Pentecost Mass

Abbot Kevin of Roscrea Abbey presided at the Abbatial Election on Saturday, May 30, 2009. And he presided at the Liturgy on Sunday.

Abbot Mark preached the Homily.

Pentecost, 2009 11.00am
At Pentecost the Holy Spirit came down on the apostles and from then onwards the Church has always been alive. Sometimes, especially through the periods when the Church seemed to go into decline through indifference, persecution, and worse, it appeared to be dead or dying. But even though that tree, which is the Church, looked as if it was on the way out, the sap which is the Holy Spirit has never stopped coursing through its veins. The condition of the Church - of the tree - may have made the Spirit’s work more difficult but the life of the Spirit has always been there. At times of renewal people have been aware of the finger of God touching the Church and giving it new and fresh life. At other periods the Church has been failing and gravely wounded but in truth it has never been dead.

Today is a special day for us at Nunraw because we have come to end of Fr Raymond’s term of office as abbot. We have been forced to begin a new stage of our lives as a community. Needless to say he has been delighted to hand over the baton of his responsibility to another. That other – God help us! - must take it and carry it more like a flame for the benefit of the community.

Pentecost is the Birthday of the Church. It is a time of new birth, new life for all of us. Each of us is called to something new and yet not new. The Spirit comes to us as we are, but in a way that helps to be transformed into something new. We have to change from the old self with its fixed patterns to ones that are open to the Spirit. This doesn’t normally mean that we have to do something radically different but to do the same things in a transformed way. The greatest changes we are called to make are internal. These provide the conditions which produce the fruits of the Spirit more readily and make us ever young in our desire and love for God.

The vision of the early Church living together in a close-knit body living for and with each other, became for the founders of the monastic orders an inspiration and pattern for community life. The reality is that the Acts of the Apostles is describing the life of the ‘ordinary’ Christian, if you can really call someone who tries to live the life that Christ gave us as ordinary.

We are all called to live for others in our prayers and concerns, and in practical ways when we can help them. All of this is not something imposed on us – a burden – a weight too heavy to bear, but something that we are happy to do. To know that we are helping someone in real need is a cause of joy and happiness.

Not that we are necessarily actually feeling good in the course of the deed.
On that first Pentecost there were many people present in Jerusalem. They were astonished when they could understand these Galileans when they spoke to them about Jesus and his risen life. One of the graces of the Holy Spirit is to break down barriers. We all have our different personal ways of looking at life. One of our problems is to see how others understand situations. It is difficult for us to see the diversity of ways that others see life and its problems. With willingness and effort we can appreciate the possible solutions and richness that they can bring to life shared in common. That applies both to monastic life and family life. None of us can appreciate every dimension or aspect of life on our own. Together we see more comprehensively and enjoy more fully. But the cost of the free gifts that the Spirit gives us is the constant effort to understand what God is doing in our lives and in that of each other as we uphold one another in our faith and lives. It is a fact of life that when we look out for each other we make of ourselves a fertile soil for the fruits of the Spirit to flourish. Let us pray for one another that the Holy Spirit come and recreate us to be more truly children of God and faithful witnesses of the gospel. ======================

Abbot Election

At Sancta Maria Abbey, Nunraw.
Abbatial Election 30 May 2009.

Back: Abbot Augustine (Mellifont), Br. Patrick, Br. Kentigern, Br. Aidan, Fr. Leonard, Br. Philip, Fr. Nivard (Bamenda), Fr. Hugh, Dom Donald, Br. Barry, Fr. Stephen.
Front: Fr. Thomas, Abbot Kevin (Roscrea Mother House), Abbot Mark, Dom Raymond (Emeritus), Fr. Luke.

Pentecost 2009

Homily for Community

PENTECOST 2009.

Br. Barry

‘Now there were devout men living in Jerusalem from every nation under heaven and at this sound they all assembled, each one bewildered to hear these men speaking his own language ‘.

If we were to take these verses from Acts quite literally then the number of devout men who assembled in a bewildered state at the great event of Pentecost would have been around ten thousand. That is the number of languages estimated to have been spoken in the world at that time. Today it is reckoned that there are only half that number – about five thousand languages among the six billion plus people who currently inhabit the globe. Even here in Britain, one native language seems destined to extinction sooner rather than later although another, strange to say, has been revived from the dead, an exception proving the rule. That rule is there is an irreversible trend towards a single, universal language, English being one of the leading contenders to become that world–wide language.

Some see in this trend the influence of the Spirit leading the human race to unity, working through the natural effects of technological development shrinking distances between the peoples of the world. But this drift towards one language for all was not what happened at Pentecost. Then, the disciples began to speak foreign languages – all ten thousand of these languages maybe.

