Sophie Scholl
1921-1943 20th century
Praying with a barren heart, and doing what is right when everyone else stays silent.
Who was Sophie Scholl?
A biology and philosophy student in Munich, raised Protestant, nourished by Augustine and Pascal. With her brother Hans and their friends of the White Rose, she wrote and distributed leaflets calling Germany to resist Hitler. Arrested on 18 February 1943, guillotined four days later, at 21. Her letters and diary speak of a faith that searches and holds.
In their own words
The only remedy for a barren heart is prayer, however poor and inadequate.
Sometimes I feel I can forge a path to God in an instant, purely by yearning to do so, by yielding up my soul entirely.
Isn't it a riddle, and awe-inspiring, that everything is so beautiful, despite the horror? Into my sheer joy in all that is beautiful has crept something grand and mysterious: the sense of a Creator, whom innocent creation worships with its beauty.
Such a fine, sunny day, and I have to go. But what does my death matter, if through us thousands of people are awakened and stirred to action.