Dachau, The Priestblock, & The Path Sainthood -

History has always been an interest of mine, specifically World War II while I was growing up. I don’t know what it was about the war that really intrigued me, maybe it was simply the idea that one person could be the mastermind behind so much destruction and hatred. It was not until later in high school that I actually began looking into the war seriously. As a result I began discovering many ties from the atrocities of the war that still haunt our world today, such as the euthanasia, and experimentations on those deemed unfit to carry on a life of their own. This whole scientific part of the war was news to me, my initial understanding was that it was an attempt to wipe out the Jews – it was a war focused on abolishing a religion…. Little did I know that it was a war with many layers and somewhere along the lines Catholics were targeted.

If you haven’t already read it I recommend Priestblock 25487 – by Father Jean Bernard. It is his personal memoir of the horrors that took place within the Dachau concentration camp. It was an intense read, there were points where I couldn’t help but comfort myself with the thought that this was historical fiction, written in first person, like many other war stories I have read. In reality however, everything within the book actually occurred, and was experienced by the author, a Catholic priest. I think my shrugging it off into the genre of historical fiction was my way of coping; I had trouble accepting the fact that some of these events actually took place.

The way the prisoners were treated was rather mindboggling to me. Yes, I knew there were horrible things that happened in the concentration camps but sometimes their everyday life… I don’t know how they put up with everything. There was very little space; the camp was designed to hold 6,000 prisoners, and by 1944 the camp actually held 30,000 people as prisoners.[1] Fr. Bernard writes of the close quarters, sharing beds with at least one, as well as not having enough mattresses for everyone to use resulting in people sleeping between the pushed together beds or on the bed-slats (on which the mattress would typically rest), and having the entire residency of three of the barrack buildings moved into the few others that remained in the priestblock that were already brimming with people. They did this to make room for a group of about 300 Russians, who were only there for about six weeks and then never seen again.[2]

Throughout these difficult times the priests were assigned to work that included carrying the soup pails from the kitchen to the different barracks, shoveling snow (even if it was only a light dusting and the sun was going to melt it quickly), carrying it from where it had fallen to the edge of the camp and sometimes only placing it down when given permission by the SS officer watching.[3] The priests specifically came to work in different storage places, or fields, it was a lot of manual labor, that was made difficult by their poor diets as well as their insufficient wardrobe.

Dachau was the first concentration camp. It was not a death camp because there was no gas chamber until 1942, and after the chamber was built it was never put to any kind of use.[4] The camp is known for several things, including its insane forced labor program, with the saying above the gate that translates to “Work sets you free”[5] as well as it being considered a “model concentration camp, a place where S.S. guards and other camp officials went to train.”[6] Father Bernard writes of a time when the camp received visitors, almost as though they were inspecting the camp. He explains that there was a specific protocol which the camp underwent so that people would believe Dachau to be a humane place, this included a specific building being kept up better than the others, and a handful of better fed prisoners wandering around, while the workers, and the remaining prisoners either remained in their barracks or outside of the gates until the guests left.[7]

The Sign above the Gate
"Work sets you free."

The manipulation that went into maintaining such an inhumane place surprised me. The fact that anywhere could actually reach such a level of inhumanity really astounds me. The tasks that the prisoners were assigned ended up being games for the officers of the camp to feel as though they had some kind of power. They made the prisoners their puppets, while in reality they, the officers, were the puppets of the Third Reich, with their strings being pulled by Hitler. We cannot actually look at this situation and come to the conclusion that there was not some greater evil taking control during this war. Despite the evil that took place, God still got the last word, as He always does, and at least two priests from Dachau were beatified by Saint John Paul II.[8] The first of these men was Father Titus Brandsma.

