Holocaust survivor and poet says Blessed John Paul II man of compassion

PHILADELPHIA (CNS) -- Hanging on the wall in her office is a large painting of horses standing in a field with overcast skies and a vast, fallen tree, struck down by lightning in a ferocious storm.

This painting, Lena Allen-Shore was told, would never sell, as no one would want a plain picture of horses. But Allen-Shore doesn't just see the horses. She sees the fallen tree and the ones standing around it, as well as the horses, which endured the brutal storm.

Despite a traumatic past, one still has the strength to carry on.

This is something that Allen-Shore, a Jewish Holocaust survivor, learned from her "dear friend," Blessed John Paul II, through various letters, poems and visits over the course of some 25 years.

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