COMMENT: Translation of Bl. Columba Marmion OSB

COMMENT:

This inscribed  quotation is to the heart of Bl. Columba's Eucharistic conference.

The above  reference is from 'A Word in Season, Augustine Press 2001.

The translation of these lines read captivatingly. Enlightening are the words in this version, "So true is this that in a prayer between the offertory and consecration the Church refers explicitly to the union between our sacrifice and that of the bridegroom", at the Eucharistic Sacrifice. 

On the other side, the older translation from the Sisters of Tyburn, has  very meticulous following of the words , to the Latin quotations and footnote references. 

It is immensely interesting to look at 1925 'Christ of the Life of the Soul', the pages 258-259 to the Reading above.

Second Reading

From the writings of Blessed Columba Marmion, O.S.B. (Le Christ Vie de l’Ame, 366-368). Trs. 1925  

Marmion-abbot_circa_1918

  

We must give everything to God

We are called to be united with Christ in his sacrifice, and with him to offer ourselves. If we are willing, he takes us with him, immolates us with himself, and lifts us into the Father's presence as an oblation of fragrant sweetness. It is our very selves thatwe must offer with Jesus. If the faithful share through bap­tism in Christ's priesthood, Saint Peter tells us, it is in order that they may offer spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. So true is this that in a prayer between the offertory and consecration the Church refers explicitly to the union between our sacrifice and that of the bridegroom: Lord our God, make these gifts holy, and through them make us a perfect offering to you. 

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by this prayer-our union with Christ in this sacrifice. The wine repre­sents Christ, the water represents the people, as was said by St. John in the Apocalypse and was confirmed by the Council of Trent: Aquae populi sunt.60

We must be united to Christ in His immolation and offer ourselves with Him; then He takes us with Him, He immolates us with Him, He bears us before His Father, in odorem suavitatis. It is ourselves we must offer with Jesus Christ. If the faithful share, through baptism, in the priesthood of Christ, it is, says St. Peter, that they may" offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ": Sacerdotium sanctum, ofJerre sptrituales hostias acceptabiles Deo per Jesum Christum. 61 This is so true that in more than one prayer following the offering about to be made to God, the Church while awaiting the moment of the consecration, lays stress on this union of our sacrifice with that of her Bridegroom. "Vouchsafe, O Lord ", she says" to sanctify these gifts, and receiving the oblation of this spiritual victim, make us an eternal sacrifice to Thyself": Propitius, Domine, quae­sum us, haec dona sanctifica, et hostiae spiritualis oblations suscepta, NOSMETIPSOS tibi perfice munus aeternum. 62 

But in order that we may be thus accepted by God, the offering of ourselves must be united to the offering Christ made of Himself upon the cross and renews upon the altar. Our Lord substituted Himself for us in His immolation; He took the place of us all, and that is why when He died we, in principle, died with Him: Si tenus pro omnibus mortuus est, ergo omnes mortui SUn!.63 For this mystical death to take place effectually in each one of us, we must unite ourselves to His sacrifice on the altar. And how are we to unite ourselves to Christ Jesus in this character of victim? By yielding ourselves, like Him, to the entire accomplishment of the Divine good pleasure.

It is for God to dispose fully of the victim offered to Him; we must be in this essential attitude of giving all to God, of making our acts of self-renunciation and mortification, of accepting the sufferings and trials of each day for love of Him, so that we may be able to say, like Jesus Christ at the moment of His Passion: Ut cognoscat mundus quia diligo Patrem, sic facio. That is to offer ourselves with Jesus. Let us offer the Divine Son to His Eternal Father and offer ourselves with this cl holy Host" in the same dispositions that animated the Sacred Heart of Christ upon the cross: intense love of His Father and of our brethren, ardent desire for the salvation of souls, and full abandonment

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60 Apoc. xvii, I'). Hac mixtione , ipsius populi fidelis cum capite Christo unio rep-

raesentatur, Sess. xxii, c. 7.  01 I Pctr , ii , 5.

82 Mass for Whit Monday. This prayer (Secret) is to be found likewise in the Mass for

Trinity Sunday.  H, IJ Cor. v, 14.

to all that is willed from on high, above all, if it contains what is pain­ful and vexatious for our nature. When we do this, we offer God the most acceptable homage He can receive from us.

