Christ does not emerge in a struggle against the cross but on the cross just as love always is triumphant in surrender.Gertrud von le Fort Baroness Gertrude von Lefort (1876–1971) is the author of over 20 books (poems, novels and short stories), honorary Doctor of Theology and «the greatest contemporary transcendent poet». Her works are appreciated for their breath-taking profoundness and virtuosity, beauty and actuality of her ideas, and for the sophisticate
Von le Fort was born in Westphalia, Germany, and studied at the Universities of Heidelberg and Berlin. A Protestant of Huguenot descent, von le Fort converted early to Catholicism.
Her novel Die Letze am Schafott (The Last or Song at the Scaffold), by far her most famous work, was the basis for Dialogues of the Carmelites. Set during the time........... of the French Revolution, the von le Fort novel tells the story of a troubled, frightened, and strange girl, Blanche de la Force, who has lived in fear from the moment of her birth. To overcome her affliction, she decides to become a nun of Carmel. Little does she know that she is no safer from fear at this convent than in the secular world.
The character of Blanche was von le Fort’s creation, but the other nuns in the story historical figures. Notice the similarity of "von le Fort" to "de la Force." This was no coincidence: much of Gertrud von le Fort’s inspiration for her novel came from her own experiences during World War II and her hatred of Nazism.
She recorded the origin of her 1931 novel: " The point of departure for my creation was not primarily the destiny of the sixteen Carmelites of Compiègne but the figure of the young Blanche. In a historic sense she never lived, but she received the breath of life from my internal spirit, and she cannot be detached from the origin, which is hers. Born in the profound horror of a time darkened by the signs of destiny, this figure arose before me in some way as the embodiment of the mortal agony of an era going totally to its ruin."
Thoughts and quotes from the book:
Forward: Gertrude von Le Fort addresses the topic of the role of woman in the Salvation of the world which is the battlefield between good and veil, life and death.
Since the Garden of Eden the Evil one and the woman have been in the arena.
We have to look on the positive place of woman and not the negative aspect of womanhood.
Her privileges:
1: Her body is not from dust but from the flesh of a human person.
2: She is called "Mother of Life."
3: That the female womb would one day be a tabernacle for the Holy One
It is Mary, the Mother of God, who teaches that receptivity-total openess to God's word-is the royal road to holiness.
To Be continued
Friar Mychal Judge, was the first and most famous victim of the World Trade Center attack, and we in the Franciscan Family remember him in prayer and ask him to intercede for us and the World.