Father Titus Brandsma

Father Brandsma, a priest in the Carmelite order, was a professor in the Netherlands. He spoke out against Hitler and the Nazi party from the beginning, and quickly became a target. As the war moved farther along and the media, i.e. the newspaper articles, became more censored. Father Brandsma was asked by the bishop to assist the Dutch Catholic Journalists with identifying what was or was not appropriate in being cut from the papers from a Catholic perspective. He traveled from city to city, while being followed by the military, visiting the editors and before he would leave he would remind them -

“We have reached our limit. We cannot serve them. It will be our duty to refuse Nazi propaganda definitely if we wish to remain Catholic newspapers. Even if they threaten us with severe penalties, suspension or discontinuance of our newspapers, we cannot conform with their orders.”[9]

It was not long before the Nazis figured out what Father Brandsma was doing, and he was quickly arrested in January of 1942. He was sent to two different camps before finally finding himself at Dachau, where he was told he would remain until the end of the war. He was sent to the priestblock, where he participated in work, like that described by Father Bernard and he quickly fell ill. Upon entering the infirmary medical experimentation began and on July 26^th, 1942 he was injected with lethal drug and quickly died.[10]

The second priest who came to be beatified by Saint John Paul II was actually the Polish Bishop that Father Bernard wrote about, Bishop Cozal[11] (Kozal – depending on the translation). On June 12, 1939, Father Cozal was made Auxiliary bishop of Wloclawek by Pope Pius XII, he was consecrated on August 13, 1939, and on September 1, 1939 the Nazis invaded Poland. Rather than leave Poland and head to safety the Bishop chose to stay with his people and on November 7, he was arrested by the Nazis and was held in Wloclawek's city prison. After being transferred to two different prisons and a failed attempt by the Vatican to rescue the Bishop, he was sent to Dachau in April of 1941. He lived in the priestblock where he took part in the forced labor, and was given the opportunity to offer the sacrifice of the mass "to celebrate his twenty-fifth anniversary of his ordination."[12] It was not until January of 1943 that Bishop Cozal was injected with a lethal substance and after death incinerated.[13]

Bishop Cozal

Despite the evils and the horrors experienced within the camp two men came to find themselves on the path toward sainthood. It is known for a fact that both Blesseds were at Dachau while Father Bernard was there. We only know however that Father Bernard interacted with Bishop Cozal, as he mentions him by name in his memoir; it is not known whether he ever knew Father Brandsma, though they were at the camp at the same time, and quite possibly at the infirmary simultaneously.

The fact that even in the darkest of times, even in a camp filled with torture, pain, and death, men like Blessed Bishop Cozal, Blessed Father Brandsma, and Father Bernard could lead others to see Christ is incredibly amazing. It should cause us to remember that despite our sufferings, and our difficulties things could be so much worse. I am not saying that our problems are irrelevant and unimportant; I am merely saying that the stories of these three men should allow us to call to mind a kind of clarity of perspective. Despite our struggles, if they, three men over worked, underfed, poorly clothed, and tortured, could keep their faith, we have no excuse, and I know for me, sometimes I need that reminder desperately.

The long and short of it comes down to this – Yes, world war II was filled with many horrors, and many deaths, but outside of all of the pain and the suffering one can find God waiting to comfort, and that is a beautiful thing. If you ever get the opportunity to read Father Bernard’s Priestblock 25487, do so. You will not regret it. It is one of the most interesting books I have read in a while, and the fact that he experienced so much, but held fast to his faith is just amazing. It is one of those books that you just have to read for yourself.

Resources –

Gloss, Jennifer L. “Dachau.” Accessed October 15, 2014.http://history1900s.about.com/od/1930s/a/Dachau.htm.

History.com Staff. “Dachau.” History.com. 2009. Accessed October 15, 2014.http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/dachau.

Bernard, Jean. Priestblock 25487: A Memoir of Dachau. Bethesda, Md.: Zaccheus Press, ©2007.

“Titus Brandsma 1881 - 1942.” Accessed October 17, 2014.http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/TITUSLIF.htm.

“Blessed Michal Kozal.” Accessed October 17, 2014. http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=7534

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[1] History.com Staff, “Dachau,” History.com, 2009, accessed October 15, 2014, http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/dachau.

[2] Jean Bernard, Priestblock 25487: A Memoir of Dachau (Bethesda, Md.: Zaccheus Press, ©2007),  76.

[3] Jean Bernard, Priestblock 25487: A Memoir of Dachau (Bethesda, Md.: Zaccheus Press, ©2007), 61.

[4] Jennifer L. Gloss, “Dachau,”, accessed October 15, 2014,http://history1900s.about.com/od/1930s/a/Dachau.htm.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Jean Bernard, Priestblock 25487: A Memoir of Dachau (Bethesda, Md.: Zaccheus Press, ©2007), 132 – 134.