We herein have also the most certain means of being transformed into Jesus, especially if we unite ourselves to Him in Communion, which is the most fruitful partaking of the Sacrifice of the Altar; for, if we are united to Christ He immolates us with Him, renders us pleasing to His Father and makes us, by His grace, more and more  like to Himself.

This truth is signified by that mysterious prayer the priest recites after the consecration: "We humbly beseech Thee, almighty God, command these things to be carried by the hands of Thy holy Angel to Thy altar on high, in the sight of Thy Divine Majesty, that as many of us as, by participation at this altar, shall receive the most sacred Body and Blood of Thy Son may be filled with all heavenly benediction and grace."

It is then a most excellent manner of assisting at the Holy Sacrifice to follow with the eyes, the mind, and the heart, what is passing at the altar, and to associate ourselves with the prayers the Church places at this sacred moment on the lips of her ministers. When, the deep reverence, lively faith, ardent love, and true contrition for our sins, 6~ we thus unite ourselves to Christ, Priest and Victim, in His sacrifice, Christ, Who dwells in us, takes all our intentions into His Heart and offers perfect adoration and full satisfaction for us to His Father, He renders Him worthy thanksgiving, and His prayer is all-powerful. All these acts of the eternal High Priest, by which He renews upon the altar His immolation of Calvary, becomes ours.

At the same time that we give to God, through Christ, all honour and all glory: Omnis honor et gloria, abundant graces of light and life are poured down upon us and on all the Church: Fructus uberrima percipiuntur.⁶⁵ Each Mass truly contains all the fruits of the Sacrifice of the Cross. But, if we wish to avail ourselves of them, we must enter into the dispositions and sentiments of the Heart of Jesus when He went to offer Himself on Calvary: Hoc enim sentite ... quod et in Christo [esu.": Then the Eternal High Priest takes us with Him into the Holy of holies unto the throne of the Divine Majesty, to the very source of all grace, of all life and all beatitude.

If you knew the Gift of God! . . .

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 64 Docet sancta synodus :  . per istad sacrificium fieri ut si cum uero corde et recta

fide, cum metu et re ucrentia, contriu ac poenisentes, ad Deum accedamus , misericordiam ('onsequamllr et ([retia", ;11['Pl1;am", i n mtxil:o opoormno . Concil. Trid. Scss. xxii, cap. 2.

 •• Concil. TriJ. Sess. xxii, cap. 2.           66 Philipp. ii, 5.

Christ the Life of the Soul by Bl. Columba Marmion osb

Monastic Lectionary of the Divine Office

Gracewing (Oct 2005)

Fourth Week of Easter - SATURDAY  Year II

First Reading -  Acts 16:16-40

Responsory      Col1:24; Phil 3:7

I rejoice in the sufferings I endure for you. In my body I fill up what

is lacking in the sufferings of Christ + for the sake of his body, the Church, of which I became a minister, alleluia.

V. My only desire is to know Christ and the power of his resurrec­tion. I want to share his sufferings and resemble him in his death + for the sake ...

Second Reading

From the writings of Blessed Columba Marmion, O.S.B. (Le Christ Vie de l’Ame, 366-368). Trs. 1925 

Marmion-abbot_circa_1918

  

We must give everything to God

We are called to be united with Christ in his sacrifice, and with him to offer ourselves. If we are willing, he takes us with him, immolates us with himself, and lifts us into the Father's presence as an oblation of fragrant sweetness. It is our very selves thatwe must offer with Jesus. If the faithful share through bap­tism in Christ's priesthood, Saint Peter tells us, it is in order that they may offer spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. So true is this that in a prayer between the offertory and consecration the Church refers explicitly to the union between our sacrifice and that of the bridegroom: Lord our God, make these gifts holy, and through them make us a perfect offering to you.

If we are to be thus accepted by God, we must make our self-offering one with the oblation that Christ made of himself on the cross and renews on the altar. Our Lord substituted himself for us in his sacrifice; he took the place of us all. That is why the blow that fell on him has morally slain us too: If one died for all, then all have died. We shall, however, effectively die with him only by uniting ourselves to his eucharistic sacrifice; and how can we be identified with him in his character as victim? By handing ourselves over, as he did, in unreserved obedience to God's good pleasure.

The victim offered to God must be fully at God's disposal.

