Rupert Mayer
Rupert Mayer (23 January 1876 – 1 November 1945) was a German Jesuit priest born in Stuttgart who, after ordination in 1899 and entry into the Society of Jesus in 1900, served as a military chaplain during World War I, where he sustained severe injuries resulting in the amputation of one leg.[1][2] Relocating to Munich in 1911, he earned the title "Apostle of Munich" through his tireless pastoral efforts, including founding a Marian sodality for working men that grew to thousands of members and addressed social needs amid industrialization and poverty.[3][4] From the pulpit and in public addresses, Mayer consistently denounced the ideological foundations and coercive tactics of the Nazi regime after its 1933 rise to power, refusing to align Catholic organizations with state demands and prioritizing Gospel teachings on human dignity over political conformity.[2][3] His resistance prompted repeated arrests by Gestapo authorities, culminating in detention at Sachsenhausen and brief transfer to Dachau concentration camps in 1939–1940, followed by internal exile to Ettal Abbey until war's end, where he continued discreet ministry despite surveillance and health decline.[1][4] Beatified by Pope John Paul II on 3 May 1987 in Munich, Mayer is commemorated in several German dioceses and the Jesuit order for embodying principled opposition to totalitarian oppression through faith-driven action.[4][5]Early Life and Formation
Birth and Family Background
Rupert Mayer was born on 23 January 1876 in Stuttgart, then part of the Kingdom of Württemberg in the German Empire.[6][3] He was the son of Kolumban Mayer, a prosperous merchant, and Maria Mayer (née Schäurer).[7] Mayer grew up in Stuttgart as one of six children, including one brother and four sisters, in a family engaged in local business affairs.[6][8] The Mayer household provided a stable Catholic environment that influenced his early religious inclinations, though his initial vocational discernment occurred during secondary education.[6]Education and Path to Priesthood
After completing secondary education in 1894, Mayer desired to enter the Society of Jesus but deferred to his father's advice to seek ordination as a diocesan priest first.[9][1] He pursued studies in philosophy at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland and the University of Munich, followed by theology at the University of Tübingen and the seminary in Rottenburg.[10][4] Mayer was ordained a priest on 2 May 1899 and celebrated his first Mass on 4 May.[9][4] He then served for one year as an assistant pastor in Spaichingen.[1][9]
Entry into the Jesuits
After his ordination to the priesthood on May 2, 1899, in Freising Cathedral, Mayer served for one year as an assistant pastor in the parish of Spaichingen, near Tuttlingen in Württemberg.[4][7] During this period, his prior exposure to the Jesuits influenced his vocational discernment; he had first encountered the Society of Jesus in 1894 while undertaking the Spiritual Exercises at their Stella Matutina College in Feldkirch, Austria, an experience that profoundly shaped his spiritual outlook. On October 1, 1900, Mayer entered the Jesuit novitiate in Feldkirch, Austria, rather than in Germany, due to the lingering effects of the Kulturkampf, which had led to the expulsion of the Jesuits from German territory in 1872 and prohibited their establishments there until after World War I.[4][8][5] The novitiate, a two-year period of intensive formation emphasizing Ignatian spirituality, prayer, and asceticism, prepared him for full incorporation into the order.[9][11] Mayer completed his novitiate vows on October 2, 1902, committing to the Jesuit vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, along with a special fourth vow of special obedience to the pope regarding missions.[1] This entry marked his transition from diocesan priesthood to the more rigorous, apostolic life of the Jesuits, aligning with his growing interest in missionary work and urban apostolate, though further philosophical and theological studies followed at Valkenburg and Innsbruck.[3][7]Ministry Before World War I
Ordination and Initial Assignments
Mayer was ordained a priest on May 2, 1899, for the Diocese of Rottenburg after completing studies in philosophy and theology at institutions including Munich, Tübingen, and Freiburg im Breisgau.[1][7][12] His initial pastoral assignment was as an assistant pastor (Vikar) in the parish of Spaichingen, where he served for one year from 1899 to 1900, fulfilling a promise to his father to gain practical experience before pursuing his vocation to the Society of Jesus.[1][13] On October 1, 1900, Mayer entered the Jesuit novitiate at Tisis near Feldkirch, Austria, beginning a period of formation that included spiritual training and further preparation for Jesuit ministry.[14][12] Following the novitiate, he undertook additional theological studies and pronounced his first vows, engaging in early apostolic work such as preaching missions across Germany before receiving more permanent assignments.[15]Work in Munich and Social Apostolate