[8] History.com Staff, “Dachau,” History.com, 2009, accessed October 15, 2014, http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/dachau.

[9] “Titus Brandsma 1881 - 1942,”, accessed October 17, 2014,http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/TITUSLIF.htm.

[10] Ibid.

[11]Jean Bernard, Priestblock 25487: A Memoir of Dachau (Bethesda, Md.: Zaccheus Press, ©2007),  49.

[12] Ibid.

[13] “Blessed Michal Kozal,”, accessed October 17, 2014, http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=7534.

Satan Chokes the Spiritual Throats of Man

Temptation of Jesus in the Desert

(Photo Source Here)

Satan impregnated Germany with his seed to breed an incomprehensible evil within the world. Hitler and his Nazis not only sought to annihilate millions of human lives, but diabolically they sought to demolish men’s spirits. The holocaust consisted of more than an extermination of biological life. Nazis ferociously ripped through the hearts and souls of men, hoping to extinguish the spiritual flame prior to the final death blow. For this reason, the Catholic Church was a formidable foe. She not only harbored peoples to save them from execution, for which She had a limited capacity, but also She radiated consoling words and prayers whose boundless reach sustained countless souls suffering throughout all of Europe. The Germans were well aware of how quickly scattered embers could ignite into an engulfing, spiritual inferno.

Christianity was a clear threat to Nazism, in spite of some German Christians who joined the Third Reich. Truly, these Christians were replacing their faith in Christ for a new faith in German Nationalism. There was a blatant attempt to discredit the Church by trumping up charges of criminality and immorality against priests all over Europe. Propaganda and faulty ideas were the Nazis most powerful weapons, despite their advanced weapons technology. This is one reason psychological torture was part and parcel of their concentration camps. Even within the camps, they wanted to pit the lay population against those dwelling in the priestblock. The clergy didn’t have the same work details that the rest of the prisoners had to endure. Also, priests had “wine detail,” in which they were forced to chug wine in a limited amount of time so as to intoxicate them, promoting an illusion of special treatment to the rest of the prisoners. Fr. Bernard writes in Priestblock the explanation he was given by a fellow prisoner concerning the clergy’s “special” treatment: “The idea is to make the other prisoners hate them and keep them morally isolated as well.” Therefore, men of faith were considered dangerous, and simply imprisoning them wasn’t enough to diminish their influence. They recognized that ideas and spirituality could survive and spread beyond an individual man’s mortal lifespan. The aggression imposed by Nazi Germany was indeed as much a spiritual battle as it was a corporeal battle.

Dachau came to house 2,670 priests, who were separated from the rest of the prison population “as a way of keeping them together and thereby preventing them from ‘infecting’ other prison populations with Christianity.” The S.S. knew how contagious hope can be and how it could undermine their attempts to diminish the spirit of men. Clearly, the clergy in Dachau were faced with the awful truth of Matthew 10:28, “And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” Nazis were not only agents of evil in ending the mortal life, but they also sought to corrupt man’s soul, forcing him to tangle with the absurdity of cruelty. Within the first two weeks of being at Dachau, Fr. Jean Bernard writes after witnessing an older man beaten to a pulp for not singing the songs correctly, “All at once a terrible rage gripped me. I wanted to leap at the man’s throat, but I lacked the courage. Or was it my reason that won out? I threw my head back and stared at the monster in uncomprehending confusion. It was an encounter with an utterly alien demonic world. Suddenly i understood what sadism was.” Evil can be pernicious, infecting what begins as righteous anger and warping it into pure hatred, and even priests had to guard against it. Moreover, what gives intelligibility to existence is the order of creation, both physical and moral. Once that order is displace by arbitrariness, life takes on an absurdity, which can weed out all hope. The mind seeks patterns, attempting to make sense of surroundings, and when this ability is lost, madness ensues. For this reason, after a year in the camp Jean Bernard admits amidst cruelty from the guards at Dachau, “Gradually we break ourselves of the habit of thinking.”

