Pope Pius XII: 7 Books of His Philosophy Homework from the Estate of Madre Pascalina, Housekeeper & Confidante to the Pope

From the Estate of Madre Pascalina Lehnert (1894-1983).

These are autographs of Eugenio Pacelli, a student in the “Classe 1-3 Liceale.”

Presumably, they are class notes, but they also contain corrections, comments, underlining, and additions.

 Ennio Quirino Visconti Liceo Ginnasio
Eugenio Pacelli’s High School 

Eugenio Pacelli attended the Ennio Quirino Visconti Liceo Ginnasio.  It is the oldest and most prestigious high school for classical education in Rome and is also known as the Roman College due to its previous historical role, housing the Jesuit Roman College before the 1870 take over of the Papal States by the Kingdom of Italy.

It was dedicated to the famous Roman archaeologist Ennio Quirino Visconti who had supported the Francophile Roman Republic at the end of the 18^th century. 

A scholarly evaluation of these notebooks has not yet been conducted, but they certainly provide insights into the thoughts and mental attitude of the young Eugenio Pacelli.

Note that each booklet is inscribed with his name, Eugenio Pacelli, in the upper right corner of the front cover. 

Pascalina Lehnert
(25 August 1894 – 13 November 1983)

She was born Josefina Lehnert, and was a German religious sister who served as Pope Pius XII’s housekeeper, confidant, and secretary from his period as Apostolic Nuncio to Bavaria in 1917 until his death as pope in 1958.

She managed the papal charity office for Pius XII from 1944 until the pontiff’s death in 1958. She was a Sister of the Holy Cross Menzingen.

“Madre Pascalina”, as she was called, led Eugenio Pacelli’s household in the nunciature in Munich, Bavaria, from 1917 to 1925 and in the nunciature to Germany and Prussia in Berlin from 1925 to 1929, where Nuncio Pacelli was Dean of the Diplomatic Corps. There she became known for organizing the Pacelli parties, “which were auspicious, tastefully sprinkling glitter with the strictest European etiquette. […] The nunciature was soon a major center of Germany’s social and official worlds. Streams of aristocrats, including President Paul von Hindenburg [(in office 1925–1934), who had served as one of Germany’s Field Marshals during World War I], were frequent callers, blending with students and workers, anyone whom Pacelli, the shrewdest of diplomats, chose to smile upon.”

Pacelli was recalled to Rome in 1929 to become Cardinal Secretary of State. Pascalina soon resided as housekeeper with two other sisters in the Vatican.