"Never again war!"

Chapelle Notre Dame de la Paix, Our Lady of Peace,
Saint-Mère-Eglise, Normandy, France

Michael and I were married in a small chapel dedicated to Our Lady Queen of Peace, on the campus of St. Edward's University in Austin.

Three decades later, the devotion to Our Lady Queen of Peace remains very close to my heart.

I was deeply moved by Pope Francis’ urgent call for prayers for peace on Sunday. Urging the international community, he challenged people around the globe to  join together in this prayer effort, commending it to Our Lady, the Queen of Peace.

The Pope invited people of all faiths to join him and the world's Catholics in a day of prayer and fasting this Saturday, Sept. 7, saying, 

“we will gather in prayer and in a spirit of penance, invoking God’s great gift of peace upon the beloved nation of Syria and upon each situation of conflict and violence around the world. Humanity needs to see these gestures of peace and to hear words of hope and peace! I ask all the local churches, in addition to fasting, that they gather to pray for this intention.”

“War never again! Never again war! Peace is a precious gift, which must be promoted and protected.”  

"Never has the use of violence brought peace in its wake. War begets war, violence begets violence.” 

As we “speak,” I am working out details to set up a public gathering for prayer in my city—but wherever you find yourself, I urge and invite you to do the same!

Pope Francis will lead us in prayer and fasting from St. Peter's Square from 7 pm until midnight (Rome time) – noon to 5 p.m. CST -- this Saturday, September 7.

Below is the full text of Pope Francis' appeal:

Dear Brothers and Sisters, 

Hello! 

Today, dear brothers and sisters, I wish to make add my voice to the cry which rises up with increasing anguish from every part of the world, from every people, from the heart of each person, from the one great family which is humanity: it is the cry for peace! It is a cry which declares with force: we want a peaceful world, we want to be men and women of peace, and we want in our society, torn apart by divisions and conflict, that peace break out! War never again! Never again war! Peace is a precious gift, which must be promoted and protected. 

There are so many conflicts in this world which cause me great suffering and worry, but in these days my heart is deeply wounded in particular by what is happening in Syria and anguished by the dramatic developments which are looming. 

I appeal strongly for peace, an appeal which arises from the deep within me. How much suffering, how much devastation, how much pain has the use of arms carried in its wake in that martyred country, especially among civilians and the unarmed! I think of many children will not see the light of the future! With utmost firmness I condemn the use of chemical weapons: I tell you that those terrible images from recent days are burned into my mind and heart. There is a judgment of God and of history upon our actions  which are inescapable! Never has the use of violence brought peace in its wake. War begets war, violence begets violence. 

With all my strength, I ask each party in this conflict to listen to the voice of their own conscience, not to close themselves in solely on their own interests, but rather to look at each other as brothers and decisively and courageously to follow the path of encounter and negotiation, and so overcome blind conflict. With similar vigour I exhort the international community to make every effort to promote clear proposals for peace in that country without further delay, a peace based on dialogue and negotiation, for the good of the entire Syrian people. 

May no effort be spared in guaranteeing humanitarian assistance to those wounded by this terrible conflict, in particular those forced to flee and the many refugees in nearby countries. May humanitarian workers, charged with the task of alleviating the sufferings of these people, be granted access so as to provide the necessary aid. 

What can we do to make peace in the world? As Pope John said, it pertains to each individual to establish new relationships in human society under the mastery and guidance of justice and love (cf. John XXIII, Pacem in Terris, [11 April 1963]: AAS 55, [1963], 301-302). 

All men and women of good will are bound by the task of pursuing peace. I make a forceful and urgent call to the entire Catholic Church, and also to every Christian of other confessions, as well as to followers of every religion and to those brothers and sisters who do not believe: peace is a good which overcomes every barrier, because it belongs all of humanity! 

I repeat forcefully: it is neither a culture of confrontation nor a culture of conflict which builds harmony within and between peoples, but rather a culture of encounter and a culture of dialogue; this is the only way to peace. 

May the plea for peace rise up and touch the heart of everyone so that they may lay down their weapons and be let themselves be led by the desire for peace. 

To this end, brothers and sisters, I have decided to proclaim for the whole Church on 7 September next, the vigil of the birth of Mary, Queen of Peace, a day of fasting and prayer for peace in Syria, the Middle East, and throughout the world, and I also invite each person, including our fellow Christians, followers of other religions and all men of good will, to participate, in whatever way they can, in this initiative. 

On 7 September, in Saint Peter’s Square, here, from 19:00 until 24:00, we will gather in prayer and in a spirit of penance, invoking God’s great gift of peace upon the beloved nation of Syria and upon each situation of conflict and violence around the world. Humanity needs to see these gestures of peace and to hear words of hope and peace! I ask all the local churches, in addition to fasting, that they gather to pray for this intention. 

