It-Tnax -il Appostlu Is-Sena tal-Fidi A Martyr's Letter Extraordinary ...
It-Tnax -il Appostlu Is-Sena tal-Fidi A Martyr's Letter Extraordinary ...
It-Tnax -il Appostlu Is-Sena tal-Fidi A Martyr's Letter Extraordinary ...
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
Hajja Salesjana SETTEMBRU<br />
- OTTUBRU 2012<br />
<strong>il</strong>-226 Óar©a<br />
<strong>Is</strong>-<strong>Sena</strong> <strong>tal</strong>-<strong>Fidi</strong><br />
A Martyr’s <strong>Letter</strong><br />
<strong>It</strong>-<strong>Tnax</strong> -<strong>il</strong> <strong>Appostlu</strong><br />
<strong>Extraordinary</strong> Salesian Parishioner
Óajja Salesjana<br />
St. Patrick’s School, Triq San Ìwann Bosco,<br />
Sliema SLM 1925 – MALTA<br />
Tel. (+356) 2133 0238 / (+00356) 9986 1586<br />
e-ma<strong>il</strong>: hajjasal@salesiansmalta.org<br />
The Logo of the Salesians of Don Bosco is made up of two superimposed images: in<br />
the background a stylised “S” (Salesians) in white marked to the right and left by two<br />
cuttings between the h<strong>il</strong>ls (a road). The second image is in the centre of the globe: an<br />
arrow pointing upwards resting on three perpendicular legs on top of which are three<br />
closed circles making a stylised image of three people: the first of these in the midde<br />
and <strong>tal</strong>ler (the Salesian) appears as if embracing the side figures (the young). The three<br />
stylised figures can also be viewed as an arrow pointing upwards (education / formation)<br />
or simply as a dwelling (Salesian house) with three p<strong>il</strong>lars holding it up (reason, religion,<br />
loving kindness).<br />
The coat of arms of the Salesian Congregation shows the shining star, the large anchor,<br />
the heart on fire symbolizing faith, hope and charity; the figure of St. Francis de Sales<br />
recalling the Patron of the Society; the small wood in the lower part reminds us of the<br />
Founder (Bosco) the high mountains signify the heights of perfection towards which<br />
members strive; the interwoven palm and laurel that enfold the shield either side are<br />
emblematic of the prize reserved for a sacrificial and virtuous life. The motto Da mihi<br />
animas, caetera tolle (give me souls, take the rest) expresses every Salesian’s ideal.<br />
Il-Bulettin Salesjan, imsejja˙ b’diversi ismijiet, ji©i<br />
stampat f’56 edizzjoni u f’ 29 <strong>il</strong>sien madwar iddinja<br />
u huwa mxerred fi 131 nazzjon<br />
Responsible: Fr. Paul Formosa SDB<br />
Director/ Editor: Fr. Joseph Cini SDB<br />
Editorial Board : Margaret Buhagiar,<br />
Andre Cam<strong>il</strong>leri, Josie Grech.<br />
Office: E<strong>il</strong>een Alden, Joyce Scicluna.<br />
Design & Printing: Salesian Press, Sliema.<br />
Tista taqra ˙ajja Salesjana fuq <strong>il</strong>-kompjuter:<br />
http://www.salesiansmalta.org<br />
Front Cover: <strong>It</strong>-tfal u Ω-Ωg˙aΩag˙ huma r-ra©uni<br />
li g˙aliha jeΩistu s-Salesjani<br />
Fuqiex se naqraw<br />
<strong>Is</strong>-<strong>Sena</strong> <strong>tal</strong>-<strong>Fidi</strong> 7<br />
L.T.N. 40th Anniversary 9<br />
Cheyenne the Dog and Dad 12<br />
Brief Life of St. John Bosco 14<br />
A Martyr’s <strong>Letter</strong> to His Girlfriend 16<br />
<strong>It</strong>-<strong>Tnax</strong> -Il <strong>Appostlu</strong> 20<br />
Malta Salesjana 24<br />
Fuq ir-Ramel <strong>tal</strong>-G˙adira 26<br />
