Maria Columba Schonath (11 December 1730 – 3 March 1787) was a German member of the

Order of Preachers The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilian priest named Dominic de Guzmán. It was approved by Pope Honorius ...

stigmatist Stigmata (, plural of , 'mark, spot, brand'), in Catholicism, are bodily wounds, scars and pain which appear in locations corresponding to the crucifixion wounds of Jesus Christ: the hands, wrists, feet, near the heart, the head (from the cro ...

and mystic. She belonged to the convent Heilig Grab in

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia district in Bavaria, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main (river), Main. Bamberg had 79,000 inhabitants in ...

. Her cause for

beatification Beatification (from Latin , "blessed" and , "to make") is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their name. ''Beati'' is the p ...

has been opened in 1999.

Life

The daughter of Johann Georg Schonath, a miller, and Katharina Schonath was baptized with the name Maria Anna in the parish church in Scheßlitz. She attended school from the age of nine. From her earliest youth, she was very pious. On May 27, 1753, Schonath was admitted as a

lay sister Lay brother is a largely extinct term referring to religious brothers, particularly in the Catholic Church, who focused upon manual service and secular matters, and were distinguished from choir monks or friars in that they did not pray in choir ...

to the convent of Heilig Grab ("Holy Sepulchre") in Bamberg. When she was invested, she was given the

religious name A religious name is a type of given name bestowed for religious purposes, and which is generally used in such contexts. Christianity Catholic Church Baptismal name In baptism, Catholic Church, Catholics are given a Christian name, which should n ...

''Maria Columba'', after Columba of Rieti. Schonath made her

religious vows Religious vows are the public vows made by the members of religious communities pertaining to their conduct, practices, and views. In the Buddhist tradition, in particular within the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions, many different kinds of r ...

on September 24, 1754. A year later, she began to suffer from unexplained illnesses and bouts of fever and she was attacked by ulcers. This meant great obstacles to her life in the monastery. She often lay confined to her bed. The only consolation she could get during her suffering was the contemplation of the Passion of Christ by looking at an old crucifix. In 1763, when she was said to have received the

stigmata Stigmata (, plural of , 'mark, spot, brand'), in Roman Catholicism, Catholicism, are bodily wounds, scars and pain which appear in locations corresponding to the Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion Five Holy Wounds, wounds of Jesus in Christian ...

. The stigmatisation has been documented since December 1763. Mystical visions also occurred which exceeded her physical strength. On March 3, 1787, she died after spending 33 years in the monastery. She was buried in a side chapel of the monastery church. D-4-71-185-1 Gedenkstein

Because the monastery was dissolved in the course of secularization in 1803, Schonath's remains were transferred to the municipal cemetery and, after the monastery was resettled in 1926, back to the church.

Beatification process

On 15 May 1999, Archbishop Karl Braun of

opened Schonath's

process on a diocesan level. Previous attempts had failed due to unfavorable circumstances at the time, such as the dissolution of the monastery. An archiepiscopal commission for beatification tries to advance the canonical process at diocesan level. The postulator in the beatification process is Reinhold Ortner. Christus ergeben mit Leib und Seele
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References

External links

at Dominikanerinnenkloster zum Heiligen Grab
Schonath, Columba
at orden-online.de {{DEFAULTSORT:Schonath, Columba 1730 births 1787 deaths People from Bamberg Dominican nuns Dominican mystics Stigmatics German Christian mystics German Servants of God