Deaconesses serve with dedication

(from Wednesday, April 25)

We visited the diaconal community of Dresden on another beautiful spring day. Sisters Esther and Sylvia welcomed us into the chapel on the extensive grounds and gave us a sketch of the history of the community.

In 1844, not long after the foundation of the first deaconess community in 1839 not far away in Dusseldorf, four Dresden noblewomen opened a house where they would live, pray, and work together, serving the sick in their own home. In 1846, these women moved to a larger property, and here they remain.

During World War II, Dresden was bombed and the deaconesses' chapel and hospital were not spared. In 1961, the chapel was reopened. Sister Esther told us that the chapel is the spiritual home of the community and that diaconal service is not possible without Word and Communion. The sisters welcome neighbors and visitors to join them in worship daily. Their chapel houses a fine organ and choir, often heard in concerts and cantata services.

On the front of the lectern in the chapel is a Coventry cross, formed of large nails. The cathedral of Conventry in England was also heavily damaged in World War II; it has been at the forefront of movements for peace and reconciliation ever since (see www.crossofnails.org). In 1965, the Coventry movement sent a group of young Englishmen to help rebuild the deaconesses' hospital. The deaconesses have never forgotten this. Every Friday at noon, the community gathers in the chapel to pray for peace and reconciliation using the Coventry prayer: Father forgive.

Now the deaconesses' hospital is a 250-bed general hospital, the first in the city to be certified by a nationally known independent agency. At least 1000 babies are born here each year, a point of friendly rivalry among the three hospitals in Dresden.

The deaconesses also care for the elderly and handicapped with a wide range of services. Youth is also served here, with a kindergarten for the very young and a vocational high school that prepares young adults for work in health care. The deaconesses also sponsor a respected nursing school, whose 170 students follow a three-year program.

The deaconesses operate another industry: the Hostenbackerei, near the hospital. In one small room, more than a million wafers of communion bread are made each year.

As Sisters Esther and Sylvia led us around the beautiful grounds, we were all impressed by the hum of dedicated activity all around us. But the deaconesses aren't just efficient workers with a hospital, school, and nursing home to run. They have dedicated their lives to Christ, living a common life of apostolic poverty and prayer. And what amazing fruit that dedication to Christ has brought forth in the world: healing, reconciliation, and beauty.

You can see their website at www.diako-dresden.de.