Newsletter

Dear brothers and sisters,

Peace, love, solidarity and reconciliation, from our Savior,

We deemed appropriate to write you about the service of reconciliation, because we consider it part of our sacred duty and charisma. We retain that, in the treatment of the current tragic situation, adopting any non-evangelical project or trespassing, for any reason, the ethnics of our Messiah, or the positions of his most pure Mother, or the tradition of the disciples and apostles in the original church, is forbidden to us.

Carissimi,

Domenica 6 Novembre, Festa del Sacrificio.

Quando, obbedendo al Signore, Abramo cede al volere di Sara e caccia il suo amato primogenito Ismaele con Agar sua madre, non la manda via a mani vuote, ma le dà pane e acqua.

Quando questa madre sofferente e abbandonata giunge in lacrime (accettiamo la versione coranica) alla Mecca, l'acqua è finita e il figlio agonizza. Allora Iddio dona l’acqua del pozzo di Zemzem come al popolo di Mosè nel deserto. E certamente, come al popolo nel deserto, non fece mancar loro il pane celeste …

Press release in conclusion of the 1 october 2010 about the

Week of spiritual jihad, through fasting, prayer

and sakina (God-inspired peace of the soul)

for reconciliation between the children of Mother Syria

at the monastery of Mar Musa al-Habashi

Monks and nuns of the monastery dedicated themselves, with friends and a number of visitors from the vast Syrian mosaic, to fast and prayer. We met daily in the church to read the Gospel, recite the Quran and meditate on a selection of texts about non-violent activism for reform, through forgiveness, through a dialogue based on brotherly reciprocal listening, through the acceptance of difference without conditions. A large number of friends (people and organizations) from around the world joined us in spirit, which made us feel deeply in communion and unity before God.

Ai cari figli e figlie, Monaci e Monache della Comunità Monastica di Deir Mar Musa,

Pace e carità nel Signore!

Sulla base della lettera della Congregazione per le Chiese Orientali a Noi indirizzata (prot. 120/84) del 25 Novembre 2006, a proposito del “Tipico del Monastero di San Mosè l’Abissino (Deir Mar Musa el-Habasci, Nebek, Siria) ”,

Avendo questo documento ottenuto il nulla osta da parte della Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede per mezzo della Congregazione per le Chiese Orientali,

Successivamente allo studio di questo Tipico da parte della Commissione Episcopale, comprendente, oltre all’Arcivescovo George Kassab, il Corepiscopo Michel Nuaman, il Padre Rami Qabalan, il Monaco Padre Yaaqub Murad e il Monaco Padre Jihad Youssef,

Abbiamo deciso di approvare ciò che, estratto dalla totalità dei canoni del Tipico suddetto, abbiamo ritenuto per oggi sufficiente, e che porta il titolo di “Regole monastiche di Deir Mar Musa el-Habasci, Nebek, Siria”.

Saturday, August 27^th 2011

1) First, we wish to thank all our friends for the great solidarity expressed towards our monastery and our country, in those difficult conditions that we can stand only with the help of your cordial prayers, the support of your commitment and the effectiveness of your gifts.

صوم من أجل السلام،

Jeune pour la paix, Fasten für den Frieden, Ayuno por la Paz, Digiuno per la pace, Fast for peace

The 18^th of July 2011

Very dear friends,

In this letter we ask, by increasing importance, for money, commitment and prayer.

Let’s describe the whole situation, first.

Dear Friends,

 In the light of the Resurrection, the announce of peace from our Lord, His breath of reconciliation, in his body, the Lamb always slaughtered, and in the fertile wound of his heart, as we kiss his tortured hands and feet, we come to you to assure you that by the grace of God we stay strong in faith, comforted by hope and passionate with love during this tragic period of deep fermentation in our Arabic homeland and in this Muslim world which is our great concern in the name of the Church.

My comments presented here are based upon the reflections given by the Monastic Community of Deir Mar Musa el-Habashi in Syria to the Lineamentaprepared for Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Middle East, which I consider still to be important, even after publication of theInstrumentum Laboris, I present them here, together with the text I wrote on the basis of my impressions of the latter, after our discussions in London. I would wish to stress here that the Lineamenta and the Instrumentum Laboris are both full of interesting insights. However, our role here is not simply to reiterate them, but rather to state what we think is either missing or insufficiently emphasised. Our approach is always intended to be constructive, even when critiquing the documents.