By Archbishop Samir Nassar
Behind the scenes,
quietly and discreetly, 82 women religious belonging to various congregations
are serving the Church in Damascus. They are the great force, which, drawing
strength from the breath of the Holy Spirit, gives life to charisms of the
Gospel in a country torn apart by war. They do so without getting tired or
being afraid.
Witness
Some of them are
living in small communities, housed in the large schools they used to run but
which were nationalized in 1968; others live in small hospitality centers or in
modest apartments among the people, living a life of poverty, prayer and
praise.
Listening to the most vulnerable
These consecrated
religious are always at the ready to welcome and listen to the most vulnerable
of the city’s residents. They provide for the most urgent needs, especially
during these years of war and isolation. They store up, in their hearts, all
the suffering and need of this vulnerable population, forgotten in their misery
and insecurity. Defiant of powerlessness, these men and women religious put up
a wall of lamentation with their love, ensuring a charitable presence among
people who have lost everything.
Faces of compassion
The engagement of our
beloved Sisters who serve families is made manifest by their presence at
child-care centers, in schools, dispensaries, eating places, as well as
catechetical and formation centers. Let us salute their heroic mission as they
take care of the needs of the sick, the wounded and the aged, all of them
burdened by war. Theirs is a pastoral vanguard.
The
promise of a future
This ‘experimental’ mission of our dear Sisters
remains focused on the schools, the formation of children and young people.
This educational service transmits values of peace, tolerance and dialogue, all
geared toward a destroyed homeland and the renewal of the Church. Let’s salute
all the types of psychological support for the victims of war, especially the
children, the young people, their lives wounded by violence, delinquency and
exclusion.
Gratitude
This beautiful witness of light, hidden and
barely known, doesn’t it deserve some gratitude and recognition? Dearly beloved
consecrated women in Damascus, the Resurrected Christ will thank you and bless
you!
Easter 2017
Archbishop
Nassar is the Maronite ordinary of Damascus.
With picture of Syrian children (© ACN)
Editor’s Notes:
Directly under the
Holy Father, Aid to the Church in Need supports
the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need.
ACN is a Catholic charity - helping to bring Christ to the world through
prayer, information and action.
Founded in 1947 by Father Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul
II named “An Outstanding Apostle of Charity,” the organization is now at work
in over 145 countries throughout the world.
The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including
providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church
buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since
the initiative’s launch in 1979, 43 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed
worldwide.