In the language of the Holy Spirit, actions speak louder than words and that includes, on the part of human beings, body language as St. Benedict is at such pains to point out. Actions speak louder than words because words, ultimately, cannot penetrate the mystery of God. They take us so far and then we hit a brick wall. We are left to look to actions and so Luke tells us that it was in the action of the breaking of bread that the disciples recognised the Lord and it is not just in the bread of the Eucharist that we hear the language of God. The blood too, according to the Letter to the Hebrews ‘pleads more insistently than Abel’s’ or as another and better translation has it: ‘ a blood that SPEAKS A BETTER WORD than Abel’s.’

This language of God is a person, the person of Jesus Christ: ‘in these last times he has spoken to us in his Son’. Not so much in the words that the Son preached in the human language of Aramaic but just Christ himself or as the Constitution on Divine Revelation of Vatican Two puts it ‘ the total fact of his presence.’ The same is true of the Church – it is not just the content of its preaching and teaching that makes the Church. Again in the words of the aforementioned document ‘ the Church in her doctrine, her life and her worship perpetuates and hands on to all generations to come, ALL THAT SHE IS and all that she believes.

Human words of course are necessary for God to be known but when they become disconnected from actions then you have the hypocricy of the Pharisees. Words are secondary, as the Evangelist John forcefully points out ‘our love is not to be just words or mere talk but something real and active’. When it comes to the Word of God, however, the distinction between words and actions is a false one for ‘the word of God is something alive and ACTIVE.’ It is an action. It is the opposite of empty words. It is full and it is effective: ‘He spoke and it came into being’.

Nor does it seem necessary to restrict the word of God in its broadest sense to Scripture . This is what Blessed Guerric of Igny says on this matter: ‘ I reckon as God’s own word whatever the Holy Spirit in his mercy sees fit to speak within you – every single word which avails to build up faith, stirring up love.’ And he goes on to speak of ‘words that build up faith, gracious words for all who hear, words that make you give grateful thanks’. So Guerric, like all the Cistercian Fathers is given to quoting the Classical pagan authors when it is useful for him to do so.

In a modern context, the words of a popular song, for example, and not necessarily explicitly religious words, might be the trigger that produces the repentance that leads to faith, the music too playing its part in preparing the ground. It does happen.

On Pentecost day there was a great tumble of words but this was only the Holy Spirit playing in the manner recorded in the Book of Proverbs ‘at play everywhere in this world delighting to be with the sons of men’. St.Paul would point out to the Galatians the real language of the Holy Spirit: ‘what the Spirit brings is……..love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control’.

+ + + + + + + + + +

Robert of Newminster 850 pending

Pictures associate the memories of one long ago canonized Saint, Robert of Newminster, and the all too vivid recalling the assassination of the Seven Atlas martyrs.

Parishioners from St. Robert of Newminster being on an outing.

They were reminding us of the 850th Anniversary of Saint Robert on the 7th June.

This occasion is being celebrated by the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle.There will be an outside Mass at the old Newminster Abbey site lead by the Bishop.

Details from OCSO MENOLOGY

JUNE 7

St Robert of Newminster + 1159

Born in Yorkshire. After studying in Paris, he returned to England, became a parish priest and then a Benedictine at the abbey of Whitby. In 1132 he joined the monks of St Mary's, York, and participated with them in the founding of Fountains.

Seven years later he founded New Minster near Morpeth, Northumberland and became its first abbot. Under his administration, the house prospered so much that it was able to establish three daughter-houses: Pipewell, Roche and Sawley.

Robert wrote a commentary on the Psalms and a book of meditations no longer extant. He "was strict with himself, kind and merciful to others, learned and yet simple."

(MBS, p. 162; NCE, vol. 12, p. 534).

Westminster Archbishop

The BBC gave us the COPY of the words of Archbishop Vincent Nichols in his Installation in Westminster yesterday, May 21, 2009.

The Sermon is a treat, and I could read it with the greatest ease and giving me great heart.

It is too late for the Catholic Weaklies so, for the moment, it is well to place the great Sermon in the Blog.

Archbishop of Westminster:
Full sermon

The Archbishop of Westminster called for true dialogue between faiths
Here is the text of the homily given by the Most Rev Vincent Nichols at his Mass of installation as Archbishop of Westminster.
My brothers and sisters, I welcome you and I thank you all for coming to Westminster Cathedral today. I appreciate the presence and the prayers of each of you.
I greet and thank the Apostolic Nuncio, here representing the Holy Father. Through him, I thank Pope Benedict for the confidence that he has placed in me in making this appointment and for his blessing as I take it up.
I thank the Duke of Norfolk, the Earl Marshal, for his presence and Lord Guthrie for representing the Prince of Wales. We are honoured that you are here.
I am grateful also to Mr Paul Murphy, here representing the prime minister. I appreciate too the presence of politicians and civic leaders.

