Ftu] uffi``jali tat-800 sena mit-twaqqif tal-ordni tal-klarissi 16 t April

INURI - M A L T A ORDNI TAL-PATRIJIET ATRIJIET MINURI PROVINĊJA FRANĠISKANA TA SANS PAWL APPOSTLU http://www.ofm.org.mt NRU. 166 APR. 2011 Ftu] uffi``jali tat-800 sena mit-twaqqif tal-ordni tal-klarissi 16 t April Mons. J. Bonello O.F.M. flimkien mal-provin`jal, P. Albert, P. Anglu u l- a]wa li marru l-honduras g]all-ordinazzjoni episkopali ta Mons. J. Bonello KAPITLU PROVIN~JALI INTERMEDJU 9-13 ta Mejju OFM-LINK APRIL 2011 1

Il-Katekezi tal-papa Benedittu XVI ( 13 t Ottubru 2010 ) fuq il-b. Angela ta Foligno O.F.S. Dear Brothers and Sisters, Today I would like to speak to you about Blessed Angela of Foligno, a great medieval mystic who lived in the 13th century. Usually, one is fascinated by the heights of the experience of union with God that she attained, but perhaps too little consideration is given to the first steps, her conversion, and the long path that led her from the beginning the great fear of hell to the goal: total union with the Trinity. The first part of Angela s life is certainly not that of a fervent disciple of the Lord. Born around 1248 in a well-off family, she remained orphaned of her father and was educated by her mother in a rather superficial way. She was soon introduced to the worldly environments of the city of Foligno, where she met a man, whom she married at 20 and with whom she had children. Her life was carefree, so much so that she looked down on the so-called penitents very widespread at that time those, namely, who to follow Christ would sell their goods and live a life of prayer, fasting, the service of the Church and charity. Some events, such as the violent earthquake of 1279, a hurricane, the age-old war against Perugia, and their harsh consequences affected Angela s life, who became progressively aware of her sins, until she took a decisive step: She invoked St. Francis, who appeared to her in a vision, to ask him for advice in view of undertaking a good general Confession. In 1285, Angela went to confession to a friar in San Feliciano. Three years later, her path of conversion took another turn: the dissolution of her familial ties. Within a few months, the death of her mother was followed by the deaths of her husband and all her children. She then sold all her goods, and in 1291, joined the Third Order of St. Francis. She died at Foligno on Jan. 4, 1309. Il Libro della beata Angela da Foligno (The Book of Blessed Angela of Foligno), which gathers the documentation on our Blessed, recounts this conversion; it indicates the necessary means: penance, humility and tribulations; and narrates in passages, the succession of experiences of Angela, begun in 1285. Recalling them, after having lived them, she sought to recount them through her friar confessor, who transcribed them faithfully, trying afterward to systematize them in stages, which he called steps or changes, but without succeeding in ordering them fully (cf. Il Libro della beata Angela da Foligno, Cinisello Balsamo, 1990, p. 51). This is because the experience of union of Blessed Angela was a total involvement of the spiritual and corporal senses, and of what she understands during her ecstasies remained, so to speak, only a shadow in her mind. I really heard these words, she confesses after a mystical rapture, but what I saw and understood, and that he [God] showed me, in no way do I know or am I able to say, though I will willingly reveal what I understood with the words that I heard, but it was an absolutely ineffable abyss. Angela of Foligno presents her mystical experience without elaborating them with her mind, because they are divine illuminations that are communicated to her soul in an improvised and unexpected way. The friar confessor himself had difficulty in reporting such events, also because of her great and admirable reserve regarding the divine gifts (ibid., p. 194). To Angela s difficulty in expressing her mystical experience is added also the difficulty for her listeners to understand her. A situation that indicates clearly how the only and true Teacher, Jesus, lives in the heart of every OFM-LINK APRIL 2011 2

