Published: 04.18.2022.
Soviets suddenly agreed to leave Austria after hundreds of thousands of Austrians prayed the rosary
After World War II, Austria was divided into four occupation zones, just like Germany. A significant part of the country in the east became a Soviet occupation zone. Soviet foreign minister Molotov told the Austrian chancellor Leopold Figl once: “Don’t get your hopes up, what we Russians once have, we don’t give away.”
The Franciscan priest Fr. Petrus Pavliček OFM (born 1902 in Innsbruck as Otto Pavliček, died 1982 in Vienna), while visiting the Austrian pilgrimage site in Mariazell in 1946, received an inspiration saying: “Do what I tell you, and you will have peace.” Next year, he founded the rosary prayer movement Rosenkranz-Sühnekreuzzug, (RSK, Rosary Crusade of Reparation) with the following prayer intentions:
“1. repentance and atonement for the countless offenses against God.
2. prayer for the conversion of sinners.
3. prayer for peace in the world and freedom of Austria.”
He sought and got the approval of the Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Theodor Innitzer. He began to hold an expiatory devotion every month in the Franciscan church in Vienna.
Membership in the RSK grew, from 15,000 members in 1948 to 200,000 around the end of 1950, and 500,000 in May of 1955. Chancellor Figl was one of the members after 1948, as well as later his successor, Julius Raab. (Über uns)
In 1949, before the second federal election (Nationalratswahl), when they feared a Communist win, Fr. Pavliček organized a five day long prayer rally in the said Franciscan church with around 50,000 faithful. Afterwards, the Communist party only got around 5% of the vote.
In 1950, Communist labor unioners tried to organize a general strike, riot in Vienna and attempt a coup-d’état (the so-called Koplenig-coup-d’état). Before this happened, as the tensions were mounting, Fr. Pavliček organized another prayer rally with about 35,000 people, when Leopold Figl attended praying the rosary and carrying candles in the procession, with a couple of his ministers also attending. The riot was broken up successfully.
In 1955, the unthinkable happened: The Soviets, together with the Allies, agreed to pull out of Austria! The Austrian State Treaty was signed, giving it independence as a democratic republic. The RSK members believed that their prayers were answered.
After the ratification of the Austrian State Treaty, Chancellor Julius Raab held a speech at a thanksgiving ceremony in Vienna, saying the following: “ […] we as faithful Catholics – and I proudly confess myself as such – have never doubted that our Lord God would one day hear us and put an end to the trial our people had to endure. […] But to those Catholics who joined this crusade and who today have united once again in a powerful profession of faith and love of country, I, as Federal Chancellor, sincerely want to thank them for the love, loyalty and sacrifice they have shown. I call upon this immense number of Austria’s faithful Catholics to continue faithfully in their faith and unswervingly in their prayers, asking for a happy and better future.”
Now, the RSK has around 700,000 members world-wide in 132 countries. After Fr. Pavliček’s death, the Franciscan priest Fr. Benno Mikocki OFM became the spiritual leader. The organization itself is headed today by Traude Gallhofer.
From their self-description:
“The members of the prayer community should
[–] Pray at least one decade of the Rosary daily, but omission of this prayer does not imply sin.
[–] include in their prayer the great needs of the Church and the world – with their personal intentions,
[–] as a fruit of the Rosary: to work conscientiously, to be helpful, and to bear sufferings and sorrows patiently, also in the spirit of vicarious atonement.
There is no membership fee in the Rosary Atonement Crusade. Also, the shipment of the magazine “Betendes Gottes Volk” [“God’s Praying People”] is free of charge.” (Geschichte des RSK)
The Miracle of Waldenburg
On the night of Monday, May 13, 1940 at about 9:30 P.M., a vision of a human hand appeared on the clear sky above Waldenburg (canton Basel-Landschaft), and lasted for around 20 minutes.
Swiss soldiers, who saw the vision, had to testify under oath to General Henri Guisan, the commander-in-chief of the Swiss army. (here) Other witnesses also testified, and their testimonies were recorded in a 32-page document.
One of the recorded testimonies is one of Mrs. Müller, who stated:
“It was about 9¼ o’clock. I was standing outside by the gate. There comes a woman and says, look at the sign in the sky. It was a very clear hand. It was not a cloud. It was strange. You could even see the likeness of the fingers. We said, “We never saw such an apparition before.” My husband also saw it toward the end. It was a protective gesture, palm down, fingers spread a little. We saw it for about ¼ hour. I went to tell Mrs. Sonderegger. The whole neighborhood stood together and saw it. There were men, women and children. I am 35 years old and a housewife.
Waldenburg, 9th of June 1940 sig Mrs. Müller“
(https://www.hand-waldenburg.ch/de/zeitzeugenberichte)
The witnesses were emphatic that it was not a cloud with the shape of a hand, but that it was a vision of a hand.
Many were convinced that it was the hand of St. Nicholas of Flüe, the patron saint of Switzerland, protecting the country from an invasion by the Wehrmacht.
Resources
RSK:
RSK main website: https://www.rsk-ma.at
PDF about the history of the RSK, source of most of the article’s quotations: https://www.rsk-ma.at/dl/MoKoJKJKLkmNNJqx4KJK/_Leitbild_Kern_WEB_pdf
About us page: https://www.rsk-ma.at/ueberuns
History of the RSK page: https://www.rsk-ma.at/ueberuns/geschichte
Miracle of Waldenburg:
www.hand-waldenburg.ch, a site documenting the events concisely