Deaconesses in Europe and their Lessons for America Part 5

The Marthashof has had a beneficent influence over the moral and spiritual welfare of servants throughout Germany. In nearly all the cities similar homes are now established, while in the larger cities Sunday a.s.sociations are formed to provide suitable places of meeting for the entertainment and instruction of those who are free Sunday afternoons and evenings. So far as I am aware, no similar work has been attempted for servant-girls in the United States. It is true that training-schools exist, but not with religious supervision, and with the moral and religious instruction of the inmates made a prominent feature.

The Marthashof offers us a lesson well worth our learning.

The deaconess house, "Bethanien," in Berlin, was founded by King Frederick William IV., who as the Crown Prince took a warm interest in Fliedner's undertakings.[44] It still remains under the protection of the emperor, and is one of the most important mother-houses. Over three thousand patients are annually admitted to the hospital connected with the house, and five hundred children are treated at a dispensary devoted solely to cases of diphtheria. Outside of the city it has thirty-three stations. There are also the Lazarus Hospital and Deaconess Home, the Paul Gerhardt Deaconess Home, provided for parish deaconesses, and the Elizabeth Hospital and Home, which started independently but is now allied to Kaiserswerth.

The deaconess house in Neudettelsau stands in closest union with the Lutheran Church. The sisters are mostly from the higher ranks of society, and intellectual training is made prominent. Certain liturgical forms are used, and in the main deaconesses are employed in preparing ecclesiastical vestments and embroideries for church adornment.

In marked contrast to Dettelsau is the deaconess house at Berne. It is almost a private inst.i.tution, having only slight connection with the State Church. It owes its origin to Sophie Wurdemberger, a member of one of the old patrician families of Berne. A visit to England made her acquainted with Elizabeth Fry, with the usual beneficent result of increased interest and activity in good works. On her return to Berne she gained the support of a society of women, and through their aid secured a hospital and deaconess home. It is now fourth in number among the largest mother-houses, has two hundred and ninety-seven deaconesses, five affiliated houses, and forty-five different fields of work.

The oldest mother-house in Switzerland is at St. Loup, not far from Lausanne, standing on one of the beautiful heights of that picturesque region. It was founded by Pastor Germond in 1841, through the direct influence of the work at Kaiserswerth. There are now seventy-three deaconesses, mostly acting as nurses either in private homes or public inst.i.tutions.[45]

There is also a large inst.i.tution at Riehen near Basel, which sends out two hundred deaconesses. The greater number are of the peasant cla.s.s, and are nearly all employed as nurses. The home at Zurich was at first a daughter-house of Riehen, but is now an independent inst.i.tution with twenty-seven stations. In Austria there is a mother-house at Gallneukirchen from which sisters are sent forth, four of them working in as many Vienna parishes. The story of deaconess work in Austria is an interesting one, and is told by Miss Williams in a recent number of _The Churchman_, from which the following extracts are taken:

"The Protestants of Gallneukirchen were first formed into an independent parish in the year 1872, and it is the only one lying between the Danube and the Bohemian frontier. It is very widely extended, but numbers only three hundred and eighteen souls, and is so poor that with the greatest effort it can raise only four hundred florins a year (about one hundred and sixty dollars) for church and school. With the aid of those interested in the work a parish-house has been secured, where the pastor and his wife reside, and in which is the deaconess asylum for the aged, infirm, and insane of all cla.s.ses. It has not as yet been possible to clear off the debt on the purchase. Still the sisters strive in every way to enlarge their usefulness, so that they now possess extensive buildings and farms--only partly paid for, it is true--wherein to house the many afflicted who apply to them for aid. In one building, standing alone on a hill, they purpose to collect the insane patients, and suitable additions are now being made to insure their safety and comfort. In another village, two hours' drive from here, is their school, where more than sixty boys and girls are taught, fed, and clothed, in most cases gratuitously, at worst at a nominal charge."

"The sisters are bright and cheerful, and keep their various dwellings so exquisitely neat and clean, with their white-washed walls adorned with Scripture texts and pictures. No work, however menial, is beneath them. I have myself seen one scrubbing the stairs, and in turns they sleep on a hard straw bed on the floor, ready to rise in the night as often as a bell summons them to the aid of a suffering invalid or a refractory lunatic."

There are a few inst.i.tutions that exist independently of those represented at the Kaiserswerth General Conference. They stand alone for various reasons; perhaps they have not met the conditions required of those which belong to the a.s.sociation. Any house whose administration rests exclusively either in the hands of a man or a woman is excluded from the Conference. In every mother-house there represented the administrative head is twofold, consisting of a gentleman, who, with rare exceptions, is a clergyman, and a lady who is a deaconess. The Kaiserswerth authorities regard this joint management as an indispensable condition.

