Post by Gilbert L.

Good Morning ☀️ MEDITATION OF THE DAY Through Mary to Jesus The marked devotion to Our Lady of the Catholic prisoners in Dachau was characteristic, and it was significant that the first communal act of worship in our new chapel was destined to take the form of devotions to Our Blessed Mother. We had assembled for Mass that morning, but the atheist “sacristan” appointed by the camp authorities had neglected to provide either hosts or altar wine…. Our camp chaplain saw that it would be impossible to offer Mass and led the congregation of priests in the Litany of Our Lady and in the singing of the Salve Regina. Devotions to Mary in this way preceded Mass in the chapel in Dachau. “Through Mary to Jesus!” Christ was ever present with us in the Blessed Sacrament, and Mary was ever present too, an unfailing mother to the priests of her Son Jesus. She heard the countless Hail Marys said in her honor, she was present in every spiritual discussion, and she was remembered in the pictures and tokens which we had managed to smuggle through in our breviaries. She was ever present in the hope we all cherished that she would deliver us. With every Marian feast day of the Church the hope of our deliverance grew…. “Our Lady of Dachau.” This was her title from the very day the statue arrived. It was indeed a miracle in itself that the statue of Our Lady could be borne in triumph through the length of the concentration camp to be placed in honor in the chapel. The Queen of Heaven in the hell of Dachau! It was a remarkable occasion indeed. -Father John M. Lenz Father Lenz († 1985), a Jesuit from Vienna, was imprisoned by the Nazis for his public opposition to the regime, spending a short time in Gusen and five years in Dachau.