"...The church is the nicest I've ever seen. The altars are all inlaid with gold, which really sparkles. The pillars of the altar are imitation marble but one has to be on top of it to see the difference. The floors are white marble with all the statues of wood, hand carved. The pulpit box, which is about halfway in the church, has decorations of gold all around it, likewise the Stations of the Cross, and numerous statues throughout the church, also hand carved. On the ceiling is the Sorrowful Mysteries, each painted separately starting at the rear with the Agony in the Garden and ending about the communion rail with the Crucifixion. About the main altar is painted a picture of St. Paul [founder of the Passionist Order]..." — Sgt. Joe Koch, nephew of Fr. Viktor, describing his 1946 visit to Schwarzenfeld in a letter to his mother.
"It is but a child compared to Maria Schutz," Fr. Viktor once commented about Schwarzenfeld's pilgrimage church, and that impression likely occurred to him when he first drove into the Miesbergkirche's stone-paved courtyard with memories of the refurbished Austrian monastery fresh in his mind. Yet, moments after his traveling gaze drifted across hand carved statues, intricate oil paintings, and gilded ornamentation, he perceived that this incense-scented sanctuary dedicated to the Most Holy Trinity possessed a heavenly spirit of its own. The Miesberg's serene atmosphere — and the breathtaking panorama stretching beyond its walls — convinced him that it was a suitable location for his third Passionist monastery.
A heated competition ensued between Schwarzenfeld and another Bavarian city, Burglengenfeld, though Schwarzenfeld, by virtue of support from its predominantly Catholic community, won the commission. In the summer of 1933, Fr. Viktor announced his decision to construct the Miesbergkloster and hire Schwarzenfeld's destitute population, plus numerous artisans roaming the Bavarian countryside in a desperate search for employment. The town's inhabitants considered this event a twofold blessing: in a religious sense, they were honored by the Passionist Order's presence, and from a secular perspective, the Passionists were furnishing economic relief enabling them to support their impoverished families.
Fr. Viktor's timely arrival marked the beginning of an extraordinary relationship between Schwarzenfeld's citizens and the Passionists. Schwarzenfeld's historian, Herr Oswald Wilhelm, reveals the strength of this developing bond:
"[The Miesberg monastery construction] occurred during the time that Hitler himself made a new concordat (a contract between the state and Catholic Church) with Rome to improve relations with the church (even if only half-heartedly).
From the beginning, the Passionists were cordially welcomed in Schwarzenfeld. Naturally, in addition to contributing to the building of the monastery, which provided work for hundreds of building workers, the unemployment rate was considerably reduced in Schwarzenfeld, and this alleviated the hunger of many families. This good relationship between the people of Schwarzenfeld, the environment, and the monastery was established quickly. It remains excellent even until today."
If the Miesberg monastery's construction forged a lasting rapport between Schwarzenfelders and their Passionist Fathers, the project also succeeded in inciting Nazi antagonism. When political pressure and financial issues hampered construction efforts, Fr. Viktor called upon an intrepid American Passionist, Father Christopher Berlo, C.P. Hoping to save the monastery project, he purchased frozen credit Marks from the Reichsbank in Berlin and, in effect, forced the Nazi government to unwittingly shoulder the Miesbergkloster's construction costs while Gestapo agents were confiscating and secularizing other monasteries. Nazi officials protested Father Christopher's financial machinations, especially because they violated laws prohibiting the Catholic Church from establishing new institutions in Germany. Although he was forced to stand trial and flee Germany on numerous occasions, Father Chris ensured the Miesbergkloster's completion: a precipitous drop in unemployment rates throughout the Upper Palatinate prevented Nazi officers from derailing the monastery's construction plans.
On September 7, 1935, a carnival atmosphere pervaded Schwarzenfeld as its residents celebrated the Miesbergkloster's completion and subsequent consecration. But for loyal Nazi party members, the battle lines were drawn. They vowed to outmaneuver the enemies who skillfully navigated around them, and attain ownership of the building constructed with frozen Reich funds.
Next: Part 4 — The Trial of Faith Begins »