#11 - June 12, 2004

Dear Friends,

We will gather on Sunday June 6th at the Catholic Chapel at Brandeis U. at 3pm for our monthly Badaliya prayer for Peace and Reconciliation in the Middle East especially in the Holy Land and Irak. Please join us in prayer.

This will be our last meeting until after the summer, however we continue to encourage the First Friday fast and prayer for world Peace in solidarity with the Union of Charles de Foucauld. The First Friday falls this week on June 4th.

Despite the increasing crisis in the world today our theme for our prayer is one of hope and courage. In his letters to the Badaliya Massignon wrote of the encouragement that he received from articles in journals, even those in the United States. For those that might like to see what others in the Arab world are doing to encourage inter-religious dialogue and reconciliation there is a description of a meeting in Qatar held this past week which you can find at http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=46898.

I will be attending the 50th anniversary of the Muslim/Christian pilgrimage that Massignon started in 1954 in Brittany, France this summer. It is a tribute to Louis Massignon and his extraordinary faith and vision that this pilgrimage in a tiny village in Brittany still continues to honor Muslim and Christian relations. It is held in a small chapel dedicated to the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus which is a story that is found in the XVIII Sura of the Qur'an about 7 Christian Saints. The story is chanted in Arabic at the pilgrimage every year on the week-end on or following the feast of Mary Magdalen, July 22nd. This year the pilgrimage will take place July 24-25th.

If you would like to know more details about the story of the Seven Saints of Ephesus please read the final chapter in "Dialogues with Saints and Mystics: In the Spirit of Louis Massignon"A short version of the original story can also be found in the Encyclopedia.

Thank you for your continuing interest in Massignon's Badaliya and for joining us in prayer and Spirit. May you find peace in your hearts and joy in the Spirit during this summer and always.
Dorothy