believer and desires to take total possession of it. Thus in Angela, who wrote to one of her spiritual sons: My son, if you saw my heart, you would be absolutely constrained to do everything that God wills, because my heart is that of God, and God s heart is mine. The words of St. Paul resound here: It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me (Galatians 2:20). We will now consider only some steps of the rich spiritual path of our blessed. The first, in reality, is an introduction: It was the knowledge of sin, as she specifies, following which the soul has great fear of being damned; in this step she wept bitterly ( Il Libro della beata Angela da Foligno, p. 39). This fear of hell responds to the type of faith that Angela had at the time of her conversion ; a faith still poor in charity, namely, of love of God. Repentance, fear of hell, and penance opened up to Angela the prospect of the sorrowful way of the cross that, from the eighth to the 15th step, would then lead her on the way of love. The friar confessor recounts: The faithful one now said to me: I had this divine revelation: After the things that you have written, now write that whoever wants to preserve grace must not take the eyes of his soul off the Cross, whether in joy or in sadness, which I grant him and permit (Ibid., p. 143). However, in this phase Angela still does not feel love ; she affirms: The soul feels shame and bitterness and does not yet experience love, but sorrow (Ibid., p. 39), and is dissatisfied. Angela feels she must give God something in reparation for her sins, but understands slowly that she has nothing to give him, in fact, of her being nothing before him; she understands that it will not be her will that will give her love of God, because it can only give her nothingness, nonlove. As she will say: only true and pure love, which comes from God, is in the soul and makes one recognizes one s defects and divine goodness. [...] Such love bears the soul in Christ and she understands with certainty that no deceit can be verified or exercised. Together with this love nothing can be mixed that is of the world (Ibid., p. 124-125). To open oneself only and totally to the love of God, which has its highest expression in Christ: O my God, she prays, make me worthy of knowing the most high mystery of your most holy incarnation for us. [...] O incomprehensible love! Above this love, that made my God become man to make me God, there is no greater love (Ibid., p. 295). However, Angela s heart always bore the wound of sin; even after a well made confession, she found herself forgiven and still prostrated by sin, free and conditioned by the past, absolved but in need of penance. And even the thought of hell accompanied her because the more the soul progresses on the way of Christian perfection, all the more it will be convinced not only of being unworthy but of deserving hell. Understand that, in her mystical journey, Angela understood profoundly the central reality: What would save her from her unworthiness and from deserving hell will not be her union with God and her possessing the truth, but Jesus crucified, his crucifixion for me, his love. In the eighth step, she says: However I did not yet understand if my deliverance from sin and hell and conversion to penance was a greater good, or his crucifixion for me (Ibid., p. 41). And the unstable balance between love and sorrow, perceived in all her difficult journey toward perfection. Precisely because of this she contemplated by preference the crucified Christ, because in this vision she saw realized the perfect balance: On the cross is the man-god, in a supreme act of suffering, which is a supreme act of love. In the third Instruction the blessed insists on this contemplation and affirms: The more perfectly and purely we see, the more perfectly and purely we love. [...] That is why the more we see the God and man Jesus Christ, the more we are transformed in him through love. [...] What I have said of love. [...] I say also of sorrow: The more the soul contemplates the ineffable sorrow of the God and man Jesus Christ, the more it sorrows and is transformed in sorrow (Ibid., p. 190-191). To be immersed, to be transformed in love and in the sufferings of Christ crucified, to be identified with OFM-LINK APRIL 2011 3

him. Angela s conversion, begun with that confession of 1285, came to maturity only when God s forgiveness appeared to her soul as the free gift of love of the Father, source of love: There is no one who can give excuses, she affirms, because each one can love God, ad He does not ask the soul other than that He wills it good, because He loves it and is its love (ibid., p. 76). In Angela s spiritual itinerary the passage from conversion to mystical experience, from what can be expressed to the inexpressible, happens through the crucifix. And the suffering God-man, who becomes her teacher of perfection. Hence, all her mystical experience tends to a perfect likeness with him, through ever more profound and radical purifications and transformations. In such a stupendous enterprise Angela puts her whole self, soul and body, without sparing herself penances and tribulations from the beginning to the end, desiring to die with all the pains suffered by the God-man crucified to be transformed totally in him. O children of God, she recommended, transform yourselves totally in the suffering God-man, who so loves you that he deigned to die for you the most ignominious and all together ineffably painful death and in the most painful and bitter way. This only for love of you, O man! (ibid., p. 247). This identification also means to live what Jesus lived: poverty, contempt, sorrow because, as she affirmed, through temporal poverty the soul will find eternal riches; through contempt and shame it will obtain supreme honor and very great glory; through a little penance, made with pain and sorrow, it will possess with infinite sweetness and consolation of the Supreme God, God eternal (Ibid., p. 184). From conversion to mystical union with Christ crucified, to the inexpressible. A very lofty way, whose secret is constant prayer; The more you pray, she affirms, the more you will be illumined; the more you are illumined, the more profoundly and intensely you will see the Supreme Good, the supremely good Being; the more profoundly and intensely you see him, the more you will love him; the more you love him, the more he will delight you; and the more he delights you, the more you will understand him and become capable of understanding him. You will arrive successively to the fullness of light, because you will understand that you cannot understand (Ibid., p. 184) Dear brothers and sisters, the life of Blessed Angela began with a worldly existence, quite far from God. But then the encounter with the figure of St. Francis and, finally, the encounter with Christ Crucified awakened the soul by the presence of God, by the fact that only with God does life become true life, because it becomes, in the sorrow for sin, love and joy. And thus Blessed Angela speaks to us. Today we are all in danger of living as if God did not exist: He seems too far away from today s life. But God has a thousand ways, for each one, of making himself present in the soul, of showing that he exists and that he knows and loves me. And Blessed Angela wants to make us attentive to these signs with which the Lord touches our soul, attentive to the presence of God, to thus learn the way with God and to God, in communion with Christ crucified. Let us pray to the Lord that he make us attentive to the signs of his presence, that he teach us to really live. Thank you Mulej, ag]milni denja li nag]raf u nifhem l-im]abba li g]andek g]alina: kien g]alhekk li ]laqtna. ( Mill-Kitbiet Spiritwali tal-b. Angela minn Foligno ) OFM-LINK APRIL 2011 4