"Faith in God is the gift that takes us beyond our limited self, with all its incessant demands. It opens us to a life that stretches us, enlightens us, and often springs surprises upon us."

I salute all the bishops, priests and deacons who are here, especially Their Eminences Cardinal Mahony from Los Angeles, Cardinal O'Brien of St Andrews and Edinburgh and Cardinal Sean Brady from Armagh. I am so glad to see so many fellow church leaders and leaders of other Faiths, from the West Midlands and, of course, from London.
I thank Archbishop Rowan for his gracious words of welcome, too. I thank the BBC for broadcasting this ceremony live on television and I greet all those joining us at home.
May I also express my deep appreciation to Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor for the very warm welcome that he has given to me and for his unfailing encouragement and support.
Much more importantly, on behalf of so many, I want to salute the tremendous contribution he has made both to the Diocese of Westminster and to the Catholic Church nationally and internationally in his years as Archbishop of Westminster.
His leadership has been unflinching and often very courageous, and I know that he will always have a special place in our affections and prayers.
The readings of the Scriptures that we have heard today centre on the figure of St Paul and we have heard Paul's own account of his dramatic conversion to Christ on the road to Damascus. It is a story of great power and one from which we can draw much encouragement.

"This is a vision of true social cohesion, a promise which lies ahead and a signpost of which churches construct, Sunday by Sunday, with their communities of unity in diversity."

In the first place, we learn that Paul was, 'a zealous believer in God'. His conversion then was not to belief in God but to belief in God's full presence in Jesus Christ.
This fact is important to us all. Through life-long belief, Paul was already open to the things of God, ready to recognise the touch of the Divine in the unexpected.
This is the true nature of the belief in God: it opens us to all that lies beyond. It's a constant invitation to go beyond our immediate knowledge and awareness, and even our current commitments. Faith in God is not, as some would portray it today, a narrowing of the human mind or spirit.
It is precisely the opposite. Faith in God is the gift that takes us beyond our limited self, with all its incessant demands. It opens us to a life that stretches us, enlightens us, and often springs surprises upon us. Such faith, like love, sees that which is invisible and lives by it.
From Paul, then, we learn that the inner life of each one of us is crucial for our wellbeing. In our hearts we need the same openness to God as he had.
This is expressed in daily moments of tranquillity and prayer when we regain a true sense of proportion, recognising afresh that God alone fulfils our deepest yearnings. Without such moments we quickly lose a sense of who we truly are.
It is before God that we gather here today, that he may touch and heal us.
But let us return to the Damascus road. Paul hears remarkable words: "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" He recognises the voice of the Lord.
Now he has to embrace the real identification between the risen Christ and the community of Christians he is persecuting. This is a troubling identification and it remains so today.

"Respectful dialogue is crucial today and I salute all who seek to engage in it. In this the media have such an important part to play, not by accentuating difference and conflict, but by enhancing creative conversation."

Those who embrace belief in Christ Jesus are bound together in Him, in a real yet incomplete way, in his Body, the Church.
Faith is never a solitary activity nor can it be simply private Faith in Christ always draws us into a community and has a public dimension.
This community of faith reaches beyond ethnicity, cultural difference and social division, opening for us a vision of ourselves, and of our society, as having a single source and a single fulfilment.
Indeed this vision of faith is expressed powerfully by St Paul when, in his letter to the Galatians, he says that in Christ, "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female, for all of you are one in Christ Jesus".
This is a vision of true social cohesion, a promise which lies ahead and a signpost of which churches construct, Sunday by Sunday, with their communities of unity in diversity.
Faith builds community and it expresses itself in action.
As a society, if we are to build on this gift of faith, we must respect its outward expression not only in honouring individual conscience but also in respecting the institutional integrity of the communities of faith in what they bring to public service and to the common good.
Only in this way will individuals, families and faith communities become whole-hearted contributors to building the society we rightly seek.

"At the heart of Paul's effort in Athens was an appeal to reason. He did not seek to impose his beliefs, nor exploit anxiety or fear. Rather he had learned that his faith in Christ was compatible with the mind's capacity for reasoned thought "

