Joseph Engling longed to be a priest. He was a seminarian of the Pallotine Fathers and belonged to the Marian Congregation. When the First World War broke out, he had to be on the front lines where he offered his life for Schoenstatt. He died at the age of 20.
Joseph was born on January 5, 1898 in Ermland, now Poland. The family atmosphere of piety awakened the religious sense in his children. In the circumstances of the war, he prayed a prayer of gratitude every morning, whether he was in a trench on the front line, at a preventive post, or dragging the wounded and dead. No matter how the night before had been, he thanked God that he was still alive. The paralyzing fatigue, the hunger, the stay in the trenches, the enemy artillery, the dangerous walks, were the occasions to test the authenticity of this dedication.
His Personal Ideal impelled him to daily dedication. Based on this, he formulated a prayer in which he offered the entire day to the MTA for its capital of grace. “At this hour,” he thought, “the Holy Mass is being celebrated in many places, including in Schoenstatt.” With this attitude he received spiritual communion and joined the liturgical celebration as closely as possible. The sacrifice of Christ on the cross was the most vivid example of his Personal Ideal. In the afternoon he would often withdraw for a quarter of an hour to read and study. And this, even under the deafening explosions of the grenades! He tried to pray the rosary always. In the evening he checked his Spiritual Schedule and asked himself: “How did I respond to God’s invitation to heroism today? Did I bring joy to the Virgin Mary today?”
Joseph Engling longed to be a true apostle. For this he often drew up an educational plan for himself: He wrote in his diary:
“I want to put more effort into achieving holiness.
I want to be a guardian angel for my fellow congregants at the front.
I will never tell a lie
I want to sanctify Sunday
After a year and a half at the front, he made a private spiritual exercise, in the midst of exciting patrols. He reworked his four principles.
I want to be a saint through my spiritual director (P.J. Kentenich).
I want to be a faithful congregant and give myself body and soul to the congregation.
I want to fulfill the Personal Ideal with great zeal.
I do not want to avoid any sacrifice in order to be able to do spiritual reading and pray a mystery of the rosary every day.”
Thus, from the young man, he became a man, from the man, a hero, from the hero, a saint.
In relation to the personal ideal, he wrote years later, during the war: “If man is not guided by a sublime idea, he will stagnate in the depths of daily life. The greatest support is offered to me: the congregation, its Queen and the contributions to the capital of grace.” Joseph did not hesitate to risk his life for others and there are countless examples of service, apostolate, purity and sacrifice, which led him to become a true hero of Schoenstatt, one of those who, even when afraid, did not hesitate to say I’m going! Father Kentenich once said of him that he was “the Founding Act lived out.” That is, the love that drove his life was his Covenant of Love, his love for Mary, his love for Schoenstatt.
“I want and must be a great man in the fullest sense of the word. My Mother in heaven cannot deny me this because I have consecrated myself entirely to her service and she has placed me at the head of her chosen ones. Jesus, the Savior, cannot deny the prayers of his Mother.” J. Engling
Joseph Engling teaches us the way of fidelity in small things, of the strength of self-education for love of Mary in her Shrine.
Source: Schoenstatt Chile