We must, therefore, live in this basic attitude of giving everything, absolutely everything, to God. Out of love for him we must carry out our acts of renunciation and self-denial, and accept daily sufferings, trials and pain, to such a point that we can say, as Jesus said at the hour of his passion: I act like this so that the world may realize that I love the Father. This is what self-offer­ing with Jesus implies. We give God the most acceptable hom­age he can receive from us when we offer the divine Son to his eternal Father, and when we offer ourselves with this holy and perfect sacrifice in the same dispositions that filled the sacred heart of Christ on the cross: an intense love for the Father and for our brothers and sisters, a burning desire for the salvation of all, and a total abandonment to the divine will in all things, especially when it goes against the grain and is hard for us.

                                                                                                     

We find in this the surest means of transformation into Christ, particularly if we unite ourselves to him in communion, which is the most fruitful way of sharing in the sacrifice of the altar. When Christ finds us thus united with him he immolates us with himself, makes us pleasing to his Father, and transforms us more and more into his own likeness.

Responsory      Col 1:24; Pilil3:7

I rejoice in the sufferings I endure for you. In my body I fill up what

is lacking in the sufferings of Christ, + for the sake of his body, the Church, of which I became a minister, alleluia.

V. My only desire is to know Christ and the power of his resurrection. I want to share his sufferings, and resemble him in his death,

+ for the sake ...

Reading from the Exordium Books 1983, 1925 translation.

Available is the newly translation by Alan Bancroft.

Amazon: Christ, the Life of the Soul [Paperback]

Alan Bancroft (Translator)

"Lord, show us the Father" Scripture: John 14:7-14

Saint-Pascal-Baylon 16th May

Eastertide: 4th Saturda,y show us to the Father.

Mass Intro. by Fr. Nivard      

      

On Friday, 16 May 2014, 20:10, Fr. Nivard 

> wrote:

Daily Reading & Meditation Don Schwager © 2014

Saturday (May 17):
"Lord, show us the Father"

Scripture: John 14:7-14

 

   What is the greatest thing we can aim for in this life? - Is it not to know God personally as our Father and Redeemer?    

    What is the best thing we can possess in this life, bringing more joy, contentment, life and happiness, than anything else? - Is it not true knowledge and understanding of who God is and what kind of relationship he wants to have with us?

   Scripture tells us the greatest thing we can know and posses is true knowledge of God.

   Thus says the Lord. "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches.

   Let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me".

 

Father, you fill us with the joy of your saving presence. May we know and glorify you always, through Christ our Lord.

St. Brendan, Abbot of Clonfert, the Navigator. Icons. 16th May

COMMENT:
Fr. Nivard, ocso, has his Cistercian profession name. His Baptismal first name is Brendan. And remembered him at the Mass on 16th May.

Icons of St. Brendan, abbot   http://www.allmercifulsavior.com/icons/Icons-Brendan.htm Back to WESTERN SAINTS ICONS Saint of the day: 16th May Saint Brendan the Navigator Abbot. St Brendan was probably born near Tralee in around 486. He was fostered by St Ita at Kileedy and Erc, bishop of Kerry. He became a monk and later abbot. Many landmarks in the west of Ireland are named after him including Mount Brandon in the Dingle peninsula. He founded several monasteries including Clonfert in 559, Annadown in Galway, Inishadroum, Co Clare, and Ardfert Co Kerry. Like many of his contemporaries he was a great traveller. St Brendan is said to have visited Columba at Hinba in Argyle. Other accounts say he founded a Scottish monastery, became abbot of Llancarven in Wales, and went Brittany with St Malo. Much of what we know about him today is based on the Navigation of St Brendan, an eighth century chronicle which transformed the historical seafaring abbot into a mythical adventurer who accomplished incredible exploits. One story tells of a sea voyage with a band of monks across the Atlantic to an island - a beautiful Land of Promise. For a long time historians thought this was just fantasy, but in 1976-7 an expedition which studied the account in detail, demonstrated that it was quite possible for the monks to have reached North America. A book, The Brendan Voyages, describes their journey. (ICN - Independent Catholic News). The above image is a thumbnail. Click it to see greater detail.     Icons of St. Brendan the Navigator, Founder of Clonfert Abbey, Father of 3,000 Monks, Patron of Sailors Feast Day: May 16 Top Icon: by the hand of Mother Justina, Greek Old Calendarist convent of St. Elizabeth, Etna, California, by permission.  Next Icon: of unknown provenance, from the Orthodox Okie blog of Russian Orthodox Christian Aristibule Adam, to whom our thanks.  Next Icon: by the hand of Protodeacon Pol (Hommes), of the Monastery of the Mother of God, Joy of All Who Sorrow, Diksmuide, Belgium, by gracious permission of Abbot Thomas.  Next Icon:  by the hand of Brendan Kulp.  Next Icon: Iconographer unknown, but this icon appears to have been the prototype of the previous one. Next Icon:  From Come and See Icons, with gratitude to Fr. Ambrose (Moone) Next Icon:  Produced at Holy Cross Hermitage in West Virginia, Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia Bottom-most icon:  of unknown provenance, sketch published in the St. Herman Calendar for 2001.  A note on the icon graphics we host on this site, including the above icon:  St. John Cassian Press does not "carry," i.e., reproduce, sell, or stock these icons. Those who wish to acquire icons should contact the icon's producer / distributor, if shown; otherwise, an icon maker or distributor should be contacted (a cursory list appears on the main Icons page).

