Purgatory
Mary Simma
Some short notes given to his bishop, Monsignor Franz Tschann, auxiliary of Feidkirch (+1935) by Alphonse Matt curate of the Seer.
Join us
Biographical notes
Mary Agate Simma was born on 5th February 1915 in Sonntag (Vorarlberg). Sonntag is situated in the extreme border of the Grosswalsertal, at approximately 30 Km east of Feldkírch, in Austrian. The father of Mary Simma, Joseph Antony, was son of the owner of the inn of the Lion (Lówe), called Joseph Anthony as well, and his wife Ann Pfisterer from Sonntag.
For years he was caretaker, then worker of his brother Johann Simma, farmer in Bregenz, where he met Aloisa Rinderer, daughter of a railway employee, who Johann had brought up and Joseph married her in spite he was 18 year older. They went near Sonntag. During the First World War he was postman, then road-mender and labourer, and then he retired. With his wife and his eight children he moved in an old house that an old good man, Franz Bickel, a master carpenter, had given him in testament.
Because of the great poverty in family, the children began went to earn their bread when they were still very young: the boys as workers and the girls as nannies. Mary Simma was always very devout and she assiduously attended the religious instruction courses of her curate, Dr. Kari Fritz. After the elementary school she went to Sweden, then to Hard, Nenzing and Lauterach. She wanted to become a nun, but she was rejected three times because of her weak person constitution.
Her equipment for the convent was ready: she had partially begged and partially earned it herself.
For three years she was in service in Feldkirch, at Saint Joseph’s home. After Gaissau she took care of her father and of the church. From the death of her father, in 1947, she has lived alone in father’s house. In order to satisfy the needs of the life she looks after the gardens. She lives therefore in poverty and she is helped by charitable people.
Her three stays in convent have formed her and they have made her to grow spiritually, preparing her for her apostolate in favour of the souls of the Purgatory. Her spiritual life is characterized by her daughter love for the most Holy Virgin and by the desire to help the souls of the Purgatory and also to help the Missions by all means.
She has voted her virginity to Our Lady and she has been consecrated to Mary according to Saint Grignon de Montfort in favour especially of the dead people; she had also offered herself to God as "victim", victim of love and expiation.
It seems that now Mary Simma has found the vocation which she has been assigned by God: helping the souls of the Purgatory with prayer, expiation suffering and apostolate. Since the age of Nazism she has helped preparing children to the confession and the catechism of the first Communion, giving them a complementary religious instruction and showing true talent in this task.
