Even Unto Death: Wisdom from Modern Martyrs, edited by Jeanne Kun. The Word Among Us Press,
This book is a readable small account of the heroic lives and
deaths, the wisdom and the humor, of a variety of modem martyrs of various church denominations. Their stories we cannot afford to forget; their modeling will move many generations. Their main focus is to demonstrate how the beatitudes are to be lived today. These martyrs tell us that it is worth opposing evil with daily choices of love, charity, reconciliation, and faithfulness to the Gospel. Each of the eight martyrs gives us a loud and clear call to be united in faith in
Christ.
The book begins with the joy experienced by Father Alfred DeIp SJ, a victim of Hitler’s atrocities. There is the story of seven Trappist martyrs who remained united in love as they faced life and death together in Algeria, working with a great love among Muslin groups. St. Edith Stein, first an atheist, then a
convert from Judaism, a Carmelite nun, who risked her life before being shunted away to the gas chambers with her sister Rosa. Five young Protestant missionaries in Ecuador were murdered as they ministered to the tribes of Aucas in Quichua. There is the story of the universal brother, Venerable Charles de Foucauld who also ministered In Algeria and was murdered for his efforts. St. Theophane Venard, Mother Maria Skobtsova, and Blessed Maurice Tornay complete this small
volume.
(Thanks to Sr. Irene Hartman, O.P. for this review.)