1. Fra Bernardo da Quintavalle ( c.1170 - c.1241 ) Bernardo da Quintavalle kien l-ewwel persuna li ssie]eb ma Fran[isku - l-iben il-kbir tal-missier qaddis, l-ewwel wie]ed fi\-\mien u l-ewwel wie- ]ed ukoll fil-privile[[ tal-qdusija (LM 3 ÊFSF 1151Ë). Celano jsejja]lu lewwel xitla tal-ordni tal-minuri (2C Ê FSF 827Ë). Fran[isku kien jammira fih il-fidi l-aktar perfetta u l-im]abba lejn il-faqar (ara SP85 ÊFSF 1532Ë). Il-Fioretti jg]idu li bil-mo]] fin li kellu, kien jittajjar b]all-ajkla sad-dawl tal-g]erf divin, kif kien jag]mel S. {wann l-evan[elista u ra[el ta umilta tassew kbira, li jaf jfisser il-kotba Mqaddsa b mod profond ]afna (1 ÊFSF 1587Ë). Huwa kien joqg]od fil-qalba tal-belt t Assisi u kien [ej minn familja nobbli u sinjura. Mhux l-ewwel darba li stieden lil Fran[isku [ewwa daru din iddar tinsab fi via Bernardo da Quintavalle n.10 (ara 1C10 ÊFSF223Ë). Meta induna li Fran- [isku b liema mod ta ]ajja kien issa qed jg]ex fil-faqar u fit-talb, sentejn wara l- konversjoni ta Fran[isku, dan il-bniedem, ta fama kbira, stiednu f daru fejn seta jara b g]ajnejh il-qdusija tieg]u, waqt li Fran[isku g]adda l-lejl fit-talb (ara Fior 2 ÊFSF 1588Ë). L- g]ada filg]odu - 16 t April 1208 - marru, flimkien ma Pietro Cattani, fil-knisja ta S. Nicolo u wara li talbu flimkien, Fran[isku feta] il-van[elu g]al tlett darbiet u qara tlett siltiet. Kif sema dan Bernardo mar u bieg] kull ma kellu u qassam il-flus lin-nies foqra tal-belt. Wara libes it-tonka li tah Fran[isku (ara L3C8 ÊFSF565Ë). Waqt li kienu qed jg]amlu dan, [ie qassis jismu Silvestru li talab lil Fran[isku biex jag]tih aktar flus, peress li kien xtara xi [ebel ming]andu, ]awn Fran[isku da]al idu g]al darbtejn fil-mant ta Bernardo u kull darba tah kemxa flus (ara AP2 ÊFSF501Ë). Fil-vja[[ li kienu qed jg]amlu lejn Ruma, biex jitolbu lill-papa l- approvazzjoni tal-forma tal-]ajja tag]hom, fuq talba ta Fran[isku biex jag]\lu wie]ed minnhom, b]ala mexxej u jqisuh b]ala l- vigarju ta {esu Kristu, l-a]wa g]a\lu lil fra Bernardo (ara AP 7 ÊFSF 518Ë). Minn dak in-nhar il quddiem bdew jaqduh b]ala missierhom (L3C12 ÊFSF 581Ë). Fl-1211 huwa, flimkien ma Pietro, [ie mibg]ut Bologna, il-belt fejn huwa kien ha l-lawrja ta avukat, kemm fil-li[i `ivili u dik ekklezjastika. Hemmhekk huma [ew mag]ajra u kalpestati imma `ertu Nicolo di Guglielmo di Pepoli innuthom u wara li kellimhom, sar mhux biss protettur tal-patrijiet imma sar patri u miet b fama qaddisa. Darb o]ra huwa, flimkien ma fra Egidju, [ie mibg]ut Firenze, fejn f lejl kiesa], riedu jistrie]u fejn forn, imma s-sid ke``ihom minn hemm. L-g]ada mart dak is-sid rathom jitolbu [ewwa l-knisja u hemm rat ukoll lis-sinjur Guido jag]ti karita lit-tallaba. Imma Bernardo u Egidio ma a``ettawx g]ax fra Bernardo qalu: Tassew li a]na foqra, imma l-faqar tag]na mhux iebes b]alma hu g]all-foqra l-o]rajn, g]ax a]na sirna foqra bil-grazzja ta Alla u bil-parir tieg]u. Imbg]ad huwa stedinhom biex joqg]odu f daru g]al xi jiem (AP 5 ÊFSF 509Ë). Bejn l-1213 u l-1214 Bernardo kien wie]ed minn dawk li telqu ma Fran[isku lejn il-marokk billi qabel g]addew minn Spanja. Meta waslu fin-navarra, f ra]al li jismu Roccaforte ( ftit l hemm fejn illum hemm Sanguesa), sabu wie]ed marid ]afna u Fran[isku talab lil Bernardo biex joqg]od hemmhekk ]a jie]u ]siebu. Skont it-tradizzjoni, hemmhekk twaqqaf l-ewwel kunvent fran[iskan [ewwa Spanja. Insibu fatt ie]or meta Fran[isku u OFM-LINK APRIL 2011-5

