Blessed Rupert Mayer

Life story

Rupert Mayer was born on 23 January 1876 in Stuttgart. He was ordained a priest in 1899 and joined the Jesuits in 1900. From 1912 he worked in Munich, first with migrant workers arriving in the city and later as a preacher at St Michael's Church.

During the First World War he served as an army chaplain and was awarded the Iron Cross. In 1916 a grenade cost him a leg, and afterward he was known as the limping priest. After the war he returned to Munich and continued preaching and caring for the poor, becoming widely known.

When the Nazis came to power he openly criticised their persecution of the Church. In 1937 the secret police banned him from public preaching. He was arrested several times. At the end of 1939 he was sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp, and in 1940 he was moved to confinement at Ettal Abbey, where he stayed until American forces freed him in May 1945.

He returned to Munich and died on 1 November 1945 of a stroke while celebrating Mass at St Michael's. John Paul II beatified him in Munich on 3 May 1987.

Works and witness

• Worked with migrant workers in Munich from 1912
• Army chaplain in the First World War; lost a leg in 1916
• Banned from public preaching in 1937 for criticising the Nazis
• Sent to Sachsenhausen (1939), then confined at Ettal Abbey
• Beatified in 1987

Saints from the same country

Saint Ambrose, Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), Saint Bruno of Cologne

References

• Martyrologium Romanum
• Vatican account of the beatification, 3 May 1987
• Jesuit biographies of Rupert Mayer

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.