The Marian Martyrs of Rosica

140 The Marian Martyrs of Rosica prayer to bring order to their own souls. My God, how insignif- icant human faults are in the great moment when men stand ready to offer You a complete sacrifice of their own lives. How insignificant their human faults are compared with the immen- sity of their love for their fellow man on which altar they are offering that most beautiful gift — their own lives. Could they not repeat after You, O Jesus: “I am the Good Shepherd”? A good shepherd gives his life for his flock. How insigificant were the faults of their lives compared with those last two days. They forgot about themselves and were wholly committed to their spiritual children. A priest must be like daily bread that everyone takes and eats. They were that daily bread. The confessions were over. The last Holy Mass had been said. The last sacrifice in life had been offered. What must their feelings have been as they offered it all to God! They must have reached in their thoughts to the room where the Last Supper took place, where Jesus, preparing Himself for death, offered t h e sacrifice of bread and wine. How close this sacrifice was to His Good Friday sacrifice. Again, people were crowding around to receive Holy Communion. After the Holy Mass, Father gave a plenary indulgence at the hour of death, and then heard more confessions. Some people fell asleep on the benches and the floor of the church. The windows were becoming gray and the red glow was subsiding. The day was coming, the last day of life. The SS men entered, Germans and Latvians. They ordered the young people to go out. There was agitation in the church. All the young people approached. There was a review, and they were led outside. They would go to work for the Fuehrer, for mighty Germany. They should feel honored: Even though they were themselves bandits because they had helped those ban- dits, the partisans, they would escape the punishment they deserved. The soldiers came to take the first group away for execution. There was silence in the church. Complete silence. People were immobilized. This was it. This was the time for death. Father