Bernardo kienu [ejjin lura minn Spanja fejn talbu li xtaq li jiekol g]asfur, jekk isib wie]ed. Fil-fatt intaqg]u ma kavallier u dan tah g]asfur mill-aktar tajjeb (ara 3C 5 ÊFSF 966Ë. Fl- 1215 Bernardo, flimkien ma Egidio, inbg]at Santiago di Campostella, imma wara ftit malajr sabu ru]hom mill-[did ma Fran[isku (ara 1C12 Ê FSF 227Ë). Darba wa]da, skont il-fioretti, Fran[isku sejja] lil Bernardo, li kien qieg]ed jitlob fil-bosk wa]du, imma dan g]al tlett darbiet ma wie[bu xejn. Le]en mis-sema qallu li Bernardo kien f estasi u g]alhekk ma kienx semg]u. Wara Fran[isku riedu li jg]addi minn fuqu g]al tlett darbiet u Bernardo talbu biex ji``anfru u jikkore[ih g]ad-difetti tieg]u (3 ÊFSF 1589Ë). Bernardo kien, wie]ed mill-a]wa, li ]adu ]sieb Fran[isku meta marad ]afna ( ara 1C6 ÊFSF293nË). Meta darba s-sinjura Jacopa dei Settesoli [iet tara lil Fran[isku fil-porziuncola u [abitlu l-]elu li tant kien j]obbu, Fran- [isku, li issa kien g]ama g]al kollox, qalilhom: Dan il-]elu, na]seb li jog]o- [bu lil fra Bernardo. Bg]at g]alih u Bernardo g]ad ma[enbu, filwaqt li qallu: Missier, nitolbok, sabiex int tberikni u turini l-im]abba tieg]ek, g]aliex jekk inti t]obbni b im]abba ta missier, jiena nemmen li l-istess Alla u l-a]wa l-o]rajn kollha j]obbuni aktar. Peress li ma setax jara, Fran- [isku firex idu fuq fra Egidio imma meta nteba] bl-i\ball, po[[ieha fuq ras Bernardo tieg]i u bierku (CA 12 ÊFSF 619Ë). Imbg]ad qal lil wie]ed mill-a]wa: Ikteb dak li se ng]- idlek: L-ewwel wie]ed fost l-a]wa li tani l-mulej kien fra Bernardo u kien l-ewwel wie]ed li ]addan sa l-a]]ar il-perfezzjoni tal-evan[elju mqaddes, billi qassam [idu kollu lill-foqra. G]aldaqstant, min]abba dawn id-doni u m]abba l-grazzji l-o]ra jiena mi\mum li dejjem in]obbu aktar minn kull wie]ed mill-a]wa l-o]ra tal-ordni. G]alhekk jiena rrid u nikkmanda, kemm nista, li jkun min ikun Ministru {eneral, g]andu j]obbu u jqimu daqslikieku j]obb u jqim lili, u wkoll il-ministri Provin`jali u l-a]wa l-o]ra kollha tal-ordni huma mi\mumin li jistmawh b]alma kieku kienu jistmaw lili (FSF193). Tumas minn Celano kiteb li darba Fran[isku kien g]amel profezija fuq Bernardo fejn qal li dan kellu ji[i m[arrab minn e\er`tu ta xjaten, imma g]akemm jg]addi minn ]afna ti[rib, fl-a]]arnett jirba] fuq kollox. Fil-fatt il- mewt tieg]u kienet tiddi b bosta mirakli u dak li qal il-bniedem ta Alla se]] kelma b kelma; hekk li l-a]wa fil-mewt tieg]u qalu: Tassew li qatt ma konna nafu lil dan ]una sakemm kien g]adu ]aj ( 2C19 ÊFSF768Ë; ara wkoll Fior6 ÊFSF1592Ë). Dwar l-a]]ar jiem ta ]ajtu, l-speculum Perfectionis tg]idilna li huwa ried joqg]od bilqieg]da u ried sa`erdot dejjem mieg]u. Wara li miet, [ismu sar bajdani u la]- mu sar artab u kien jidher donnu qieg]ed jitbissem, hekk li ta mejjet deher isba] milli kien meta kien g]adu ]aj (ara 107 ÊFSF1554Ë). Kif kien xieraq il-fdal tieg]u jinsab midfun fil- Ba\ilika ta S. Fran[isk f Assisi (ara LdL1 ÊFSF1421Ë) Dante fid-divina Commedia jg]id hekk fuqu: il venerabile Bernardo / si scalzo prima e dietro a tanta pace / corse, e correndo gli parv esser tardo. ( Paradiso XI, 79-81) Il-grotta msej]a ta fra Bernardo li tinsab ]dejn il-kunvent ta Le Carceri, li jinsab il barra minn Assisi. OFM-LINK APRIL 2011-6

