Julie von Massow
Encyclopedia
Julie von Massow was a Prussia
n woman who started a movement, Ut Omnes Unum, "that all may be one", which promoted reconciliation between the Christian churches, a policy known as reunionism.
(today part of Murchin
) into a Pomeranian
noble family, which held high positions in the court and government of Prussia
. The visitors to her salon
came from the highest echelons of society, and included Bismarck
, Alexander von Humboldt
, and members of the noble Stolberg family. She was originally Lutheran
, but converted to Catholicism in 1885.
that it prompted calls for reunionism (as it came to be called) from both Protestant and Catholic sections. One development was the so-called Erfurt Conference of 1860, a somewhat impromptu gathering of Catholic and Protestant scholars and dignitaries. Such a meeting, however, was so controversial that when the organizer of the conference, the Catholic priest Friedrich Michelis
, was seen after the conference riding the train from Erfurt
to Halle
with Protestant historian and conference participant Heinrich Leo
, newspapers in Berlin
and Rome
reported the news, prompting speculation that the Jesuits
were trying to forcefully convert Lutherans. As a result, Michelis was sued for holding an unauthorized assembly, and Leo (a professor at the University of Halle-Wittenberg
) was forbidden to examine future high school teachers. Another signal of reunionist sympathy came in 1861, when Wilhelm Emmanuel Freiherr von Ketteler, Bishop of Mainz, published a book on reconciliation, Freiheit, Autorität, und Kirche, in which he proposed the founding of a prayer society "for the Reunion of Christendom". Von Massow, who counted popes, bishops (including von Ketteler), and cardinals among her friends, can be said to have answered that call.
In 1862, von Massow and her husband (a member of the Prussian House of Lords
) began a program of organized prayer, "praying the Psalter according to a fixed schedule, as in the Roman Breviary". The idea was to establish a unity of sorts between the denominations. The von Massows' influence was such that friends soon did the same, and quickly a movement (organized as Psalmenbund in 1862) swept Germany, before it spread to Greece, Sweden, and even the United States (among a Lutheran congregation in Allentown, Pennsylvania
). In 1878, von Massow added a prayer society, the Gebetsverein, which prayed a number of prayers (including "Veni Creator Spiritus" by Rabanus Maurus
) "with the intention that all may be one". A journal based on the movement was founded (also named Ut Omnes Unum, published from 1879 to 1901 in Erfurt
), and weekly calendars were printed. In 1883, von Massow endowed a yearly mass ad tollendum schisma, "to bring schisma to an end", to be said at the grave of Saint Boniface
in Fulda
.
Catholic organizations sprang up mirroring the originally Lutheran organization—the Petrusverein, the Gebetsverein für Deutschland, and the Canisiusgebetsverein. In 1888, Pope Leo XIII
offered indulgences for the daily prayer of the "reunion rosary". He received von Massow in a special audience and awarded her a medal with the inscription Ut Omnes Unum on the one side and a likeness of Saint Boniface
and the text ein Volk, ein Glaube on the other. During the movement's heyday, their journal was produced by Lutheran and Catholic contributors, working together to further the reunification of Christianity in Germany. However, von Massow converted to Catholicism in 1885 and the Catholic editor of the journal censured a number of Lutheran contributions; this caused most of the Lutheran contributors to the journal and the movement to desert the movement. Von Massow founded a new journal, Friedensblätter, which for a while competed with Ut Omnes Unum. The two journals merged in 1900, and the ensuing journal was published until World War I
. The Psalmenbund and Gebetsverein became affiliated with the 15th-century Brotherhood of Our Lady of Sorrows
in Rome
.
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n woman who started a movement, Ut Omnes Unum, "that all may be one", which promoted reconciliation between the Christian churches, a policy known as reunionism.
Biography
Julie von Massow, née von Behr, was born in Pinnow, district of GreifswaldGreifswald
Greifswald , officially, the University and Hanseatic City of Greifswald is a town in northeastern Germany. It is situated in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, at an equal distance of about from Germany's two largest cities, Berlin and Hamburg. The town borders the Baltic Sea, and is crossed...
(today part of Murchin
Murchin
Murchin is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany....
) into a Pomeranian
Pomeranians (German people)
For other uses, see PomeranianPomeranians are a German people living in Pomerania. In the High Middle Ages, Germans from what is today Northwestern Germany, Danes, Dutch and Flemish people migrated to Pomerania during the Ostsiedlung, gradually outnumbering and assimilating the West Slavic tribes...
noble family, which held high positions in the court and government of Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
. The visitors to her salon
Salon (gathering)
A salon is a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine taste and increase their knowledge of the participants through conversation. These gatherings often consciously followed Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, "either to...
came from the highest echelons of society, and included Bismarck
Otto von Bismarck
Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg , simply known as Otto von Bismarck, was a Prussian-German statesman whose actions unified Germany, made it a major player in world affairs, and created a balance of power that kept Europe at peace after 1871.As Minister President of...
, Alexander von Humboldt
Alexander von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander Freiherr von Humboldt was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister, philosopher and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt...
, and members of the noble Stolberg family. She was originally Lutheran
Lutheranism
Lutheranism is a major branch of Western Christianity that identifies with the theology of Martin Luther, a German reformer. Luther's efforts to reform the theology and practice of the church launched the Protestant Reformation...
, but converted to Catholicism in 1885.
