Thursday
December 13, Lesser Festival for Lucy, martyr, 304
On the 13th of December St Lucy, an
ancient martyr of 3rd century Rome, is commemorated, a young girl who boldly
proclaimed her Christian faith under the reign of the emperor Diocletian, and
had to pay for it with her life. Her destiny, but also the Bible texts of
today, draw my thoughts to another young girl, nearer to us in time, who also
gave her life for what she believed in: Sophie Scholl (1921-1943). A student in
the Munich of the 1940’s, together with her brother Hans and their friends, she
formed a secret resistance movement called The White Rose. They wrote and
spread anonymous flyers in which they pointed to the crimes of the Nazi regime
and encouraged people to passive resistance with the aim of ending the war and
bringing the government to a swift fall. After months of ceaseless fear she and
her brother were caught by a caretaker in the university light hall where they
were delivering flyers. The authorities were called upon, they were put to
trial, sentenced to death and immediately executed. During this Autumn I have
both read books about The White Rose and visited places connected to them. This
photo is from the light hall of the university of Munich where they were caught
during their last flyer action.
What made Sophie and her brother Hans
take this step, very consciously risking their lives to speak up for freedom?
Well, letters, diaries and testimonies from people who knew them personally
give us some answers: their childhood in a warm home where critical thinking
was encouraged and where political matters were discussed, their interest in
art and nature, fervent study of classical literature such as for example St
Augustine but also, last but not least, a genuine faith in Christ. What an
inspiration for us in our time of polarisation and hard rhetoric, where
sometimes xenophobia and isolationism is defended in the name of Christianity.
May Christ inspire us all to walk in the footsteps of the martyrs also today
and do what we can to spread His warm light of humanity, love and compassion.
Attribution
Lichthof/atrium,
Ludwig- Maximilians-Universität, München
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