<strong>Extraordinary</strong> Salesian Parishioner 29<br />
Olympic Champions 32<br />
Editorjal / Pedago©ija / Calendar of events /<br />
Something to think about / Don Bosco Around the World
Hajja Salesjana<br />
Mixja Spiritwali<br />
Flimkien<br />
Hajjet Dun Bosco kienet, g˙al dawk ta’<br />
madwaru, lezzjoni dejjiema ta’ kif tg˙ix.<br />
Fi kliem Papa Gwanni Pawlu II: ‘Dun Bosco<br />
huwa sinjal qawwi fl-<strong>Is</strong>torja <strong>tal</strong>-Knisja; ˙alla warajh<br />
esperjenza ta’ ˙ajja u metodu ta’ edukazzjoni li<br />
saru parti m<strong>il</strong>l-wirt tag˙na. F<strong>il</strong>-kliem <strong>tal</strong>-Venerabbli<br />
predeçessur tag˙na Pawlu VI, huwa kien “©enju<br />
mag˙ruf ta’ pedago©ija moderna u ta’ katekeΩi,<br />
imma fuq kollox, ©enju <strong>tal</strong>-qdusija”<br />
Dun Bosco offra st<strong>il</strong> uniku ta’ ‘mixja spiritwali<br />
flimkien’ li wasslet liΩ-Ωg˙aΩag˙ tieg˙u g˙allqdusija.<br />
Huwa kien jemmen li dak li jg˙odd ma kienx<br />
li “tag˙mel xi ˙a©a” g˙aΩ-Ωg˙aΩag˙, imma li “tkun<br />
xi ˙add” g˙alihom. Mela mhux “dak li nag˙mel”<br />
daqs kemm “dak li jien” li jiswa g˙alihom. Dun<br />
Bosco kien jag˙ti bidu u possib<strong>il</strong>ta` l<strong>il</strong>l-proçess<br />
fejn jikber dak li hu spiritwali, waqt li jirnexx<strong>il</strong>u<br />
jkun “dak” li joffri direzzjoni l<strong>il</strong> kull tifel. Duminku<br />
Savio, Mikiel Magone u Francesco Besucco huma<br />
frott ta’ din l’esperjenza ma’ Dun Bosco u l-mod<br />
kif kien jakkumpanjhom spiritwalment. Dan jurina<br />
li mhux biΩΩejjed li wie˙ed jorganizza attivitajiet<br />
g˙at-tfal u Ω-Ωg˙aΩag˙ u li sempliçement ikun<br />
preΩenti f<strong>il</strong>-log˙ob jew f<strong>il</strong>-klassi.<br />
EDITORJAL<br />
Jiena, li l<strong>il</strong>i ©iet fdata l-Animazzjoni <strong>tal</strong>-<br />
Vokazzjonijiet Salesjani f’Malta g˙al dawn<br />
l-a˙˙ar 5 snin, skoprejt li mhux biΩΩejjed g˙alija<br />
li norganizza. B˙ala Salesjan irrid nag˙mel pass<br />
ie˙or. Jien msejja˙ sabiex inkun sie˙eb matur<br />
u prezzjuΩ, li lest nisma’, nisfida u ninkora©©ixxi<br />
Ω-Ωag˙Ωug˙ biex j<strong>il</strong>taqa’ verament ma’ Ìesu`.<br />
IΩ-Ωg˙aΩag˙ kollha huma msej˙a u jistg˙u jaslu<br />
g˙all-qdusija…<br />
Sikwit nisimg˙u li naqsu l-vokazzjonijiet. Dan<br />
forsi g˙aliex Alla waqaf isejja˙ liΩ-Ωg˙aΩag˙? Il-<br />
Mulej g˙adu jsej˙<strong>il</strong>hom u hija l-missjoni tag˙na li<br />
ng˙inuhom jisimg˙u u jwie©bu g˙as-sej˙a tieg˙u.<br />
Il-missjoni tag˙na b˙ala Fam<strong>il</strong>ja Salesjana hija li<br />
nnisslu u nkattru fihom <strong>il</strong>-˙ajja spiritwali. Irridu<br />
wkoll ninkora©©ixxu u niggwidawhom fl-g˙aΩliet<br />
ta’ ˙ajjithom biex b’hekk jirnexx<strong>il</strong>na niskopru<br />
mhux biss l<strong>il</strong> Dun Bosco ottimista u ˙abrieki, imma<br />
wkoll Dun Bosco “bniedem ta’ Alla” li b<strong>il</strong>-kalma<br />
ji©bed lejh u jakkumpanja <strong>il</strong>-progress spiritwali<br />
taΩ-Ωg˙aΩag˙.<br />
HUWA KIEN JEMMEN LI DAK LI JGÓODD MA KIENX<br />
LI “TAGÓMEL XI ÓAÌA” GÓAÛ-ÛGÓAÛAGÓ, IMMA LI<br />
“TKUN XI ÓADD” GÓALIHOM."<br />
Fr. Louis Grech<br />
3
EDITORIAL<br />
Spiritual<br />
Companionship<br />
Don Bosco’s whole life was a constant lesson<br />
on how to live, for the young under his care. In the<br />
words of Pope John Paul II:<br />
‘Don Bosco is a landmark in Church history. He<br />
