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Walk toward Christ:
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Rich
May 8, 2023, 4:05:48 AM5/8/23
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Walk toward Christ:
Such is the power of baptism: it is a sacrament of new life which
begins here and now with the forgiveness of all past sins, and will be
brought to completion in the resurrection of the dead. You have been
buried with Christ by baptism into death in order that, as Christ has
risen from the dead, you also may walk in newness of life.
And so your own hope of resurrection, though not yet realized, is
sure and certain, because you have received the sacrament or sign of
this reality, and have been given the pledge of the Spirit. If, then,
you have risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where
Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your hearts on heavenly
things, not the things that are on the earth. For you have died and
your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, your life,
appears, then you too will appear with him in glory.
--St. Augustine of Hippo:
<<>><<>><<>>
8 May – Blessed Henri Vergès FMS
Martyr, Religious Brother of the Order of Marist Brothers, Teacher,
Missionary, one of the Nineteen Martyrs of Algeria – born on 15 July
1930 in Matemale, Pyrénées-Orientales, France and died by two shots to
the head on 8 May 1994 in the Archdiocese library in Algiers, Algeria.
Henri was born in France in 1930 and studied from the age of twelve
with the Marists Brothers, who left a great impression on this pious
youth. He entered the Marist Novitiate and where he made his
perpetual vows at the age of twenty-two. From 1958 to 1966, he was
sub-master of novices at Notre-Dame de Lacabane.
Henri had dreamed of being a Missionary, perhaps in Latin America or
Madagascar but then he was sent to Algeria – it was a bit of a shock,
he had dreamed of more exotic location bu,t submitting to the will of
God, off he went. When he arrived in Algiers on 6 August 1969, he
immediately began studying Arabic. He was then 39 years old.
He was director of the Saint-Bonaventure school in Algiers from 1969
to 1976, during which time he worked in close collaboration with the
parents of the pupils. In 1976, the Catholic schools and institutions
were nationalised and the Brothers returned to France. On the appeal
of the Archbishop of Algiers, Br Henri remained and became a French
Teacher at the state secondary school at Sour-El-Ghozlane, 120 km from
Algiers.
He lived alone for several years, forming close bonds with the Moslem
pupils, parents and fellow teachers. He led a life of intense prayer
and profound dialogue with his Moslem friends. Brother Jesus Marcos
joined him in 1983. Then, another trial was imposed on them when they
lost the right to teach. Archbishop Tessler suggested that they take
on the running of a Library for senior secondary pupils, which had
formerly been administered by the White Fathers, in a working class
suburb of Algiers. From 1988 to 1994, they ran this library along with
Sr Paul Hélène, a French nun of the Little Sisters of the Assumption.
In addition to his ministry to young people, he was a very active
member of Ribât al-Salaam, an Algerian organisation that promotes
dialogue and reconciliation between Christians and Moslems.
In 1991, the Algerian Civil War broke out, in which roughly fifty
thousand people were killed over the course of ten years. Foreigners,
who remained in Algeria, were threatened with death from 1993. During
this time, Br Henri’s library was filled with children and young
people everyday, for whom the library was a safe place and a refuge
from the chaos in the country.
Still, Br Henri applied for Algerian citizenship. Along with the
priests and other religious still in the country, they lived in close
solidarity with the Algerian people, never showing fear or distress in
the atmosphere of mounting tension and hostility to foreigners.
Despite the violence, Br Henri was passionately convinced of the
importance of the Church and the Gospel message in Algiers, in a land
more and more destabilised by fundamentalism.
In 1991, on the centenary of the occasion of the arrival of the
Brothers in Algieria, he said:
“One hundred years of travelling with the Church in Algieria, sharing
her limits but also her humble liability to the call of the Lord and
to the call of the people, in a patient dialogue and attentive to
thanksgiving to the Holy Spirit and to Mary, in an untroubled openness
to the future.
… What is in store for us in this second century, which is beginning?
God alone knows! It is enough for us to go in faith, like Abraham who
did not have much idea of where God was leading him!”
From stage to stage, he went on ….
Until on 8 May 1994 he and Sr Paul, were both gunned down in the
library by the GIA, a militant Islamist group.
He was buried in Algiers on 12 May 1994 and Beatified together with Sr
Paul Hélène and 17 other Martyrs on 8 December 2018 at the Notre-Dame
de Santa Cruz, Oran, Algeria by Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciuby on
behalf of Pope Francis.
https://anastpaul.com/2020/05/08/
Quote/s of the Day
“… How can one express a spiritual experience?
One can only stammer.
God alone knows the windings of the way,
the path He intends for this one and for that one,
the journeying marked out by our
welcomes and refusals.”
“God has simply sent me
to sow the seed in the field chosen by Him –
thus, to sow in peace
and to leave Him
to look after the growth.
Without being surprised
by the presence of the cross,
as in the life of Jesus Himself.”
“Let the Peace of Christ
invade me always,
more and more intimately.
Patience, gentleness towards myself,
patience, gentleness towards all,
in particular, the young people
the Lord entrusts to me.
Virgin Mary, make me
an instrument of peace
for the world.”
--Bl Henri Vergès FMS (1930-1994) Martyr
Bible Quote:
But to every one of us is given grace, according to the measure of the
giving of Christ. [8] Wherefore he saith: Ascending on high, he led
captivity captive; he gave gifts to men.
[Ephesians 4:7-8] DRV
<><><><>
O Queen of Heaven, thou gavest to us the Scapular as an outward sign
by which we might be known as thy faithful children. May we always
wear it with honor by avoiding sin and imitating thy virtues. Help us
to be faithful to this desire of ours.
