Francis Alexander Kern was born in Vienna on April 16, 1897. Already as a
small boy he manifested a strong desire to become a priest. At age eleven the
intellectually gifted Francis enrolled in the Minor Seminary in Hollabrunn where
he liked to spend his free time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. He was
fourteen years old when he made a vow of perpetual chastity. During WWI, shortly
after completing his secondary studies in 1915, he enlisted as a volunteer in
the army. Even as a soldier he continued his daily adoration before the Blessed
Sacrament. On January 1, 1916, during the forty hours devotion in the church
of St. Blase in Salzburg, he asked God to be allowed to suffer in union with
His Son, Jesus Christ. His request was soon granted and he was sent to the Italian
Front as a lieutenant. In September of 1916 a bullet pierced his lung and caused
a wound from which he would never fully recover. He entered the seminary of
the archdiocese of Vienna as a convalescent. About this time a sad event occurred
in the Czech Republic. A group of Catholics separated themselves from Rome and
founded the schismatic Czech National Church. Isidore Bogdan Zaradnik, a Norbertine
canon of Strahov and a doctor of philosophy, also fell away and became a leader
of the schism. In this capacity he came to Vienna to agitate against Rome. James
was deeply shocked by all this and decided to offer himself in atonement for
Isidore. Pope John Paul II would later say, “In this sad event, James
Kern discovered his vocation. He desired to be the propitiatory sacrifice for
this fallen-away religious. In a manner of speaking, James Kern entered the
Norbertine abbey of Geras to replace him in the Order. And God accepted the
gift of the ‘substitute’.”
On October 18, 1920, he received the white habit of St. Norbert and the religious
name “James” (after the Norbertine martyr St. James Lacoupe). Having
been put to the test by sufferings during his time in the army and from his
war injury, James took religious life very seriously. His piety, however, was
not always understood and appreciated by his confreres. James was a faithful
and happy novice and professed his temporary vows in 1921. His abbot wrote of
him that, “Consecrated to the Sacred Heart, he fosters the idea of reparation.”
Through an indult given in view of his poor health, he was permitted to be ordained
a priest already on July 23, 1922, and the great desire of his childhood was
finally realized. Nevertheless, at his first Mass he said, “This Palm
Sunday will be followed by Good Friday.” His sermons came from the heart
and moved his listeners. Because of his weak health, his priestly ministry was
limited to the abbey and the neighboring parishes. In 1923 some of his ribs
had to be removed using only a local anesthetic, and his Way of the Cross began.
He spent a few months in Meran to recuperate, but after returning to Geras his
condition grew worse and he had to be very careful. His last sermon, preached
on the occasion of the bishop’s jubilee, bore the title, “A man
of the Church, loyal to the bishop.” Eventually he had to be taken again
to the hospital where he suffered greatly because he refused to take painkillers.
On October 20th, the day he was slated to make his solemn profession of vows
in the Order, he underwent another surgery. Before the operation he said, “Tomorrow
I will see the Mother of God and my Guardian Angel.” He asked that his
white habit be prepared and everything made ready for Holy Communion, saying,
“The last Communion should be as special and solemn as the first.”
The hospital chaplain gave him the last Sacraments during the long surgery and
blessed him for the final leg of his journey to the Heavenly Father. James Kern
died on October 20, 1924, at the ringing of the Angelus bell at noon.
The faithful did not forget the “good Father James.” They came to
his grave in Geras to pray and to ask for his intercession. Pope John Paul II
beatified James Kern on June 21, 1998 at Vienna’s Heldenplatz (“Heroes’
Square”). Over one-hundred Norbertines joined the thousands of priests
and faithful present for this celebration during which the Pope encouraged priests
to follow this “hero of the Church” and remain faithful to their
vocation. For information to the current canonization process 
Causae of the Order.