K Westhues Homepage Index of materials on the history of the family of Wilhelm and Theresia Westhues |
Theresia Westhues's Prayerbook — the Thirteen Key Dates in her Life Formatting and commentary by Ken Westhues, 2023, using scans of the pages by J. Y. Miller, with thanks to Lois Westhues Brucks, the prayerbook's current custodian. |
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Introduction The single most precious heirloom from Wilhelm and Theresia's first years in America is Theresia's German-language prayerbook, a compilation of devotions for all occasions and pious reflections by a German Capuchin friar named Martin von Cochem (1630-1712). Its title translates into English as The Golden Key of Heaven. First published in 1695, the book became a staple of German spirituality, especially for women. The edition Theresia used bore the imprimatur of the bishop of Chur, Switzerland, in 1864, and was published in the 1890s by Benziger's in the United States. For Theresia, the prayerbook was a lifeline to the centuries of German Catholicism at the core of her identity. She must have read from it regularly. Its pages are well-worn. What makes the prayerbook even more special is that Theresia wrote in her own hand on three successive blank pages what she considered the thirteen most important dates in her life, the dates she least wanted to forget. Those three pages are reproduced below. For anyone unable to decipher the faded German script, a translation is provided in the sidebars at left. This webpage concludes with the prayerbook's title page. |
First three Wilhelm Westhues,
Married on
On 30 July 1892,
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Next six [children born in Theodor Wilhelm Georg Wilhelm Georg Joseph Anna Maria Theresia Johan Heinrich Bernard |
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Last four [children born in Anna Maria Johan Hermann Anna Christina Friedrich Johan
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