> The Engling Stone – Bringing the Hero Sodalists Home

The Engling Stone –
Dedication on Gaudete Sunday

Bringing the hero sodalists home

“It was summer in 1934. Twenty years had passed since the chapel had become the shrine of the Mother Thrice Admirable. In this time a rich river of grace had flowed to every part of Germany. We thanked God with all our hearts. Each Schoenstatter wanted to do something great, something special, and a great deal was achieved. However the College boys crowned it all.

The boys with the greatest initiative got the idea to bring home the hero sodalists who had fallen in battle. It cost a great deal of hard work. They prepared for months. The spirit of the founder generation had returned to the large house on the mountainside. The boys began to strive eagerly upwards. Work, play, sport – everything was done under the sign of bringing them home. The event captured the whole crowd, and nothing else was talked about. The whole matter became serious when the playing field was turned into a place for large gatherings in order to give these Schoenstatters a worthy resting place when they came home.

On 13 August 1934 they set off for France. Their journey had to cost them sacrifice, so the whole undertaking was placed under the motto, “As heroes we want to bring the heroes home.” So 45 boys set off, each one swelling with pride that he was allowed to go along. They were packed into the lorry. It wasn’t a luxurious trip by any means. But they survived the five days. In order to increase the hardship, they only got a cooked meal at breakfast and supper. On top of this they had really limited accommodation. Some had to sleep on the floor, some on tables and benches, or hay and straw. However, it had been the wish of them all to accept as many hardships as possible. The impressions they gained of the battlefields also had their effect. The lives of the hero sodalists and their heroic striving suddenly appeared to them in a new light. The romanticism was lost and they were able to empathize to some extent with the raw reality. From Veslud, where Hans Wormer was found and exhumed, they journeyed on to the little town of Neuvill St. Vasst. There, on the large cemetery of the Western Front, “La Maison Blance”, was the grave of Max Brunner. After overcoming many obstacles and after a lot of excitement – the first person they exhumed was not the person they were looking for – they finally managed to exhume Max. They experienced the guidance of the Mother Thrice Admirable tangibly.

On their way home the coffins with the remains of our two heroes were placed on the trailer. Four boys at a time stood in silent to the right and left of the coffins as they kept watch. At certain fixed times the boys in the lorry kept silence so that the constantly changing scene might not make them forget the dead. Joy reigned in Schoenstatt when all returned home safely after completing their task so brilliantly. The bodies were re-interred on 20 August 1934 after great festivities …”