has left behind him an experience and a method<br />
which have become part of our heritage. In the<br />
words of my venerated predecessor Paul VI, he<br />
was "a renowned genius of modern pedagogy and<br />
catechesis but, above all, a genius of holiness” ’.<br />
Don Bosco, offered a very unique way of<br />
Spiritual Companionship which led his young<br />
people to Holiness. Don Bosco believed that it<br />
is not “doing something” for youth that counts<br />
but “being someone” to them. <strong>It</strong> is “not what<br />
we do” for them but “what we are” to them. Don<br />
Bosco enabled processes of spiritual growth and<br />
managed to be that “someone” who could offer<br />
direction to each and every boy. St Dominic Savio,<br />
Michele Magone and Francesco Besucco are the<br />
fruits of Don Bosco’s experience and method of<br />
spiritual companionship. Don Bosco’s experience<br />
teaches us that it is not enough to organise<br />
activities for young people and just merely be<br />
there in the yard or classroom.<br />
Having been entrusted with Salesian Vocation<br />
Animation in Malta for the past 5 years, I realise<br />
that being the organiser is not enough. Salesians<br />
are called to go one step further. Salesians are<br />
called to be that significant adult companion<br />
ready to listen, engage and encourage the young<br />
person to really meet Jesus. All young people<br />
are called to and can achieve holiness. We often<br />
hear that vocations have decreased. <strong>Is</strong> it because<br />
God has stopped calling young people? Maybe<br />
God is st<strong>il</strong>l calling them and it is our mission to<br />
help young people to listen more to God’s voice.<br />
Our mission as a Salesian Fam<strong>il</strong>y is to inst<strong>il</strong> and<br />
encourage spiritual growth in our young people<br />
and to guide them in their life choices. May we<br />
rediscover not only Don Bosco the optimist and<br />
activist, but also Don Bosco, the “Man of God” who<br />
sat down, engaged and accompanied the spiritual<br />
growth in youth.<br />
"DON BOSCO BELIEVED THAT IT IS NOT “DOING<br />
SOMETHING” FOR YOUTH THAT COUNTS BUT<br />
“BEING SOMEONE” TO THEM."<br />
Fr. Louis Grech S.D.B.<br />
4 Hajja Salesjana
PEDAGOÌIJA<br />
Salesjana<br />
Insiru nafu l<strong>il</strong> Dun Bosco 3<br />
Spirtu Missjunarju<br />
Mudell Ìdid ta’ Missjoni u Missjunarji<br />
Il-President <strong>tal</strong>-Amerika Barak Obama, waqt<br />
Ωjara f<strong>il</strong>-Braz<strong>il</strong> fl-2011 g˙al skopijiet politiçi<br />
u kummerçjali, f’diskors tieg˙u lin-nies <strong>tal</strong>industrija,<br />
fakkarhom f<strong>il</strong>-˙olma ta’ Dun Bosco<br />
dwar <strong>il</strong>-belt kapi<strong>tal</strong>i tag˙hom, BraΩ<strong>il</strong>ja. Obama<br />
qal<strong>il</strong>hom, “BraΩ<strong>il</strong>ja hija belt Ωg˙ira fl-eta` - 51<br />
sena biss. Imma kienet bdiet b˙ala ˙olma aktar<br />
minn 100 sena <strong>il</strong>u. Fl-1883, Don Bosco, <strong>il</strong>-qaddis<br />
patrun ta’ BraΩ<strong>il</strong>ja, kellu viΩjoni li ©urnata wa˙da,<br />
<strong>il</strong>-kapi<strong>tal</strong>i ta’ nazzjon kbir kellha tinbena bejn<br />
<strong>il</strong>-15 u l-20 parallel. Kellha tkun mudell g˙all-<br />
©ejjieni li tag˙ti d-dritt g˙al kull opportunita` l<strong>il</strong><br />
kull BraΩ<strong>il</strong>jan.”<br />
Hajja Salesjana<br />
