Atlas Martyrs 2008

Memorial of Atlas Martyrs

21 May 2008

Every year, to commemorate the Anniversary of the Atlas Martyr, William, friend of the community, sends us a bouquet of Red Roses to be placed at the Altar. This year he has made a presentation of his illustration of the Nunraw Memorial Grove and his edition of Pope Benedict’s address on the Martyrs.

Extracts from an address by Pope Benedict XVI THE SIGN OF MARTYRDOM - in memory of witnesses of the faith in the 20th and 21st centuries. We ask ourselves why did these our martyr brothers and sisters not seek at all costs to save the irreplaceable benefit of life? Why did they continue to serve the Church despite threats and intimidation? The eloquent testimony resounds of those who, since the dawn of the Church, have offered their lives to Christ in martyrdom and “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb". This quote from the Book of Revelation explains the reasons for martyrdom. The coded language of St. John contains a precise reference to the white flame of love which made Christ spill His blood for us. By virtue of that blood we have been purified. Sustained by that flame the martyrs also spilt their blood and were purified in love. "No-one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends". All witnesses of the faith experience this 'greater love', conforming themselves to Christ and accepting the extreme sacrifice without placing limits on the gift of love and the service of faith. Many fell as they performed the evangelising mission of the Church: their blood mixed with that of native Christians to whom the faith had been communicated. Others were killed in hatred for the faith. No small numbers sacrificed themselves so as not to abandon the needy, the poor, the faithful entrusted to their care, not fearing threats and dangers. These, our brothers and sisters in the faith, are like a great fresco of Christian humanity, a fresco of Beatitudes, which they lived even unto the shedding of blood. It is true that violence, totalitarianism, persecution and mindless brutality appear to be stronger and to silence the voice of witnesses of faith, who may seem as the losers of history in human terms. But the risen Christ illuminates their witness and thus we understand the meaning of martyrdom. The blood of martyrs is the seed of new Christians. In the defeat and humiliation of those who suffer because of the Gospel is a power which the world does not know. It is the power of love, unarmed and victorious. When Christians truly are leaven, light and salt of the earth, they too become, as Jesus did, objects of persecution and signs of contradiction. Fraternal coexistence, love, faith, and choices in favour of the smallest and the weakest sometimes provoke violent aversion. How useful it is, then, to look to the shining witness of those who have gone before under the sign of heroic faithfulness, even unto martyrdom. In the apostolic work, the concern for the weakest and the search for peace, do not fear the difficulties and suffering this missionary activity brings, they are part of the 'logic' of courageous witness of Christian love. [Vatican City 8 April 2008].

Martyrs of Atlas (Updated Jan 2008 from Wikipedia. Links not activated –underlined for reference)

Died May 21, 1996, Algeria

Martyred by Armed Islamic Group

The Roman Catholic Trappist Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (O.C.S.O.) commemorate the death in 1996 of their seven brother monks of Atlas, Algeria.[1] The monks died after refusing to abandon their decades long service to the local Muslim community during the reign of terror that besieged the common citizens of Algeria throughout the late 20th century:

During the night of March 27-28, 1996, seven monks of the Cistercian Monastery of Our Lady of Atlas, near the village of Tibhirine in Algeria, were abducted by... a radical faction of the GIA (Groupe Islamique Armée). On May 23, the GIA announced that the monks had been executed on May 21, 1996. Their remains were identified and their funeral Mass was celebrated in the Catholic Cathedral of Algiers on Sunday, June 2. They were buried in the cemetery of their monastery at Tibhirine on June 4, 1996.

The surviving members of the Atlas community have been helped by volunteers from several other Trappist monasteries in different parts of the world. Their community is now established near Midelt in Morocco.

The seven Brothers taken as hostages and then assassinated were all of French nationality. It has been decided that any future process for their official beatification will be undertaken in union with the other Christian martyrs of Algeria.

The men executed were Dom Christian de Chergé, Brother Luc Dochier, Father Christophe Lebreton, Brother Michel Fleury, Father Bruno Lemarchand, Father Célestin Ringeard, and Brother Paul Favre-Miville.

[edit] External links
Martyrs of Atlas
The Atlas Martyrs, by Dom Donald McGlynn [2]