Above:  Hans and Sophie Scholl

Image in the Public Domain

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HANS SCHOLL (SEPTEMBER 22, 1918-FEBRUARY 22, 1943)

Anti-Nazi Martyr at Munich, Germany

brother of

SOPHIE SCHOLL (MAY 9, 1921-FEBRUARY 22, 1943)

Anti-Nazi Martyr at Munich, Germany

colleague of

CHRISTOPH PROBST (NOVEMBER 6, 1918-FEBRUARY 22, 1943)

Anti-Nazi Martyr at Munich, Germany

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Everywhere and at all times of greatest trial men have appeared, prophets and saints who cherished their freedom, who preached the One God and who with His help brought the people to a reversal of their downward course.  Man is free, to be sure, but without the true God he is defenseless against the principle of evil….We will not be silent.  We are your bad conscience.  The White Rose will not leave you in peace.

–A White Rose leaflet, quoted in Robert Ellsberg, All Saints:  Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time (New York:  The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1997), page 88

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Hans Scholl, Sophie Scholl, and Christoph Probst were the core members of the White Rose, an anti-Nazi organization of university students at Munich founded in June 1942.  Hans was a medical student and a veteran of the Russian front.  His sister, Sophie, studied philosophy.  Their colleague, Christoph Probst, was also a medical student.  Members of the White Rose wrote and distributed anti-Nazi leaflets and wrote (in German, of course) “Down with Hitler” in public places.  Our saints’ Christian faith drove them to resist tyranny.  On February 18, 1943, agents of the Gestapo arrested the brother and sister while they were distributing leaflets.  Shortly thereafter the other members of the White Rose were also in custody.  Within four days the Scholls and Probst were dead (via guillotine), their penalty following their conviction on the charge of treason.

These saints knew that following the dictates of their consciences would be dangerous.  Yet they did what knew was correct.  In so doing they glorified God and stood up for their fellow human beings.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 6, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT NICETIUS OF TRIER, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK, ABBOT, AND BISHOP; AND SAINT AREDIUS OF LIMOGES, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK

THE FEAST OF SAINT ABRAHAM OF KRATIA, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK, ABBOT, BISHOP, AND HERMIT

THE FEAST OF HENRY USTICK ONDERDONK, EPISCOPAL BISHOP, LITURGIST, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT NICHOLAS OF MYRA, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

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Almighty God, by whose grace and power your holy martyrs

Hans Scholl, Sophie Scholl, and Christoph Probst

triumphed over suffering and were faithful even to death:

Grant us, who now remember them in thanksgiving,

to be so faithful in our witness to you in this world,

that we may receive with them the crown of life;

through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 51:1-12

Psalm 116 or 116:1-8

Revelation 7:13-17

Luke 12:2-12

–Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men:  Celebrating the Saints (2010), page 714

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