The rector, as he is usually called, cares for the intellectual and spiritual instruction of the probationers, conducts public services in the chapel, and issues the publications and reports of the house.

The oberin, or house-mother, is the direct head of the sisters. She is responsible for the interior management, regulates the duties of the sisters, and gives practical instruction. The two are jointly responsible for the acceptance and dismissal of probationers, for the a.s.signment of the sisters to different fields of labor, and the kind of labor required. Every mother-house has its own peculiarities. The personal characteristics of those who conduct it are naturally impressed upon the house.

Then, too, the influence of environment is to be reckoned with. The house may be located in a large city or in a small one; in the country or in towns. It may be under the influence of a State Church, as in Germany, or of Christians of all Churches, as at Mildmay. It will share the characteristics of the race of people from which come its workers.

Doubtless in the Methodist Episcopal Church in America the deaconesses that eventually become recognized as set apart to special Christian service, through the training that is provided for them, will be women who are peculiarly adapted to the needs of that Church, with all the distinguishing American traits that will prepare them to understand the people whom they are to serve, and that will give them access to the hearts of this people.

If the deaconess cause should gain favor with us as it has in Europe, and should the deaconesses become as established in the social life of the people as they are there, the effective agencies will be largely increased that are to deal with the questions that come to the front whenever, as in great cities, large numbers of people are ma.s.sed together.

Deaconess inst.i.tutions now exist in Switzerland, France, Holland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Russia, Austria, England, and Germany, while the countries in which these homes have stations are literally too numerous to mention. Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, the countries of Northern Africa, and of Asia Minor, as well as isolated mission stations throughout the entire world are now served by deaconesses.

If there were ten times the number of sisters, places could be at once found for them. It is instructive on this point to read what Pastor Disselhoff says[46] in the account he gives of the various demands made upon him, which he has been unable to meet. One of the letters he quotes was from an English missionary on the Cameron River. "Send us deaconesses for our hospital," he says. "It was built for European sailors, especially Germans. We hope and trust to overcome the superst.i.tions of the natives, and that they too, may come to be healed."

But there were no sisters to send.

A similar call came from Shanghai, but as it was impossible to return a favorable answer, although the hospital was a Protestant inst.i.tution, the Sisters of Mercy were invited in, and given control. From 1870 up to 1886 over two hundred and twenty-seven places at widely remote distances, such as Madras, New Orleans, Port Said, Rio de Janeiro, and elsewhere, sent most urgent appeals for Kaiserswerth deaconesses to be a.s.signed them, but invariably the same answer must be returned: "There are none to send." Disselhoff closes by saying, "How many open doors has G.o.d given! Whose fault is it that they remain closed?"

[42] Schafer, _Die Weibliche Diakonie_, vol. i, p. 21.

[43] The details of the deaconess work at Mulhausen are largely taken from Schafer's _Die Weibliche Diakonie_, vol. ii.

[44] _Life of Pastor Fliedner_, translated by C. Winckworth, London, 1867, p. 133. "The favor of the great, especially the condescending kindness of our late Sovereign, he took as a gift from the King of kings, who allowed his own work to be thus promoted. He strenuously avoided all personal distinction, and never wore the order which had been sent him; 'for a servant of the Church,' he said, 'there should be but one order--the Cross of the Lord.'"

[45] _Der Armen und Kranken Freund_, August, 1888.

[46] _Denkschrift zur Jubelfeier_, pp. 248, 249.

CHAPTER VIII.

DEACONESSES IN GERMAN METHODISM.

The good results of the work of deaconesses in the other Protestant bodies of Germany doubtless had their influence upon German Methodism.

As far back as 1868 in Wurtemberg, and later in Frankfort, some preachers introduced parish deaconesses for the care of the sick; but well-directed efforts, and unity in management, were lacking.

The existing a.s.sociation was started July 8, 1874, under the t.i.tle of "Bethanienverein," or the Bethany Society, through the efforts of several members of the German Conference, among whom were Rev. G. Weiss, who, with two deaconesses, initiated the work in Bremen, Rev. Frederick Eilers, the present inspector, and Rev. G. Hausser, who for several years was president of the board of direction, and now resides in America.[47] A further number of ministers showed themselves inclined to stand by the society, both by their influence and through contributions taken in their churches, so that in 1876 the first trained deaconesses were set at work in the city of Frankfort.

