From: rich <richarra@gmail.com>

August 13th - Blessed Jakob Gapp

Jakob Gapp was the seventh child in the working class family of Martin
Gapp and Antonia Wach. He received a basic education in his native
town, then entered the Franciscan high school in Hall in 1910. He was
an Austrian soldier on the Italian front from May 1915 till he was
wounded in 1916 and received the silver medal of Courage Second Class.
On 4 November 1918 he became a prisoner of war in Riva del Garda and
released 18 August 1919.

Jakob entered the Marianist novitiate at Greisinghof, Upper Austria in
1921. He was assigned to the Marian Institute in Graz as a teacher and sacristan for four years while preparing for the seminary. He made his
first profession at Antony, France on 27 August 1925. In September
1925 Jakob entered the International Marianist Seminary in Fribourg, Switzerland. Jakob was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Marius
Besson at Saint Nicholas Cathedral in Fribourg on 5 April 1930.

He returned to Austria where he worked as a teacher, director of
religious education, and chaplain in Marianist schools until 1938. By
that time economic conditions had become impossible. Father Gapp began collecting food and other necessities for the students, and gave his
own heating coal to the poor.

By 1938 Nazism was on the rise in Germany and Austria. Father Gapp saw
the incompatibility of Nazism and Christianity, and began preaching
about this dichotomy. When German troops arrived in Austria in March
1938, he left Graz. His superiors sent him home as they believed his
anti-Nazi preaching would bring on the wrath of the Reich.

In Tirol he enjoyed the last moments of peace in his life. He was an
assistant pastor in Breitenwang-Reutte for two months when the
Gestapo, in October 1938, ordered him not to teach religion. Father
Gapp taught uncompromising love for all men and women without
reference to nationality or religion, and that "God is your God, not
Adolf Hitler." In a sermon on 11 December 1938 he defended Pope Pius
XI against the attacks of the Nazis, and directed the faithful of the
parish to read Catholic literature instead of Nazi propaganda. He was
advised to leave the country.

Jakob escaped to Bordeaux, France, where he worked as a chaplain and
librarian. In May 1939 he went to Spain where he served in the
Marianist communities at San Sebastian, Cadiz and Valencia. The
Gestapo had followed him.

In 1942 Jakob received word about two people across the border in
France who claimed to be Jews fleeing from Nazis in Berlin who wanted instruction in Catholicism. When Gapp crossed into France to minister
to them, the Gestapo abducted him.

Father Gapp was arrested on 9 November 1942 in Hendaye, France, and
brought to Berlin.

On 2 July 1943 Gapp was condemned to death for speaking against the
Reich. Burial of his remains were denied as the Nazis feared he would
be seen as a martyr. On the afternoon of 13 August 1943 he was advised
he would be executed that night. He wrote two moving farewell letters. He
was guillotined at 7.08 pm 13 August 1943 at Plotzensee Prison,
Berlin, Germany.

Jakob Gapp was declared Venerable on 6 April 1995 by Pope John Paul
II, and Beatified on 24 November 1996 by Pope John Paul II. On August
13, The Society of Mary celebrates a memorial mass (except when
pre-empted by a Sunday)for Jakob Gapp.


Saint Quote:
"Envy is a food of the mind, corrupting it with poisonous juices, and
ceasing not to torment it miserably with the thought of a neighbor's
happy success."
--St. John Cassian

Bible Quote:
"But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen
and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith
is also vain." [1Cor 15:12]


<><><><>
Meditation for troubled times:

Persevere in all that God's guidance moves you to do. The persistent
carrying out of what seems right and good will bring you to that place
where you would be. If you look back over God's guidance, you will see
that His leading has been very gradual and that only as you have
carried out His wishes, as far as you can understand them, has God
been able to give you more clear and definite leading. You are led by
God's touch on a quickened, responsive mind.
--From Twenty-Four Hours a Day


<><><><>
Lord Our God

Lord our God, Your power is indescribable, Your glory is incomprehensible,
Your mercy is infinite, and Your love is immeasurable. Look down with compassion on us and on Your Holy Church.

Bestow Your bountiful goodness and mercy on us, and all who pray to You. All glory, honor and worship belong to You, now and forever unto all eternity. - Amen.


--- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
* Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)