Stained-glass windows at St. James Cathedral in Toronto on Dec. 16.Melissa Tait/The Globe and Mail

Michael Coren is an Anglican priest, journalist and author whose next book, Diary of a Lowborn Cleric, will be published in January.

Engelmar Unzeitig was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood in Germany in 1939, a month before the outbreak of the Second World War. Unlike many of his fellow Christians, he refused to remain silent about the obscenities he saw around him, and was soon arrested by the Gestapo. Imprisoned in a concentration camp, he became known as the “Angel of Dachau,” working tirelessly for other prisoners and volunteering to help those with typhoid. Eventually, inevitably, he died of it himself.

“God’s almighty grace helps us overcome obstacles,” he said. “Love doubles our strength, makes us inventive, makes us feel content and inwardly free. If people would only realize what God has in store for those who love Him!”

Some would protest that this is hardly a quintessentially Christmas story. I’d disagree, because while the season is a time of joy, family, giving and receiving, its fundamental meaning is........

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