jesus.  There, in Carmel, she was first appointed the infirmarian but was elected to the 3-year post of Prioress in 1716 and 1719... then named Novice-Mistress, beginning in 1722 (Lindmayr was actually elected to a third term as Prioress but declined the office, allowing herself to be persuaded to take charge of training the novices instead).

Sr. Josepha prayed constantly for

the Poor Souls in Purgatory.

Going back to her devotion to the Poor Souls, Sr. Josepha reportedly had mystical, personal contact with them and even visited Purgatory on several occasions.  Fortunately, she left behind detailed written accounts of her experiences, which are full of profound insights into Purgatory and the state of the souls in purification. Cited below are just a few excerpts from her writings:

  "It was also revealed to me that to the Holy Souls, one hour seems longer than twenty years of extreme suffering on this earth. I also understood that even if we could arrange for them to get out of Purgatory and to go to Heaven, although not completely purified, the Holy Souls would rather stay until judgment day than appear before God even with the smallest stain... Oh yes, we can indeed call them 'holy', the Holy Souls of Purgatory, since they are full of love for God. They burn more with the love of God and the desire to be with Him who is so good and to rejoice in His presence. This fire of love burns them more than the fire of punishment."

And here's more..

  "Another time, I saw Purgatory as a prison of fire, as a place where the fire is frightening. All the fires of the world united could not compare to it, and the Poor Souls were plunged into it like sparks. They are so numerous that my eyes could not embrace at a glance the entire multitude, so vast it is."

Lastly...

  "To give an idea of the vast number of these Poor Souls, God made me see Purgatory in the form of an anthill. I asked why the Souls were shown to me in this way. I was given to understand that an anthill has a outer cover so we cannot actually see the great number of ants inside. But if we stir it with a stick, or if we put smoke to it, the ants will come out by the thousands. I realized from this that there were in Purgatory, many, many Souls hidden from our eyes, as in a covered anthill as I had just seen... He was using me, as it were, as the end of a stick to stir up the anthill, for me to see in Purgatory the hidden crowd of Souls that we think are already in Heaven."

It goes without saying, deeply moved by what she witnessed in visions, Sr. Josepha responded generously to the plight of the Faithful Departed by offering countless sacrifices and extraordinary mystical sufferings for their release.  The souls, in turn, had great confidence in the effectiveness of her prayer - with God's express permission, they appeared to her with uncommon frequency and, at times, even gently pulled on her cloak to get her attention, so eager were they to obtain relief!

Towards the end of her illustrious life the "Saint of Munich" lost her sight and suffered from a lingering illness.  The Servant of God died peacefully at aged 69 on December 6, 1726.

A painting of Sr. Josepha of Jesus in death.

The year following her passing, Josepha's Cause for Canonization was initiated by her Bishop.  However, it remains stalled up to the present day.  A contributing factor is the suppression of her convent and the forced eviction of the Carmelites in 1802 by the anti-clerical government that came into power. Furthermore, in 1803, the mystic's grave was secretly opened by the Munich police and her bones, along with the remains of other deceased nuns, were sacrilegiously buried in an unmarked pit.  Thus, sadly, the bodily relics of this holy nun are presently lost to the world.

Please join this ministry in praying for the revival and continued progress of Sr. Josepha of Jesus's Cause ... and let us seriously take her message about the Holy Souls to heart.  In union with her prayer from Heaven and other Faithful in the Church, let us pray: Dear God, grant unto the Poor Souls eternal rest and peace.  Let perpetual light shine upon them.  Amen.

“It is a holy and wholesome

thought to pray for the dead, that

they may be freed from sins.”

- 2 Mach. 12:46