Blessed EUSTACE KUGLER

Born in 1867 in Neuhaus

Died in Regensburg in 1946

He was born in the village of Neuhaus, near Nittenau, 40 km from Regensburg (Bavaria), and lost his father when he was only 7 years old, and suffering and poverty marked his childhood and adolescent years. He first came into contact with the Brothers of St John of God in Reichenbach, where they had just founded a psychiatric hospital in 1891, and where he entered the Hospitaller Order taking the name of Brother Eustace, to devote himself totally to serving the sick and needy. His dedication and solidarity with others was a lifelong commitment in all his various posts of responsibility. For 21 years he was the Provincial Superior of the Bavarian Province. In the city of Regensburg, he built a modern hospital complying with all the requirements of contemporary medical science.

Under the Nazi regime, Brother Eustace demonstrated his great courage, and was made the target of serious harassment and frequent day and night raids by the Gestapo, with repeated incursions to inspect the archives of the Provincial Curia, telephone-tapping and being subjected to threats and gruelling interrogations to try to force him to denounce the Brothers. But he succeeded in saving both their honour and the honour of the Order. He had no sympathy for the Führer and National Socialism. Indeed, pointing to the hospital chapel, he used to tell his Brothers, "Our Führer is inside there".

During the difficult years of the Second World War (1939-1945), Brother Eustace continued to serve the suffering with determination and confidence in Our Lord's help, living in constant union with God and with his Brothers, whom he encouraged in their work of the hospitaller apostolate and caring for the sick and suffering.

His life was run through with suffering: as a young man he had fallen from scaffolding, leaving him lame for the rest of his life; he also suffered from a gastric ulcer which would later become cancerous, and in his final weeks of life he was bed-ridden, enduring the pain with remarkable serenity. He breathed his last in the peace of the Lord in Regensburg on 10 June 1946. 

Beatified in Regensburg by Apostolic Letter of Benedict XVI on 04.10.2009.

His liturgical Feast Day is 10 June.