Dachau Bunks

(Photo Credit Here)

Erich Fromm writes in The Art of Loving of sadism, “The ultimate degree of this attempt to know lies in the extremes of sadism, the desire and ability to make a human being suffer, to torture him, to force him to betray his secret in his suffering . . . [an officer in the Russian civil war once said,] ‘with shooting you only get rid of a chap . . . with shooting you’ll never get at the soul, to where it is in a fellow and how it shows itself. But I don’t spare myself, and I have more than once trampled an enemy for over an hour. You see, I want to get to know what life really is, what life’s like down our way.” From the testimony of this Russian offcier, we perceive that Sadism is very much a spiritual phenomenon, and only corporeal in the sense that the sadist attempts to break down the barriers to the soul. Sadism is what arose from the warped form of masculinity and militarism the Nazis promoted. Fr. Bernard recounts what he terms “snow sadism,” in which clergy had to scrape and remove snow in weather below zero degrees, sometimes using table tops hoisted on their backs, from morning until night without rest and without proper clothing. Throughout Priestblock, we witness senseless brutality that slowly degrades morals of even clergy. Fr. Bernard describes a scene in which a man slips down the stairs emptying the scalding pot of soup all over himself, incurring bad burns. He writes that while he looks away disturbed by the man’s pain,  a fellow priest responded in anger, “It’s one of the pails for us!” It is this precise moral deterioration and spiritual disorientation that the Nazis are seeking to achieve. After all, they must keep the prisoners from camaraderie, and keep them in survival mode—every man for himself. However, they weren’t entirely successful in their endeavor. Robert Royal writes in the introduction that throughout Priestblock there are episodes that “give us vivid and unforgettable indications of both the depths of depravity and heights of sanctity to which the human race is capable.”

Nazis didn’t want to be in the business of making martyrs, rather they wished to exterminate people only after attempts at crushing the spirit. The strength that Christians and Jews alike summoned from their faith was the best weapon they possessed in opposing their torturers. Jews understood suffering to be of value because they trusted in God’s enduring providential care. When Christ came, He introduced concrete meaning into suffering that previously had not been wholly ascertained within the context of salvation. For this reason, Fr. Jean Bernard writes, “The bishop’s blessing gives meaning to our suffering, lifts it above the purely human and joins our small, personal suffering to the sea of injury and persecution that the church of Christ endures and must endure. His blessing lets us share in the graces and comforts and sources of strength that fed the first martyrs. O miracle of the communion of saints, which becomes our experience here.” This is why the witness of Christianity throughout the holocaust is an important memory to keep alive. Suffering, especially when it culminates in martyrdom, is a supreme witness for people today who also encounter inescapable suffering. We witness the power of the Spirit when it is uplifted and sustained by Christ amidst even the most unimaginable atrocities. We see this iron Spirit in Fr. Bernard’s final words in the Foreward: “We must forgive while remaining conscious of the full horror of what occurred, not only because nothing constructive can be built on a foundation of hatred . . . but above all for the sake of Him who commands and urges us to forgive, and before home we, victims and executioners alike, are all poor debtors in need of mercy.” Ultimately, the Spirit of God triumphed over the vain pursuits of evil through Nazism to destroy His people. We must remember that in spite how bad the world may get or our personal lives may get, there is a very real spiritual battle that is ongoing until the end of time. It's there in history if you look for it, and it is present in our daily lives. So armor up!

St. Michael the Archangel, Defend Us in the Battle

(Photo Source Here)

Sources:

Ronald Rychlak. Hitler, the War, and the Pope. (Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor Publishing, 2010).

Jean Bernard. Priestblock. (Bethesda, MD: Zaccheus Press, 2007)

Erich Fromm. The Art of Loving. (New York: Harper and Row. 1956)

Christopher Dillon. “‘Tolerance means weakness’: the Dachau Concentration Camp S. S., Militarism and            Masculinity.” Historical Research. May2013, Vol. 86 Issue 232, p373-389.