In 1912, Rupert Mayer was transferred to Munich by the Jesuit order, marking the start of his primary pastoral focus on the city's growing underclass. Amid rapid industrialization drawing rural migrants into urban poverty, Mayer addressed immediate needs by organizing collections of food and clothing for distribution to the homeless and destitute. He also actively sought employment opportunities and affordable housing for those displaced, emphasizing practical aid intertwined with spiritual guidance to sustain their faith amid hardship.[1][3] Assigned to St. Michael's Church, Mayer channeled much of his social apostolate through the Men's Sodality of Mary, a lay group meeting at the adjacent Bürgersaal, where he preached and mobilized members for outreach. This sodality served as a hub for coordinating relief efforts, fostering community support networks that extended beyond material assistance to moral and religious formation for working-class men. Under his influence, participation in such groups expanded, reflecting his methodical approach to evangelization via direct service.[5][1] Mayer's pre-war ministry in Munich exemplified a hands-on commitment to the marginalized, prioritizing causal interventions like job placement over mere almsgiving, which he viewed as insufficient for long-term upliftment. His efforts targeted the structural vulnerabilities of migrant laborers, providing verifiable aid that built trust and attendance at sacraments, though exact numbers of beneficiaries from this period remain undocumented in primary records. This foundation persisted until interrupted by World War I service in 1914.[3][9]World War I and Military Chaplaincy
Deployment as Chaplain
At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Rupert Mayer, then a 38-year-old Jesuit priest, volunteered for service as a military chaplain in the Imperial German Army.[16][17] His initial deployment was to a camp hospital, where he provided spiritual care to wounded soldiers, but he soon sought a more direct role amid combat.[3][1] Mayer requested transfer to the front lines, rejecting safer assignments such as field hospitals to accompany troops into battle, and was assigned as chaplain to Bavarian infantry units.[3][16] Promoted to captain for his initiative, he served unarmed in the trenches, administering sacraments and offering confession under fire across multiple theaters, including France on the Western Front, Poland in the East, and later Romania during the 1916 campaign.[1][3] In recognition of his bravery in remaining with soldiers during assaults, he received the Iron Cross, Second Class, in December 1915, becoming the first chaplain awarded this honor.[1][16]Experiences at the Front and Injury
Despite initially being assigned to a military hospital upon volunteering as a chaplain in August 1914, Mayer requested and received permission to serve on the front lines with Bavarian troops, accompanying them through campaigns in France, Poland, and Romania.[3][16] At the front, Mayer ministered directly amid trench warfare, crawling unarmed into battle zones to administer sacraments such as the Eucharist and Reconciliation, console both Catholic and Protestant soldiers, care for the dying, bury the fallen, and even rescue wounded men under artillery fire.[3][16] His repeated exposure to extreme danger, including charging into combat to deliver Last Rites, exemplified his commitment to spiritual support in the face of carnage.[16][3] In recognition of his valor, Mayer became the first chaplain awarded the Iron Cross Second Class on March 5, 1915.[3][16] On December 30, 1916, while serving on the Romanian front, Mayer sustained severe shrapnel wounds to his left leg from an exploding grenade, resulting in its amputation above the knee; he subsequently used a prosthesis and became known as the "limping priest."[3][16]Post-War Recovery and Honors
Following the amputation of his left leg in December 1916 due to shrapnel wounds sustained during a grenade attack on the Eastern Front, Rupert Mayer underwent extensive convalescence and rehabilitation.[9] Fitted with a wooden prosthetic leg, he adapted to his mobility limitations and became known as the "Limping Priest" upon his return to civilian life.[2] After the Armistice of 11 November 1918, Mayer resumed his pastoral duties in Munich, focusing on aiding the city's residents amid the economic hardship, social upheaval, and spiritual disarray of the Weimar Republic's early years.[4] He engaged in relief efforts for war orphans, the unemployed, and returning soldiers, extending his pre-war apostolate to the poor and marginalized while preaching on themes of hope and moral renewal.[1] For his exceptional bravery as a chaplain—repeatedly venturing into no-man's-land to minister to wounded soldiers and retrieve the dying—Mayer received the Iron Cross First Class in December 1915, an uncommon distinction for non-combatant clergy.[9] This award, the first of its kind granted to a Catholic chaplain, underscored his selfless service at the front lines prior to his injury.[18]Interwar Ministry and Anti-Nazi Resistance
