Blessed Richard Henkes – Saint of the Day – February 22

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Today is Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Blessed Richard Henkes Biography

Blessed Richard Henkes Profile. Born: 26 May 1900 in Germany, Europe. Worked in Germany, Czech. Died: 22 February 1945 in Dachau concentration camp, Germany. Feast Day is celebrated on February 22.

Saint of the Day

Blessed Richard Henkes Biography, Feast Day, Date of Birth, Country of Birth, Profession, Place of Work, Date of Death, Place of Death

Date of Birth 26 May 1900
Country of Birth Germany in Europe
Matrimony/Holy Orders Blesseds who were Priests
Profession Missionary
Place of Work Germany, Czech
Date of Death 22 February 1945
Place of Death Dachau concentration camp, Germany
Feast Day February 22
Beatification Beatified by N/A
Canonization Canonized by N/A
Patron Saint of N/A

Biography

Blessed Richard Henkes was one of eight children in the family of a mason. His mother taught them religion and would sprinkle them with holy water each night before bed. Attracted to the idea of mission work, he joined the Pallotines in 1919.

He then became a spiritual student of Joseph Kentenich. Richard was ordained to the priesthood on 6 June 1925 in the diocese of Limburg, Germany.

He became a teacher in several Pallottine and Schoenstatt schools beginning in 1926. In 1927 he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and collapsed from exhaustion. It was considered unfit for his to be taken to South Africa for medication but people argued that he was too sick to withstand the journey.

After recovery, he became a skilled and popular preacher and retreat leader condemning the ideology and actions of the Nazis, especially the murder of disabled people and others considered an unproductive burden on society. He was then arrested for this on 7 March 1937 in Roppach, Germany, warned and released. Father

Richard became allies with the Resistance and spoke so forcefully and so often against the Nazis that his superiors began to worry that the Nazis would revolute against the school where Richard taught.

He was arrested again on 8 April 1943 in Branitz, Germany for his political statements and was imprisoned first at Ratibor, Germany and then to Dachau concentration camp where he was forced to do manual labor.

He became allied with a fellow prisoner and future Cardinal, Josef Beran who taught him the Czech language so he could help minister to imprisoned Czechs. When typhoid broke out in the premises, Father Richard volunteered to minister to the sick until he contracted the illness to himself. Martyr.

Bl. Richard Henkes
Bl. Richard Henkes


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About Laban Thua Gachie 10721 Articles
The founder of Catholicreadings.org is Laban Thua Gachie. I am a Commissioned Lector, a commissioned Liturgy Minister, and a Commissioned member of the Catholic Men Association. We at Catholic Daily Readings, operate the catholicreadings.org, a Catholic Church-related website and we pride ourself in providing you, on a daily basis the following; 1. Catholic Daily Mass Readings 2. Reflections on those Daily Readings 3. Daily prayers 4. Bible Verse of the Day 5. Saint of the Day