THE SHRINES ( 2 ) where the memory of Francis and Clare remains 2 The holy Valley of Rieti a. Greccio and the humility of the Incarnation It is one of the hermitages most loved by Francis, for the poverty of the site, but above all for the poverty and simplicity of its inhabitants. With them he wished to revive and contemplate concretely the humility of the Incarnation of the Son of God (1Cel 84). The Child wonderfully brought back to life in Greccio at Christmas 1223 was the tangible sign of what had occurred in the life and preaching of Francis: the child Jesus was brought back to life in many hearts that had forgotten him (1Cel 86). 3 - La Verna and the Love of the Passion. b. Fontecolombo is the hermitage where Francis brought to a conclusion the long journey of formulating the Rule, which was composed on the basis of experience with the agreement of all the friars of the Chapter (see: Letter to a Minister 12). Here the Founder gathering together like crumbs of bread (2Cel 209)all the inspirational elements of the charism, in intimate communion and faithfulness to Christ, wrote the Rule, which he then placed before Pope Honorius III for definitive approval. In the hermitage of La Verna the Paschal Mystery reached the height of its intensity and the participation of the great heart and fragile body of Francis. O my Lord Jesus Christ, two graces I ask of you before I die: that I may feel in my body that pain which you, sweet Jesus, sustained in the hour of your passion; and that I may feel in my heart the overflowing love which you, Son of God, were enflamed to sustain such suffering for sinners like us. (Cons. on the Stigmata, III). The signs of love for the crucified Christ which Francis bore in his heart, that night were made visible also on his body: mens in carne patuit (S. Bonav., Itin., Prol 3): so much as to transform the lover into the image of the beloved (LegMaior XIII,5) OFM-LINK APRIL 2011-7

A constant All of the places which conserve a memory of the passage or habitation of Francis, those mentioned but also others, (Speco di Narni, Monteluco, Hermitage of Cesi, Celle di Cortona, Poggio Bustone, Monte Casale etc.) are hermitages, that is, places of contemplative and silent prayer, places of poor but joyous fraternity, places of penance and purification of the heart: indispensable passages in the formation of Francis and his friars. It is significant that the subsequent reforms of the Order have carved their incipit in the hermitages: the Observance Reformer Movement commenced anew with Fra Paoluccio Trinci in the hermitage of Brogliano in 1368 and grew stronger in the hermitages for around 50 years. The Capuchin Reform was also born to eremitcam vitam ducere (Religionis zelus, 2). Monteluco di Spoleto Speco di Narni Poggio Bustone +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ continued from page 10... We are well and are continuing our work, despite the situation being unclear and not knowing who actually controls the city, Sr. Elisabeth of the Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception told MISNA from Benghazi. The police and army have disappeared, everyone is thinking of their own safety, guarding their homes, businesses and neighborhoods. Sr. Elisabeth said she was unsure of how many people have been injured or killed. But we know there are many, she said. She added that the Libyan people are weary. In a brief telephone conversation with CNA on Feb. 24, Bishop Sylvester Magro, Apostolic Vicar of Benghazi, said that the principal concern of the Catholic Church is to be close to the sick and suffering, so our contribution to the events is invaluable because of our closeness to the people. He said that the Catholic population shares the fate of everybody else, at this point. Bishop Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli, Apostolic Vicar of Tripoli, told Fides on Feb. 23 that the Catholic community in Libya is made up entirely of foreigners. While the Europeans have been mostly evacuated, the Filipinos - who have a particular presence as hospital nurses - have remained, but the African immigrants are the ones who need the most assistance. Bishop Martinelli is convinced that there are many people who want peace above all. Of the Church in Tripoli, he said they have not had any trouble. We even had some signs of solidarity on the part of the Libyans, in the form of assistance to both the sisters and to Christians, such as the Filipino nurses who are serving at local hospitals. He is closely monitoring the situation of religious communities, he said. For those working around the clock to treat victims, they have instructions that they may leave the country for a period of rest if they feel mentally and physically infirm. Bishop Martinelli also said that one group of religious sisters who work with immigrants in Tripoli may soon be leaving the city anyway because in this situation it is precarious to work. OFM-LINK APRIL 2011-8

