PRISON MEDITATIONS OF FATHER DELP

In the genro of The Diary of Anne Frank, this is one of the more unusual, spiritually useful books to survive the horrors of Hitler's Germany. Written in the face of inevitable execution, those pages comprise thoughts on a variety of topics including the liturgical season, the prayers of childhood viewed in retrospect, the question of man and his purpose, truth and justice, and the vision of God for his follow men to ponder. These writings were spirited out of the prison and serve to immortalize his views for the inspiration of future generations. Father Delp, a Jesuit priest and a convert, was implicated in the abortive attempt on Hitler's life in July of 1944. As a member of the Kreisau circle, which had planned the restoration of a Christian social order in Germany after the war, Father Delp was executed in February of 1945. Thomas Merton contributes a lengthy foreword which dramatizes the values to be derived for our times from these meditations. While nobody will be able to road this for pleasure, they should provide a spiritual boost for today's Christians. May Father Delp's spirit live in these words and be read by hundreds of thousands who might profit.