Faith of Our Fathers ~ A Book Review

The Faith of Our Fathers

Being a Plain Exposition and Vindication of the Church 

Founded by Our Lord 

Jesus Christ

 By James Cardinal Gibbons

Archbishop of Baltimore

Written in 1876, Faith of Our Fathers is clearly a well-loved classic. Our library has multiple copies from different editions it is so popular in our home, including in eBook format, which is from the ninety-third edition. If it were not for this book landing in our hands, I do not know if my husband or I would be Catholic today. In this book he explains the Catholic Church, its teachings and where they come from in clear, easy to understand language that to this day answers most questions that people would have concerning the Church. In thirty-one chapters he covers so much information in a way that it easily stays with you and challenges your personal convictions to either conform or figure out a solid basis for what you believe.

He is organized, and develops his thoughts well in each chapter which leads directly into the next in such a way that it is difficult to sum up what it is that he had to say without mentioning it all. Needless to say, it is a must read in my opinion for all in Christianity and would do much for the unity of Protestants and Catholics if all were clearly understood as to what the Catholic Church actually is instead of what it is seen to be. To quote Venerable Fulton Sheen:

The chapters begin with four prefaces and an Introduction, having so many editions makes for so many notes- however they are all worthwhile reads. I have to admit that I skipped over them the first time I read the book, I wanted to get right into the meat and potatoes of the book, and that’s exactly what I was rewarded with. The first chapter is one of the most difficult things to understand about Christianity, and that is the concept of the Trinity. This gentleman did not mess around, just dove right in. From the unity found in the Trinity he goes into chapter two on the unity of the church and continues in such a fashion to show where the church comes from, why we can trust and believe her and those in power, the saints, the virgin Mary, sacred art, purgatory, the acts in which the Church has fallen and risen to defend freedom and her people, grace, and each of the sacraments ending in the sacrament of marriage.

If you are looking for a beautifully and powerful book that gives you the solid basis of the Catholic Church from scripture to logic, this is a great book to look into- especially if you are from a protestant background. The beauty of this book is that although it is presented in facts, its purpose is to promote unity. Yes, many have found that this was a starting point they can look back and say, this is when I decided to look into or even join the Catholic Church, but unity for Christian’s is the main theme, and this I love as a former protestant who seeks unity between the pews.

If you would like to read this book, it can be found currently for free as an eBook if you follow this link.

Humanae Vitae, Pope Paul VI ~ A look at a powerful encyclical letter

Few evils in the world affect the world so much as genocide. There are so many different standpoints from which they begin on. Power. Racism. Wealth. Eugenics. Over-population of areas. Economic failure. All of these to bring forth a simple point, however. That’s the point of convenience. Someone is inconveniencing another through their existence and for whatever reason they are able to convince enough of a population to side with them in wiping them off of the planet. Those responsible are often referred to as monsters. Yet a monster hides in our midst, stealing from us our very dignity as human beings. This monster has captured many who knew the controversy and decided not to believe the horrible truth and the prophetic words of the reigning Pope of the time, many went as far as to decent from the Roman Catholic Church over the issue when an Encyclical was published defending and clarifying the Church’s position.

This monster is contraception, and the Encyclical document to fight it is Humane Vitae, written and published by Pope Paul VI.

Contraception has a very dark history. Planned Parenthood dates it’s beginning to 1916, when three women started their first birth control clinic in Brooklyn, NY[i]. Maybe not all of her misgivings and desire for population control were founded in evil; she saw much suffering, over-population in specific areas with parents who couldn’t afford to take care of their children. However it is no secret that Margaret Sanger was a eugenist, and more than simple population control was on her mind.

Along came the 1960’s- a tough period in American history. The cry for “risk free” sex became the cry of much of the generation. No one should have to turn down momentary pleasure for the idea that a life might be created and ruin their future. The pill was on demand, and the church needed to make a stand. Amongst much pressure, Pope Paul VI, thankfully had the strength of character and guts to publish Humanae Vitae.

