The Indomitable Maria von Trapp

She wrote Around the Year With the von Trapp Family, a "Catholic mother's guide to celebrating religious feasts and family occasions throughout the year, featuring traditional songs, recipes, games, and religious customs for creating a faith-centred home."

From Crisis

By Caroline Manno

What The Sound of Music lacks—whether due to cultural superficiality or merely time constraint—is the deep spirituality of Maria and the family’s lived Catholicism.

When I was 15 going on 16, my aunt took me on The Sound of Music Tour in Salzburg and photographed me in front of the iconic gazebo where Robert Wise shot the “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” number in 1965’s The Sound of Music. Despite traipsing through the von Trapp’s hometown, my acquaintance with them then and in the decade that followed was confined to their portrayal in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical starring Julie Andrews as Maria von Trapp. 

The film has always been one of my happy movies—cinematic comfort food, if you will. It seems that Pope Leo and many others would concur with this sentiment, which is why ABC has aired the film every December for the past 23 years (this year on December 21). In 2013, NBC even broadcast a live version starring Carrie Underwood. Culturally, we love this movie. But the movie is only an appetizer to the life of the real von Trapp family. 

If you want the main course and dessert, you really need to read Maria von Trapp’s own writings on her family’s life and deep spirituality. The best place to start is The Story of the Trapp Family Singers (1949), on which The Sound of Music is based. The film portrays well Maria’s conflict between her desire to be a nun and God’s upending of her plans to fulfill His own—that she marry Georg and raise a family with him. You can see Maria speak briefly about her decision in this interview. 

As she says in the book, and as is true of all our lives, “In looking back over the years we can discover how a red thread goes through the pattern of our life: the Will of God…this was the message Christ came upon earth to teach us…to do the Will of God”. And in every moment, His will was what the von Trapp family sought to do.

But what the film lacks—whether due to cultural superficiality or merely time constraint—is the deep spirituality of Maria and the family’s lived Catholicism. Obviously, they are shown to be Catholic—Maria was in the convent after all, and the nuns are instrumental in their escape at the climax of the film. But the truth is that the family discerned every decision—and they were many and heavy decisions—from a place of deep faith. 

Prior to the Nazi invasion of Austria, the family, once well-off, lost all their money while trying to help a friend. Instead of despairing, they clung to their faith, which grew as a result of their financial trial. From their archbishop they requested and received permission to have a chapel in their home, and then they took a professor-priest as a boarder. “He was our first boarder,” Maria tells us, and “he said Mass in the morning and gave Benediction in the evening…Never before had we been so close to each other in the family as now, or had seen, with such gratitude to God, the good qualities in the children’s characters.”

Aided by the presence of the Eucharist in their home, the family saw that their trials were truly a blessing. 

This relates to one major change the musical made to the family’s story. Their shrewd manager, Max Detweiler, was, in reality, the kind-hearted and talented Fr. Franz Wasner, a priest who came to say Mass in the family chapel while their boarder-priest was away. Fr. Wasner was, like the family, musically gifted, and he became their musical director. When the family quietly decided they had to leave Austria, they asked the archbishop for permission to take Fr. Wasner with them. The archbishop consented, which may very well have preserved Fr. Wasner’s life. 

The timeline of the film is compressed; in actuality the time over which their decision to flee their homeland was made was much longer. And in the midst of the political turmoil that grew and enveloped them, Maria chronicles their very real and relatable lives. 

In addition to Georg’s seven children from his first marriage, Maria gave birth to three children and miscarried at least two. Their two daughters were in grade school when the Nazis took over, and they began to get in trouble for not cooperating with the new regime’s lies and requirements. In addition, the family’s singing success, along with Georg’s military record and eldest son Rupert’s new medical degree, had attracted the attention of the Third Reich, who wished to put the family’s talents at their service. The family had even been requested to sing for Hitler’s birthday. As Maria quotes Georg saying in the midst of their discussions about leaving Austria, “You can’t say no three times to Hitler—it’s getting dangerous.”

The historical backdrop of the family’s life makes their story a fascinating one, and Maria’s spunky spirit, sense of humor, and honesty make her incredibly sympathetic. Maria’s humor is memorably conveyed in an incident with her pet turtle. And her honesty about her temper and her regret at taking it out on her loving husband is so relatable, at least for me.  The historical backdrop of the family’s life makes their story a fascinating one, and Maria’s spunky spirit, sense of humor, and honesty make her incredibly sympathetic.Tweet This

If the stories of the saints are meant to help us along our way in this world on our journey to the next, then this story is surely akin to such tales. Each of Maria’s anecdotes resonates with events in my own life or those of friends. From miscarriages and challenging pregnancies, to health problems, to homeschooling, to resisting the negative influences and pressures of the surrounding culture, Maria’s experiences provide example and encouragement for all of us. Most importantly, she always points to faith and following God’s will as the answer to every trial. The Story of the Trapp Family Singers is not only a further exploration of the von Trapp family’s life; it is like a sequel to the film, in which you get to spend more time with beloved friends. 

I have gifted or recommended The Story of the Trapp Family Singers more than any other book. My Christmas gift to you, dear reader, is to lead you to this inspiring and poignant story of a family many know of but few these days truly know. This is a great book to begin your acquaintance with the real von Trapp family, and it makes an excellent family read aloud. (If you want your younger children to read about her on their own, Ignatius Press published Maria von Trapp and Her Musical Family, by Cheri Blomquist, a few years ago as part of their Vision Books series.)

As I mentioned, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers is a good place to start, which means there is more! Maria von Trapp wrote several other books, all of which expand upon her story and deep Catholic faith. But those will require an article of their own.