By Hannah Gordon
Assistant News Editor
Pope Francis called for a day of fasting and prayer on Sat., Sept. 7 to recognize increasing violence in Syria and threat of further war. Members of the St. Bonaventure community also took part. However, with such short notice, no specified event was created.
“We figured what could we do that would have an impact on the campus without planning anything elaborate,” said Father Francis Di Spigno, O.F.M., executive director of university ministries.
Father Francis made the decision to add prayers to the masses focused on Syria, offering guidance for world leaders. On Sunday, at the 10:30 a.m. and 7 p.m. masses, specific prayers were added to the Prayers of the Faithful and a special blessing was offered as the closing prayer.
It was a “blessing over the Syrian people, a blessing for the leaders, and a blessing for the world,” Father Francis said.
The core of the closing blessing, from The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, reads, “Hear the cries of the people of Syria; bring healing to those suffering from the violence, and comfort to those mourning the dead. Empower and encourage Syria’s neighbors in their care and welcome for refugees. Convert the hearts of those who have taken up arms, and strengthen the resolve of those committed to peace.”
During the Sunday masses, Father Francis read Pope Francis’ homily instead of his own. He displayed a picture of Pope Francis to offer a visual representation as he recited the homily, first given the night before.
“I thought it was better to hear it from the original,” Father Francis said. “The message was simple and he starts off with the fact that we are all blessed and good because we are created in God’s image and likeness.”
Other components of the mass that emphasized the prayers for peace in Syria were inspired by Father Francis’ experience at Mt. Irenaeus.
“Friday night, I happened to be at the Mountain with the Franciscan healthcare students,” Father Francis said. “At the end of the experience, we had a sharing and a prayer in the Holy Peace Chapel and a Muslim student stood up and said, ‘I would just like to pray for my Muslim brothers in Syria.’ I was just really moved by that because as a Muslim, he has a connection to Muslims everywhere, just as we as Christians have connections to Christians everywhere.”
Father Francis said he was so moved by this that he relayed the student’s words to begin his personal prayer for the people of Syria during mass.
This action mirrored Pope Francis’ call to live together and be peaceful. In his homily from St. Peter’s Square on Sept. 7, Pope Francis said, “I ask the Lord that we Christians, and our brothers and sisters of other religions, and every man and woman of good will, cry out forcefully: violence and war are never the way to peace.”
