MIL OSI Translation. Region: Italy –
Source: The Holy See in Italian
AVOID
Abu Dhabi (Agenzia Fides) – The Jubilee dedicated to Saint Aretas and Companion Martyrs of Arabia was also a precious opportunity to rediscover the long history of Christianity in Arabia, a history “rooted in the apostolic testimony and watered by the blood of the martyrs”. A source from which the composite and vital community of millions of Catholics spread across the various countries of the Arabian Peninsula can now draw. This was underlined, looking at the present and the future, by Bishop Paolo Martinelli ofm.Cap, Apostolic Vicar of southern Arabia, celebrating yesterday, Sunday 22 September, the closing liturgy of the Jubilee Year in the territories of the Vicariate. A solemn mass celebrated in Abu Dhabi, in St. Joseph’s Cathedral, with the closing of the Holy Door, which saw the participation of more than 3 thousand Catholics. The Jubilee, which began on 23 October 2023 (see Fides 20 and 24/10/2023 ), was experienced jointly by the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia (including the United Arab Emirates, Yemen and Oman) and the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia (led by Bishop Aldo Berardi O.SS.T. and including Barhain, Qatar , Kuwait and Saudi Arabia). The closing ceremony of the Jubilee in the Vicariate of South Arabia was brought forward because Bishop Martinelli will be busy in Rome in October for the Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. In the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia the similar closing ceremony is scheduled for October 23rd. The communion experienced between the Catholic communities of the Arabian Peninsula through the experience of the Jubilee journey – Bishop Martinelli remarked in his homily – «is one of the reasons why these saints are so important to us. We come from many different countries, we have different liturgical rites and different spiritual traditions. Everyone cherishes devotion to the saints of their own culture and we can long for them here. But Saint Aretas and his companions are saints of this land of Arabia where we live now. Therefore they are our saints, whom we can all celebrate together as one Church, the Church of Arabia”. “By coming to this country as migrants – insisted the Apostolic Vicar – we become an integral part of the history of this Church of Arabia , rooted in the apostolic testimony and watered by the blood of the martyrs”.Saint Aretas and his Companions, venerated in all the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, were Arab Christians from the ancient city of Najran (in present-day Saudi Arabia) martyred in the year 523 after Christ.Arethas, whose Arabic name was Al-Harith bin Ka’b, was born in 427 AD. and was governor of the predominantly Christian city until his martyrdom at the venerable age of ninety-five. In the 6th century, the king of Himyar (in present-day Yemen), Dhu Nuwas, began a systematic persecution of Christians in southern Arabia, burning churches, forcing people to convert and putting to death those who refused to renounce their faith in Christ. Priests, deacons, nuns and entire families – men, women and children – were burned alive. According to tradition, the relics of Saint Aretas and her fellow martyrs of Najran were deposited in a cube-shaped shrine which became a popular pilgrimage center for Arab Christians during late antiquity. The sanctuary was destroyed in the 7th century when Christians were expelled from southern Arabia. The relics of Saint Aretas eventually found their way to Mount Athos in Greece. Their return to the Arabian Peninsula after almost fourteen centuries was experienced as an extraordinary blessing for the current Christian communities in the Gulf. On 29 August 2023, Pope Francis issued the Decree announcing the Jubilee of Saint Aretas and Companions in the Arabian Peninsula. The Decree granted a Plenary Indulgence to the faithful who at any time undertake a pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Our Lady of Arabia in Awali, Bahrain, to the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, or to the Parish of St. Areta.For the end of the Jubilee, Bishop Martinelli also wrote the Pastoral Letter “Gioia e Giubileo” (“Joy and Jubilee”) published yesterday, Sunday 22 September. In the Letter, the Apostolic Vicar of southern Arabia retraces the Jubilee Year of Saint Aretas, describing the spiritual fruits she brought to the Vicariate, and invites prayer following Pope Francis’ appeal in view of the Jubilee 2025. In the Letter , Bishop Paul announces that the feast of Saint Aretas will now be celebrated every year on October 24, to ask that the memory of the Arab martyrs continue to inspire and accompany the path of the Catholic communities vitally present in the Arabian Peninsula. «They are a deep root of the tree in which we find ourselves today. We are called to inhabit this land with faith.” After having celebrated the holy martyrs of Arabia for an entire year, now “It is easier to recognize that «being Christian in the Gulf means belonging to this Church of the Gulf. We are not just faithful from different churches: here we all form the Catholic Church of Arabia together”, writes the Bishop. Looking to the next Jubilee 2025, the Bishop invites everyone “to prepare well for the Holy Year 2025 by entering into the spirit of prayer” , and summarizes the gestures and practices that unite prayer, the Sacraments and the reading of the Word in the spiritual life of the people of God. A summary in which he refers to the Our Father prayer, the Liturgy of the Hours, personal prayer, the Rosary, Eucharistic Adoration. Prayer – underlines Bishop Martinelli – is the request to keep alive the desire for God in daily life: «Your desire is your prayer» says Saint Augustine, quoted in the Pastoral Letter of the Apostolic Vicar of Southern Arabia. While the Catholic community of the Gulf passes from one jubilee to another, Archbishop Paul’s letter gratefully recalls the gifts received and shared during the Jubilee of the Martyrs of Arabia, and at the same time suggests the way forward in the future. The Jubilee has reunited the entire Church of the Arabian Peninsula at its ancient sources. “Individuals, families, groups, young people, associations and movements, children and elderly: they all came to celebrate the victory of these holy martyrs of Arabia through their pilgrimage to the Holy Door” – During the Jubilee year, every parish in the Emirates United Arab Emirates and the Sultanate of Oman had the opportunity to host the relics of Saint Aretas. Many admitted that they only knew the Holy Martyrs of Arabia thanks to the Jubilee. «Every day – recalled a woman among the testimonies collected and disseminated by the Apostolic Vicariate – the priest shared the agonies endured by Saint Aretas and his companions, and told how their suffering was transformed into a beautiful crown for our Lord Jesus Christ. This touched me deeply, because I realized how easily we worry and get lost over small things.” (GV) (Agenzia Fides 23/9/2024).Share:
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and/or sentence structure not be perfect.