Tag: war

Charlie's Fate

Published on by Emmanuel L. Di Rossetti Leave a comment

soldier drawing

“The enemy limits you therefore gives you your form and founds you”. This sentence from Saint-Exupéry expresses quite well our condition at the end of this first week of the year 2015. The enemy forces me to evolve according to his codes, within a space that he has circumscribed. First I am a prisoner. He chooses the terrain and compels me to remain confined there. Of the two immutable human givens, space and time, he takes space away from me. Taking space away from time is a bit like taking Laurel away from Hardy. The other unit lives on, but is disfigured. She lost the balance offered by the otherness of her spouse. Time is not the same depending on the space in which it evolves. Geography accomplishes destiny with a measure as precise as the hourglass. Continue reading “Charlie’s Destiny” →

In the shadow of Ernesto Sabato

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When Ernesto Sabato passed away on April 30 at the age of 99, he repeated the words of Maria Zambrano to himself: To die, this elusive action which is carried out by obeying, happens beyond reality, in another realm . In his house in Santos Lugarès (“Holy Places” near Buenos Aires), Ernesto Sabato obeys this last injunction. He has been preparing for it for a long time. In Resistance , his moving literary testament published in 2002, he wrote: I forgot large parts of my life, but, on the other hand, certain encounters, moments of danger and the names of those who pulled me out of depressions and bitterness still throbs in my hands. And yours too, you who believe in me, who have read my books and are going to help me die.

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Emotion at Notre-Dame du Lys

Published on by Emmanuel L. Di Rossetti Leave a comment

It is a very beautiful emotion that all the assistance of the faithful of Notre-Dame du Lys felt this morning at the holy mass at 11:15 a.m. A delegation of Iraqi Christians from Baghdad was present as well as an Iraqi priest who had simple and touching words to testify to the massacre last October in Baghdad's cathedral. The recall of the facts by one of the witnesses of this carnage transported the assembly for a few seconds in deep contemplation. The young Iraqis present followed the Mass of the Extraordinary Rite with fervor and contemplation. Father Charles Fazilleau's beautiful sermon has been translated into Arabic so that Iraqis can learn the lessons of this Passion Sunday.

On leaving the chapel, the smiles and handshakes exchanged with these young men from the Orient who had already been so tried in their faith were a moving and joyful moment. Well beyond the language barrier, an infinite joy was reflected in the eyes. The joy of being alive in Christ.