Curriculum vitae of Mrs. Krause
and
history of the Marian Blessing Circle
Founder of the Marian Blessing Circle
Cäcilia Elisabeth Krause, née Helmert
16.04.1909 in Remscheid (Germany)
† 1.04.1995 Langenbach near Kirburg (Germany)
Her Parents
Arnold Helmert
18.02.1882 in Hagen
† 10.11.1965 in Winterberg
Aenne Helmert, née von Schledorn
21.07.1882 in Hagen
† 23.10.1961 Winterberg
Her brothers
Arnold and Alfons
both fell in the 2nd World War
Schooling
Elementary school in Remscheid and
Girls’ school with the Ursulines in Werl
Marriage
Church wedding on 2.01.1929
with Heinrich Emil Hans Krause
(Dipl. Engineer Shipbuilding)
* 30.10.1892, † 20.11.1946
Children
Eva Maria * 24.12.1931, † Corpus Christi, 11.06.1936
Rolf * 15.03.1936, † 11.01.2014
Michael * 12.05.1938, † 8.04.1940
Christoph * 1941
Joachim * 1942
Farewells to deceased family members
On June 11, 1936, the 4 1/2-year-old daughter Eva Maria died of diphtheria.
On April 8, 1940, the nearly 2-year-old son Michael drowned in the river Alster (tributary of the Elbe).
On November 20, 1946, her husband Hans died, who had previously converted to the Catholic Church.
Widowhood consecration
2.02.1949, Feast of Candlemas
Mrs. Krause entrusts her life to her Lord Jesus Christ through the widows consecration and promises to serve the Church, whatever the Lord may have in store for her.
Start of the Marian Blessing Circle
8.12.1949, Feast of the Immaculate Conception
During the Holy Mass in honor of the Immaculate, in the St. Elizabeth Chapel of the Mariannenhospital in Werl – pilgrimage city in North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany) – Mrs. Krause received the idea of bringing people together into a blessings community.
The spiritual council, Friedrich Schmidt, former hospital chaplain in the Mariannenhospital and her confessor, immediately supported this idea and proposed that Father Blasius Linn OFM be chosen as spiritual leader.
In collaboration with him, the name “Marian Blessing Circle” was given to the work. The task of the Marian Blessing Circle was to revive ancient Catholic faith and to remind priests and faithful that they are consecrated and commissioned to bless.
(Quote Mrs. Krause, circular letter from 1989)
The small group of like-minded people grew over the years.
She herself gave lectures and made many contacts.
In March 1982, the Marian Blessing Circle was registered in the Register of Associations at the District Court of Montabaur (Germany). In September 1982, the association acquired a multi-family house in Leuterod (Rheinland-Pfalz), where Mrs. Cäcilia Krause lived and the secretariat was established. From here she continued to seek worldwide connections with bishops, priests, religious and faithful to make known the apostolate of the Blessing Circle.
As the spiritual center of the movement, a chapel was added to the house in honor of “Mary , Mother of Mercy”. The dedication was on November 27, 1984, the feast of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. Here, she brought all the worries and concerns that were brought to her, with great trust in Jesus Christ and His Mother Mary .
Her heart was especially devoted to the priests, for whom she prayed and offered sacrifices. Like Mary , she wanted to be a mother to the priests. And like Mary , she offered herself to her God as a servant. For her role as a mother and, in a sense, as a mother for the Marian Blessing Circle, she received the necessary graces through prayer and the sacraments of the Holy Eucharist and Confession.
She offered up her cancer and the associated suffering for the priests.
April 1, 1995, on the First Saturday Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary , she returned her life to the Lord and Creator, after about one year of illness.
“He has taken me to himself,
whom I love the most.”