Paul's conversion on the Damascus road has a third aspect to it. His life is now centred on Christ and the Church. But he also grasps a truth about all creation. And he wants to share it.
In Christ his mind is now open, even to pagan philosophy. He now has the courage and the determination to go, for example, to the Areopagus in Athens and engage with the Greek philosophers.
He struggles to find the language in which the insights and light of Christian faith can be brought into dialogue with the finest minds of his age.
As we know, his attempts at the Areopagus were not very successful. Yet this is a reminder of the task facing us all: that of the intense dialogue across faiths and our contemporary world.
At the heart of Paul's effort in Athens was an appeal to reason. He did not seek to impose his beliefs, nor exploit anxiety or fear. Rather he had learned that his faith in Christ was compatible with the mind's capacity for reasoned thought.
Indeed it complemented it. Some today propose that faith and reason are crudely opposed, with the fervour of faith replacing good reason.
This reduction of both faith and reason inhibits not only our search for truth but also the possibility of real dialogue. In contrast, as Pope John Paul memorably said: "Faith and reason are the two wings on which the human spirit soars." (Fides et Ratio n.1)
This dialogue needs to go beyond the superficial and the slogans. Respectful dialogue is crucial today and I salute all who seek to engage in it. In this the media have such an important part to play, not by accentuating difference and conflict, but by enhancing creative conversation.
Let us be a society in which we genuinely listen to each other, in which sincere disagreement is not made out to be insult or harassment, in which reasoned principles are not construed as prejudice and in which we are prepared to attribute to each other the best and not the worst of motives.

"We human beings are not plasticine figures, to be moulded into shape at the hands of a political ideology, or under economic demands. Nor, at the end of the day, can we shape ourselves as we please, according to fashion or our untutored desires. We are not self-made. "

In these matters, we ourselves in the Churches have so much to learn and do.
Yet we also have much to contribute.
Paul's experience of the Risen Christ fired him with a new enthusiasm, a powerful commitment to the truth of humanity made clear in Christ. It was this experience that enabled Paul to face all the challenges of life with what he called "the supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus".
This knowledge, which is of love, discloses the true worth of our humanity, our real dignity.
This is its supreme advantage. For we human beings are not plasticine figures, to be moulded into shape at the hands of a political ideology, or under economic demands.
Nor, at the end of the day, can we shape ourselves as we please, according to fashion or our untutored desires.
We are not self-made. Our humanity, thankfully, is more deeply rooted and therefore resilient.
Indeed our humanity is a gift to be respected not only from its beginnings to its natural end, but also in the other ethical demands it places on us all.
Tragically this humanity is often corrupted and distorted, by the misuse of power, by every evil and disaster.
But so often we see that the miracle of love is stronger than such corruption. Love has the power to reveal again the depth and truth of our humanity.

"The paradox of faith is that when we conform our lives to Christ then we gain our true freedom. And its fruit is profound and lasting happiness."

This is achieved in the enduring love of parent for a wayward child, in the love of friend or spouse faithful through every crisis, and in the unconditional love given by the saint, often to the poorest and most forgotten.
This is the love given supremely in Christ, and in him crucified. In Him we find an unambiguous declaration, a manifesto, of our humanity in its full stature.
And this manifesto is not a pamphlet but a person. It is, therefore, an invitation to know Him and be known by Him, to love Him and be loved by Him and so with Him find the fullness of life.
In Christ we see a maturity of love that flowers in self-sacrifice and forgiveness; a maturity of power that never swerves from the ideal of service; a maturity of goodness that overcomes every temptation, and, of course, we see the ultimate victory of life over death itself.
In Christ our true destiny is proclaimed in the resurrection of the dead and his promised eternal fulfilment of life in the new heaven and new earth.
The paradox of faith is that when we conform our lives to Christ then we gain our true freedom. And its fruit is profound and lasting happiness.
This is the testimony of the true disciples of Jesus, great and humble alike. It is a testimony which shines across the ages and still in our day.

"As St Paul tells us: "Be united in your convictions and united in your love, with a common purpose and a common mind."

As I take up this new office, I ask for God's blessing. May we be deeply rooted in the Lord, and, at the same time, open to every prompting of the Holy Spirit.
As St Paul tells us: "Be united in your convictions and united in your love, with a common purpose and a common mind... think of other people's interests first... in your minds be the same as Christ Jesus."
May this be the experience of every family, in all of our schools, and in our parishes.
From this wellspring emerges a profound desire to reach out to all, to engage in the work of building a world that reflects a little more closely the compassion, the justice, the tender mercy of God.
This is the inspiration of Christian faith and one that serves our society well. This is the vision to which I readily commit myself today and for which I ask for your prayers and cooperation.

RESONSE:

How wonderful to have obtained the text of Archbishop Vincent Nichols' homily! - and what a superb homily.... I have saved numerous extracts, not least: "Faith in God is the gift that takes us beyond our limited self... It opens us to a life that stretches us, enlightens us, and often springs surprises upon us. Such faith, like love, sees that which is invisible and lives by it." I very much hope that we may often hear his voice in the years to come. I note that Cardinal O'Brien was present. Perhaps you might fill me in as to his background when I come - on my list to ask!

William W.

Ascension Thursday

Ascension Thursday 21 May 2009 –

Homily, Fr. Aelred

When the time came for Jesus to finally leave this world, he took his Apostles up to the top of the Mount of Olives. He was returning to the Father. He was going to glory. As he ascended he directed their eyes upwards, towards the place where he was going.

