The Shadow of His Wings by Gereon Karl Goldmann

(New York: Ignatius Press, 2000-01-01), 354

I read this in 2017, and then recently read it to the boys after they asked about military chaplains. Fr. Goldmann's story is an incredible witness to the power of prayer made in faith and the hand of Divine Providence leading us through even the most terrible suffering. His habit of always speaking the truth is an especially important model.

"It is better to suffer from physical hunger than to be starved in one's soul. We have finally learned what daily Communion means; how then can we give it up? How could we exchange the bread of the soul for the bread of the body?" (138)

Notes


Contents


Chapter 1: Childhood Graces, Gathering Clouds

  • "Only God could have made me a priest!" (9)
  • "Divine Providence saw to it that I got a solid education in philosophy and all my scientific studies, so that when the time of trial and endurance arrived, I was ready." (20)

Chapter 2: The Brown Man

  • "There was nothing more they could say to this, of course, since I spoke the truth." (24)
  • "To remain silent in the midst of such hatred was more than I could stand." (25)
  • Sang the Te Deum in Latin to his lieutenant: "We are sorry that you do not understand it. But, of course, the language of the Church is Latin or Greek or Hebrew. Those who do not understand these language cannot, unfortunately, understand the songs of the Church." (26)
  • "He brought with him as part of his mental equipment a few slogans and clichés that he had managed to retain in his empty head from his Nazi schooling. We came to the battle with nine years of classical education and two years of intensive philosophy, of which he knew nothing." (28)
  • "Only one of the eleven seminarians in our group gave up his faith; and he was the single one who didn't' go with us to the church in the evening for meditation and prayer." (29)

Chapter 3: "Priestlings"

  • "We knew we were taking a strong stand, but we had agreed not ti give in where there was a question of fundamentals." (30)
  • "I felt that perhaps this was a great opportunity for bringing blessings to these arid men, letting them see that, regardless of the circumstances, men of God were given strength and power to overcome many things, while men without God must know only emptiness, even in the midst of apparent plenty." (33)
  • "I know only this, sir: that whatever transpires, the will of God will prevail. Only that which is right before him, and in keeping with his Divine plan, will conquer." (39)

Chapter 4: Challenging the SS

  • "I had to laugh at my fellow students who complained about the rigors of their studies. To me, they amounted to a rich and rewarding rest from the horrors of war." (45)
  • Crazy story about how he founds stolen books from his seminary in a bookstore in Paris and figured out a way to buy them and smuggle them back (46-47)
  • In Paris "I roamed far and freely among the cathedrals and chapels—and after the noise and bustle of the barracks, the contention, the devastation and degradation of man fighting man, these hours spent before the altars became oases to my soul." (48)
  • Speak the truth! He wrote a "declaration of his personal philosophy" on command of Himmler and was expelled from the SS. All of his fellow seminarians who did not have the courage to sign were sent to fight in Russia and all died.

Chapter 5: A Matter of Life or Death

  • "On the way [to the front] I read daily from my little Bible, as I had done when I was with the SS." (56)
  • "My comrades were shedding their blood in sTalingrad, and I would have been there also, had this trial not kept me at home." (61)

Chapter 6: Sister Solana May's Faith

  • Sr. Solana May had offered every act of devotion for the single purpose of making him a priest, and she said: "You see, since Holy Scripture assures us that our prayer are heard, there is no doubt that you will be a priest next year." (63) She prophesied that he would go to Lourdes and Rome.

Chapter 7: Italy After All

  • He used some imposition and creativity to get the local Italian Bishop to grant him permission to distribute Holy Communion to the wounded (77)

Chapter 8: Baptism of Fire

  • "When I held the Host before him, he attempted to kneel, notwithstanding his pains." (83)

Chapter 9: "Get Up and Work!"

  • Battlefield ministry: "After hearing a short act of contrition, I placed the Body of Christ on quivering lips with my bloody fingers." (91)

Chapter 10: "Tedesco Furioso"

  • He sees Pope Pius XII, who gives him a letter with permission to be ordained despite lacking completion of theology studies. "You can tell everything to your Father." (98)

Chapter 11: The Dreadful Harvest of War

  • "He was a reverent old man whose mild appearance reflected a prayerful life. One could trust such a man." (105)
  • The Abbot of Monte Cassino said to him: "The Lord has given, the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." (107, Jb-01)

Chapter 12: He Has Given His Angels...

  • Captured by the British but finds a chaplain

Chapter 13: Father Gereon

  • "More important than any other studies were my studies in the hearing of confessions and the care of souls." (116)
  • "A Frech bishop was to ordain ad German prisoner who was still technically attached to the SS adn who had not take nthe regular course in theology. This day would be the fulfillment of the promise that God answers the prayers of those who believe." (116)
  • "But even in war there is a love that transcends fighting armies, for here a French general was present in person and knelt before me to receive my blessing; he kissed the hands, just anointed with holy oils, of a German soldier, a newly ordained priest." (117)

Chapter 14: Nazi Opposition

  • "Take up your rosary and say it firmly and quietly. If they ask you about it, say, 'We are saying the rosary so that you do not go to hell.'" (126)
  • He began a school for fellow prisoners, studying Scripture, Latin, and Greek (127)

Chapter 15: A Miraculous Draught

  • "Perhaps our greatest experience was to find the strength and the secret of prayer...Prayer means talking with God as a child talks to his father...the true source of prayer in any form is the heart that overflows in love and faith." (132-133)
  • "The years in camp were an unbroken retreat." (133)
  • "Good Sister Jeanne, in her solitude at Khenifra, had put the paper with the man's name before the tabernacle, and every night she spent six hours in prayer for his conversion." (137)

Chapter 16: The Very Mouth of Death

  • "It is better to suffer from physical hunger than to be starved in one's soul. We have finally learned what daily Communion means; how then can we give it up? How could we exchange the bread of the soul for the bread of the body?" (138)

Chapter 17: Camp Seeds

Chapter 18: That Is Prayer

  • Fr. Goldmann is released!
  • Sr. Veronika: "Now I see again how good God is; for twenty years I have prayed and suffered, and he has richly rewarded me." (157)
  • "So you see, this is prayer; for months and years we prayed for you, and now we see you here present and know that our prayers were answered." (158)

Created: 2024-08-14-Wed
Updated: 2024-10-04-Fri