In the Zillertal, one of the most beautiful valleys in the Tyrol, you can admire the Granatkapelle or the “Garnet Chapel”, designed by the architect Mario Botta, in honour of the Blessed Engelbert Kolland, an Austrian martyr who came from this valley.
“Abuna Malak” – or “Father Angel”, as he was called in Damascus – together with Fra Manuel Ruiz Lopez, Fra Carmelo Bolta Bañuls and the eight other martyrs, will be canonized on 20 October in St Peter’s Square, one century after the day of their beatification.
The Chapel is just one of the many things in the Tyrol (frescoes, shrines, stamps and statues) dedicated to his figure.
The famous Swiss architect – the heir of a geometric tradition which is that of the post-Bauhaus 20th century – finds “the reasons of the sacred” in this style: absolute purity of geometry which becomes volume and which in the case of the Chapel dedicated to the Blessed Engelbert is in the shape of a dodecahedron which evokes the crystal of the garnet, extracted in the Zillertal in the 19th century.
The chapel, inaugurated on 22 September 2013, the day of baptism of the Blessed Engelbert, opens up to the eyes of the pilgrim like a piece of pure geometry which stands out against the lake, bringing nature into contact with the sky.
The woods of the Tyrol, the cradle of the vocation
Michael Kolland was born in Ramsau on 21 September 1827. According to the sources, it was when he was working as a woodcutter, in contact with nature, that he had the opportunity to grow humanly and mature the idea of becoming a priest. In the autumn of 1845, he decided to complete his schooling and resume the studies that he had abandoned, at the end of which he asked to be admitted, and this was granted, to the convent of the Friars Minor in Salzburg to serve the Lord in the Order of St Francis of Assisi. With the religious clothing, on 19 August 1847, he received the name of “Engelbert” which means “angel-bright.”
“Witnesses describe him as healthy and sturdy, with a laughing face, blond hair and blue eyes,” fra Ulise Zarza, Vice postulator and member, together with fra Rodrigo Machado Soares and fra Narciso Klimas, of the Committee for the preparation of the celebrations for the canonization of the Martyrs. “He felt at home in the convent and was loved by everyone, thanks to his affable character: he was particularly devoted to the Mother of God.”
In Bolzano he dedicated himself to studying foreign languages, Italian, French, Spanish and above all Arabic. After his solemn profession, on 22 November 1850, and being ordained as a priest in 1851, he expressed his willingness to become a missionary in the Holy Land to the Provincial Chapter.
The arrival in Jerusalem
His request having been accepted, he set sail from Trieste to Jaffa: the crossing lasted from 27 March to 13 April 1855.
“A letter has been kept in which he relates his journey,” fra Ulise Zarza continued, “marked by great suffering, at sea and on land. The description of when he reached Jerusalem reveals, nevertheless, all the devotion and ardour he had for the Holy Land. His words were: “I dismounted from my horse. The thought that in that city the Lord, our Redeemer, had shed his precious blood for my salvation as well, made me cry even more loudly. At three in the afternoon, at the same time when Jesus Christ died, I was wandering around the streets of Jerusalem on foot. I wanted to walk on foot in the place where he had carried his heavy cross.”
In service at the Holy Sepulchre
Like every missionary in the Holy Land, Fra Engelbert also performed his service for a certain time in the Holy Sepulchre Despite the harsh life in the convent, he wrote: “the closeness to Mount Calvary and the other places where Our Lord suffered so much makes everything tolerable.” Later he received the obedience of the Custos of the Holy Land to go to Damascus, and St Paul’s convent. “He easily carried out the tasks that were assigned to him,” thanks to his knowledge of Arabic, which allowed him to rapidly conquer the hearts of the faithful. They called him “Father Angel”, because the name Engelbert was too long: and therefore it had been abbreviated to Engel, which then became Angel.”
“It was to have been a temporary placement,” fra Ulise Zarza went on, “until a Spanish confrere with a good knowledge of Arabic was available. However, as Fra Carmelo Bolta Bañuls , the parish priest of Damascus was ill, the young and dynamic Father Engelbert took on practically all the pastoral tasks. The initiative to build a bell-tower for the convent church, placing a heavy bell weighing about half a ton in it, was his. This was a courageous gesture, as the convent stood opposite a mosque.”
He was carrying out these tasks when he suffered martyrdom.
The last moments in the life of Abuna Malak
In the night between 9 and 10 July 1860, a Druze commando of persecutors broke into the convent.
As the danger drew closer, Fra Engelbert fled from the convent and hid in a nearby house with a Maronite called Metri, who escaped the carnage.
“It was this Maronite who told the story of the last seconds of the life of Father Angel,” fra Ulise Zarza explained. “The Father, after he was discovered, ceased all defence and remained calm: exhorted to become a Muslim to save his life, he answered: “I cannot, because I am a Christian and a servant of Jesus Christ.” His life was brought to an end by blows of an axe, at the age of 33. Martyrdom came “with that calm and that holy freedom that the Lord grants to those who defend his cause.”
On 10 October 1926 Fra Engelbert was beatified together with the ten other martyrs of St Paul’s convent. 10 July is the commemoration in the archdiocese of Salzburg. In 1986 he was elevated to the second parish patron of his home parish, Zell am Ziller.
Silvia Giuliano