St. Pachomius the Great. 'Around Him, the Monks Swarm'

   

Mass and Night Office
 Every May 11th a Monastic Office of Vigils on St. Pachomius we are indebted courtesy of Websites.

St. Pachomius - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online

www.catholic.org400 × 432Search by image

Saints Fun Facts for St. Pachomius

'Around Him, the Monks Swarm'—St Pachomius the Great

15 May 2012

"St Pachomius the Great was both a model of desert dwelling, and with Sts Anthony the Great (January 17), Macarius the Great (January 19), and Euthymius the Great (January 20), a founder of the cenobitic monastic life in ...

http://nunraw.blogspot.com/

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http://full-of-grace-and-truth.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/st-pachomius-great.html 

FRIDAY, MAY 15, 2009

St. Pachomius the Great

Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!

Agios Paxomios

Icon of St. Pachomius (Icon courtesy of www.eikonografos.comused with permission)

St. Pachomius the Great - Commemorated on May 15 (text taken from: http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=101384)

"St Pachomius the Great was both a model of desert dwelling, and with Sts Anthony the Great (January 17), Macarius the Great (January 19), and Euthymius the Great (January 20), a founder of the cenobitic monastic life in Egypt.

St Pachomius was born in the third century in the Thebaid (Upper Egypt). His parents were pagans who gave him an excellent secular education. From his youth he had a good character, and he was prudent and sensible.

When Pachomius reached the age of twenty, he was called up to serve in the army of the emperor Constantine (apparently, in the year 315). They put the new conscripts in a city prison guarded by soldiers. The local Christians fed the soldiers and took care of them.

When the young man learned that these people acted this way because of their love for God, fulfilling His commandment to love their neighbor, this made a deep impression upon his pure soul. Pachomius vowed to become a Christian. Pachomius returned from the army after the victory, received holy Baptism, moved to the lonely settlement of Shenesit, and began to lead a strict ascetic life. Realizing the need for spiritual guidance, he turned to the desert-dweller Palamon. He was accepted by the Elder, and he began to follow the example of his instructor in monastic struggles.

Once, after ten years of asceticism, St Pachomius made his way through the desert, and halted at the ruins of the former village of Tabennisi. Here he heard a Voice ordering him to start a monastery at this place. Pachomius told the Elder Palamon of this, and they both regarded the words as a command from God.

They went to Tabennisi and built a small monastic cell. The holy Elder Palamon blessed the foundations of the monastery and predicted its future glory. But soon Palamon departed to the Lord. An angel of God then appeared to St Pachomius in the form of a schemamonk and gave him a Rule of monastic life. Soon his older brother John came and settled there with him.

St Pachomius endured many temptations and assaults from the Enemy of the race of man, but he resisted all temptations by his prayer and endurance.

Gradually, followers began to gather around St Pachomius. Their teacher impressed everyone by his love for work, which enabled him to accomplish all kinds of monastic tasks. He cultivated a garden, he conversed with those seeking guidance, and he tended to the sick.

St Pachomius introduced a monastic Rule of cenobitic life, giving everyone the same food and attire. The monks of the monastery fulfilled the obediences assigned them for the common good of the monastery. Among the various obediences was copying books. The monks were not allowed to possess their own money nor to accept anything from their relatives. St Pachomius considered that an obedience fulfilled with zeal was greater than fasting or prayer. He also demanded from the monks an exact observance of the monastic Rule, and he chastized slackers.

