God alone is holy. A human being is holy only insofar as he shares in God’s holiness. He can do this through Christ, who called himself “The Way.” There is no other way.
Was Francis Pfanner a saint? In other words: How can a saint be recognized? Since the incarnate Son of God is The Way to the Father, the answer must be: By his Christ-likeness. A holy person is like Christ, whom he tries to imitate as much as possible, not by his own efforts alone, but aided by God’s help, i.e., grace. Grace, in turn, builds on nature. No matter how gifted and worthy of emulation a person may be, if he does not seek God and give God the honor, he cannot be a saint by Catholic teaching.
The Church, as the steward of God’s grace on earth and, wise from long experience, lays down certain conditions before she beatifies or canonizes any person. So far, Francis Pfanner’s saintliness has not been established by canon law; only the first step of the Cause of Beatification and Canonization (causa) has been initiated – inquiry into his life and writings. As he was not a martyr, his way of life must provide evidence of the practice – to a heroic degree – of the theological virtues of faith, hope and love, as well as the cardinal or principal virtues of prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance. Since he was a Trappist monk, the heroic practice of the religious vows is also expected of him. (What is new is that according to Pope Francis, Christians who have “voluntarily” offered their lives out of charity can also be beatified (Motu proprio Maiorem hac dilectionem of June 11, 2017).
This article is not the place to go through Francis W. Pfanner’s life for evidence of these virtues. Some, for example, his love of neighbor and enemy have been highlighted in previous articles in this series. Here, the aim is to sharpen the eye for genuine virtue as opposed to its natural equivalent. He himself was well able to differentiate between the two.
Francis Pfanner was not a conventional “saint” and certainly not like the commercial plaster figures depicting saints – if he was a saint at all. A good way to discover the “saint” in him is to ask questions: What was the student Pfanner concerned about? The pastor? The Trappist and missionary? What guided him in his decisions? What was the purpose of his numerous undertakings? What moved him most deeply? It is best to let him answer these questions himself. (Unless otherwise stated, all quotations are taken from his Memoirs).
Where he describes himself, he appears as one who took himself to task and ruthlessly admitted his weaknesses. He wrote: “No one will say that I’m a saint; neither do I claim to be one. What I do know, however, is that I am a favorite of God.” Biblically speaking, God’s favorite is the one “whom God loves [and therefore] chastises.” (Heb 12:6) Now, Francis Pfanner was “chastised,” i.e., misjudged, slandered and rejected all his life and even after his death. For example, three bishops – Vuicic in Bosnia, Ricards and Jolivet in South Africa – took exception to him, accused him to Propaganda Fide and demanded his removal from office. Those cases were shelved, but in 1892, visitator Abbot Strunk did succeed in having him suspended and, a year later, removed from office. Thereupon, the founder withdrew to Emaus and spent the last 15 years of his life there in exile. The first thing he did – even before he built a stable hut for himself – was to erect a 130-meter-high Way of the Cross which he then climbed every morning until he died. With the suffering Lord before his eyes, he reflected on his own crosses and ended each meditation with the words: “Like Jesus, so I” – not an empty phrase but a daily practice, as Sr. Angela Michel, who supported him, testified.
Abbot Francis was aware of his weaknesses and admitted them. “I have thought many times about what St. Francis de Sales, St. Vincent de Paul and so many other saints would have done in such circumstances [his legal disputes in Haselstauden, Bosnia, etc.]. Would they have let themselves be stripped of everything? Would they have parted with their cloak when their shirt was taken? Or would they not have come into conflict in the first place? I assume that I was to blame, for if I had been a saint like Vincent and Francis de Sales, many of my decisions would not have been as precipitous as they were.”
Another time, he described his fearlessness. “The Brixen seminary staff had described me [after his ordination] to [the vicar general at] Feldkirch as someone who did not easily get frightened or run away. Now, let these words not be interpreted as boasting. When I write my own story, I must write it as I myself believe and am convinced. And I do believe that I have never been plagued by fear of man or that I am a coward; neither has anyone accused me of that, including my opponents, of whom I have had and still have many in my life, perhaps precisely because of my fearlessness. Moreover, the direction I had taken in Bosnia and my perseverance there under the most difficult circumstances and in the most dangerous situations cannot make me out to be someone who is easily scared, nor can my decision to go to Africa and my situation there be interpreted that way. But this is not to suggest that my fearlessness or lack of fear of man is a virtue; in fact, it would be very wrong to regard it as such. It is rather my inborn character (inherited from my father) and the way I was brought up. I know quite well that my recklessness has already degenerated into impudence, and even now [1888] it often turns into rudeness. … St. Francis de Sales has often been held up to me as a model for the guidance of souls, but I say: First, I am not Saint Francis, and secondly, I am not a Francis de Sales but Francis of Mariannhill, which means that I am not only the superior of nuns as he was, but also of men, and indeed of penitents in penitential garb, whom one need not handle with God’s kid gloves. On the contrary, the rule tells me: ‘Argue, increpa – rebuke, scold.’ Moreover, de Sales was a Frenchman; the Frenchman is generally more refined than the German and must therefore treat his people more delicately than I treat mine. In fact, the French Trappist is pleased when his abbot couches his order in ‘s’il vous plaît’ [please]. I believe, however, that a superior, be he spiritual or secular, may well forget about the ‘please’; otherwise, he would make himself ridiculous if he wanted to say ‘shut up!’, or ‘keep quiet!’ or ‘go away!’” Self-assessing descriptions like these testify to a gift of discernment. What they do not explain, however, is what counts in the inquiry for beatification: what God’s grace has made of a natural gift like veracity. Has it led the candidate to unwavering perseverance in fellowship with his Master who also was faithful to himself until death?
What may be safely assumed is that despite all misjudgement of his purposes and person, Francis Pfanner’s firm resolution was: “I can, I will, I must become a saint.” This, by itself, demonstrates the cardinal virtue of Christian prudence, which does not confuse the temporal with the eternal, but can renounce the temporal and ennoble it without destroying, by false zeal, that which is good.
In this sense, prudence goes hand in hand with justice, the virtue which consists first and foremost of respect for all people, giving them what they are entitled to and what they need in order to live a dignified life, and ultimately loving one’s neighbor. There is no need to find examples of this in the founder’s biography because his life is one long illustration of this virtue. What ideas and solutions did he not propose and implement so that people in Bosnia and Africa could live a more fully human life?
As far as fortitude (valor) is concerned, may it simply be stated that the valiant person is fully committed to what he has recognized as good and true, even if it means personal sacrifice and disadvantage. Understood in this way, no one will doubt Francis Pfanner’s virtue. Not so, however, when it comes to discretion or maintaining a “healthy balance” in terms of work, asceticism, renunciation, austerity or zeal. Indeed, moderation in these matters (temperance) must have been one of the greatest challenges he faced before being able to bring them under the “sweet yoke of Christ” (Mt 11:29).
In conclusion, the cardinal virtues may be summarized in the words of 1 Cor 16:13. “Let all that you do be done in love!” On this criterion, Francis Pfanner, like everyone else, will be judged by his Maker. Should he fail, “who will be able to stand?” (Ps 130:3)
