THE RECIPIENT OF THE LETTERS

Mathias Schübel, Mayor of Abenberg

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Mathias Schübel (1835-1914), was born in 1835 in Abenberg, Germany. He was the Mayor of Abenberg in 1891, when Mother Frances stopped at Antwerp on her way back from the United States. Here she gathered a small group of young girls who would travel with her to Rome to join the Congregation, including the mayor’s daughter, who later became Sr. M. Ermesinda. Later, two other daughters also joined the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother: Sr. Annunciata and Sr. Eleonora. During Mother Frances’ visit, the mayor showed her the ruins of the Sisters of St. Augustine’s convent in Marienburg, and the sepulcher of Blessed Stilla. He worked hard, negotiating regularly with the civil authorities, to establish a branch of the Congregation in Abenberg. However, his efforts were not enough to achieve this goal. The government of the Kingdom of Bavaria in the Munich district, following the Kulturkampf laws, did not allow any religious community to be opened, let alone one that did not have its headquarters in Germany. Mathias Schübel died in 1914 at the age of 79.