But he also pointed their eyes outwards. He showed them that there was a great world out there waiting to hear the Gospel. He gave them the task of bringing the Gospel to that vast world, and promised to send them the Holy Spirit to equip them to that task.
The apostles liked it on the hill, so much so that they wanted to remain there. But a voice called them back to reality: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking up into the heavens?” Even though they had to go back down into the real world, their lives would never be the same.

This feast is as much about us as about Jesus. His ascension shows us where the goal of our earthly journey lies. It is a goal and a destiny which is beyond our imagination. It pushes out our horizons beyond the boundaries of this world. It gives an eternal dimension to our lives.

Jesus went back to the source, the Alpha and the Omega. This is the meaning of his Ascension. It is not a journey into an outer space, but a journey home. His Ascension does not represent his removal from the earth, but his constant presence everywhere on earth. During his earthly ministry he could only be in one place at a time. But now that he is united with God, He is present wherever; and that is everywhere.

We live in the hope that the words of Jesus will come true for us :’Where I am, you too shall be’. Meanwhile we have a task to do: to preach the Gospel and to be his witness in the world.

That’s a task that we fulfil principally by the way we live our daily lives.
The Gospel may speak of some of the marvels associated with believers in the early days of the Church, such as healings, and casting out of devils and speaking with tongues. But we too, in our own small, less dramatic way – by our patience, our little acts of kindness, our concern for others, our readiness to forgive, our joy, our humble living out to the Gospel – we too are bearing witness to our Lord’s message, we too are living signs confirming that Jesus has risen.

Jesus has ascended.

Jesus is Lord.

Monks of Tibhirine 21 May 1996

We are grateful to our friend William for the annual memorial in Red Roses and in writing as we remember the martyrdom of our Seven Brothers of Our Lady of Atlas of Tibhirine.
The meditation and poem of William reflect how deeply he has been influenced by the story and life of the Atlas Martyrs.

The "Martyrdom"of charity
Christian de Chergé
Maundy Thursday 31 March 1994

- - We did not ask how or why. We leave it to God to decide how this gift will be used, its destination day after day, right to the end. Alas, we have all lived long enough to know that it is impossible to do everything out of love, and so to be able to claim that our life is a witness to love, a “martyrdom” of love. “What takes genius is to love”, writes Jean d’Ormesson, “and Christianity is a thing of genius”. This is absolutely true, but I am no genius! From experience we know that little things often cost a lot, particularly when we have to go on doing them day after day. It’s all right to have to wash ones brothers’ feet on Maundy Thursday ... but how about doing it everyday? or washing the feet of anyone who turns up? When Fr. Bernardo (Abbot General) told us that the Order has more need of monks than martyrs, he was not, of course, referring to this type of martyrdom, which is in fact what shapes the monk through so many little things. We have given our heart to God once and for all, and we find it hard when he takes it piecemeal. Taking up an apron, as Jesus did, can be as serious and solemn an act as to lay down ones life ... and conversely, laying down ones life may be as simple as taking up an apron. We should tell ourselves this when the everyday tasks or deeds of love weigh on us with this threat which also has to be shared with all. We know from our own experience that it is easier to give to one person than to another, to love one brother or sister more than another, even in community.

Heritage Too Big
Vol ii 1. Maryrdom of charity
Maundy Homily of Christian

A Particle of Love
The apostles and the martyrs, amidst much personal pain and anguish, bore the message of faith in their lives for all to see, and today the apostolic spirit continues to bear witness in the life of the Church. A few are called to heroic service and sacrifice, but many more are chosen to become hidden martyrs of love in their daily lives. We all can offer our ordinary lives to Our Saviour in total selflessness wherever we may be, the faith that we have being our own conviction before God, bearing witness that we have been crucified with Christ and no longer live, but Christ lives in us; that the life we are living in the body we live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved us and gave Himself for us, and thus become, in evidence to the faith we profess, a particle of love. Rom 14:22 Gal 2:19-20

A Particle of Love

I love to hope that the little that I am
May fall as a grain upon the ocean sands,
Unseen by man as he walks the shore
Hidden evidence of love beneath his feet.

To suffer swirling tides and battering gales,
Amid tossing seas and crashing waves,
Between vast boulders and jagged rocks
To fall and there be finely crushed.

On winter flood-tides to drift unseen
Amidst watery plant and debris torn,
In summer heat to lie baked and dry
There lost with every semblance gone. *

And then within the Hand that strains
Each grain of finely sifted sand,
Freely through the fingers of eternity
To fall in evidence as a particle of love.