Mill-gazzetti : N.B. Din is-silta hija parti minn artilklu li deher fil-gazzetta Le]en issewwa tas-sibt 17 ta Lulju 2010, pa[na 16. Hija [iet miktuba minn Mons. Philip Calleja. Il-Breakwater tar mal-ajru u baqa fl-ajru..il-medda bajda li tie]u sal-fanal kellha tara[ g]allba]ar fuq in-na]a tal-port, biex in-nies li jkunu fuq id-dg]- ajjes ikunu jistg]u jitilg]u minnu. Dan it-tara[ ifakkarni f Patri Dovik (ndr. Odorik) Grima, patri Fran[iskan, minn G]awdex, li kien imlaqqam il- Patri tal Almanakk g]aliex kien jo]ro[ almanakk li fih kien ibassar it-temp. Dan kien jin\el dan it-tara[ sal-wiesa ta isfel u li kienet tmiss mal-ba]ar u jg]addi ]in ta xi [ranet fil-[img]a jaqbad il-qarnit. Lili la]aq ]adni mieg]u. Hu - ta Fran[iskan li kien - kien ikun bil-qorq u allura kien jg]affe[ fl-a]]ar tar[a, li fuqha kien jitla l-ba]ar, bil-qorq b kollox. Meta jin\el kont narah jo]ro[ mill-komma wiesg]a b but [ewwa ta idu x-xellugija l-ikel, is-snanar u maktur kbir bi drapp ji\loq biex fih ige\wer il-qarnit li jaqbad. Jiena kont nie]u gost narah ixammar it-tonka minn fuq idejh it-tnejn u jintefa jg]arbel i]ares l isfel biex jara liema na]a g]andu jitfa l-ikel u s-sunnara bl-ikel li biha j[ieg]el ilqarnita ti[ri warajh sa ]dejn il-qorq ta saqajh. Kont ni``assa narah jaqbad il-qarnit. Malli jaqbad wa]da, ifittex li jaqilbilha rasha u jbattilha l-forza li b idejha kienet taqbad mieg]u. malli jaqbad wa]da kien ji[i jurihilna u a]na ta tfal konna nitqa\\u naraw dawk l-idejn talqarnita qishom tax-xa]am jaqbdu mieg]u. Kien jistedinna naqalg]u l-idejn tal-qarnita li te]el ma idejh, imma jiena qatt ma naf li messejt id ta qarnita wa]da. Dawn il-patrijiet ( ndr. ]afna minn dawn ]utna g]exu filkunvent tag]na tal-belt - ir-ritratt juri l-knisja tag]na minn [ewwa) kienu ]elwin. Kollha kienu j[orru a[[ettiv ma isimhom : Patri Dovik ( ndr. Odorik) ta l-almanakk, Patri {or[ li jqarar, Patri Dovik tal-pipa, Patri Leonard li jag]- mel id-duwa fil-kamra maqg]uda mas-sagristija, Patri Tar`is u Patri Karm, Patri Vella u Patri Leopoldu li jkantaw, Patri Fons tal-army u li jke``i x-xjaten, Patri Hersey u Patri Ferriggi tas-servizzi, li ]afna drabi kienu ji[u bl-uniformi tan-navy u tal-air Force, Fra Anton tas-sagristija, Patri Norbert li ma jismax, Patri Berardu l-provin`jal li n\ommlu l-bu[ija. Kien hemm o]rajn b]al Patri Bajada, li wara sar Provin`jal, konna nafuh ta quddiem l-oratorju, Patri Galea ta Strada Sta Lucia, Patri Mikiel Tal-Forn, Patri Alessju ta ~ensu ta\-\ebg]a, Patri Camillo \-\g]ir, Patri Guido li jid]aq. Kienu patrijiet stupendi u li ma tista tinsiehom qatt... veru fran- [iskani ]bieb u ta g]ajnuna g]al kul]add. OFM-LINK APRIL 2011-9