Add caption

The Angel of God revealing the monastic dress to St. Pachomius(http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0d0mMnnMWj4/TeAMFhZNsuI/AAAAAAAABso/RbVOxcd2EBw/s1600/Monaxos-Aggelos-strof-nef.png)

   

His sister Maria came to see St Pachomius, but the strict ascetic refused to see her. Through the gate keeper, he blessed her to enter upon the path of monastic life, promising his help with this. Maria wept, but did as her brother had ordered. The Tabennisi monks built her a hut on the opposite side of the River Nile. Nuns also began to gather around Maria. Soon a women's monastery was formed with a strict monastic Rule provided by St Pachomius. The number of monks at the monastery grew quickly, and it became necessary to build seven more monasteries in the vicinity.

The number of monks reached 7,000, all under the guidance of St Pachomius, who visited all the monasteries and administered them. At the same time St Pachomius remained a deeply humble monk, who was always ready to comply with and accept the words of each brother.

Severe and strict towards himself, St Pachomius had great kindness and condescension toward the deficiencies of spiritually immature monks. One of the monks was eager for martyrdom, but St Pachomius turned him from this desire and instructed him to fulfill his monastic obedience, taming his pride, and training him in humility.

Once, a monk did not heed his advice and left the monastery. He was set upon by brigands, who threatened him with death and forced him to offer sacrifice to the pagan gods. Filled with despair, the monk returned to the monastery. St Pachomius ordered him to pray intensely night and day, keep a strict fast and live in complete solitude. The monk followed his advice, and this saved his soul from despair.

The saint taught his spiritual children to avoid judging others, and he himself feared to judge anyone even in thought.

St Pachomius cared for the sick monks with special love. He visited them, he cheered the disheartened, he urged them to be thankful to God, and put their hope in His holy will. He relaxed the fasting rule for the sick, if this would help them recover their health. Once, in the saint's absence, the cook did not prepare any cooked food for the monks, assuming that the brethren loved to fast. Instead of fulfilling his obedience, the cook plaited 500 mats, something which St Pachomius had not told him to do. In punishment for his disobedience, all the mats prepared by the cook were burned.

St Pachomius always taught the monks to rely only upon God's help and mercy. It happened that there was a shortage of grain at the monastery. The saint spent the whole night in prayer, and in the morning a large quantity of bread was sent to the monastery from the city, at no charge. The Lord granted St Pachomius the gift of wonderworking and healing the sick.

The Lord revealed to him the future of monasticism. The saint learned that future monks would not have such zeal in their struggles as the first generation had, and they would not have experienced guides. Prostrating himself upon the ground, St Pachomius wept bitterly, calling out to the Lord and imploring mercy for them. He heard a Voice answer, "Pachomius, be mindful of the mercy of God. The monks of the future shall receive a reward, since they too shall have occasion to suffer the life burdensome for the monk."

Toward the end of his life St Pachomius fell ill from a pestilence that afflicted the region. His closest disciple, St Theodore (May 17), tended to him with filial love. St Pachomius died around the year 348 at the age of fifty-three, and was buried on a hill near the monastery." (taken from:http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=101384)

See the following link for the prayer rule that St. Pachomius received from the Angel, and which forms the backbone of almost every service of the Orthodox church: http://www.saintjonah.org/services/stpachomius.htm. May St. Pachomius intercede for all of us and help us!

Icon of St. Pachomius the Great receiving the tradition of the monastic habit and coenobitic rule from an Angel (Icon courtesy of http://www.eikonografos.com/ used with permission)
   

Apolytikion in the Plagal of the First Tone
Thou didst prove a chief pastor of the Chief Shepherd, Christ, guiding the flocks of monastics unto the heavenly fold, whence thou learntest of the habit and the way of life that doth befit ascetic ranks; having taught this to thy monks, thou now dancest and rejoicest with them in heavenly dwellings, O great Pachomius, our Father and guide.

Kontakion in the Second Tone
Since thou hadst shown forth the life of the Angels while in a body, O God-bearing Pachomius, thou wast also counted worthy of their glory; and with them thou standest before the Lord's throne, interceding that divine forgiveness be granted unto all.