* Mat 16:25 Whoever wants to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for Me will find it

Monks of Tibhirine of Algeria

Memories of the Seven Atlas Martyrs come to mind at 21 May each year.
During this month our Chapter community reading, before Compline, has been from the Ten Monastic Journeys in the book, “Touched by God”. The chapter, “The Most Unexpected Places” contributed by Fr. Martin McGee, OSB, monk of Work Abbey, tells us of how the story of the Monks of Tibhirine of Algeria has been a powerful inspiration in his monastic life.

Excerpts from “The Most Unexpected Places”:

. . .Who could ever have imagined that almost a half-century later I would, as a monk and priest of Worth Abbey, look out of an aeroplane window on Thursday, 7 April 2005 and, with growing excitement, see the Algerian coastline for the first time just as a brutal civil war was petering out. On my return to Worth I wrote to Mgr Henri Teissier, Archbishop of Algiers, to thank him for la plus belle semaine de ma vie - the best week of my life. How could that be, you may ask? Was this sentence an example of my Celtic tendency to exaggerate? I am not sure that a clear answer can be given. As a Francophile, the love-hate relationship of the French people with Algeria had drawn me to that country. Above all, however, I had been drawn there by the 19 Christian martyrs who had offered their lives (1994--96) out of love for a Muslim people. In a sense I was on a pilgrimage to discover the source of this love which ultimately flows from Jesus' love for us, a love which impelled him freely to offer his life on our behalf So perhaps here was to be found the deepest motivation for my strange interest and journey, and also my motivation for becoming a monk. . .

A Growing Fascination with Algeria
. . . The missionary instinct has always been part of the English Benedictine Congregation since its re-foundation on the Continent in the seventeenth century. In a rather unexpected way my missionary instinct has found in recent years an outlet through contact with the Algerian Church. The kidnapping of the seven Trappist monks of Tibhirine, a monastery located about 60 miles south of Algiers, in March 1996 by the CIA, an Islamic armed group, made media headlines throughout the world. Strangely enough, I can't recall following the story. In fact the plight of the Christian remnant in Algeria only gradually gripped my imagination, and the person responsible for this was Mgr Henri Teissier, Archbishop of Algiers. On 12 January 1997 The Tablet carried an interview with Mgr Teissier which deeply impressed me. I sensed something of his love for the Algerian people and his conviction that the Gospel was truly Good News, something of ultimate importance. The journalist wrote that he ‘was moved by [his] visit to a priest of such dedication and fortitude'. Algeria at this time was caught up in a ruthless civil war between the Islamic fundamentalists who wished to impose the Sharia, or Islamic law, and a military-backed government. Mgr Teissier’s courage and desire to stay alongside the Algerian people in their hour of need touched me.
I then forgot about the article and got on with the demands of being school chaplain and living the monastic round. During the school holiday's I suddenly felt inspired to write a word of support to Archbishop Teissier. I didn't have his address and just sent my short letter to the Archeveque d' Alger, Alger, Algeria and promptly forgot all about it. To my surprise a few months later a reply arrived written on behalf of the Archbishop by Fr John MacWilIiam, a former student of Worth School. I didn't know that Fr John, a White Father, was in Algeria so this added another twist to the plot.
Discovering this unknown link with Algeria whetted my interest. John came to visit Worth School and monastery on a few occasions and so my interest grew. In the summer of 2004 I visited the Tibhirine community which had regrouped in Morocco after the beheading of seven of their members in 1996. Worries about travelling on my own to the unknown world of North Africa were lessening and, encouraged by some of my monastic brethren, I decided that the time was ripe for a visit, or rather a pilgrimage, to the Algerian Church. So I emailed two people in Algiers, putting out feelers about the possibility of spending some time there. The first request received no reply. The second, sent a few weeks later, also drew a blank. The silence was ominous. I decided that I would have to give up this dream as it wasn't meant to be. The Lord wasn't in it. Shortly after resigning myself to not going to Algeria, I received an email horn Mgr Teissier inviting me to come and stay with him at the Diocesan House: 'We will welcome you with great joy'. The second person whom I had emailed had forwarded my letter to the Archbishop. So my prayers had been answered but only after I had first accepted an apparent 'No'.
I made my first visit to Algeria in April 2005, and in meeting Mgr Teissier, the people and clergy, I was energized by their love far and warm relationships with their Muslim brothers and sisters. I had drunk at the pure fountain of the Gospel message in all its wonderful simplicity. A second and more demanding visit followed in March/April 2006. At Archbishop Teissier’s suggestion I have written a book about the 19 martyrs, (Christian Martyrs for a Muslim People. Paulist Press, forthcoming), 19 lives freely given out of love for their Muslim brothers and sisters. This contact with a Church of martyrs, a Church which loves and is greatly loved by her Muslim friends, has been a deep source of inspiration for me. I have no idea where this interest will lead as visiting Algeria isn't easy. At the very least my three short visits to North Africa have given mc the ability to sec Muslims as fellow believers and as brothers and sisters made in the image and likeness of the one God. A monastic vocation can lead you to the most unexpected places!