Pope Paul VI, taking his time in forming a response after the Papal Commission, tactfully, truthfully and scientifically made amazing points, after much deliberation and combing through the document, published it in 1968.[ii]

It is important to note that this document covers the whole of the issue. While it cannot get into every detail, it covers many areas from family life, to family planning (which is not condemned), human dignity, when life begins, the act of creating a life being a co-creating with God. He points out the social consequences of using artificial contraception, the highest of which being murdering of an innocent child you may never even know existed, but he also predicts in ways people scoffed at that it would also aid the numbers of families falling apart. Not taking sex seriously in or outside of marriage would lead to broken homes, children growing up without their biological parents, abuse, rape, emotional instability, rise in STD’s, as well as the loss of dignity in the human person within the act of intercourse which would ultimately lead to the loss of human dignity in all relations- and so many others. All of which, in a very short time, have come to pass, allowing us to view Pope Paul VI as a prophet of his time. In fact, the document goes as far as to state that the acts of using artificial birth control as well as abortion are grave sins.[iii]

He also points out the benefits and consequences of using a natural method of birth control. The worst of which is waiting during periods of fertility when you have good reason to avoid a pregnancy which promotes trust, love, true embracing of all that your spouse is and never using them toward an end in intimacy. Families are strengthen, and if for whatever reason your method of family planning does not work the baby is much more accepted into a loving family as opposed to the child conceived while the parents were on contraception who were not open to life who are more likely than the first couple to choose abortion.

Humanae Vitae encourages medical professionals to further their study of the human body, especially in the area of fertility to better be a steward of our fertility, making responsible choices in regards to when we want to achieve and avoid- and this challenge was taken up by some wonderful Dr’s who learned what was good from the methods of the time and have advanced them to now knowing without doubt when a woman’s fertility is present and when it is not.

One of the best things about Humanae Vitae is the love behind it. The understanding of marital bonding and respect is nothing short of poetic and the kind of love all couples desire on some level. The encouragement to form a good moral conscience is a beautiful encouragement we can also glean.

Yes, contraception is here. Yes, there are many methods that simply do not work that have given Natural Family Planning a poor reputation by our grandmothers. However, this is an evil that we can fight by putting the information lovingly and factually into the hands of those around us. Let’s teach our kids and anyone who will listen to love and respect life, giving every life the dignity that it deserves.

If you have not read Humanae Vitae yourself, I highly suggest it. It is a short Encyclical, will not take very long to read through. It is posted on the Vatican website, or you can simply click here where I have it linked to this page.

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[i] http://www.plannedparenthood.org/about-us/who-we-are/history-successes

[ii] Humanae Vitae, a Generation Later by Smith, Janet E. Washington, D.C. : Catholic University of America Press. 1991 ebook pg. 164

[iii] Birth Control by Zorea, Aharon W. In Health and Medical Issues Today. Santa Barbara, Calif: Greenwood. 2012 ebook, page 193

The Interior Castle, Teresa of Avila ~ A Book Review

The Interior Castle is a book among the classics of the Roman Catholic Church. I chose this book to write my final on much as I chose my midterm, to further deepen my own prayer life- and who better to learn from than one of the great mystics?

I did not realize what I was walking into when I opened this book. One hates to criticize the classics- especially a novice like myself- however I found myself thinking repeatedly that some editing would benefit the reader. She seems to repeat over and over how unqualified she is to write such a book and there are several points that she could have gone back over to make some corrections- including a “quote” from sacred scripture itself that she wasn’t sure was a direct quote. However once I got into the book, these minor offenses, which could be due in part to the writing style of the times as well as the book not being originally in English, I was amazed at what I gleaned from her experiences. At the end of the book she states that she is grateful that she obeyed God and wrote it although she did not originally want too- and what a treasure God used her to give to us!  

A summary of the content of the book:

Teresa of Avila claims God spoke to her in a vision of chambers of a person’s soul in relation to prayer. Seven mansions where she begins in the outer court with the person who doesn’t have a prayer life to the innermost mansion where there is complete union with God explaining many of experiences that the mystics had. Through the journey of deepening your prayer life, you are walking from one mansion to another until you arrive at the most beautiful and desired mansion of all- and those who remain in the outer courts cannot see the beauty they are missing. Throughout this journey she explains not only what can be experienced and how your maturity comes forth in prayer in each chamber (or castle), but also what to guard against and how to go about protecting yourself from the devils plans to prevent you from experiencing prayer and communion with God. “The devil is so angry at this that he keeps legions of evil spirits hidden in each room to stop the progress of Christians, whom, being ignorant of this, he entraps in a thousand ways. He cannot so easily deceive souls which dwell nearer to the King as he can beginners still absorbed in the world, immersed in its pleasures, and eager for its honours and distinctions.”

