“Take Courage”

Originally Posted August 6, 2021

“My dear parents: 

Once again, in farewell, I want to say with all my soul, God reward you for everything you have done for me. You brought me into life in order that I might give honor and glory to God. You had me baptized and reared me in the Catholic faith in order that I might mysteriously be drawn in my own person to partake of the life and suffering and glorification of Christ. 

I was allowed, thanks to you, to receive priestly orders as a pure and undeserved gift of grace from the hands of the one true High Priest, through the intercession of the blessed Mother of God, so that I could for fourteen years celebrate the holy sacrifice of the Mass and administer the sacraments for the salvation of many souls. Thanks be to the Holy Trinity, thanks be to the beloved Mother of God. Thanks be to the angels and the saints, thanks be to all my benefactors in matters spiritual or material, whether living or dead.

Finally, I want to make mention of the great gift of grace bestowed on me in being called into the order of the Pallotines, so that above all I might work through the thrice-blessed Virgin to extend the Marian Kingdom of Christ throughout the world. May you then join with me in a glorious and joyful Magnificat and Te Deum when you hear that my mission has ended in this world, only really to begin in the other. May sorrow and joy be reconciled in the boundless love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Once again, receive the blessing of your grateful Franz. My blessing also upon my dear brothers and sisters and their children, as well as all of my country.”

Servant of God 

Franz Reinisch, s.a.c.

Father Reinisch († 1942) was an Austrian priest of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate, also known as the Pallotines. He was beheaded at the age of 39 for refusing the oath of allegiance to Hitler. / From Dying We Live: The Final Messages and Records of the German Resistance, Helmut Gollwitzer, Kathe Kuhn, Reinhold Schneider, Eds. Copyright © 1956, Pantheon Books, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

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I was inspired by this letter published today in the Magnificat (Aug. 3, 2021).  Father Reinisch, please pray for us that we might take courage and not be afraid.