Friday, April 7, 2017

Als Antwort Auf Gottes Ruf

As part of our ongoing observance of the 200th birthday of Blessed Pauline von Mallinckrodt in 2017, we continue to post excerpts of Als Antwort Auf Gottes Ruf (Bonifatius, 2016), the history of the Congregation of the Sisters of Christian Charity since 1881, by Sister Anna Schwanz, SCC (translated into English by Sister Mary Perpetua Rehle, SCC).

"When Hitler, despite the hopeless situation (the Allied troops had landed on the coast of Normandy), refused to surrender, the decision was made to remove him by force to avoid an even greater evil.  On July 20, 1944, an assassination attempt was made in his headquarters in East Prussia, but failed.  He was only slightly injured.  A wave of prosecution followed.  Hitler ordered brutal punishment for all participants and confidants.  In the following weeks thousands of opponents to the Regime were arrested.  About 5,000 of them were executed by the end of the war or died in prison.  Among those hanged in Berlin-Plötzensee was Baron Ferdinand von Lüninck, a grandnephew of Mother Pauline, grandson of her brother Hermann.  He had been arrested in Ostwig along with his brother Hermann, who was freed in April 1945.  In a letter dated February 1, 1945, he told of unexpected spiritual assistance and several conspicuous occurrences, which he attributed to Mother Pauline's intercession."


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