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This meditation by Alfred Delp on grace before his trial evokes in me the maxim “the truth shall set you free.” And the truth that liberates a person is not the initiative of the person, but is a response to … Continue reading →

It has been said that the definitive image of a Christian is that of a person on trial–of a man or a woman who takes Christ seriously enough to be left on the fringe of society. This is not the … Continue reading →

Epiphany 1945 [Tegel Prison, Berlin] It may be possible to find an hour to think today. How many things there are to think about and what contrasts they present. The feast itself with its rich symbolism; the emergence of God … Continue reading →

The People Who Are Not at the Crib [Tegel Prison, Berlin, Christmas 1944]   Even those who are not at there have a message for us and a judgment to give if only to make us realize what it is … Continue reading →

A friend of mine remarked that today is” one of the saddest feast of the Christian year, just to remind us of one aspect of the world God accepted to come and inhabit…”   The feast of the Holy Innocents … Continue reading →

These next three Christmas excerpts from Alfred Delp concern his prison meditations on the liturgical feasts of St. Stephen, the Holy Innocents of Bethlehem, and St. Thomas of Canterbury. It is interesting that these three feasts of martyrdom during the … Continue reading →

The Figures of Christmas [Tegel Prison, Berlin, Christmas 1944] Life with God and in God has its own laws and we cannot discover what they are from a reference book. Yet the conditions for their fulfillment are very straightforward and … Continue reading →

The Vigil of Christmas: Concerning the Blessed Burden of God [Tegel Prison, Berlin, December 1944] There has always been a lot of misunderstanding about the feast of the nativity. Superficial familiarity, sentimental crib-making… have to some extent distorted our view … Continue reading →

Fourth Sunday in Advent: Binding and Loosing [Tegel Prison, Berlin, December 1944]   … Before the curtain rises and the scene is disclosed, stretching into infinity, expectation mounts in a crescendo of excitement. Our confidence is well founded and so … Continue reading →

Meditation for the Third Sunday of Advent: Part IV The Conditions for True Joy [Tegel Prison, Berlin, December 1944]   The honesty with which man should be true to himself is an intrinsic selflessness. Through this selflessness, he should not … Continue reading →