Formerly a pacifist, Dietrich Bonhoeffer became persuaded of the need for
violence against the Nazi regime and joined a group called the Abwehr,
whose primary mission was to assassinate Hitler. Ultimately, Bonhoeffer
was arrested for his involvement in helping Jews flee the country. Still, he
continued to teach with the help of guards who smuggled out his writing,
until he was transferred to a concentration camp.
Bonhoeffer was arrested on April 5, 1943 and imprisoned in Berlin.
Following the failure of the attempt on Hitler’s life on July 20, 1944, the
discovery of documents linking Bonhoeffer directly with the conspiracy led to
his further interrogation and eventual execution in a final act of bitter revenge
on the part of the Nazi’s.
From his bunker in a shattered Berlin and with the Red Army crashing
through its’ suburbs, Hitler personally ordered Bonhoeffer’s execution.
At dawn on the morning of April 8, 1945, Bonhoeffer was led naked into the
execution yard while prison guards jeered and ridiculed him. At the foot of
the scaffold Bonhoeffer paused to kneel and pray. He then got up and
climbed the steps to the gallows. Using a meat hook from a slaughterhouse,
Bonhoeffer was then slowly hoisted by a noose formed of piano wire. His
agonising asphyxiation is thought to have taken half an hour.
Saint Catherine of Siena TOSD (25 March 1347 – 29 April 1380) was
a tertiary of the Dominican Order, a Scholastic philosopher,
and theologian who had a great influence on the Catholic Church. She is
declared a saint and a doctor of the Church.
Born in Siena, she wanted, very soon, to devote herself to God, against the
will of her parents. She joined the Sisters of the Penance of St. Dominic and
made her vows. She made herself known very quickly by being marked by
mystical phenomena such as stigmata and mystical marriage.
She
accompanied
the chaplain of
the Dominicans
to the pope
in Avignon, as
ambassador
of Florence,
then at war against the pope. Her influence with Pope Gregory XI played a
role in his decision to leave Avignon for Rome. She was then sent by him to
negotiate peace with Florence.
After Gregory XI's death and peace concluded, she returned to Siena. She
dictated to secretaries her set of spiritual treatises The Dialogue of Divine
Providence.
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