James Wirth

Peter Wirth ( * October 15, 1830 Niederbreitbach in Wiedtal (now Rhineland -Palatinate ), † March 28, 1871 ) was a German Franciscan brother ( religious name: brother James ).

Childhood and education

He was the fourth child of Mr and Mrs Theodore Wirth and Catherine Andries. His father was a shepherd, his mother ran a small tavern. At age nine, Peter Wirth lost his father, with ten he was an orphan. The impoverished family was torn apart. Peter was at his godfather, Johann Peter Andries, the village teacher in Niederbreitbach was recording. This pulled him to the wizard in the school; However, for financial reasons, Peter could not attend teacher training college. Peter Wirth, he began an apprenticeship in the workshop of shoemaker Johann Schmitz, in which he lived (now James -Wirth -Straße 19 ).

Spiritual life and religious foundation

The introverted Peter joined the Franciscan Tertiaries, the socially and religiously engaged in his homeland. More and more he felt drawn to the religious life. So he founded in the summer of 1854 with a friend a " Urbanization pious craftsmen " who work malnourished orphan boys with their hands raised and forms. On June 12, 1862 was the Congregation of the Franciscan Brothers of the Holy Cross ( FFSC ) will be established with the help of the parish priest Gomm and permission of the bishop of Trier. With the investiture he took the name of James. The first Mother House - St. Joseph's House - was built in 1866. The growing social and charitable community has taken its founder soon after his profession. In the care of smallpox patients, he infected himself and died on March 28, 1871. His grave is located in the tower of the chapel of St. Joseph house in Hausen Wiedtal.

The Franciscan brothers have until now social- charitable institutions for elderly and ill, disabled and poor people.