Ut Omnes Unum
Von Massow's prayer society came about in a cultural atmosphere so divided by confessionalismConfessionalism (religion)
Confessionalism, in a religious sense, is a belief in the importance of full and unambiguous assent to the whole of a religious teaching...
that it prompted calls for reunionism (as it came to be called) from both Protestant and Catholic sections. One development was the so-called Erfurt Conference of 1860, a somewhat impromptu gathering of Catholic and Protestant scholars and dignitaries. Such a meeting, however, was so controversial that when the organizer of the conference, the Catholic priest Friedrich Michelis
Friedrich Bernhard Ferdinand Michelis
Friedrich Bernhard Ferdinand Michelis was a German theologian and philosopher who was born in Münster.He studied philosophy and theology at the Academy of Münster, receiving his ordination in 1838. From 1845 he was a chaplain and school teacher in Duisburg, and later an instructor at the...
, was seen after the conference riding the train from Erfurt
Erfurt
Erfurt is the capital city of Thuringia and the main city nearest to the geographical centre of Germany, located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of Nuremberg and 180 km SE of Hannover. Erfurt Airport can be reached by plane via Munich. It lies in the southern part of the Thuringian...
to Halle
Halle, Saxony-Anhalt
Halle is the largest city in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is also called Halle an der Saale in order to distinguish it from the town of Halle in North Rhine-Westphalia...
with Protestant historian and conference participant Heinrich Leo
Heinrich Leo
Heinrich Leo was a Prussian historian born in Rudolstadt, his father being chaplain to the garrison there....
, newspapers in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
reported the news, prompting speculation that the Jesuits
Society of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
were trying to forcefully convert Lutherans. As a result, Michelis was sued for holding an unauthorized assembly, and Leo (a professor at the University of Halle-Wittenberg
University of Halle-Wittenberg
The Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg , also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg within Saxony-Anhalt, Germany...
) was forbidden to examine future high school teachers. Another signal of reunionist sympathy came in 1861, when Wilhelm Emmanuel Freiherr von Ketteler, Bishop of Mainz, published a book on reconciliation, Freiheit, Autorität, und Kirche, in which he proposed the founding of a prayer society "for the Reunion of Christendom". Von Massow, who counted popes, bishops (including von Ketteler), and cardinals among her friends, can be said to have answered that call.
In 1862, von Massow and her husband (a member of the Prussian House of Lords
Prussian House of Lords
The Prussian House of Lords was the first chamber of the Parliament of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1850-1918. The second chamber was the Prussian House of Representatives . The House of Lords was created on January 31, 1850 with the adoption of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Prussia...
) began a program of organized prayer, "praying the Psalter according to a fixed schedule, as in the Roman Breviary". The idea was to establish a unity of sorts between the denominations. The von Massows' influence was such that friends soon did the same, and quickly a movement (organized as Psalmenbund in 1862) swept Germany, before it spread to Greece, Sweden, and even the United States (among a Lutheran congregation in Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Allentown is a city located in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is Pennsylvania's third most populous city, after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the 215th largest city in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 118,032 and is currently...
). In 1878, von Massow added a prayer society, the Gebetsverein, which prayed a number of prayers (including "Veni Creator Spiritus" by Rabanus Maurus
Rabanus Maurus
Rabanus Maurus Magnentius , also known as Hrabanus or Rhabanus, was a Frankish Benedictine monk, the archbishop of Mainz in Germany and a theologian. He was the author of the encyclopaedia De rerum naturis . He also wrote treatises on education and grammar and commentaries on the Bible...
) "with the intention that all may be one". A journal based on the movement was founded (also named Ut Omnes Unum, published from 1879 to 1901 in Erfurt
Erfurt
Erfurt is the capital city of Thuringia and the main city nearest to the geographical centre of Germany, located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of Nuremberg and 180 km SE of Hannover. Erfurt Airport can be reached by plane via Munich. It lies in the southern part of the Thuringian...
), and weekly calendars were printed. In 1883, von Massow endowed a yearly mass ad tollendum schisma, "to bring schisma to an end", to be said at the grave of Saint Boniface
Saint Boniface
Saint Boniface , the Apostle of the Germans, born Winfrid, Wynfrith, or Wynfryth in the kingdom of Wessex, probably at Crediton , was a missionary who propagated Christianity in the Frankish Empire during the 8th century. He is the patron saint of Germany and the first archbishop of Mainz...
in Fulda
Fulda
Fulda is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district .- Early Middle Ages :...
.
Catholic organizations sprang up mirroring the originally Lutheran organization—the Petrusverein, the Gebetsverein für Deutschland, and the Canisiusgebetsverein. In 1888, Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII , born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci to an Italian comital family, was the 256th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, reigning from 1878 to 1903...
offered indulgences for the daily prayer of the "reunion rosary". He received von Massow in a special audience and awarded her a medal with the inscription Ut Omnes Unum on the one side and a likeness of Saint Boniface
Saint Boniface
Saint Boniface , the Apostle of the Germans, born Winfrid, Wynfrith, or Wynfryth in the kingdom of Wessex, probably at Crediton , was a missionary who propagated Christianity in the Frankish Empire during the 8th century. He is the patron saint of Germany and the first archbishop of Mainz...
and the text ein Volk, ein Glaube on the other. During the movement's heyday, their journal was produced by Lutheran and Catholic contributors, working together to further the reunification of Christianity in Germany. However, von Massow converted to Catholicism in 1885 and the Catholic editor of the journal censured a number of Lutheran contributions; this caused most of the Lutheran contributors to the journal and the movement to desert the movement. Von Massow founded a new journal, Friedensblätter, which for a while competed with Ut Omnes Unum. The two journals merged in 1900, and the ensuing journal was published until World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. The Psalmenbund and Gebetsverein became affiliated with the 15th-century Brotherhood of Our Lady of Sorrows
Our Lady of Sorrows
Our Lady of Sorrows , the Sorrowful Mother or Mother of Sorrows , and Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows or Our Lady of the Seven Dolours are names by which the Blessed Virgin Mary is referred to in relation to sorrows in her life...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
.