The first mansion is where the person enters into prayer and realizes that there are mansions to be explored, sins to be gotten rid of along the journey, and also that there are many who are so busy or distracted that they do not realize they are even missing something.

The second mansion is the one in which we discern God talking and calling us deeper. All who enter this mansion are in knowledge of this calling, although here they struggle to discern which the voice of God is and which the devil’s distractions are. Whom we associate with becomes more important as they can add to helping us and encouraging us or dragging us down in our mission to continue forward. She notes that we, in fact, will fail and fall, but we need to get back up and keep pushing forward, never coming to a stop in practicing our prayers. “Yet such are the pity and compassion of this Lord of ours, so desirous is He that we should seek Him and enjoy His company, that in one way or another He never ceases calling us to Him. So sweet is His voice, that the poor soul is disconsolate at being unable to follow His bidding at once, and therefore, as I said, suffers more than if it could not hear Him.” She acknowledges that God knows our struggle in time, that it is something that binds us and he loves us through it: “His Majesty is willing to wait for us many a day and even many a year, especially when He sees perseverance and good desires in our hearts.” She notes that we shouldn’t stop living life and preforming needed duties, which we are to continue on and trust God to use those duties to further direct us toward Him. “Prayer is a necessity to prevent us from constantly falling into temptation.”

The third dwelling is where action begins and motive is called out into the light. Listening and discerning God’s voice are beautiful, but action needs to be put into place from the heart of one acting from Love of God and desire to serve, not for recognition. Humility, being key and willingness to give all for Him being our priority. “I have nothing to rely upon but His mercy; as I cannot cancel the past, I have no other remedy but to flee to Him….” “We all say we desire it, but there is need of more than that for the Lord to possess entire dominion over the soul.”

The fourth dwelling is one in which God brings joy to our hearts from our prayers in the supernatural- it is not a joy from this world but a joy to be found only when entering into this state of prayer. A state of prayer where we can sit before God and just listen while He draws us into the arms of His presence and we can rest our souls in Him. It takes time to go through the first three mansions to be rid of the things that hinder us from entering into this chamber. Distractions are to be battled, any remaining “reptiles” (sins) are to be cast off and allow us to remain humble. But in this mansion, if we are able to do this, we receive graces, joys, reconciliation, abandon, and devotion unlike any known to man outside of prayer. We will find happiness, yes, but happiness is only a beginning which can be experienced elsewhere in the human life, this joy goes deeper- and is impossible to describe to someone who has not had the experience themselves. She also warns of the temptations and delusions that often come in this mansion, so that we can better guard ourselves from them.

The fifth mansion is one that finally sounds like true rest and beauty to me. Here we have learned in the past mansions how to discern truth from fiction, wisdom from lies, and can focus on union with God. Teresa of Avila states that there are few who ever make their way into this mansion, but that the joy and graces given find a treasure that is not easily understood. She speaks of an experience that can be likened to almost fainting, where your mind is so focused on understanding that which is beyond its power that you might be considered to have fainted by those around you in bodily form. Some feel when it’s over as if they have slept, and then you must discern if it was truly God speaking with your heart or if the devil is trying to deceive us. However the graces that come far exceed the temptations that come. The effects of this union is that we find ourselves desiring all the more to become like Christ in our hearts, attitudes, actions, and even in suffering and death- we desire to bring God glory and love above all else. She encourages us to follow this desire, giving us practical ways to further discern God’s voice and leading in this union through frequent confession. She warns that we can fall away and leave this mansion if we are not careful and love both God and our neighbors and focus on the real and not fall for the imaginary. She warns that this union is not brought through a checklist or through fear, and encourages her sisters to love each other and promote true charity- for when we love each other and correct each other in love to spur one another to love, we will find ourselves in deeper union with God.

The sixth mansion is where you find yourself longing to always be in communion with God- no longer able to handle the idea that there are people outside of communion with their Creator and/or miss the point of such communion in their striving for perfection over relationship. A beautiful form of indifference is built in this stage of maturity toward both blame and praise as everything is not in perspective of the greatness of God you see yourself more truthfully and don’t take it as personally or prideful. Again she warns of the foothold that the devil will try to implant in the form of fears, sorrow over past sins, physical, mental and emotional limitations and ailments. She spends a great deal of time on various ways God uplifts the soul, the person, and the visions granted as well as more warnings to seek a good confessor who will hold you accountable and help you discern God from what may be a temptation to follow what is not of God.