(taken from: http://goarch.org/chapel/saints_view?contentid=55&type=saints&date=5/15/2009&D=F)
   

Christ is risen from the dead, by death, trampling down upon death, and to those in the tombs, bestowing life!
Truly the Lord is risen!

Atlas Martyrs 2014 commemoration

Grove, 7 trees, of Atlas Martyrs, May 21st.

 

Atlas Martyrs 2014 commemoration

domdonald.org.uk 

On Tuesday, 13 May 2014, 19:00, 

William ...> wrote:

Dear Father Donald,

I am so glad that the envelope arrived safely, and that you like the presentation. Please tell Fr. Nivard that the layout of the card was only successful because he demonstrated how to handle the page numbering of folded documents, making a little template first as he showed me with his complex compilations!

The Seven Red Roses have been ordered for delivery on Monday 19th, giving them a day in the warmth to open before the memorial day. A further copy of the card is to accompany the roses. Indeed, Erica's asked if I was sending a card 'as usual' when I telephoned!

I attach the A4 pages that lay out the contents of the card in case you might wish to use any part in your presentation on your Blog. It is (sadly)  in old Word's '.doc' format [not '.docx' which was a granted in a 'starter' suite, but which I have no longer]. I hope you will be able to open it. The photograph of the Martyrs that delighted me most, after much searching, was the small one of the Community around the table, just as portrayed in the film. It 'felt' so real when I saw the film, I was very pleased to find the actual moment.

I have been remembering the Fatima story of Our Lady's appearances to Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta which you shared with me, and I have been reading http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000626_message-fatima_en.html It is of the unfolding of the Message, and as I read it I feel curiously over-sensitized, as one does alone in a church when one hears or senses an unknown presence... A deep mystery surrounds the meaning of the apparition granted to the little shepherds.

Thank you for your email. I will be uniting with you in the Atlas Martyrs commemoration on 21st. Their community spirit and their spirit of sacrifice will always remain with us.

... in Our Lord,

William

IN LOVING COMMEMORATION

OF THE MARTYRS OF

OUR LADY OF ATLAS

21^st May 2014

                                                ATLAS MADONNA

 From OCSO Website

              

Witnesses of faith, the Gospel of Hope   

I want to point out to everyone, so that it will never be forgotten, that great sign of hope represented by the many witnesses to the Christian faith who lived in the last century. They found suitable ways to proclaim the Gospel amid situations of hostility and persecution, often even making the supreme sacrifice by shedding their blood.

These witnesses, and particularly those who suffered martyrdom, are an eloquent and magnificent sign which we are called to contemplate and to imitate. They show us the vitality of the Church; they stand before us as a light for the Church and for humanity because they caused the light of Christ to shine in the darkness.

In this way, martyrs proclaim the ‘Gospel of hope’ and bear witnesses to it with their lives to the point of shedding their blood, because they are certain that they cannot live without Christ and are ready to die for him in the conviction that Jesus is the Lord and the Saviour of humanity and that, therefore, only in him does mankind find true fullness of life. According to the exhortation of the Apostle Peter, their example shows them ready “to give reason for the hope that is in them”.

(cf. 1 Pt 3,15).

Furthermore, martyrs celebrate the ‘Gospel of hope’ because the offering of their lives is the greatest manifestation of the “living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which constitutes true spiritual worship” (cf. Rom 12:1), and the source, soul and summit of every Christian celebration. Finally, martyrs serve the ‘Gospel of hope’, because they express in their martyrdom a love and service of humanity to a high degree insofar as they demonstrate that obedience to the law of the Gospel begets a moral and social life which honours and promotes the dignity and freedom of every person.

                                       Blessed John-Paul II, Rome, at Saint Peter's on 28 June,  the Vigil of the Solemnity of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, in the year 2003.