“Touched by God: Ten Monastic Journeys”,

includes Fr. Martin McGee, OSB, monk of Work Abbey.
Edit L. Johns OSB,

Continuum International Publishing Group – Burns & Oats 10 April 2008.

Book:

“Christian Martyrs for a Muslim People” is written by Father Martin McGee, an English Benedictine monk of Worth Abbey.
(Publisher: Paulist Press, Publication Date: 2 September 2008)

Tells the moving story of the nineteen priests and sisters who were assassinated in Algeria between 1994 and 1996 during a reign of terror by Islamic fundamentalists

Synopsis
In the mid 1990s, Algerian society was terrorized by the GIA (The Armed Islamic Group), a fundamentalist organization that had given an ultimatum to all foreigners : depart or die. At the time, the beheading of seven Trappist monks at the Tibherine monastery was widely reported in the world press. This book tells their story, but also tells the story of twelve other priests and religious sisters who, like the Monks of Tibherine, had courageously chosen to stay in Algeria despite the threat, and who ultimately paid for their dedication with their lives. Drawing on letters, journals, and his own interviews with people who knew the nineteen religious, the author shows how they operated schools, performed vital medical assistance, sponsored community gardens, taught trades, prepared students for state examinations, and maintained libraries mainly in poor neighborhoods and rural villages. By witnessing Christ in their actions without ever attempting to make converts, the nineteen martyrs won the love of the Algerian people, a love that did not cease with their deaths.

19 Algeria Martyrs

The Promotrix, M. Augusta, of the Trappist (OCSO) Order, has reported that the Seven Atlas Brothers of Tibhirine are now included in the 19 Martyrs of Algeria.

These details are to be found in this Website.

http://newsaints.faithweb.com/martyrs/Algeria.htm

PIERRE-LUCIEN CLAVERIE AND 18 COMPANIONS

FROM THE CLERGY AND RELIGIOUS

OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN ALGERIA

competent diocese: Algiers

CCS protocol number: 2702

type of cause: martyrdom

competentia fori: 05 July 2006 (from the diocese of Oran)

nihil obstat: 31 March 2007

opening of diocesan inquiry: 05 October 2007

closing of diocesan inquiry:

decree of validity of diocesan inquiry:

consignment of Positio to CCS:

meeting of theological consultors:

congregation of CCS cardinals and bishops:

postulator: Frt. Giovanni Bigotto, fms

petitioner: Archdiocèse d’Alger, 13 rue Khélifa-Boukhalfa, 16000 Alger-Gare, ALGERIA

19

Algeria - 19 Martyrs

The seven monks from Atlas – 13th Anniversary of the martyrs of Tibhirine, May 21, 2009.

On May 21, 1996, seven monks of the Cistercian-Trappist monastery of Our Lady of Atlas in Algeria died by assassination at the hands of terrorists: Fr. Christian de Chergé, Br. Luc Dochier, Fr. Christophe Lebreton, Br. Paul Favre-Miville, Br. Michel Fleury, Fr. Bruno Lemarchand, and Fr. Célestin Ringeard.

As we prepare for the Abbatial election at Nunraw we direct our prayers urgently to the Atlas Brothers to help our future.

At the Trappist General Chapter Assisi 2008 there was a Report of the Activities of Postulator 2005-2008. The Postultrix, M. Augusta explains that the number of causes for Beatification are mostly under the responsibility of various dioceses. She says:

In regard to the seven monks from Atlas and for the other twelve martyrs of Algeria the diocesan process began at Algiers on October s" 2007 under the responsibility of the diocese. There have already been several sessions to question witnesses there. Since it is a question of a cause related to 19 martyrs killed in seven different circumstances, the process will take a long time. There are numerous witnesses, a difficult political situation and a new Archbishop. But what the postulators and the persons responsible in the 8 Congregations wanted was to begin the work so as not to lose the witnesses. There is no hurry to have a Beatification. We are working to classify everything about the lives of our brothers and sisters: witnesses, letters that can be found etc. because we think that it is our duty to keep and spread the remembrance of the martyrs of Algeria with the certainty that in so doing we are remembering all the other innocent victims of this terrible page of Algerian history. In regard to the death of our brothers the Congregation for the Saints is well informed and it follows closely everything that is published in the press.

Regine Coeli prayer after Holy Land Pilgrimage

Pope packed summary

Pilgrim's Report

Papal Pilgrimage Ends With a Bang
Benedict XVI Sums Up Message in Packed Address

By Father Thomas D. Williams, LC

JERUSALEM, MAY 15, 2009 (Zenit.org).- As I write this, Benedict XVI is flying back to Rome, having left Tel Aviv Airport less than an hour ago. Yet it turns out that his final send-off at the airport entailed more than a perfunctory adieu.

