The Conversion of Max Jordan

“Now we see through a mirror in an obscure manner, but then face to face.”

1 Cor. 13:12

In yesterday’s post I introduced Max Jordan - “Ubiquitous Max” - journalist, priest, monk, promising to share his conversion story. He wrote a detailed first-person account for The Way to Emmaus, the 1953 book edited by John O’Brien.

Jordan used the above quote from Scripture to describe his journey to the Church in his essay titled “The Hidden Truth.” It’s a beautiful story - and lengthy- covering twenty-one pages, so, as is our custom here, I’ll summarize and directly quote as able.

Max was twenty-nine years old when received into the Church, his journey “a spiritual Odyssey.” Born in 1895 in San Remo, Italy to German-born practicing Lutheran parents, he “absorbed the classics of Italian liberalism” in high school. Influenced there by his German pastor, his belief was “confirmed that the Catholic Church was a sinister, backward affair.” To make matters worse, a schoolmate friend “had fallen heavily for socialistic atheism,” and Max went “right along with him.” All this in spite of Catholic life happening all around him in his Italian hometown.

At seventeen the family moved to Stuttgart, Germany where, as a “freethinker,” he joined “a local society promoting atheism under the guise of scientific research.”

Always on “a quest for truth” Jordan studied philosophy at the University of Frankfurt and Jena where he earned his Ph.D. His thesis was on Jakob Bohme, the Silesian mystic. While preparing his thesis he came across “much Catholic literature, including Master Ekhart, Henry Suso, Johannes Tauler” - all new names to him, and “so many revelations!” In his professor’s lectures he was introduced to Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas, Dun Scotus and others, even though the professor was Protestant. This is when he first heard of mystical theology.

His interest in mystical theology led him to seek further education in hopes of becoming a professor of religious philosophy, but the post-war situation in Germany thwarted his plans and he took a job as a journalist in Berlin.

At the time, Fr. Carl Sonnenschein had established a Catholic action center in Berlin. Jordan called on him to discuss mystical theology. “He was the first priest I had ever met more than casually.” They had a frank discussion that led the priest to refer Jordan to Fr. Romano Guardini who was then teaching at Bonn University. Jordan began attending Guardini’s lectures where, he wrote, “It began to dawn on me what the Catholic Faith stood for.”

Near his home was a Catholic Church and he began to visit it. One day he got up the courage to ring the bell at the rectory: “The pastor, a kindly old priest, Father Milz, received me in the parlor. Then and there I made up my mind and asked for instruction. It took months before I could see real progress, for I was steeped in rationalistic philosophies and a stickler when it came to history, and the good priest had to bear with his caller through many an evening.”

He decided to spend his summer vacation of 1923 on retreat at the Benedictine monastery at Beuron where he continued discussions with several monks - apparently ad nauseam. One monk finally told him, “After all, my friend, you’ve got to jump into the water if you want to learn to swim.”

Jordan writes, “On Good Friday, 1924, I was received into Holy Mother Church, at St. Ludwig’s in Berlin, by Father Milz. On Easter Sunday I received my First Holy Communion. There was many a dark day along the road, but Christ’s beacon threw a light on it always, so I was never lost.”

Twenty-seven years later, in 1951, Jordan was ordained a priest and in 1954 he took his monastic vows as a Benedictine monk.