Is-sitwazzjoni fil-libja Fil-mejda maltija u dik internazzjonali fost l-a]barijiet li bdew ji[u mxandra dwar din issitwazzjoni, kien hemm intervisti ma Mons. G. Martinelli O.F.M. u ma Mons. S. Magro O.F.M. }awn se n[iebu biss \ew[ artikli li dehru. In-Nazzjon 2/3/2011 Ma nistax nabbanduna l-vapur meta jkun fil-maltemp... mhux lest li nitlaq mill-belt ta Benghazi anke jekk is-sitwazzjoni taf tiddeterjora fil-jiem li [ejjin L-Isqof Malti f Benghazi Silvestru Magro O.F.M. Jien inqis ru]i b]ala l-kaptan ta vapur u ma nistax nabbanduna dan il-vapur meta jkun filmaltemp. Dan kien il-kumment li ta lil IN-NAZZJON l-isqof Malti ( ndr. Fran[iskan) li jinsab f Benghazi Silvestru Magro, u li sa]aq kemm-il darba li mhux lest jitlaq mill-belt Libjana anke jekk is-sitwazzjoni taf tiddeterjora fil-jiem li [ejjin. L-Isqof Malti qal li issa donnu li l- inkwiet f din il-belt g]adda, u kollox hu lura g]an-normal bil-]wienet qed jer[g]u jift]u u kul]add qed jg]ix ]ajja normali, dan anke jekk kul]add hu konxju li s-sitwazzjoni fil-pajji\, spe`jalment fi Tripli, taf tmur g]all-ag]ar fil-jiem li [ejjin. Fil-kummenti tieg]u, l-isqof Malti qal li l-belt ta Benghazi qed ter[a tie]u l-]ajja. Hu qal li se jibqa fil-post g]ax hu responsabbli minn tant sorijiet li qed jag]tu l-g]ajnuna tag]hom f diversi sptarijiet madwar il-belt u qed jg]inu lil dawk li [ew feruti waqt l-inkwiet qalil li nqala fil-belt ta Benghazi. Hu wkoll responsabbli mis-sa`erdoti li qed ikomplu l-appostolat tag]hom kif jistg]u, u anke min]abba l-fatt li l-komunità Kattolika li tinsab fil-belt qed issib appo[[ u wens filkomunità nisranija. Hu qal li l-poplu Libjan li jg]ix fil-belt ta Benghazi jie]u r-ru] meta jara li l-isqof u s-sa`erdoti baqg]u mag]hom anke meta s-sitwazzjoni kienet wa]da ta kri\i enormi. Kien hemm u]ud, qal l-isqof Magro fil-kumment lil IN-NAZZJON, li bkew bil-fer] meta raw li g]adhom hemm mag]hom. Meta mistoqsi dwar is-sitwazzjoni fi Tripli u kif il-komunità nisranija f Benghazi qed tilqa g]aliha, l-isqof Magro qal li huma mhu qed jippreparaw g]al xejn u li ji[i merb]a bih, anke min]abba li ]add ma jista jipprevedi x se ji[ri. Hu fisser ukoll li minkejja li xejn mhu uffi`jali, jirri\ulta li hemm xi forma ta tmexxija fil-belt, liema tmexxija s issa qed jirnexxilha tre[[a lura s-sitwazzjoni g]an-normal. - Fil-webpage tal-catholic News Agency - 24/2/2011 Amid violent protests, Catholic missionaries continue their work in Libya Tripoli, Libya, Feb 24, 2011 / 02:03 pm CNA News).- As a swell of protestors and pro-government troops battle to establish control of Libyan cities, Catholic missionaries continue to carry out their work..the Italian bishops' SIR news reported that the Catholic Church is organizing for the evacuation of 500 illegal emigrants, largely Eritreans. Catholic priests and religious are weathering the storm. Many religious sisters work in hospitals and are working overtime with casualties from the conflicts..p. 8 OFM-LINK APRIL 2011-10

13 ta Frar 2011 Mons. J. Bonello O.F.M., b]ala Isqof Koadjutur, g]all-ewwel darba mexxa Quddiesa Kon`elebrata Pontifikali fil-katidral ta Juticalpa. Il-Provin`jal u l-a]wa, li marru g]all- Ordinazzjoni Episkopali tieg]u, kienu fost dawk li kkon`elebraw mieg]u. OFM-LINK APRIL 2011-11

Mons. Jose flimkien ma ]utu, li tnejn minhom jg]ixu l-awstralja OFM-LINK APRIL 2011-12

{ewwa l-[\ira G]awdxija Quddiesa Kon`elebrata [ewwa l-katidral ta G]awdex Mer]ba u Quddiesa Kon`elebrata fil-knisja Parrokkjali ta Marija Bambina fix-xag]ra OFM-LINK APRIL 2011-13

Fis-Santwarju tal-madonna ta Pinu u fil-knisja tag]na ta S. Antnin u S.Fran[isk, il-}amrun }ajr lil www.ofm.org.mt www.frangiskani.com www.xaghraparish.com www.ghajnsielem.com www.gozonews.com fra Lorrie Zerafa O.F.M. OFM-LINK APRIL 2011-14

