As Chesterton said, the existence of every human being is a testimony to the courage of women. There is so much bad news about the failings of Catholic priests and religious, it is good to remember the examples that shed a light of divine light on our troubled existence.
Women and women religious in France during the Nazi occupation were active in the Resistance. They faced a heavy penalty if caught. Here is how one nun responded:
Women, religious and laity alike, were particularly remarkable for their bravery not only in hiding wanted persons and weapons, but also for gathering intelligence, and producing forged documents, from identity documents to ration cards. Even more remarkable was their fortitude when caught. Mother Elisabeth de l’Eucharistie, for example, was arrested in Lyons in March 1944 for concealing arms in her convent. Sent to a concentration camp, in order to fortify the courage of women singled out for extermination because unable to work, she voluntarily joined their number. On Good Friday 1945 she mounted with them the lorry that was to take her to the gas chambers of Ravensbrück, saying, ‘I am leaving for Heaven’ (‘Je pars pour le Ciel‘), adding almost casually, ‘Let them know in Lyons.’ (Politics, Society and Christianity in Vichy France. W. D. Halls, p. 217)
Another witness said she volunteered to take the place of a mother who was being sent to the gas chamber.
She was born Élise Rivet in Algeria, and died at the age of 46 on March 30, 1945, a few weeks before the end of the war. If the Catholic Church wants to canonize anyone, it could find few better candidates.
The comments on this and the last thread have caused me to remember the second verse of an old hymn which is probably not sung very much these days.
Lead on, O King Eternal,
Till sins fierce war shall cease,
And holiness shall whisper
The sweet amen of peace.
For not with swords loud clashing,
Nor roll of stirring drums;
With deeds of love and mercy,
The heavenly kingdom comes.
Poem by Ernest W. Shurtleff, 1888
A Good Sabbath to Everyone.
Another courageous woman of faith worthy of mention is Nijole Sadunaite who stood against the Communist regime of her homeland, Lithuania. She was sentenced to the Gulag and later exiled to Siberia for distributing “anti-Soviet propaganda,” a paper called “The Chronicle of the Catholic Church in Lithuania,” which detailed the regime’s abuses to the outside world. She was fearless in the face of her captors and KGB interrogators, who never were able to break her spirit. This short article from 1988 sheds more light on her life: http://www.lituanus.org/1988/88_2_04.htm. Robert Royal also devotes a few pages to her and the plight of the Lithuanian Catholics in general during that period in his book The Catholic Martyrs of the Twentieth Century.
I expect little from the pope or hierarchy. They are succesors to Peter and the Apostles and so are necessary for the governance and unity of the Church. But I have come to expect little of quality from them. It`s the laity and good religious sisters who, in my more than twenty years of priesthood, I have seen `carry the ball.` Popes and bishops talk faith, these folks live it, generously. So many of the lay men and women I bury (I average one funeral per week) are real inspirations; faithful to Christ and his teaching, as well as to their spouses and children, friends, work and duty. Over and over again I find this. They are the real back bone of the Church on Earth. Not we clergy, who (here in the west at least)so often live sheltered, pampered lives of priviledge.
Thx 4 sharing her story.
Good piece! I love that Chesterton quotation about owing our existence to the courage of a woman. Can you tell me where I can find that quotation?