As has been said,[48] the little inst.i.tution in its early days had to pa.s.s through a series of critical experiences, as a young child has to encounter the series of childhood diseases that a.s.sail it; but it outlived them all, and is now enjoying a vigorous youth. It was but another ill.u.s.tration of the truth that all beginnings are difficult, and that successful experience has to be bought by overcoming hinderances and obstacles.

To-day there is no branch of German Methodism more successfully and substantially incorporated into the Church life than the deaconess society, and none that wins greater favor among those outside of denominational lines.

The first printed report was issued in October, 1884. In this the inspector says: "Our society is now in three cities, Frankfort, Hamburg, and Berlin, and our sisters are not able to meet all the demands upon them for service." At that time there were thirteen deaconesses and twenty probationers. The last report, issued in July, 1888, shows an increase in numbers both of deaconesses and their stations. There are now eighty-nine deaconesses, eleven of whom are probationers, and there are stations in five places. Besides the ones previously mentioned in Germany, two additional stations have been started in Switzerland: one in Zurich, and one in St. Gall.

Nearly all the Methodist German deaconesses are engaged in caring for the sick; it is only recently that attempts have been made in some other directions of charitable endeavor. In the last report we are told that at Frankfort steps have been taken to reform fallen women. One of the sisters seems to be especially endowed with tact and ability for this difficult work. She has already induced twenty-two of these girls to enter the asylum at Sachsenhausen. The police authorities and city magistrates have given this same sister access to the women prisoners, which is a decided favor, coming from German officials. Besides her work in this particular, she has devoted her remaining time to the care of the poor and the sick.

Many deaconesses were called upon to go out as nurses in private families, and, in order to obtain room to accommodate the added number these services required, it has been necessary to rent an additional house. There are two clinics in connection with the inst.i.tution; one for those suffering from nose, throat, or lung diseases, the other for diseases of women. In both, the hours of consultation are free, and attract numerous visitors. Two hundred and forty-six people were received in the hospital last year, and were cared for in four thousand one hundred and fifty days of nursing. Spiritual results are also antic.i.p.ated from the seed of G.o.d's word sown in the hearts of the sick through daily prayer and Sunday services.

The house at Frankfort is too small for its increasing needs, and a permanent home of more ample dimensions is greatly to be desired.

In Hamburg the house has been enlarged, and there is now room for thirty-five sisters; yet still there are more demands made than can be met. In one month ninety requests were handed in for the aid of the deaconesses. The city authorities offered them a large lot of land at a very moderate sum, which is at present used as a garden, and adds much to the enjoyment of the home.

On the 4th of March, 1888, occurred the anniversary of the founding of the Hamburg house, at which time six sisters were set apart to their life calling by a service of consecration. As in all places where our deaconesses are employed, so also in Hamburg their influence is felt in the increase of religious life among the families they serve.

In Berlin, again, there is an imperative call for enlarged house accommodations, and more sisters are needed to meet the requests for help that are constantly coming to them. As the report expresses it, "Something must happen!"[49] After six years of activity in Berlin the deaconesses find themselves well appreciated, and with a broad field of labor. The city authorities gave them permission to take a house collection during the months of February and March. One of the German ministers said, "This is an unusual favor, only granted in exceptional cases, as when a village is swept away, or there is an inundation, or a failure of harvests." This collection was no easy task. In the depth of winter, in rigorous cold and snow the sisters had to climb weary flights of stairs, in houses four and five stories high, arranged in flats; to knock at many doors, often meeting with but slight success or a positive refusal; yet daily they went with fresh courage to their work, encouraged by the thought that they were toiling not for themselves, but to serve the needy, "for Jesus' sake." The collection resulted in obtaining nearly twenty thousand marks, to which has been added the loan of a larger sum at a small rate of interest, so that there is good prospect of soon obtaining a permanent home as the property of the deaconess society.

St. Gall is one of the newer stations, but from the beginning it has been a work of promise. In this old center of missionary operations, where Irish missionaries founded one of the most famous monasteries of mediaeval times, is now to be erected a hospital under the care of Methodist deaconesses, who have already begun to collect means for this purpose. In Scheffel's famous story of _Ekkehard_ the only way in which the d.u.c.h.ess Hadwig could enter the monastery of St. Gall (as there was a law that no woman should set her foot upon the threshold) was by the ingenious device of a young monk, who lifted her over in his arms. These peaceful women of Methodism are finding no obstacle now as did Hadwig of old; they do not need even figuratively to be lifted over the entering threshold; they are gladly welcomed, and are introducing a new element into the life of the old city.