THE ATLAS MARTYRS
 21^ST May 1996

DOM CHRISTIAN DE CHERGÉ

“It is certain that God loves the Algerians and without doubt has chosen to show them this by giving them our lives… For each one it is a moment of truth and heavy responsibility in these times when those we love feel so little loved. Each one learns to integrate, little by little, death in this gift and with death all the other conditions of this ministry of living together which is a demand of total gratuity”

 

BR. LUC DOCHIER

“What can happen to us? To go towards the Lord and to be immersed in his tenderness. God is all merciful and the great forgiver…There is no true love of God without consenting unreservedly to Death… Death is God”

FR. CHRISTOPHE LEBRETON

   My body is for the earth; but please, no protection between it and me. My heart is for life, but please no way between it and me. My hands for work are crossed, very simply. May my face be absolutely bare so as not to prevent the kiss. And the look, let it see it”

BR. MICHEL FLEURY

“Spirit Holy Creator, deign to bind me as soon as possible – not my will but yours be done – to the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ, our Lord, with the means that you would want, sure that You, Lord, will live it in me…”

 

 

FR. BRUNO LEMARCHAND

“You lead me, Lord, in silence and in prayer, in work and in joyous service of my brothers, in the example of your hidden life at Nazareth… I am always happy in my monastic life and to live in the land of Islam. Quite simply: here is Nazareth with Jesus, Mary and Joseph…”

FR. CÉLESTIN RINGEARD“O Jesus, I accept with all my heart that your death is renewed and accomplished in me; I know that with you we ascend from the dizzy descent into the abyss, proclaiming to the demon his defeat”

BR. PAUL FAVRE-MIVILLE

“What will remain in a few months of the Church of Algeria, of its visibility, of its structures, the people who compose it?  With all probability little, very little. And yet I believe that the Good News is sown, the grain is germinating. The Spirit is at work, he works in the depths of the heart of people. Let’s be available so that he can act in us through prayer and the loving presence of all our brothers”

Last months at Tibhirine  

+ + + + + + +

Testament of Dom Christian

When an "A-Dieu" takes on a face.

If it should happen one day—and it could be today—  that I become a victim of the terrorism which now seems ready to engulf all the foreigners living in Algeria, I would like my community, my Church, my family, to remember that my life was given to God and to this country.

I ask them to accept that the Sole Master of all life was not a stranger to this brutal departure. I ask them to pray for me— for how could I be found worthy of such an offering? I ask them to be able to link this death with the many other deaths which were just as violent, but forgotten through indifference and anonymity. My life has no more value than any other. Nor any less value.

In any case it has not the innocence of childhood. I have lived long enough to know that I am an accomplice in the evil which seems, alas, to prevail in the world, even in that which would strike me blindly. I should like, when the time comes, to have the moment of lucidity which would allow me to beg forgiveness of God and of my fellow human beings, and at the same time to forgive with all my heart the one who would strike me down.

I could not desire such a death. It seems to me important to state this.

I do not see, in fact, how I could rejoice if the people I love were to be accused indiscriminately of my murder. To owe it to an Algerian, whoever he may be, would be too high a price to pay for what will, perhaps, be called, the "grace of martyrdom," especially if he says he is acting in fidelity to what he believes to be Islam.

I am aware of the scorn which can be heaped on Algerians indiscriminately. I am also aware of the caricatures of Islam which a certain islamism encourages. It is too easy to salve one's conscience by identifying this religious way with the fundamentalist ideologies of the extremists. For me, Algeria and Islam are something different: they are a body and a soul. I have proclaimed this often enough, I believe, in the sure knowledge of what I have received from it, finding there so often that true strand of the Gospel, learnt at my mother's knee, my very first Church, already in Algeria itself, in the respect of believing Muslims.

My death, clearly, will appear to justify those who hastily judged me naive, or idealistic: "Let him tell us now what he thinks of it!" But these people must realise that my avid curiosity will then be satisfied. This is what I shall be able to do, if God wills— immerse my gaze in that of the Father, and contemplate with him his children of Islam just as he sees them, all shining with the glory of Christ, the fruit of His Passion, and filled with the Gift of the Spirit, whose secret joy will always be to establish communion and to refashion the likeness, playfully delighting in the differences.

For this life lost, totally mine and totally theirs, I thank God who seems to have willed it entirely for the sake of that joy in everything and in spite of everything. In this thank you, which sums up my whole life to this moment, I certainly include you, friends of yesterday and today, and you, my friends of this place, along with my mother and father, my sisters and brothers and their families, the hundredfold granted as was promised!

And also you, the friend of my final moment, who would not be aware of what you were doing. Yes, I also say this Thank You and this A-Dieu to you, in whom I see the face of God. And may we find each other, happy good thieves, in Paradise, if it pleases God, the Father of us both. Amen. (In sha 'Allah).

 Algiers, December 1, 1993—Tibhirine, January 1, 1994. Christian.