Ave Maria Meditations
From a Priest in a Nazi prison cell in 1944:
Never have I knelt at the manger in such poverty as I do this year: everything has been taken away, my home, my honor, my life. So, I want to kneel at the manger of Him who had no place to lay His head, who, as a friend of His people, was condemned to death, who poured out His blood like a libation, and sacrificed for the salvation of His people and of the entire world.
As gifts, I bear to the manger both hunger and cold, loneliness and forlornness. Shining chains are my only ornament. I want to give my life, previously placed in the service of the King of Christmas, to Him who saved me with His precious Blood. With copious tears of penitence, I want to wash away everything that is turned to guilt and remorse in me. It is in this spirit that I am going to make my pilgrimage to the manger. I hope through grace to celebrate Christmas deep within my heart and mind as never before in my life. No gift, no festive meal will distract me, no candle will gleam, no fir tree will emit its fragrance.
But the infant Jesus in the Eucharist will, as a glorious reality of Christmas, radiate me with eternal light, and fill me with the warmth of compassionate love. I shall recite the breviary so slowly, so inwardly, that I shall taste the sweetness of every word. I shall say many prayers of the Rosary and read the holy Scriptures. In this way, I hope, the peace of Christ will be my portion, and His grace will be my glory.
I am without any bitterness; I bear everything with the patience that only Christ gives. I hope that my prayer and the prayers of so many others will be heard; I hope that I may at some time intone the Gloria at the altar once more.
+Fr. Alfons Maria Wachsmann