In Zurich seven deaconesses are at work under the protection, and with the sympathetic co-operation, of the pastor and the church. I saw something of the deaconesses and their duties in this place. The inspector, Rev. Fr. Eilers, came with the first deaconesses and introduced them to their new field when I was a resident of the city. On Sunday morning he occupied the pulpit, preaching from Rom. xvi, 1, commending the deaconesses to the kindness and helpful aid of the members of the church. I used often to see Sister Myrtha, who was the head sister, hastening hither and thither on her errands of mercy. In her plain black dress and round shoulder-cape to match, and broad white collar and white cap, she was a pleasant and attractive figure. She was always happy and contented, ready to answer the many questions with which I plied her in my desire to look through the eyes of a deaconess, and to obtain her views of the office to which she belonged. She had a great love for her work, and believed that she was doing service for Christ in a true missionary field. Her simple uniform was a distinguishing mark that insured her respect and attention wherever she went, and she regarded it as a garb of honor that marked her as belonging to the daughters of the great King. You could not call such a life an austere or unnatural one. It was too thoroughly filled with thoughts of love to others to be either morbid or introspective. I obtained my first favorable impressions of the usefulness of deaconesses and their importance to the Church from the cheerful, contented labors of Sister Myrtha and her a.s.sociates among the poor and sick of Zurich--quiet women, of no particular prominence in the social world, and not learned or accomplished; "_nur einfache Madchen_" (only simple maidens, quiet, ordinary women, as we might translate Sister Myrtha's own phrase), but living "not to be ministered unto, but to minister,"

commending their creed by their deeds, and winning sympathy by the loving, self-denying spirit that they manifest.

During the last year a house of rest has been opened similar to the house Salem at Kaiserswerth. This is called by the beautiful name "_Gottestreue_," or "G.o.d's Fidelity." The report says that they have named it G.o.d's Fidelity in recollection of this: "That the Lord has so faithfully led us and has cared for us in all storms which, especially at the beginning of the work, threatened to overwhelm it, has watched over us and upheld us, and has so richly blessed us." The acquisition of this house came through the work of the sisters. One of them was caring for an aged widow, whose sympathies were so won that she offered to give her property, amounting to about ten thousand marks, to the deaconess society, asking only that she be cared for for the remainder of her life. This sum enabled the house to be built, and last summer it was opened for use. It lies upon a mountain, has a pleasant outlook to the south, and a beautiful view over the valley of the Main and off to the distant forests. Near at hand is a grove of chestnut trees, and farther removed are extensive pine forests with pleasant walks. The house is in the charge of one of the older sisters.

The regulations touching the training and duties of the sisters are similar to those of Kaiserswerth. Two years of probation are required, part of which is devoted to practical work under the superintendence of an older deaconess. The rules of daily life are much the same; a quiet half hour of prayer and meditation is strongly urged, and the same freedom in control of personal property and withdrawal from the office exists. It is pleasant to record that our deaconesses have secured to themselves such good report for their usefulness that the city officials in Germany accord to them the free use of steamboats and street-cars; and the Prussian government does the same for roads that are under State control.

The Bethany Society of the German Methodists is self-supporting and is independent of the Conference, save only that the board of direction is composed of Methodist preachers chosen by the Conference. Each of the homes at the five stations has also its board of control, made up of the inspector, the pastor in charge, and the head sister. The inspector is a member of the Conference, but has no appointment, as his whole time is devoted to the duty of superintendence. Last year the society took the further step of deciding that henceforth the deaconesses should not be sent, as heretofore, to outside hospitals or other inst.i.tutions to complete their training, but should be given the advantages they require at our own homes. Owing to this decision only six probationers can be received for the coming year, and others who have made application to enter must wait their turn.

The German Methodist Church, the daughter of American Methodism, antic.i.p.ated the parent Church in utilizing the womanly gifts and services of deaconesses as members of her aggressive forces, and furnished it a very helpful and stimulating example.

[47] _Jahresbericht des Bethanienvereins_, 1884, Bremen.

[48] _Der Christliche Apologete_, article by Rev. G. Hausser, September 20, 1888.

[49] _Jahresbericht_, 1888, page 8.

CHAPTER IX.

DEACONESSES IN PARIS.

When in Paris we visited the deaconess establishment on the Rue de Reuilly, and had the pleasure, ever to be remembered, of seeing the inst.i.tution in all its workings under the guidance of Mademoiselle Sara Monod, the daughter of Adolphe Monod; members of a family that have been Protestants of the Protestants in the annals of France. We examined with some degree of thoroughness the different departments, and saw them in the busy working hours, when the full activities of the great establishment were in exercise.