Resumption of Pastoral Duties
Following the armistice of November 11, 1918, Mayer, having lost his left leg above the knee due to a grenade injury sustained on December 30, 1916, during service on the Transylvanian front, returned to Munich after demobilization.[19][9] Despite the physical limitations imposed by his prosthesis, which earned him the nickname "the Limping Priest," he immediately recommenced his pastoral activities with characteristic energy.[9] Mayer resumed preaching at the Bürgersaal church in central Munich, where he had established a ministry to rural migrants prior to the war since his assignment there in 1912.[1] In the chaotic aftermath of defeat, marked by hyperinflation, unemployment, and widespread destitution, he directed efforts toward supporting war veterans, the impoverished, and displaced persons, including managing a soldiers' club to provide material and spiritual assistance.[9] His apostolate emphasized practical charity, catechesis, and retreats, adapting pre-war initiatives to address the intensified social needs of the Weimar Republic era.[3] By 1921, Mayer had fully reintegrated into Jesuit community life, taking final vows and expanding his outreach through organizations aiding the working class and youth, undeterred by ongoing health challenges from his war wound. This period solidified his reputation as the "Apostle of Munich" for tireless service amid economic turmoil, laying the foundation for his later confrontations with emerging political ideologies.[1]Early Criticisms of National Socialism
As early as 1923, Mayer publicly declared that an individual could not simultaneously be a Catholic and a National Socialist, highlighting the ideological incompatibility between Christian doctrine and the party's emerging racial and statist principles.[20] This stance arose amid the National Socialists' activities in Munich, where Mayer, active in social apostolate work, scrutinized their programs alongside those of communists, rejecting both for their materialist and anti-religious tendencies.[3] He voiced these critiques at National Socialist events, drawing early attention despite the party's limited influence at the time.[21] Following the National Socialists' seizure of power in January 1933, Mayer intensified his opposition through sermons at Munich's Bürgersaal church, warning parishioners that the regime aimed to eradicate Christianity and supplant it with a pagan Germanic cult centered on racial purity.[22] He denounced the party's racist doctrines as contrary to the Gospel's universal dignity of man, condemned their reliance on lies and slander, and criticized the ethic that exalted the strong while preying on the weak—principles he saw as antithetical to Catholic social teaching.[22] [23] Mayer emphasized obedience to God over human authority, preaching that Catholics must prioritize divine law amid the regime's demands for total allegiance.[10] These pulpit denunciations, delivered regularly in the mid-1930s, positioned Mayer as one of the first clerics to challenge National Socialism's core tenets openly, even as many church leaders sought accommodation through the 1933 Reichskonkordat.[3] His superiors initially urged restraint to avoid escalation, but permitted resumed preaching when Nazi propaganda slandered him personally, allowing him to defend his positions until his June 1937 arrest.[5] This early resistance stemmed from Mayer's conviction, rooted in Jesuit formation and wartime experience, that National Socialism's pagan nationalism threatened both individual souls and societal order.[10]Escalating Conflicts with the Regime
As National Socialism consolidated power following the Enabling Act of March 23, 1933, Mayer increasingly incorporated critiques of the regime into his sermons at St. Michael's Church in Munich, highlighting the incompatibility of Nazi ideology with Catholic teachings on human dignity and social justice.[1] He specifically condemned the regime's campaigns against church autonomy, including efforts to dissolve Catholic youth organizations and close confessional schools, framing these as violations of natural law and parental rights.[3] By 1935, Mayer's stance had become unequivocal, as he warned parishioners of the movement's pagan undertones and its rejection of Christian moral foundations, drawing on his firsthand observations from attending early Nazi gatherings in the 1920s where he had publicly rebutted speakers' falsehoods with scriptural references.[21] Tensions peaked in early 1937 when Mayer's pulpit denunciations of Nazi encroachments prompted Gestapo surveillance; on May 16, 1937, the secret police issued a formal prohibition barring him from all public speaking, citing his sermons as subversive to state unity.