Advent Retreat w/ Special Guest The Rt. Rev. William “Chip” Stokes

Shaken and Stirred: Exploring the Advent Reflections and Sermons of Fr. Alfred Delp, S.J.

Advent is a time of being deeply shaken, so that man will wake up to himself.

                                                            Fr. Alfred Delp, S.J. from Tegel Prison, December 5, 1944

German Jesuit Priest, Fr. Alfred Delp was executed by the Nazis on the Feast of Candlemas, February 2, 1945.  A contemporary of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s, he, like the more well-known Bonhoeffer, had been a voice of fierce resistance to Hitler and his Nazi movement. Implicated on false charges of attempting to assassinate Hitler, Delp was arrested and held for six months in Tegel Prison where, despite being handcuffed 24 hours a day, he managed to say mass and to write reflections, most notably Advent and Christmas reflections, which were smuggled out of the prison before his execution.  Joined with Advent reflections and sermons of his written prior to his imprisonment, Delp’s insights into the meaning of Advent are profound. During this Advent Quiet Day, participants will learn more about Fr. Alfred Delp and discover why his Advent Reflections speak not only to his own time but, perhaps to ours as well.