Rome (Italy). January 2021 marks the 95th anniversary of the entrance of the Servant of God Sr. Antonieta Böhm into the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, in the stage of Postulancy. The anniversary is significant because it marks the beginning of her journey of formation and towards Holiness.
Born on 22 September 1907 in Bottrop (Germany), a town in the north between the Rhineland and Westphalia. After the death of her parents, Antonieta lived with her brother in Essen Borbeck and attended the oratory of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. She herself says: “In that courtyard there were about six hundred young children and girls who ran, played, sang”. Here she meets the FMA, and is fascinated by them, and the desire to follow them and to be like them grows in her.
The chronicle of the House of Mary Help of Christians in Essen Borbeck reports: “25 January 1926, Our Rev. Superior, Sr. Alba Deambrosis, sets out on a journey to Eschelbach to accompany 7 candidates wishing to become Daughters of Mary Help of Christians.” Sister Alba Deambrosis, an Italian missionary, left in 1922 with five other sisters to found the first FMA work in Germany.
Sr. Antonieta often speaks of Don Bosco and invites us to imitate him
This aspect is also reflected in her autobiographical writings: she indicates 31 January 1926 as the date of her entrance into the Institute, while in the official records it appears on January 29, and in the news on February 1. The chronicle of the house describes a brief account of the rite of the imposition of the medal:
“February 1st: Imposition of the medal of Mary Help of Christians on the Postulants. The Salesian Provincial, Fr. Franz Saverio Niedermayer, comes specifically from Monaco because he wanted to preside over the ceremony. The postulants gathered in the chapel in the morning and listened to the words of their beloved Superior with great interest and pleasure. He recommended that they immediately engage with the utmost diligence in studying and acquiring the spirit of Don Bosco, our Founder and Father, in order to correspond worthily to the grace of their vocation.”
Her journey towards holiness began on that day
Fr. Niedermayer’s exhortation remains etched in the mind and heart of Sister Antonieta throughout her life. Of German origin, Franz Xaver Niedermayer had studied theology in Italy where he had become a Salesian and a priest. In 1916, he was a pioneer of the Salesian Work in Germany and founded the first presence in Bavaria. In 1928, on the occasion of Don Bosco’s beatification, he promoted the knowledge of the founder in the Austro-Hungarian area. When in 1935 the Rector Major, Fr. Pietro Ricaldone, offered the Strenna entitled “Fidelity to Don Bosco Saint”, this commitment became Fr. Niedermayer’s life program.
The presence of Mary in the life of Sr. Antonieta
The Chronicle continues: “Then the Postulants approach the altar to receive the Medal, while the Sisters in the choir, accompanied by the harmonium, sang the beautiful Marian hymn: Resound for the Heavens”.
At the beginning of her journey, the Virgin Mary is present, and becomes the Guide and Model for her consecrated life. In fact, Sister Antonieta is remembered for her maternal goodness, her smiling face, and a special mission linked to a statuette of Mary Help of Christians, which she received in 1973 from Mother Ersilia Crugnola with the recommendation to “make her work”. She therefore lived the call to be the transparency of Mary Help of Christians, to be her blessing hand everywhere, in particular towards the sick and the people who entrusted themselves to her intercession and many of them experienced the effectiveness of this blessing.
