On May 26, 1873, seventeen years before receiving the name Father Viktor, Nikolaus Koch was born in Hermitage, Pennsylvania. The bustling steel and coal-mining community he called home consisted of first and second-generation German immigrants, a fact that remains evident in Hermitage's oldest cemeteries: the weathered sandstone obelisks and tombstones from this era bear the engraved words, Hier Ruht in Gott. Nikolaus' parents, Nikolaus and Viktoria Elser Koch, were hardy German immigrants who voyaged across the Atlantic to America, where they married and raised five children on their homeland's rich culture and language. Above all, they instilled within them a deep-rooted faith in God.
At age six, Nikolaus witnessed tragedies bringing a premature end to his carefree childhood years. On October 31, 1880, his mother gave birth to a sixth child, Fadius; this newest addition to the family died only hours after delivery. Six months later Nikolaus' father succumbed to typhoid fever. The following year his paternal grandmother, who immigrated to America with other relatives, also passed away. Of all three deaths, his father's proved especially difficult to bear: this tragic bereavement affected the grieving family not just emotionally, but economically as well. The burden of supporting five children fell to Viktoria and her two eldest daughters, who were only twelve and ten. Each family member became familiar with hard work, thrift, and sacrifice, including Nikolaus, who helped by protecting and caring for his two younger brothers.
In June 1889, three Passionist Fathers conducted a mission at Hermitage's local parish church, bringing the message of their charism: embracing suffering and establishing a spiritual connection with God in the midst of pain. Contemplating the hardships marring his early life, sixteen-year-old Nikolaus immediately understood that concept. During anguished moments when his newborn brother, father, and grandmother died, and throughout the subsequent years of personal sacrifice, he derived comfort and strength from steadfast religious beliefs. On that summer morning when Nikolaus heard expressed in soul-stirring words what he always perceived intuitively, he found himself rooted to the familiar wooden pew, his piercing blue eyes fixed upon a black-robed monk preaching the holy significance of Christ's Passion and Resurrection. His spirit kindled by a higher calling to "take up his cross and follow Christ Crucified," he swiftly enrolled in the Passionist Preparatory School in Dunkirk, New York. Seven years after reaching into an instructor's biretta and randomly drawing the name "Viktor," Nikolaus completed his Passionist training and was ordained into the Holy Priesthood.
Laboring as a curate, parish priest, and a rector in various parishes during the early 1900's, Father Viktor earned a reputation for self-sacrifice and perseverance. His efforts impressed Rome's Superior General, who appointed Father Viktor and a fellow religious, Father Valentine Lenherd, C.P., to establish a Passionist Foundation in Austria and Germany — a formidable endeavor for that era, considering the severe housing shortages and disastrous inflation crippling Germany's post-WWI economy. Undaunted by challenges awaiting him on distant shores, Father Viktor resigned his position as rector of St. Paul of the Cross Monastery in Pittsburgh. Bidding farewell to tearful, yet proud family members, he boarded a clipper ship bound for Western Europe. There, in the land of his ancestors, he began the work that defined his life.
Next: Part 2 — A Man Whose Faith Moves Mountains »