The Shadow His Wings: The True Story of Fr. Gereon Goldmann, OFM

The Shadow His Wings: The True Story of Fr. Gereon Goldmann, OFM was first published in 1964 and I got a copy after seeing a very compelling email with a subject line, “The priest who fought Hitler.”

“We had to do it. We had to reprint this book,” the email began. “Rarely has a book had such an impact on so many of us here at Ignatius Press. It is one of the most powerful and moving books we have come across. If you can only buy one book this season, this must be the one.”

As it turns out, this book is actually as sensational as that email copy led me to believe. Much like Fr. Walter Ciszek’s With God in Russia, The Shadow is His Wings tells the story of a priest during wartime, in the belly of the enemy. Fr. Gereon Goldmann was a German seminarian when he was drafted to fight for the Nazis, rising to the ranks of the SS. He not only survives an extraordinary set of circumstances and maintains his faith in the face of the Nazis, but is even ordained a priest while living inside a prison camp. Think scenes of administering the Eucharist to dying soldiers in the middle of the battlefield, helping French peasants hide their gasoline from the Nazis, and even participating in a plot to assassinate Hitler.

it’s an incredible story, and two things in particular stood out to me: first, a central theme of this book is the power of prayer. For various reasons, both before he entered seminary, and while he was at war, entire communities of religious women were praying for Fr. Goldmann. First, that his vocation as a priest would be realized, after he expressed interest in the Franciscans in childhood, and then, that he would be ordained, and then that he would survive and minister to others during the war. The fruits of these prayers got him out of seemingly impossible situations, and into seemingly miraculous situations - like an audience with the Pope himself to beg to be ordained, just as the Little Flower begged the Pope to allow her to enter her religious community at 15.

I remembered how at the beginning of the pandemic, I realized how critical communities of pray-ers are. They are the ones who storm Heaven with their prayers and move mountains. They spend their lives in contemplation, often for years at a time, before the fruit of their prayer is realized. In Fr. Goldmann’s case, one of the communities looking out for him prayed for more than 20 years. And it was by chance he even found out about it, after the war.

The power of prayer is real. Fewer people pray now, no doubt, because we know fewer people adhere to the faith, and there are fewer women in religious communities, for example. Imagine what we are losing in the world with fewer pray-ers (I wrote an article about this a few years ago).

Another thing that stood out to me is how Fr. Gereon viewed his vocation. On the eve of his ordination, he recalls that God “called him out of all eternity” to serve this purpose. What a profound way to view one’s life and calling, particularly at a time of so much suffering. Even now, it is easy for us to wonder why we would be born at such a dysfunctional time. Fr. Gereon did not view his situation this way; he viewed it as a mission from God and that he was in the exact right time and place at the right time. This seems, to me, the proper way to view our own lives.

I recommend this book. it will restore your faith in the knowledge that God is in control, and that He hears our prayers. And, that ordinary people are called to do great things, and can do great things, with God’s help.