The Servant of God
Sr. Maria Columba SchonathConformed to Christ Crucified
In her lifetime - Sr. Maria Columba Schonath - a Dominican nun of Bamberg, Germany, was revered as a living Saint. Yet, today, her name is hardly known outside of her country despite the fact cures and other signal graces are reported at her tomb, and her Cause for Canonization being started in her diocese. So, who was this enigmatic nun whose life was so closely conformed to the Lord's?
Sr. Maria Columba was born in the town of Burgellern on December 11, 1730; that same day she was baptized Maria Anna in the parish church of St. Killian. The eldest child of a miller, she was reported to have been pious and spiritually gifted from her earliest years, experiencing her initial encounter with Christ during her First Holy Communion at the tender age of 8. She had been looking forward to the day with excitement, but upon seeing herself poorly dressed compared to the other first communicants, she was filled with a naive sense of unworthiness and embarrassment until she heard a voice say to her (she later understood it to be Jesus): "You are ashamed of your body. I am not ashamed of your soul. Let the outside go! I don't look at the outside. You should prepare your heart for me because I want to be united with you."
Maria Anna later described her First Communion in the following manner: "Then my heart was kindled like a fire and I couldn't contain my joy all day." It was just the beginning of a long series of mystical experiences that lasted until the very day she died.
Another significant experience Maria Anna recorded occurred shortly after she lost her dear mother when she was just 11-years-old. She was tending sheep when the Lord appeared to her and invited her to walk the narrow "way of the Cross and suffering", to which the young girl replied in the affirmative. From henceforth she was drawn more and more into contemplative prayer and self-mortification, and took it upon herself to perform the most difficult household chores without complaint.
About a year later, while praying alone in the parish church, the devout youngster made known to Jesus her desire to belong only to him, as his consecrated bride, after which the Lord again appeared to her with arms outstretched as if to embrace her. This appearance had the effect of solidifying her conviction to one day enter a convent.
Church in Bamberg.
At 16, with the consent of her father and stepmother, Maria Anna applied for admission with the Dominican Monastery of the Holy Sepulcher in Bamberg, but was denied due to her lack of education. She tried with other local convents but received similar negative responses to her inquiries. Frustrated, but not defeated, she complained to God about her plight and was visited by an apparition of St. Dominic de Guzman (d. 1221) who assured Maria Anna that she would become a member of his Order... so, she reapplied with the Dominicans of Bamberg who accepted her the second time around. She entered their monastery in May 1753, at the age of 22, and was given the name Sr. Maria Columba (or simply Columba, which means dove); she solemnly professed vows on September 24, 1754.
Shortly after her profession, the new nun - who was relatively healthy up to that point in time - was suddenly afflicted with a mysterious illness. Sr. Columba experiences fever, weakness, chronic nausea, and painful ulcers that erupted on her body leaving her mostly incapacitated; doctors called in to treat her were perplexed over her condition. It goes without saying that it was an extremely painful trial in both mind and body for the patient since the other sisters now looked upon her as a burden to their community.
Fortunately, Columba was not left without heavenly support - St. Dominic often visited the sick woman to comfort and mentor her. The Saint taught her to meditate constantly on the crucifix, which he referred to as the "Book of Love", and encouraged her to surrender and unite herself to Christ on his Holy Cross. The Lord, too, manifested himself more frequently to her, especially as the Ecce Homo and once complained: "My heart is wounded with love and pain. If you want to become like me, you must also become like this."
Drawn in a unique way into the mystery of Christ's redemptive sufferings, it's hardly surprising that this mystic eventually received the Sacred Stigmata in her hands, feet, and chest two days before her 33rd birthday. Then, just two days after the same birthday, Sr. Columba also experienced the Mystical Marriage. It was the pinnacle of her spiritual life for which she was well-prepared by years of sickness and moral oppression.
