The relics of St Elian, originally thought to have been destroyed by members of ISIS, have been found amid the rubble of the desecrated Mar Elian Church in Qaryatain, Syria.
The sanctuary was bulldozed in August 2015, according to Fides, the news agency of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.
Fr Jacques Mourad, the prior of the Syriac Catholic monastic community, was kidnapped three months earlier when the terrorists initially raided the church.
Fr Mourad, who was freed on October 11, reported the discovery of the relics to Fides. “The fact that the relics of Mar Elian are not lost is for me a great sign – it means that he did not want to leave the monastery and the Holy Land,” the priest said.
The relics of St Elian, a 3rd-century martyr, were discovered after Syrian military forces had retaken control of Qaryatain. Even while ISIS forces controlled the area, local Christians preserved their veneration of St Elian, Fides said.
Fr Mourad had told his flock: “It is not important that the monastery is destroyed it is not even important that the tomb was destroyed. “The important thing is that you bear Mar Elian in your heart, wherever you go, even in Canada, or Europe, because he wants to stay in the hearts of his followers.” A priest of the Syriac Catholic Archdiocese of Homs and monks from the Mar Musa monastery were preparing to go to Mar Elian to survey its condition, Fides reported.
Fr Mourad asked that they collect and guard the remains.
“We know that the old sanctuary was destroyed, the archaeological site was devastated, while the new church and monastery were burned and partly bombed,” he said. “The life of grace will bloom again around the memory of the saints. It will be a great blessing for our entire Church.”
Don’t play a political role, Church in Burundi is told
A Catholic aid official has urged the government of Burundi not to threaten the Church, which he said plays an important role in sustaining society. “The Church is engaged in peacemaking by bringing communities together and explaining to politicians the importance of talking to each other,” said Patrick Nicholson, communications director of Caritas Internationalis.
“But it’s also giving crucial support to agriculture, schooling and multiple social services, including health care, which would be in a dramatic state without the Church’s 101 hospitals and clinics. People would face great hardships if the Church’s work was discontinued.” Bishops were critical when President Pierre Nkurunziza accepted a third term in apparent violation of the constitution. Last month Pascal Nyabenda, president of the National Assembly, accused the Catholic Church of playing a political, rather than spiritual role. “The Catholic Church has been implicated in almost all our country’s crises since the first missionaries arrived as precursors of European colonisers,” he said.
Pope Francis blesses child’s eyes
Pope Francis has blessed the eyes of a five-year-old Ohio girl who suffers from a rare genetic disease that is gradually robbing her of her sight. The Pope spent several minutes with Lizzy Myers at the end of Wednesday’s general audience. He hugged her and placed his hands over her eyes. Lizzy’s parents have made a “visual bucket list” to show her as many things as they can while she can still see. Her mother said it was “a very powerful moment” for Lizzy.
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