A}BARIJIET MILL-PROVIN~JA TAG}NA Minn mindu bdiet il-kri\i tal-taqlib politiku fil-libja, il-provin`jal qieg]ed f kuntatt dirett kemm mall-isqfijiet tal-post, kif ukoll ma l-ordni tag]na u man-nunzju Appostoliku g]al Malta u l-libja, Mons. Tommaso Caputo. Huwa, f isem il-provin`ja tag]na, dejjem offra kull g]ajnuna li a]na nistg]u nag]tu. Fl-istess waqt huwa offra kull g]ajnuna lill-membri tal-medja dwar it-tag]rif li seta jg]addi f dawn il-mumentii tant delikati. Fit-28 ta Frar l-attur Martin Sheen attenda g]all-film premiere The Way, li ntwera fl- Embassy Cinema tal-belt. Fost l-o]rajn attendew wkoll l-ambaxxatur Amerikan u martu. Dan sar b]ala fund-raising g]al bosta ]idmiet li qed jwettaq il-laboratorju tal-pa`i. Ftit qabel huwa \ar dan il-laboratorju u ltaqa ma P. Dionysus u r-refu[jati, li jinsabu hemmhekk. Matul ix-xhur ta Marzu u April il-provin`jal kompla bi\-\jarat fil-fraternitajiet tag]na b]ala parti mill-vi\ta kanonika ta qabel il-kapitlu Intermedju Provin`jali. Huwa kellu `-`ans li jkellem lill-patrijiet b mod individwali, kif ukoll lill-fraternitajiet fuq il-]idmiet partikulari tag]hom. Bejn id-9 u s-16 t April huwa \ar l-a]wa li qed jg]ixu f Londra, Assisi u Ruma. Nhar is-17 ta Marzu Mons. J. Bonello re[a lura lejn il-honduras. Sakemm dam Malta huwa qag]ad mal-fraternita ta Tas-Sliema. Permezz ta ittra li huwa bg]at lill-provin`jal, huwa jirringrazzja lil kul]add g]al dak kollu li g]amilna mieg]u matul i\-\jara fostna. Grazzi, b mod spe`jali, lill-membri tal-kummissjoni, li ]ejjiet u mexxiet il-programm mfassal minnha. Fid-19 ta Marzu [iet i``elebrata l-festa solenni ta S. {u\epp filknisja tag]na tar-rabat. G]al din l-okka\joni Mons. S. Magro OFM, Vigarju Appostoliku ta Bengasi, bg]at messa[[ permezz tat-telefon. Il-Kurja {eneralizja tal-ordni tag]na g]arfitna li, g]all-kapitlu Provin`jali Intermedju se jkollna fostna lil P. Francesco Antonelli O.F.M., li b]alissa qed ja]dem b]ala Vi`i- Postulatur fl-uffi``ju tal-postulazzjoni {enerali kif ukoll qed jag]ti l-kontribut tieg]u fl- Uffi``ju {uridiku. P. Francesco huwa mid]la sew tal-li[i kanonika u kien konsultur fil- Kongregazzjoni tal-kaw\i tal-qaddisin. Huwa se jg]inna biex na[[ornaw l-istatuti Provin`jali. Bejn il-21 u l-25 ta Marzu d-direzzjoni tal-porziuncola Retreat House organizzat kors ta e\er`izzi g]al kul]add. L-animatur kien P. Richard Stanley Grech. Dawn bdew b quddiesa fis-7.00 pm. L-attendenza kienet tajba ]afna. Bosta a]wa o]ra mexxew korsijiet t e\er`izzi f bosta knejjes u postijiet o]ra. O Alla Missier, kun mal-fraternita provin`jali tag]na li qed t]ejji ru]ha g]all-kapitlu, ag]mel li n]arsu l-evan[elju Mqaddes ta Ibnek {esu Kristu Sidna, kif weg]edna. OFM-LINK APRIL 2011-15

FESTI MEJJU 2011 BIRTHDAYS 03. P. Alexander Borg 07. P. Charles Diacono P. Sandro Overend 08. P. Mark Enriquez - Provincjal 27. P. Raymond Falzon 12. P. Cherubim Galea 19. P. Ivo Tonna Xewqat qaddisa!!!!!!!! PORZIUNCOLA RETREAT HOUSE - Ba]ar i`-~ag]aq ~elebrazzjoni Penitenzjali 20 t April fis-7.00 pm Animatur : P. Prov. Sandro Overend O.F.M. Aktar informazzjoni : 21374222 (mit-8.00 am san-12.00 pm ) L-G}ID IT-TAJJEB LIL KUL}ADD F DIN IL-}AR{A Bl. Angela of Foligno 2-4 Fra Bernardo da Quintavalle 5-6 The Shrines (2) 7-8 Mill-gazzetti 9 Is-sitwazzjoni fil-libja 10 13 ta Frar 2011 11 I\-\jara f pajji\na 12-14 A]barijiet mill-provin`ja tag]na 15 OFM - LINK L-Editur P. Alexander Borg O.F.M. Patrijiet Fran[iskani Triq Dun Pawl Vella Tas-Sliema SLM 1184 Tel. 21 33 11 83 E-mail: fralex@maltanet.net g]all-a]]ar aggornamenti hhtp:/ ofm.org.mt Grazzi lil P. Joseph Magro O.F.M. OFM-LINK APRIL 2011-16