Wilhelm Janauschek

For forty-four years, Father Janauschek exercised numerous responsibilities within his congregation. From 1882 to 1890, he was the companion to the prefect of students, then master of novices from 1890 to 1901. From 1901 to 1907, he held the office of provincial superior of the Redemptorist province of Vienna, actively involving himself in promoting the cause for the canonization of Clement Mary Hofbauer. He was appointed extraordinary visitor for the provinces of Czechoslovakia and Poland in 1911, and then for the houses of Upper Germany in 1917. Despite his administrative duties, he preached numerous parish missions in Austria and supported German settlers in Ukraine and on the shores of the Black Sea. In 1917, he was one of the founding fathers and the first president of the Saint Clement Hofbauer Committee.

In the spring of 1925, Father Janauschek's health declined severely. Hospitalized for the first time on April 8, 1925, he continued to preach seven successive spiritual retreats. Afflicted with cancer, he was admitted again on October 8, 1925, to the Hartmannspital in Vienna. He spent the last nine months of his life there in a slow and painful agony, enduring the illness with heroic patience and total abandonment to the divine will. He passed away at the Hartmannspital on June 30, 1926, in the reputation of holiness.

After his funeral, he was buried in the Vienna Central Cemetery (Zentralfriedhof), whose grave became a frequently visited place of pilgrimage. On April 15, 1934, his remains were solemnly transferred to the Redemptorist church Maria am Gestade in Vienna before nearly 50,000 people. The diocesan informative inquiry was opened in Vienna in 1934 and closed in 1935. The decree on his writings was signed on March 1, 1955, and the cause was officially introduced in Rome on September 16, 1977. The diocesan apostolic process, conducted under the presidency of Cardinal Franz König, concluded at the end of the 1970s. On April 15, 2014, Pope Francis authorized the promulgation of the decree recognizing the heroic nature of his virtues, conferring upon him the title of Venerable.

The spirituality of the venerable Wilhelm Janauschek is characterized by a great simplicity, centered on the small actions of daily life, a deep Marian devotion, and a rigorous Christocentric love. Without performing spectacular works, he sought constant interior renewal through prayer and active fraternal charity. Even today, his memory remains alive in Austria, particularly among cancer patients who frequently invoke him as a special protector. More than 11,000 testimonies of graces and answered prayers attributed to his intercession have been collected by the Redemptorist province of Vienna.