Subj : August 13th - Blessed Jakob Gapp To : All From : rich Date : Wed Aug 12 2020 10:32:09 From: rich 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) .