[1] [9] Mayer adhered to the restriction outside sacred spaces but defiantly resumed preaching within churches, delivering messages that urged fidelity to the Church over regime demands and portrayed National Socialism as antithetical to the Gospel's emphasis on charity and truth.[3] This selective noncompliance intensified regime scrutiny, as authorities viewed ecclesiastical venues as extensions of public influence, leading to his summons before a special court in July 1937.[21] The trial resulted in a six-month prison sentence for violating the ban, during which Mayer was held in Landsberg am Lech; upon his release in December 1937, the prohibition was expanded to encompass all preaching activities, effectively sidelining his pastoral role.[1] [9] Undeterred, Mayer shifted to private counsel and clandestine support for regime opponents, including aiding Catholic networks resisting Gleichschaltung, which further alienated local Nazi officials and set the stage for renewed persecution.[24] These actions underscored his prioritization of conscience over compliance, as he later reflected in correspondence that obedience to God superseded temporal authority when the latter contravened divine law.[3]Imprisonment and Final Years
Arrest and Initial Detention
On November 3, 1939, the Gestapo arrested Rupert Mayer in Munich for his ongoing opposition to National Socialism, citing alleged ties to a royalist group as pretext despite his religious motivations in denouncing regime policies.[1][5] At 63 years old and with a wooden leg from World War I injuries, Mayer was promptly transported to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp at Oranienburg near Berlin, a facility notorious for its brutal treatment of political and religious prisoners.[1][5] Initial detention in Sachsenhausen subjected Mayer to severe physical and psychological strains, including forced labor, malnutrition, and isolation, which exacerbated his pre-existing health issues and led to significant weight loss and exhaustion within months.[1] Despite the regime's efforts to suppress clerical dissent through such camps—initially established for "protective custody" of perceived enemies—Mayer reportedly maintained spiritual support for fellow inmates, drawing on his pastoral experience amid the camp's coercive environment.[1] Authorities monitored him closely, wary of his popularity potentially turning any demise into a propaganda liability for the Church.[1] He endured these conditions for seven months until August 1940, when declining health prompted a transfer to avoid his death in the camp, marking the onset of prolonged confinement that defined his final years.[1][5]Transfers and Conditions of Confinement
Following his arrest on November 3, 1939, Mayer was transferred from local detention in Munich to the Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Oranienburg, where he was held under provisions of the Kanzelparagraphen laws prohibiting pulpit criticism of the regime.[1][3] This marked a escalation from prior confinements in facilities such as Landsberg Prison and Stadelheim, where he had been held intermittently since 1937 for similar offenses, including five months in Landsberg after an initial suspended sentence.[25][26] Conditions in Sachsenhausen were severely harsh, characterized by overcrowding, inadequate nutrition, and exposure to disease, which exacerbated Mayer's pre-existing ailments—including a war-related leg amputation and latent tuberculosis—leading to a marked physical decline during his approximately seven-month internment.[3][4] At age 63, the camp's demanding labor and punitive environment further weakened his constitution, prompting Nazi authorities, wary of his public stature potentially creating a martyrdom narrative, to authorize his transfer out of the facility in April 1940 rather than risk his death there.[27][10] Prior transfers between Bavarian prisons like Landsberg and Stadelheim involved standard Gestapo procedures for political detainees, including isolation to suppress preaching, but lacked the systematic brutality of the camp; nonetheless, repeated detentions contributed to cumulative health strain, with Mayer's prosthetic leg complicating mobility and recovery.[25] These confinements reflected the regime's strategy of incrementally tightening control over dissenting clergy, using short-term imprisonment to enforce silence before resorting to extrajudicial camp internment for persistent resisters.[26]Release to Ettal Abbey and Death
