October 14, 2012
Dear Friends,
On Sunday October 14, 2012 members of the Badaliya and invited guests will gather
together to honor the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Louis Massignon.
A Memorial Mass in the Melkite Catholic tradition will be celebrated at 3:00
pm at St. Pauls Church in Cambridge, MA.A reception will follow the Mass which
will include a photo retrospective of Louis Massgnon and
Mary Kahil, founders of the Badaliya Prayer Movement in Cairo, Egypt in 1934,
and a reflection in tribute to the 10th anniversary of the 2002 revival of the
Badaliya Prayer for our time. Reflections on the legacy of Louis Massignon will
be offered by our guests, Reverend Sidney Griffith and Mr. Christian Krokus,
Ph.D.
Members of St.Pauls' Adult Choir will provide the music for the Melkite
liturgy which will be concelebrated by St.Pauls' Reverend James
Savage with our guest Presider, Rt. Rev. Philip
Raczka, Rector of Annunciation Melkite Catholic Cathedral in West Roxbury, MA
and Vicar-General of the Melkite Diocese.
Our Badaliya gatherings have been inspired and nurtured by the letters that
Massignon himself wrote to members of the Badaliya in his time as well as by
his many publications. Our gathering on October 14th is a prayerful tribute
to the legacy of a 20th century spiritual guide and exceptional scholar of the
Muslim world. Many have called Massignon a prophet in his time and in this fiftieth
year anniversary of the Vatican II Council some have pointed to Massignon's
influence on the documents dedicated to other religions, especially Islam. As
a gifted linguist skilled in Semitic languages and as an intense spiritual seeker,
he chose to worship in the Melkite Catholic tradition in order to pray in Arabic.
The Eastern Churches today belong to several different traditions and communions.
The Catholic Communion embraces all the Eastern Catholic Churches as well as
the Roman Catholic Church and includes the "Melkite" liturgical tradition that
we will experience on Sunday, October 14, 2012.
Members of St. Pauls Badaliya have a particular relationship to these Eastern
liturgies that continue to flourish in the Holy Land, or Middle East, where
Christianity was born. Massignon's writings before, during and after the establishment
of the State of Israel and his vision of the role of Christians living in the
Holy Land in relation to Islam and Judaism, became the inspiration for us to
establish a relationship with a Parish in Beit Sahour, Palestine. Although Massignon
did not suggest specific actions for the Badaliya members, the natural outcome
for the prayer of substitution ineveitably led him and us to "cross over" to
the "others" for whom and with whom we pray in more and more intense engagement.Our
pilgrimages to the Holy Land are designed to meet our Christian brothers and
sisters who are the "living stones" who continue to witness to the love of Christ
for all of humanity daily in the midst of their Muslim and Jewish friends and
neighbors. We meet many courageous people from all three Abrahamic faiths who
are working tirelessly for peace and reconciliation in Israel and Palestine
and we join them in spirit through our monthly Badaliya prayer gatherings.
The Badaliya was established in Damietta, Egypt in 1934 for Christians living
in the midst of Islam at the time and struggling to survive. He saw their mission
to not only witness to the love of Christ in the midst of Islam but to also
pray for all Muslims, even substituting oneself for them and thereby crossing
over to embrace them in friendship and mutual understanding, fulfilling Jesus'
commandment to "love your enemies and pray for those who persucute you."
(MT. 5:44.) In 1947 Massignon further identified the prayer of Badaliya with
written Statutes stating the original goals and a detailed description as to
how to attain those goals. Let us pray that our revival of the Badaliya extends
his vision of sustitutionary prayer to the needs of our time, fulfilling his
suggestions as follows:
8. "Charity: Charity consists of an attitude entirely kind, affectionate,
considerate, and truly fraternal, as much as prudence permits, in relation to
the souls that Providence puts on the path of each one."
9. "Personal Holiness does not consist of any particular means, but it
must tend to make the members of the Badaliya living Gospels, in order that
Jesus Christ manifests himself through them and that they give witness to Jesus
Christ by their lives and, if God wills, by their death."
10. "While the Badaliya does not propose exterior action, its members always
look for ways to devote themselves to their Muslim brothers and they will voluntarily
enter into active organizations that are able to animate the spirit of the Badaliya."
Please join us in person or in spirit as we honor the life and legacy of Louis Massignon.
Peace to you.
Dorothy