The stigmatic wounds remained visible on Columba's limbs for the remainder of her life but only bled on Fridays; they also emitted a floral fragrance. It was her personal conviction that she was commissioned by her Divine Spouse to atone for the sins of her time and to pray for the conversion of sinners. In addition, she sensed it also a special prerogative to assist the souls in Purgatory with her reparatory sufferings. The Poor Souls were frequent visitors to her bedside, imploring her prayers and voluntary sacrifices on their behalf to which she always generously agreed.
News of the extraordinary events occurring in the Bamberg Monastery soon reached the ears of the local bishop, who enlisted the services of a certain abbot to examine Columba's case. Apparently, the man was a skeptic when it came to mystical phenomena and he judged her condition to not be supernatural; possibly the effects of a natural disease. As a result, Sr. Columba was subjected to suspicion and forbidden from speaking with others, including her relatives who sometimes came to the monastery's grill to check on her. On her part, the afflicted woman behaved admirably, calmly complying with every restriction imposed on her - she even defended the bishop against her family when they suggested they'd confront him over his treatment of her.
Despite her incredibly difficult situation, Columba only continued to pray and quietly offer up her moral and physical sufferings without showing any trace of resentment towards the bishop or her companions. Her forced solitude only served to deepen her spiritual union with our Lord, who lovingly consoled her with frequent personal visits. During one particular apparition, Jesus drew her attention to a crucifix hanging on the wall of the infirmary and said to her: "This shall be your consolation. I want to leave you with this sign. Think of this when you will be deserted of all consolation, both inside and outside; both spiritual and physical. Turn your eyes to this sign that I leave you on my image. This will bring you and others for whom you are praying great comfort during this time and even more so after your death." The crucifix then began to miraculously drip blood, which it repeatedly did on several other occasions in the presence of many witnesses.
Sr. Columba's miraculous crucifix.
Mystical revelations also intensified as the scope of Sr. Columba's mission seemed to expand beyond the monastery walls to reach even the farthest corners of the world! During a notable 15-hour ecstasy, the nun claimed she was taken by two angels to every tabernacle - in every country(!) - to adore the Blessed Sacrament; to make reparation for sacrilege; and to pray for the conversion of sinners from each locale. All this was meticulously recorded in a diary Sr. Columba was commanded to write in obedience to her bishop and spiritual director.
In due time, the opinion of the other nuns towards Columba began changing. No falsehood was ever detected in her behavior, but rather, she was consistently humble, docile, obedient, and even infectiously joyous... and the fire of Divine Love that burned like a furnace within her heart warmed all who came into contact with her. So, despite the strict secrecy imposed by the bishop upon the monastery concerning Sr. Columba, word of her leaked out to the outside world. People came to the nun for prayer and consolation and she delivered.
Fortunately, the Dominican Sisters carefully documented the profusion of signs they observed: the effectiveness of Columba's intercessory prayers; the weekly Passion Ecstasies; the bleeding crucifix; the prophetic insight and utterances of their resident prophetess. In fact, it was the study of these recorded testimonies of her fellow nuns that greatly contributed to the opening of Sr. Columba's Cause for Canonization centuries later.
After a bout with a serious illness, Sr. Maria Columba Schonath died at the age of 57 on March 3, 1787. She had just received the Eucharist when her stigmata reportedly began bleeding profusely, as though in her final moments of life, she was also conforming to the death of her Crucified Spouse. As a mark of respect, the nuns interred her body in a side-chapel of the monastery church where it remains to this very day.
The mystic's fame of sanctity spread throughout Germany and nearby regions as graces attributed to the intercession of Sr. Columba were reported at her tomb. Favors continue to be received, consequently leading to the opening of her Cause for Beatification on May 17, 1999. An association dedicated to keeping her memory alive, along with promoting her Cause, is presently active in Bamberg.
"Oh, you people of the world,
don't give up... and love Love, who
loved us so much and without
which we are nothing."
- Words of Sr. Columba
Please join this ministry in praying for the speedy Canonization of this worthy Servant of God. May her example of burning love for God inspire in all the world an ardent love for Jesus, too.
Sr. Maria Columba Schonath,
pray for us!
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