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The POWER OF “LOVE FOR YOUR ENEMY”
Look carefully at the B-17 and note how shot up it is - one engine
dead, tail, horizontal stabilizer and nose shot up.. It was ready
to fall out of the sky. (This is a painting done by an artist from
the description of both pilots many years later.) Then realize that
there is a German ME-109 fighter flying next to it. Now read the
story below. I think you'll be surprised.....
Charlie Brown was a B-17 Flying Fortress pilot with the 379th Bomber
Group at Kimbolton , England . His B-17 was called 'Ye Old Pub'
and was in a terrible state, having been hit by flak and fighters.
The compass was damaged and they were flying deeper over enemy territory
instead of heading home to Kimbolton.
After flying the B-17 over an enemy airfield, a German pilot named
Franz Steigler was ordered to take off and shoot down the B-17.
When he got near the B-17, he could not believe his eyes. In his
words, he 'had never seen a plane in such a bad state'. The tail
and rear section was severely damaged, and the tail gunner wounded.
The top gunner was all over the top of the fuselage. The nose was
smashed and there were holes everywhere.
Despite having ammunition, Franz flew to the side of the B-17 and
looked at Charlie Brown, the pilot. Brown was scared and struggling
to control his damaged and blood-stained plane.
| BF-109
pilot Franz Stigler |
B-17 pilot Charlie Brown. |
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Aware that they had no idea where they were going,
Franz waved at Charlie to turn 180 degrees. Franz escorted and guided
the stricken plane to, and slightly over, the North Sea towards
England . He then saluted Charlie Brown and turned away, back to
Europe . When Franz landed he told the CO that the plane had been
shot down over the sea, and never told the truth to anybody. Charlie
Brown and the remains of his crew told all at their briefing, but
were ordered never to talk about it.
More than 40 years later, Charlie Brown wanted to find the Luftwaffe
pilot who saved the crew. After years of research, Franz was found.
He had never talked about the incident, not even at post-war reunions.
They met in the USA at a 379th Bomber Group reunion, together with
25 people who are alive now - all because Franz never fired his
guns that day.
| (L-R)
German Ace Franz Stigler, artist Ernie Boyett, and B-17 pilot
Charlie Brown. |
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When asked why he didn’t shoot them down, Stigler later said,
“I didn’t have the heart to finish those brave men.
I flew beside them for a long time. They were trying desperately
to get home and I was going to let them do that. I could not have
shot at them. It would have been the same as shooting at a man in
a parachute.”
Both men died in 2008.
This is a true story http://www.snopes.com/military/charliebrown.asp
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| LIVES
OF THE SAINTS |
SEPTEMBER 1
ST. GILES
St. Giles was born in Athens, Greece, in early times. When his parents died, he used the large fortune they left him to help the poor. 
SEPTEMBER 2
BLESSED JOHN DU LAU AND THE SEPTEMBER MARTYRS
Blessed John was the archbishop of Arles, France..
SEPTEMBER 3
ST. GREGORY THE GREAT
St. Gregory was born in 540 in Rome. His father was a senator. His mother is a saint, St. Celia.
SEPTEMBER 4
ST. ROSE OF VITERBO
St. Rose was born in 1235 in Viterbo, Italy. She lived at the time when Emperor Frederick had conquered land that belonged to the Church.
SEPTEMBER 5
ST. LAWRENCE JUSTINIAN
St. Lawrence Justinian was born in Venice, Italy, in 1381.
SEPTEMBER 6
BLESSED BERTRAND
Blessed Bertrand lived in the last half of the twelfth and first part of the thirteenth centuries.
SEPTEMBER 7
BLESSED JOHN DUCKETT AND BLESSED RALPH CORBY
Blessed James Duckett studied at the English college of Douay and became a priest in 1639.
SEPTEMBER 8
BIRTH OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
We do not usually celebrate the birthdays of the saints.
SEPTEMBER 9
ST. PETER CLAVER
St. Peter Claver, the Spanish priest of the Society of Jesus was born in 1580.
SEPTEMBER 10
ST. NICHOLAS OF TOLENTINO
St. Nicholas was born in 1245 in Ancona, Italy. His parents had waited long and anxiously for a child.
SEPTEMBER 11
BLESSED LOUIS OF THURINGIA
Blessed Loius, the German prince, lived during the last part of the twelfth and first part of the thirteenth centuries.
SEPTEMBER 13
ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
St. John Chrysostom was born in Antioch around 344.
SEPTEMBER 15
OUR LADY OF SORROWS
Our Lady had many great joys as the mother of Jesus, but she had much to suffer, too.
SEPTEMBER 16
ST. CORNELIUS AND ST. CYPRIAN
St. Cornelius, a holy priest of Rome, was elected Pope in 251. He accepted because he loved Christ.
SEPTEMBER 17
ST. ROBERT BELLARMINE
St. Robert Bellarmine was born in Italy in 1542.
SEPTEMBER 18
ST. JOSEPH OF CUPERTINO
St. Joseph was born on June 17, 1603, in a small Italian village to poor parents.
SEPTEMBER 19
ST. JANUARIUS
St. Januarius lived in the fourth century. He was born either in Benevento or Naples, Italy.
SEPTEMBER 20
ST. ANDREW KIM TAEGON AND ST. PAUL CHONG HASANG
St. Andrew Kim Taegon was a priest and St. Paul Chong Hasang was a lay person.
SEPTEMBER 21
ST. MATTHEW
St. Matthew was a tax collector in the city of Capernaum, where Jesus was living.
SEPTEMBER 22
ST. THOMAS OF VILLANOVA
St. Thomas was born in Spain in 1488.
SEPTEMBER 24
ST. PACIFICUS
St. Pacificus, a little Italian boy born in 1653 was named Charles Anthony. He was just five years old when his loving parents died.
SEPTEMBER 25
ST. SERGIUS
St. Serguis, the famous Russian saint lived in the fourteenth century.
SEPTEMBER 27
ST. VINCENT DE PAUL
St. Vincent de Paul, the son of poor French peasants, was born in 1581.
SEPTEMBER 28
ST. LAWRENCE RUIZ AND COMPANIONS
St. Lawrence Ruiz, and his fifteen companions were killed for their faith in 1637, in Nagasaki, Japan.
SEPTEMBER 29
ST. MICHAEL, ST. GABRIEL, ST. RAPHAEL
Sts. Michael, Gabriel and Raphael are called "saints" because they are holy.
SEPTEMBER 30
ST. JEROME
St. Jerome was a Roman Christian who lived in the fourth century.
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PHOTO OF THE MONTH |
Tour
of the Relics of the Passion
(International Center
for Holy Relics)
www.HolyRelics.org
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| REFLECTIONS |
 “Jesus’
Baptism”
Why did Jesus, the sinless one sent from the Father in heaven,
submit himself to John’s baptism? John preached a
baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Luke
3:3). In this humble submission we see a foreshadowing of
the “baptism” of Jesus bloody death upon the
cross. Jesus’ baptism is the acceptance and the beginning
of his mission as God’s suffering Servant (Isaiah
52:13-15; 53:1-12). He allowed himself to be numbered among
sinners. Jesus submitted himself entirely to his Father’s
will. Out of love he consented to this baptism of death
for the remission of our sins. Do you know the joy of trust
and submission to God?
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