RU 08/2006 - INDIA, TURKEY, CHRISTIAN EUROPE


- INDIA: Out of the 118 Catholic parishes of the archdiocese of Bombay, 6 already erected a monument in homage to the aborted babies, by following their archbishop's instruction, i.e. cardinal Ivan Dias', dating of the year 2000. The process is slow, "since it is difficult for our poor parishes to find funds and adequate spaces", but in principle all parishes must erect their own memorial. This isn't without controversy in a country where already, by end of 2005, ten million female babies were echographied and then aborted, creating thus an unbalance man-woman never seen before in that dimension, but the answer from the Christians comes without hesitation: "Everybody is talking about his own rights, but who will lend his voice to defend the right of the children not yet born? Our monuments will be there for that!" - We too! (ru; cf. IC 7.2.06)

 

- TURKEY: The famous Sumela monastery, at 50 km from the Black Sea, behind Trabzon, is going to be "revived", announced the Governor of Trabzon, Mr Huseyn Yavusdemir. According to him, this is not meant to be a 'concession to the European Union or to the Ecumenical Patriarchy of Istanbul', but a gesture towards the tourists - who were 150,000 in 2005. This monastery is without life since 1923, when the Greek-Orthodox monks have been chased from there by the Turks, as it was the fate of all Christians of the region after the occupation of this northern area of Turkey by the Bolshevik allies. In 1971 the monastery had been declared 'national monument', but it turned more and more into ruins. Clinging to the rocks at 1200 ms altitude over a deep canyon, it shows a huge architectural prowess (one can see a photo of this imposing structure on the welcome page of our Radio-Silence during this week: www.radio-silence.org). The monastery 'Our Lady of the Black Mountain' had been founded by two hermits of Athens under the Roman emperor Theodosius I (end of the 4th century). After a fire, the monastery was rebuilt in the 12th century. Towards the 14th century, numerous cells for the monks were added. The building became the central monastery of the Greek empire of Trabzon and of all the Christendom of the Pontus on the Black Sea. Even the Sultans had endowed it with donations until the 19th century. It became an important center of orthodox pilgrimage. In 1931 the Government of Ankara had permitted the evacuation of the main icons, treasures and manuscripts towards Greece, i.e. towards a monastery of the same name in Macedonia. Since the evacuation of the monks, numerous old frescos - notably the faces of the saints - have been stained and disfigured by Moslem fanatics. The Governor of Trabzon didn't specify where the new monks would come from. - (ru; cf. G2W, KNA 10163)

 

- CHRISTIAN EUROPE: The pilgrims of the UNEC association, during a "Pilgrimage to the Roots of Christian Europe" from February 24th to 27th, that led them successively to Herstal in Belgium, birth place of Charlemagne, to Aachen, center of the Christian Europe which Charlemagne established for the 11 centuries to come, and to Cologne, beacon of the Christendom of the Rhine, lived three strong moments. At Herstal, i.e. at 28 km from Maastricht which is the symbol of anti-Christian Europe, a French-Belgian symposium UNEC about Charlemagne was organized, in the room of the Municipal Council of the town hall, with 80 people attending, where Mrs. Claire Bayle of UNEC, among others lecturers, exposed the continuity of this Christian Europe and its values through the centuries, from (saint?) Charlemagne to (beatified) Charles of Austria, i.e. from 800 to 1918, with Charles V in between. At Aachen the pilgrims could rediscover the essence of Christianity: the ancient Holy Mass. During the Sunday Mass, the celebrating priest (Rev. Fr. Meermann of the FSSPX) insisted in his sermon on the importance of the sacrificial aspect of the Holy Mass according to the old rite, symbolized by the 29 signs of the cross made by the priest during the Canon of the Mass - and which have been completely suppressed in the modern(ist) rite: according to St Thomas Aquinas, they mean each time one aspect of Christ's present Passion: the first 3 signs of cross (during the words of the Canon "haec dona, haec munera, haec sancta sacrificia illibata") mean the treason of the Passion as the work of God, of the Jews and the Romans. The 3 following crosses (benedictam, adscriptam, ratam) mean Jesus' treason for 30 pieces of silver money, and the 2 following ones (Corpus and Sanguis) mean Judas the traitor and Jesus the victim. The 2 following crosses (benedixit) mean the shade of the Passion that approaches towards Christ's Body and Blood. The 5 following signs (hostiam puram, hostiam sanctam, hostiam immaculatam...) mean the Passion itself, that is Christ's 5 wounds. Then, the 3 following crosses (Filii tui Corpus and Sanguinem) represent Jesus' elongation on the Cross, the remittance of His Blood and the Redemption fruit of the Passion. The 3 following ones (sanctificas, vivificas, benedicis) recall the 3 prayers of Christ on the Cross: for his persecutors, his outcry towards the Father and his entrance into the Glory. 3 other signs of the cross (per Ipsum et cum Ipso et in Ipso) are the 3 hours on the Cross. 2 other signs of the cross, over the chalice, mean the separation of His Mind from His Body, and finally the last 3 crosses (Pax Domini sit semper vobiscum) announce the Resurrection after 3 days. What a lesson! In fact, Benedict XVI is currently thinking about possibly promulgating further 'the ancient Mass'. - Finally a long exchange with Father Petrus at the Benedictine abbey of Maria Laach (founded in 1093 near Cologne), taught the pilgrims about the stakes of Christendom today: what is the mission of the Benedictine Order, in charge since longtime of the propagation of the holy Liturgy, at a time where everyone establishes his own liturgy? How to follow up Christ in a world which became anti-Christian? - A pilgrimage of UNEC 'to Christian Turkey' is programmed for end of October 2007. - (ru; cf. Summa Th. III, 83, 5 ad3)

- - O.A.M.D.G. - -