Benedict took advantage of his last meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres to reiterate the key messages of his pilgrimage to the Holy Land. This Pope -- whom many consider incapable of uttering a sound bite -- managed to condense his week’s message into an 859-word address that lasted no more than three minutes. Somehow in this brief interval he was able to encapsulate the gist of the 29 different encounters that he had throughout this action-packed week. It seemed as if he were back in the university classroom once again, summing up his day’s lecture to keep his more distracted students on track.

He wasted no time in getting back to the thorny issue of Catholic-Jewish relations, noting first how Christianity had grown out of Judaism. Benedict made reference to the olive tree that he and President Peres had planted together in the garden of the presidential palace earlier in the week. He drew a parallel to Saint Paul’s use of the olive tree as an image to express how the Christian Church was “grafted onto the cultivated olive tree which is the People of the Covenant.” In words that could only facilitate Jewish-Christian dialogue, he reminded his hearers: “We are nourished from the same spiritual roots. We meet as brothers, brothers who at times in our history have had a tense relationship, but now are firmly committed to building bridges of lasting friendship.”

From there Benedict moved to Monday’s Yad Vashem encounter, where the Holy Father had paid his respects to the many Jews who lost their lives in the Shoah as well as meeting with six Holocaust survivors. As if in answer to his critics who thought that Benedict had showed too little emotion at the meeting, the Pope called the encounter “deeply moving” and went on to evoke the memory of his visit three years earlier to the death camp at Auschwitz “where so many Jews -- mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, friends -- were brutally exterminated under a godless regime that propagated an ideology of anti-Semitism and hatred.”

To put the final nail in the coffin, especially after his much-criticized lifting of the excommunication of Holocaust-denier Richard Williamson, the Pope stated: “That appalling chapter of history must never be forgotten or denied.”

That wasn’t the end of the emotions, however, as Benedict went on to use moving language in referring to the strife that still exists between Israelis and Palestinians. Benedict called himself a “friend of the Israelis,” as well as “a friend of the Palestinian people” and went on to say that no friend “can fail to weep at the suffering and loss of life that both peoples have endured over the last six decades.”

In the strongest language of his entire visit, Benedict made an impassioned appeal: “No more bloodshed! No more fighting! No more terrorism! No more war! Instead let us break the vicious circle of violence. Let there be lasting peace based on justice, let there be genuine reconciliation and healing.”

To put the final nail in the coffin, especially after his much-criticized lifting of the excommunication of Holocaust-denier Richard Williamson, the Pope stated: “That appalling chapter of history must never be forgotten or denied.”

That wasn’t the end of the emotions, however, as Benedict went on to use moving language in referring to the strife that still exists between Israelis and Palestinians. Benedict called himself a “friend of the Israelis,” as well as “a friend of the Palestinian people” and went on to say that no friend “can fail to weep at the suffering and loss of life that both peoples have endured over the last six decades.”

In the strongest language of his entire visit, Benedict made an impassioned appeal: “No more bloodshed! No more fighting! No more terrorism! No more war! Instead let us break the vicious circle of violence. Let there be lasting peace based on justice, let there be genuine reconciliation and healing.”

Again, to leave no doubts what all this means in practical terms, Benedict declared his intentions in the clearest of terms. First, to those who still dispute Israel’s right to exist as a state, Benedict stated: “Let it be universally recognized that the State of Israel has the right to exist, and to enjoy peace and security within internationally agreed borders.” Yesterday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had requested that the Pope denounce Iran on Israel’s behalf, especially regarding Iran’s repudiation of Israeli statehood. While avoiding mentioning Iran by name, Benedict lost no time in doing just that.

Moving on to the flip side of the relation, he said: “Let it be likewise acknowledged that the Palestinian people have a right to a sovereign independent homeland, to live with dignity and to travel freely. Let the two-state solution become a reality, not remain a dream.”

If anyone still harbored doubts regarding Benedict XVI’s political aspirations for the Holy Land, this clear statement should leave little room for doubt. His final appeal, in fact, made the next practical step more concrete still. Returning to a theme that he had broached on Wednesday in Bethlehem, Benedict called the wall separating Palestinians from Israelis “one of the saddest sights for me during my visit to these lands.” Acknowledging “how hard it will be to achieve that goal,” Benedict said that he had prayed, and that Catholics would continue to pray, “for a future in which the peoples of the Holy Land can live together in peace and harmony without the need for such instruments of security and separation.”

For anyone looking for a concise summary of Benedict’s weeklong trip to the Holy Land, and especially the second leg in Israel and the Palestinian Territories, Benedict himself provided the material. Benedict’s goodwill and intentions are evident. It remains to be seen what kind of reception this message will receive in the hearts of his hearers.