Nicola, the power of prayer

Born into a Swiss Catholic peasant family, Nicola da Flüe (1417–1487) was also a soldier, judge, councilor and deputy. Married and father of ten children, at the age of 50 with the permission of the family he retired to a hermit life. Here his true vocation began: to bring peace between people. Twice he prevented the various cantons in dispute among themselves from making war: "My advice is that you show benevolence in this business, since one good brings another." In fact, even the Duke of Milan later gave up the conquest of the Swiss territories. Grateful for this "protection", the Swiss - mostly Calvinists - elected Nicholas as their patron.

Who returned them with an incredible miracle, saving them from none other than the Nazi invasion, a unique case in Europe. Behind the common opinion that Hitler spared the country as a bank state, there is the sworn testimony of Swiss and German soldiers. Field Marshal Ritter von Leeb recounted: I saw entire divisions stationary, unable to start and unable to fire a single shot. I reported to the Führer who, enraged, threatened to shoot me if the attack did not happen within the hour. He did not want to believe that no tanks, no trucks and not even a motorcycle could leave.

The same happened with the Luftwaffe planes. After three attempts, the vehicles were still stationary and the planes remained on the ground. Eventually Berlin surrendered and gave the order to retreat across the front. At that moment the vehicles left without any problem ». What happened? "We saw a light in the night, a hand that imposed a halt on my troops." And the Swiss brigadier Hans F. Pfenninger, a Lutheran, confirmed: "Yes, we saw a hand in the sky." Result: Operation Tannenbaum was canceled. With a saint in action, there are no panzers to hold!

NP Aprile 2021

Annamaria Gobbato