Translated with DeepL.com 

Mechernich/Schophoven – On Thursday, the Mechernich community Communio in Christo bid farewell with great sympathy in their chapel and afterwards at the cemetery in Schophoven near Düren to Sister Dorothea Rolfes (96), who in the 1970s laid the financial foundation for the establishment of care facilities for the elderly, the seriously ill and the dying in Mechernich and Blankenheim.

‘Throughout her life, she was happy that she could see and experience how her generous and completely selfless act helped thousands of people in a professional and loving way,’ said Norbert Arnold, managing director of the social welfare organisation Communio in Christo, at the open grave in Schophoven, where Sister Dorothea was buried alongside her husband Joseph Rolfes.

The Catholic funeral rite, like the Resurrection Mass in the Communio chapel in Mechernich, was conducted by Father Jaison Thazhathil, the Superior General of the Ordo Communionis in Christo, of which Sister Dorothea had been one of the first members, as well as of the ‘Unio der Sühnenden Liebe’ (Union of Atoning Love), which had been founded by Mother Marie Therese on 1 September 1977 in the parish church of St. Lambertus in Holzheim.

„A truly blessed life“

The sermon was given by Deacon Manfred Lang, deputy superior of the Communio, and Father Rudolf Ammann Isch, spiritual director of the community, spoke very personal and moving words at the grave. In his introduction to the Resurrection Mass, Superior General Jaison Thazhathil said: "We say goodbye with deep gratitude and loving remembrance of a long life that was richly blessed and generously devoted."

The Superior, who comes from India, went on to say: "When God inspired Mother Marie Therese to found Communio in Christo, he knew that this vision could not be realised alone. That is why he placed faithful and courageous companions at her side. Sister Dorothea was one of those whom God called. She recognised her calling clearly and accepted her mission with generosity and trust. Much of what Communio in Christo is today we owe to her generous support, her quiet dedication and her faithful service."

Deacon Manfred Lang said in his sermon: "Sister Dorothea was not a woman of grand gestures. She was dutiful, faithful, organised, vigilant. A 'German oak', as she herself said – storm-proof, rooted in the earth, sometimes gnarled. And at the same time generous: in spirit, in service, and also in very concrete ways. Much of what Communio is today bears her signature – quiet but effective."

Loyalty in the highest degree

Lang also emphatically highlighted her ‘first life’, which she had spent alongside her husband Joseph Rolfes, primarily on the large agricultural estate of Gut Müllenark in Schophoven: ‘His death was a biographical turning point, from which grace grew through pain. This was not a pious happy ending, but ultimately fidelity in love.’

‘Not two lives,’ Lang concluded, but one: ‘Over 25 years as a wife and widow, almost 50 years as a nun and companion to the founder, as a pillar of Communio.’  For the Communio in Christo community, ‘it is a valuable sign of solidarity, dear Stuckenberg family, dear Rolfes family, that you have come today to celebrate this Resurrection Mass together with us,’ said Superior General Jaison Thazhathil.

The main celebrant took the reading of the day, which was recited by Communio Sister Lidwina, from the Song of Love in the First Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians. The Gospel recited the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount. The intercessions were formulated by Angela Rolfes, a niece of Dorothea's husband. The Mechernich pastor Erik Pühringer, head of the St. Barbara Pastoral Area, was the concelebrant with General Superior Jaison Thazhathil, along with Father Patrick Mwanguhya. A total of a dozen clergymen surrounded the altar.

Priest and former mayor

When he thinks of Sister Dorothea, Paul comes to mind, said Father Jaison: "If we live, we live for the Lord; if we die, we die for the Lord. Whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord." Sister Dorothea retains "a special place in the hearts of the many people she touched with her faith, her kindness and her constant love."

In addition to the community and family of the deceased, the funeral guests included members of the religious order, priests and sisters who had travelled from afar, former mayor Dr Hans-Peter Schick, the chairman of the "Stella Maris" hospice support association, and many, many friends who were close to Sister Dorothea. The local population of Schophoven also showed their appreciation by actively participating in the funeral ceremonies.

pp/Agentur ProfiPress