Let us ask Mary to help us to respond to violence, to conflict and to war, with the power of dialogue, reconciliation and love. She is our mother: may she help us to find peace; all of us are her children! Help us, Mary, to overcome this most difficult moment and to dedicate ourselves each day to building in every situation an authentic culture of encounter and peace. 

Mary, Queen of Peace, pray for us!

 

stained glass of WWII paratroopers with Our Lady at
Saint-Mère-Eglise, Normandy, France

the sounds of sacrifice

World War I memorial marker on a country road, Normandy, France

The year I turned two years old, musician and composer Benjamin Britten debuted his monumental piece “War Requiem,” which was recently reviewed in the Wall Street Journal in an article titled “The Sounds of Sacrifice.”

For the text, Britten selected nine poems by Lt. Wilfred Edward Salter Owen, who died on the battlefield in 1918—interweaving the lyrics into the traditional Mass for the Dead. The musical pieces (which you can check out on YouTube) will shake you to the core with their intensity. At the same time, however, I find the words, the poems, disarming and moving in their honest simplicity.

War Requiem: "Agnus Dei" by Benjamin Britten

On our recent French pilgrimage, I was struck by how recent and relevant the two World Wars are in that part of the world. We visited churches and cathedrals destroyed by bombings; towns that had been occupied by the enemy then liberated; and of course, cemeteries that spoke their own unique, silent story.

I suppose it makes sense that in a landscape where history can be seen and touched that dates back 1,000 years, the 1940s are deemed very recent to the collective memory of that region.

Above is the Chapelle Notre Dame de la Paix, Our Lady of Peace, in the village of Saint-Mère Eglise, where American paratroopers converged in the early morning hours of June 6, D-Day. This set the events of that historic day in motion, beginning with the taking of Utah Beach.

Utah beach

“The allied forces landing on this shore which they call Omaha Beach liberate Europe –June 6^th 1944”

Monument "Les Braves" at Omaha Beach

local roads are named after the soldiers killed on D-Day

Infamous Point du Hoc, 4 miles west of Omaha Beach, where the cliffs proved deadly
for American troops trying to reach the German bunkers

American cemetery at Normandy

Stained glass featuring the paratroopers at the Saint-Mère Eglise chapel

Our Lady of Peace, pray for us

a hipster Mary, Chaggal, Hitler, a cyclop abbey--and yes, Joan of Arc!

windows by Mark Chaggal

Notre Dame de Reims

Before going into today's treasures from our pilgrimage through the French countryside, I want to share another wonderful image of Mother Mary, from yesterday's visit to Amiens:

I absolutely love her smile and how she's pointing to Jesus as if saying (a very motherly thing), "hey, did you hear what he just said?"  

By the way, I learned that this "style" of pose is called "hipped" because of its posture. How appropriate! I don't know any mother that has not held their young child at some point by posturing the son or daughter on her hip!

Today began with a visit to the Armistice Museum, just outside of our home base of Campaigne. This is where the Germans surrendered to the French at the end of WWI, and where the French surrendered to Hitler as they advanced into France during WWII.  It was quite provocative and 

I'm still pondering emotions from that one.

From there we drove to Soissons, where 80% of the town was destroyed by German artillery at the final retreat of the war. The cathedral itself was so seriously damaged that the Michelin Battlefield Guide declared it "beyond hope of repair" at the end of WWII.  Yet it still stands!

artillery shell on the facade of the cathedral

Also in Soissons, we visited St. Jean desVignes Abbey, or rather -- its remains. Only the facade of the Abbey church remains, but what a sight it is! I've never seen anything like it. It was huge, and still felt alive. Perhaps its because I kept thinking that it looked like a mythical one-eyed cyclop overseeing the valley before it! 

Also, I am obsessed with the vast yellow fields we keep driving by all over the countryside, a crop we think is mustard, although some of the sources I've read call it rape seed -- which turns into rapeseed oil used for cooking oil, paints, animal feed, margarine. All  I know is that I keep taking pictures hoping one will capture its awesomeness, but alas, I don't think it's possible!

As MarySue noted today, our great cathedrals are growing in stature and beauty by the day, like a major crescendo on our great Gothic French cathedrals pilgrimage ! Our finale today was Notre Dame de Reims, dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption.

 Joan of Arc was everywhere. The Reims Cathedral is where Joan of Arc brought the man who was to be declared King of France--and where a long line of French kings have been coronated. Today we saw Joan in traditional form, and as part of an exhibit by contemporary artist Greg Tricker:

St. Jeanne, la colombé: St. Joan, the dove