(pause and mention petitions)
Recite: Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us.
Such is the power of baptism: it is a sacrament of new life which
begins here and now with the forgiveness of all past sins, and will be
brought to completion in the resurrection of the dead. You have been
buried with Christ by baptism into death in order that, as Christ has
risen from the dead, you also may walk in newness of life.
And so your own hope of resurrection, though not yet realized, is
sure and certain, because you have received the sacrament or sign of
this reality, and have been given the pledge of the Spirit. If, then,
you have risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where
Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your hearts on heavenly
things, not the things that are on the earth. For you have died and
your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, your life,
appears, then you too will appear with him in glory.
--St. Augustine of Hippo:
<<>><<>><<>>
8 May – Blessed Henri Vergès FMS
Martyr, Religious Brother of the Order of Marist Brothers, Teacher,
Missionary, one of the Nineteen Martyrs of Algeria – born on 15 July
1930 in Matemale, Pyrénées-Orientales, France and died by two shots to
the head on 8 May 1994 in the Archdiocese library in Algiers, Algeria.
Henri was born in France in 1930 and studied from the age of twelve
with the Marists Brothers, who left a great impression on this pious
youth. He entered the Marist Novitiate and where he made his
perpetual vows at the age of twenty-two. From 1958 to 1966, he was
sub-master of novices at Notre-Dame de Lacabane.
Henri had dreamed of being a Missionary, perhaps in Latin America or
Madagascar but then he was sent to Algeria – it was a bit of a shock,
he had dreamed of more exotic location bu,t submitting to the will of
God, off he went. When he arrived in Algiers on 6 August 1969, he
immediately began studying Arabic. He was then 39 years old.
He was director of the Saint-Bonaventure school in Algiers from 1969
to 1976, during which time he worked in close collaboration with the
parents of the pupils. In 1976, the Catholic schools and institutions
were nationalised and the Brothers returned to France. On the appeal
of the Archbishop of Algiers, Br Henri remained and became a French
Teacher at the state secondary school at Sour-El-Ghozlane, 120 km from
Algiers.
He lived alone for several years, forming close bonds with the Moslem
pupils, parents and fellow teachers. He led a life of intense prayer
and profound dialogue with his Moslem friends. Brother Jesus Marcos
joined him in 1983. Then, another trial was imposed on them when they
lost the right to teach. Archbishop Tessler suggested that they take
on the running of a Library for senior secondary pupils, which had
formerly been administered by the White Fathers, in a working class
suburb of Algiers. From 1988 to 1994, they ran this library along with
Sr Paul Hélène, a French nun of the Little Sisters of the Assumption.
In addition to his ministry to young people, he was a very active
member of Ribât al-Salaam, an Algerian organisation that promotes
dialogue and reconciliation between Christians and Moslems.
In 1991, the Algerian Civil War broke out, in which roughly fifty
thousand people were killed over the course of ten years. Foreigners,
who remained in Algeria, were threatened with death from 1993. During
this time, Br Henri’s library was filled with children and young
people everyday, for whom the library was a safe place and a refuge
from the chaos in the country.
Still, Br Henri applied for Algerian citizenship. Along with the
priests and other religious still in the country, they lived in close
solidarity with the Algerian people, never showing fear or distress in
the atmosphere of mounting tension and hostility to foreigners.
Despite the violence, Br Henri was passionately convinced of the
importance of the Church and the Gospel message in Algiers, in a land
more and more destabilised by fundamentalism.
In 1991, on the centenary of the occasion of the arrival of the
Brothers in Algieria, he said:
“One hundred years of travelling with the Church in Algieria, sharing
her limits but also her humble liability to the call of the Lord and
to the call of the people, in a patient dialogue and attentive to
thanksgiving to the Holy Spirit and to Mary, in an untroubled openness
to the future.
… What is in store for us in this second century, which is beginning?
God alone knows! It is enough for us to go in faith, like Abraham who
did not have much idea of where God was leading him!”
From stage to stage, he went on ….
Until on 8 May 1994 he and Sr Paul, were both gunned down in the
library by the GIA, a militant Islamist group.
He was buried in Algiers on 12 May 1994 and Beatified together with Sr
Paul Hélène and 17 other Martyrs on 8 December 2018 at the Notre-Dame
de Santa Cruz, Oran, Algeria by Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciuby on
behalf of Pope Francis.
https://anastpaul.com/2020/05/08/
Quote/s of the Day
“… How can one express a spiritual experience?
One can only stammer.
God alone knows the windings of the way,
the path He intends for this one and for that one,
the journeying marked out by our
welcomes and refusals.”
“God has simply sent me
to sow the seed in the field chosen by Him –
thus, to sow in peace
and to leave Him
to look after the growth.
Without being surprised
by the presence of the cross,
as in the life of Jesus Himself.”
“Let the Peace of Christ
invade me always,
more and more intimately.
Patience, gentleness towards myself,
patience, gentleness towards all,
in particular, the young people
the Lord entrusts to me.
Virgin Mary, make me
an instrument of peace
for the world.”
--Bl Henri Vergès FMS (1930-1994) Martyr
Bible Quote:
But to every one of us is given grace, according to the measure of the
giving of Christ. [8] Wherefore he saith: Ascending on high, he led
captivity captive; he gave gifts to men.
[Ephesians 4:7-8] DRV
<><><><>
O Queen of Heaven, thou gavest to us the Scapular as an outward sign
by which we might be known as thy faithful children. May we always
wear it with honor by avoiding sin and imitating thy virtues. Help us
to be faithful to this desire of ours.
(pause and mention petitions)
Recite: Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be
Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us.
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