The seventh and final mansion in this book is the one where your view of suffering changes, your wish is just to serve Christ always and to relate to Him in every way. So close with God are you that you eagerly seek any way you can to serve Him and even die for those He loves. She is at true peace and unity with God, resting and in intersession for brothers and sisters, especially those who find themselves in mortal sin. “The most surprising thing to me is that the sorrow and distress which such souls felt because they could not die and enjoy our Lord’s presence are now exchanged for as fervent a desire of serving Him to be praised, and of helping others to the utmost of their power. Not only have they ceased to long for death, but they wish for a long life and most heavy crosses, if such would bring ever so little honour to our Lord.” Finally we come to the chapter which compares her relationship with God to that of a married couple for us to see the unity that our marriages should point toward God in likeness. “…if we empty ourselves of all that belongs to the creature, depriving ourselves of it for the love of God, that same Lord will fill us with Himself.”

“THE little butterfly has died with the greatest joy at having found rest at last, and now Christ lives in her…. Apparently the words spoken by His Majesty have done their work: ‘that she was to care for His affairs, and He would care for hers.’”

I highly recommend to anyone about to read this book to read through the chapters notes at the begging so it is easy to follow where she is about to take us. This was a very helpful tool for me as I read. Also, if you prefer audio books, here is a link to a free reading you can listen too. I come away from reading this book, excited to evaluate where I might be and what the struggles are that I need to cast off to find myself entering into the next of my seven castles to the total abandon and union with my Creator. 

Saint Maximilian Kolbe - A Poem

"The Patron Saint of our Difficult Century"

Born as Raymond Kolbe in 1895

When he began to pray he soon began to thrive.

“Red or White?” the Lady asks pointing to each rose.

“What do they stand for?” The young boy asks in prayer as his eyes close.

“Ones for martyrdom, the other chastity, which would you prefer?”

The young child prayed fervently, “I’d like them both… yes I’m sure.”

As he grew older he quickly discerned his place.

A Franciscan, a Missionary Priest, who worked at helping people make God a space.

He had such a true devotion to the blessed mother.

He lived fully for God, dedicated through our lady like no other.

After years of working, Father Kolbe returned to Poland, where God thought it time for another test.

It was then that the future saint was taken under the Nazis’ arrest.

To Auschwitz he was brought, where he was forced to work and suffer.

 By his example many who struggled only became tougher.

One day a man escaped and the Nazis staged a plan.

Ten men would die so no one would follow the example of this one young man.

Included in the ten was a man both a husband and a Father.

He cried out in despair that he had a daughter.

Father Kolbe heard and offered to take the young man’s place.

The Nazis accepted and sent them all to Block 13, the torture space.

They were sentenced to death by way of starvation.

But the young saint kept spirits up by leading them in prayer without cessation.

After roughly three weeks only four men remained alive.

It appeared that Kolbe did intend to strive.

The Nazis chose injection to ensure the young priest’s downfall.

It was how he came to leave this world and fulfill God’s final call.

August 14, 1941 – His date of death, his final breath, the day he met Our Father.

Finally at peace with Christ Our King, Mary Our Mother, and with no one who can bring him any bother.

October 10, 1982 – John Paul II declared Father Kolbe both martyr and saint.

He encouraged us to learn of the brave priest who made a sacrifice that would cause many to plaint.

The young man whom the priest saved was present at the declaration.

He praised God loudly and without any vexation.

Saint Kolbe’s feast day remains to be the date on which he died.

He reminds us all that love and peace can be found if you have God by your side.

Sources –

“St. Maximilian Kolbe.” Accessed August 12, 2014. http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=370.

“Maximilian Kolbe.” Accessed August 12, 2014.http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Kolbe.html.

“Who Is St. Maximilian?” Accessed August 12, 2014.http://www.ewtn.com/library/MARY/whostmax.htm.

“Saint Maximilian Kolbe.” Accessed August 12, 2014. http://catholicism.org/maximilian-kolbe.html