In August 1940, following over seven months in Sachsenhausen concentration camp, Mayer was transferred to Ettal Abbey, a Benedictine monastery in the Bavarian Alps near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, due to his worsening health amid fears that his death in a camp could elevate him to martyr status and fuel anti-regime sentiment.[3] There, under orders from SS-Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler, he endured house arrest, confined to the premises and prohibited from preaching, hearing confessions, or engaging in any public ministry, which he later described as his profoundest suffering.[21][8] Mayer resided at Ettal for nearly five years, enduring isolation while the abbey also sheltered other regime opponents, including Protestant theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer during part of his confinement.[28] He was liberated in May 1945 by advancing U.S. forces as Allied victory neared, allowing his return to Munich on May 11, shortly after Germany's unconditional surrender on May 8.[9][7] Despite his frailty and the prior preaching ban—now voided by the regime's collapse—Mayer immediately resumed limited pastoral work, including sermons at St. Michael Church. On November 1, 1945, the feast of All Saints, Mayer, aged 68, suffered a fatal stroke during 8:00 a.m. Mass at St. Michael Church in Munich.[1] After proclaiming the Gospel, he began his homily on the duty to imitate the saints when he collapsed forward, facing the congregation and repeatedly murmuring "The Lord, the Lord," his body held upright by the prosthetic leg from his World War I injury until priests assisted him.[9][29] He died moments later, his passing attributed to cumulative effects of wartime privations, imprisonment, and long-standing health decline rather than acute trauma.[3]Theological and Spiritual Contributions
Preaching Style and Themes
Mayer's preaching was marked by intense frequency and accessibility to diverse audiences, often delivering multiple homilies daily in churches, public halls, factories, barracks, and even early-morning Masses at Munich's main railway station beginning at 3:10 a.m. for outbound travelers.[9] [2] As director of the Marian Congregation for men from 1912 onward, he conducted up to 70 addresses monthly, reaching approximately 7,000 listeners across 53 parishes, adapting his delivery to working-class and migrant needs.[9] His style emphasized direct confrontation with ideological challenges, including attending Communist and National Socialist gatherings to interject Christian rebuttals, underscoring fallacies in opponents' arguments while promoting doctrinal clarity over emotional appeals.[9] Despite Gestapo-imposed public speaking bans starting in 1937, Mayer persisted by shifting to church pulpits, maintaining a tone of moral firmness that prioritized truth-telling and apostolic zeal, as seen in his wartime critiques of regime policies from St. Michael's Church, which prompted repeated arrests.[9] [30] Central themes revolved around orthodox Catholic social teaching, including charity toward the marginalized—such as aiding the unemployed and refugees with employment, housing, and faith preservation amid post-World War I economic distress.[2] [9] Mayer urged imitation of Christ and the saints as models for personal holiness and societal duty, exemplified in his final sermon on All Saints' Day, November 1, 1945, where he proclaimed the Gospel on the Beatitudes before collapsing from a stroke, repeatedly invoking "the poor" in emphasis.[9] In politically volatile periods, his homilies advocated restraint (Besonnenheit), reconciliation (Ausgleich), and peacefulness (Friedfertigkeit), countering totalitarian distortions of nationalism and socialism with appeals to human dignity and fidelity to Church authority, thereby framing resistance as rooted in evangelical realism rather than partisan rhetoric.[30] [2]The Prayer Attributed to Mayer
A prayer commonly attributed to Mayer emphasizes complete submission to divine will, reflecting the Jesuit's emphasis on obedience and trust in Providence amid personal trials. The text, often presented as his favorite or personal composition, reads in the original German:Herr, wie Du willst, soll mir gescheh'n,An English translation renders it as:
Und wie Du willst, so will ich geh'n.
Hilf Deinen Willen nur versteh'n.
Herr, wann Du willst, dann ist die Stund',
Bei Dir ist Freude Tag um Stund'._20200123_130003.jpg)[31]
Lord, whatever You will, let it be done;This concise invocation aligns with Mayer's spirituality, which prioritized discernment of God's intentions over human plans, a stance that sustained his pastoral work and resistance to National Socialist ideology despite repeated arrests beginning in 1937.[9] No primary documents confirm Mayer as the author, but it is consistently linked to him in post-war accounts of his life and devotion, portraying it as emblematic of his fortitude during imprisonment at sites including Sachsenhausen concentration camp from 1939 to 1940.[31][32] The prayer's themes of temporal surrender and enduring joy resonate with Ignatian principles of finding God in all circumstances, themes recurrent in Mayer's preaching to Munich's working-class migrants from 1912 onward.[9] It gained wider circulation after his death on November 1, 1945, and was adapted into liturgical music, such as the 1990s composition by Filipino Jesuit Manoling Francisco, which popularized it globally among Catholic communities.[33]
And as You will, so I will go.
Help me only to understand Your will.
Lord, whenever You will, then is the hour;
With You there is joy day by hour.[9][32]