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The Blessed Paul Joseph Nardini, T.O.S.F., (25 July 1821 – 27 January 1862) was a German diocesan priest and the founder of the religious congregation of the Poor Franciscan Sisters of the Holy Family, also commonly known as the Nardini Sisters, or the Mallersdorfer Sisters from the town where they are now headquartered. He was beatified in 2006 by the Catholic Church. ==Early life== Nardini was born at Germersheim in the Palatinate, then part of the Kingdom of Bavaria, to Margareta Lichtenberger, an unwed mother who gave him the name Paul Joseph Lichtenberger at his birth. The name of his father, an Austrian military engineer, has remained unknown.〔(The Nardini Sisters "Dr. Paul Joseph Nardini" )〕 Margareta was unemployed and thus not able to provide for herself and her son. After two years of living in deep poverty, she turned her son over to her paternal aunt, Maria Barbara Lichtenberger, who was married to Anton Nardini. The couple adopted young Paul and gave him their own surname. They loved the boy and raised him as if he had been their own son, providing him with the best education possible.〔(Vatican News story on the beatification of Father Nardini )〕 Nardini displayed extraordinary diligence in his studies and earned excellent grades. In so doing, he drew the attention of several teachers. After he completed grammar school, it became clear that Paul was interested in the priesthood. The Bishop of Speyer, Johannes von Geissel, had him admitted to the seminary at Speyer, where Nardini studied philosophy from 1841 through 1843. Upon completing his philosophy studies, he was sent to the Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich by Geissel's successor, Nikolaus von Weis. There, Nardini obtained a degree in theology, and graduated summa cum laude.〔 His professors encouraged the young scholar to stay at the University, where he could be assured of a successful career, but he was determined to serve as a parish priest. On 5 June 1846 Nardini received minor orders. The next day, he was ordained a subdeacon. He received his Doctorate of Theology the following month. He then returned to Speyer where he was ordained a deacon on the 11 August. The following 22 August, he was ordained a priest in the Cathedral of Speyer.〔 In his first years in the priesthood, Nardini served as a chaplain in Frankenthal, then as administrator of a parish in Trebur, followed by serving as a prefect at the diocesan boarding school in Speyer. In February 1851, Nardini was appointed as the parish priest of the difficult and poor parish in Pirmasens. This was a post at which he would serve the rest of his life. He asked his birth mother to move there with him, which she did.〔 Nardini was noted for his remarkable character during this period. His example of sacrifice, determination, self-denial and apostolic zeal was very important in evangelizing and drawing people to the Catholic Church in the largely Protestant area. His effectiveness as a priest, combined with his preaching and catechizing skills and his love of the Eucharist, earned him a reputation for sanctity and led to his being called the "Father of the Poor" in the community.〔 Nardini became very concerned about the conditions in which the poor children and older adults in the Pirmasens area were forced to live. He came to see that the Catholic population were an oppressed minority in the region, with work hard to obtain from the Protestant majority. Their children were even reduced to begging on the street. He began to organize charities to help his flock in their poverty. Nardini determined that a community of professed Sisters would be needed to guarantee the continuity of the services he had organized in the parish. The town council, composed entirely of Protestants, strongly opposed the establishment of a convent in the town. Nardini stood fast in his determination, despite threats to his life.〔 In 1853, he requested that the Sisters of the Most Holy Redeemer, based in Niederbronn, come to Pirmasens to help in the care and education of the poor children of the area. He also asked them to help in the care of the sick and those who suffered from material or spiritual misery, regardless of their race or religion. Soon after the arrival of three Sisters of the congregation, there was an outbreak of typhus in the city. The Sisters nursed the sick day and night, even bringing them into the small house Nardini had rented for them. One of them contracted the illness herself. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Paul Joseph Nardini」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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