November 1, 2026.

Dear Friends,

We will gather together remotely for our Badaliya and Peace Islands Institute faith sharing on Sunday, November 1, 2026 from 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm. Please join us on Zoom, or in spirit, as we encourage Inter-faith relations and pray together that the hearts and minds of those perpetrators of violence be transformed from revenge-seekers into peace-seekers. Let us pray that the root causes of the many humanitarian crises in our world leading to so much trauma and human suffering be addressed.

All Saints Day in Catholic Christianity is called a "solemnity", a sacred day to remember not only the revered and canonized saints from historic Christianity but also those "saints" in our own time. Some are on the way to being recognized in the rigorous Church process from Servant of God to Beatification and finally to Canonization and others are those prophetic activists and first responders heroically answering to the many crisis in our world today.

As we continue our 25th year reflecting on the history of the Badaliya, this solemn day reminds us of those who inspired Massignon's vision of Badaliya, including Saint Charles de Foucauld. After his death in the Algerian Sahara during World War I on December 1, 1916, Massignon continued to insure the desert priest's legacy would not be forgotten, believing that one day he would indeed be recognized by the Church as a Saint. It is the stories, the very real human life journeys of these saints, both men and women, that encourages all of us in our own messy lives to grow and allow the spirit to transform us too, often through very painful life experiences, as they did. As one who spent a life time visiting the shrines of Saints of all traditions throughout the world and researching the life and legacy of the well-known 10th century Sufi mystic and saint known as al-Hallâj, it seems fitting that Louis Massignon returned to God on the Vigil of All Saints Day, October 31, 1962. May we remember him today and continue to learn from his rich spiritual and activist legacy.

In 1934, Louis Massignon and Mary Kahil made their vows of Badaliya in a chapel dedicated to Saint Francis located in Damietta, Egypt. Massignon chose this small Franciscan chapel in Damietta to make their vows because it was a memorial to the saint's iconic visit to the Muslim Sultan during the Fifth Crusade in the 13th century described in last month's reflection letter. By 1947, when the Badaliya Statutes had been written and approved, what became known as the "cold war" between Soviet Russia and the West had begun and the Russian Orthodox Church went underground due to its repression by the Bolshevik regime. In solidarity with the Russian Church, Massignon dedicated a vision of the Virgin Mary called "Our Lady of Pokrov" as patron Saint of the Badaliya. At 4 AM during an all-night vigil on October 1, 1911 in the Blachernae Church of the Mother of God in Constantinople, (modern day Istanbul), the Virgin appeared above the crowds of people spreading out her long veil in protection of the world. The choice of the image of the Divine Feminine offering her protection for the Church and humanity under oppression as a patron Saint for the Badaliya arose out of Massignon's belief in the saving power of prayers that appeal to that vast Communion of Saints, especially those dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Devotion to her in the Eastern and Western Churches, as well as in Islam, gave her a unifying spiritual energy for the mission of Badaliya.

After the tragic events of September 11, 2001 in the United States, in response to the need for Catholic Christians to discover the richness of the Islamic faith tradition, we established the Badaliya USA in 2002. Coming together with our Muslim neighbors and co-workers was essential in healing the wounds of 9/11 and countering the negative narratives that permeated the media. This was our time to choose a patron Saint for our monthly gatherings. Well before she was recognized by the Vatican, Louis Massignon suggested that the founder of the Carmelite Monastery in Bethlehem, who he called "the Little Arab", be named as "patron Saint of the Holy Lands".

This is her story: Maryam Baouardy was a Palestinian born on January 5, 1846 into a Melkite Greek Catholic family in Hurfiesh in northern Galilee that was then part of the Ottoman Empire. She was named Maryam by her parents in thanksgiving to the Virgin Mary for prayers offered to her on a pilgrimage to Bethlehem. The couple had suffered the loss of many children in infancy until Maryam was born followed by a brother. They moved to the village of I'billin but when she was only 3 years old both parents died one after the other and she was then taken in by a paternal uncle. Her brother was sent to a maternal aunt in another village and she never saw him again. Her uncle then moved the family to Alexandria Egypt. By the age of 13 she was to be married, as was the custom, when she had a profound religious experience calling her to the religious life. For this resistance she was beaten by her uncle. She tried to contact her brother by sending a letter through a male servant. When he too tried to convince her to marry him and was rejected, he brutally cut her throat and left her to die. Later she told the story of how she was miraculously cared for by a mysterious woman in blue that she identified as the Virgin Mary.

The rest of her story included working as a domestic in an Arab Christian family, journeys to Jerusalem, then to Beirut, Lebanon when a generous patron helped her to move to Marseille, France. It was here that she was finally able to enter a religious community called the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition. Her intense ecstatic prayers led to her receiving the "stigmata", the wounds of the Crucified Christ. After two years, the community voted to not accept her and when another Sister transferred to the Discalced Carmelite community in Pao she was accepted too and became Maryam of Jesus Crucified. This missionary community sent her to India for two years and it was after her return to Pao that she expressed her desire to found a Discalced Carmelite Monastery in Bethlehem. She returned to God on August 28, 1878 at the age of 32 after falling and breaking her arm while helping the laborers who were working on establishing a Carmel in Nazareth. This wound did not heal and the infection led to her death.

In 2002, we chose her as the patron Saint of the Badaliya USA in response to Massignon's vision of her after his many pilgrimages to the Holy Land before and after the establishment of the modern State of Israel. His many publications, meetings with key figures during the late 1930's and 1940's included his prayers and his vision for a better outcome to the conflicts escalating there. It was those publications that inspired us to choose Maryam of Jesus Crucified as patron Saint of the Badaliya USA. By then she had been Beatified on November 23, 1983 by Pope John Paul II. We rejoiced with our Carmelite Sisters when she was Canonized by Pope Francis on May 17, 2015, one of only two Palestinian Saints recognized by the Church.

Our own pilgrimages to the Holy Land introduced us to many Palestinian communities, both Muslim and Christian who have spent years working for peace between all three children of Abraham. May the "Little Arab", Saint Maryam of Jesus Crucified, join our fervent prayers for peace with justice in our Holy Lands and throughout the world. To begin our reflections today let us pray this prayer by our Carmelite Sisters:

"God of hope of every new day, help us to live this day as a people of hope in a world of chaos. May all who face oppression, terror, abuse and suffering in any way know that you call us to life and happiness in this world as well as the world to come. We ask this through the intercession of all who lived as people of hope in the midst of despair and now live with you in everlasting peace. Amen"

Peace to you,
Dorothy

People's Companion to the Breviary vol. II; Carmelites of Indianapolis; 1997. p. 147

See www.dcbuck.com for all past letters to the Badaliya and Peace Islands