Minn Pascual Chávez V<strong>il</strong>lanueva – Trad. Joe Cini<br />
Globu Ωg˙ir tad-dinja<br />
O©©ett gustuΩ f<strong>il</strong>-kmamar ta’ Dun Bosco ©ewwa<br />
Valdocco, Turin, huwa globu tad-dinja, sewdieni u<br />
mhux eΩatt. Diffiçli tag˙raf <strong>il</strong>-fruntieri bejn pajjiΩ<br />
u ie˙or. “IΩ-Ωag˙Ωug˙ Mikiel Rua sikwit semg˙u<br />
jg˙id, ‘O kemm ©id nista’ nag˙mel kieku kelli tnax-<br />
<strong>il</strong> qassis ta˙t idejja! Kont nibg˙athom jippriedkaw<br />
<strong>il</strong>-fidi qaddisa tag˙na mhux biss f<strong>il</strong>-knejjes, imma<br />
wkoll fit-toroq!’ U kull meta kien i˙ares lejn mappa<br />
tad-dinja, kien jie˙u nifs qawwi meta jara li tant<br />
re©juni ma kinux insara, u kien jixtieq b<strong>il</strong>-˙erqa<br />
dak <strong>il</strong>-jum meta, kieku jista’, jmur iwassal iddawl<br />
<strong>tal</strong>-Van©elu f<strong>il</strong>-postijiet mhux m<strong>il</strong>˙uqa m<strong>il</strong>lmissjunarji.”(Memorie<br />
Biografiche III, 383)<br />
5
L-istess Ωelu appostoliku li kien ˙a m<strong>il</strong>l-iskola<br />
ta’ Dun Cafasso, u li g˙inu jsib <strong>il</strong>-missjoni tieg˙u<br />
fost <strong>il</strong>-foqra u t-tfal abbandunati, kellu jwasslu<br />
g˙ad-deçiΩjoni li jag˙mel l<strong>il</strong>l-Fam<strong>il</strong>ja Salesjana<br />
miftu˙a g˙all-Missjoni. Meta kien g˙adu f<strong>il</strong>-Kulle©©<br />
EkkleΩjastiku, kien i˙obb jaqra fuq <strong>il</strong>-missjoniji.<br />
Wie˙ed m<strong>il</strong>l-kotba, l-Annali della Propagazione<br />
della Fede, kien ©ieg˙lu jixtieq jid˙ol mal-Oblati<br />
ta’ Marija Immakulata sabiex imur missjunarju fost<br />
l-Indjani <strong>tal</strong>-Amerika ta’ Fuq. Imma dak li l-iΩjed<br />
sa˙˙a˙lu fehmtu dwar <strong>il</strong>-Missjoni g˙as-Salesjani<br />
tieg˙u kien <strong>il</strong>-Konç<strong>il</strong>ju Vatikan I (1869-70). Hafna<br />
isqfijiet m<strong>il</strong>l-Amerika, l-Afrika u l-Asja, meta ©ew<br />
g˙all-Konç<strong>il</strong>ju, fittxew ukoll kleru u sorijiet g˙allmissjoni<br />
f’pajjiΩhom. Çertament xi w˙ud kellmu<br />
l<strong>il</strong> Dun Bosco wkoll, u huwa ra f’dan sinjal minn<br />
Alla. Mtela b’entuΩjaΩmu, u huwa f’dan <strong>il</strong>-kuntest<br />
li Don Bosco kellu l-ewwel ˙olma-viΩjoni dwar <strong>il</strong>missjonijiet.<br />
“Sibt ru˙i ©o art selva©©a li qatt ma kont rajt<br />
qabel, pjanura immensa, ming˙ajr g˙oljiet jew<br />
muntanji ˙lief fuq ix-xefaq f<strong>il</strong>-bog˙od…Imbg˙ad<br />
rajt grupp ta’ missjunarji o˙rajn, immexxija min<br />
numru ta’ tfal, resqin lejn dawk in-nies slava©. Bdejt<br />
nibΩa’ li sejrin jinqatlu; mort ni©ri lejhom: kienu<br />
seminaristi u qassisin. Meta ˙arist sewwa ndunajt<br />
li kienu s-Salesjani tag˙na.”<br />
Ma˙kum m<strong>il</strong>l-ispirtu tas-seklu tieg˙u, Dun Bosco<br />
kien jimma©ina l-missjonijiet fis-sens strett (nies li<br />
ma semg˙ux bi Kristu) u fis-sens romantiku (nies<br />
kiefra u slava©). Importanti g˙alih kienet ukoll<br />
<strong>il</strong>-viΩjoni ta’ Knisja Kattolika: mibg˙uta g˙al kull<br />
©ens; kif ukoll <strong>il</strong>-fatt li l-vokazzjoni Salesjana kienet<br />
miftu˙a g˙aΩ-Ωg˙aΩag˙ tad-dinja kollha; kif ukoll<br />
˙e©©a kontra l-Protestanti. Il-kliem “Euntes in<br />
mundum universum” kien i˙osshom b˙ala kmand,<br />
u g˙alhekk bag˙at l<strong>il</strong>l-missjunarji tieg˙u Ruma<br />
sabiex jircievu l-barka <strong>tal</strong>-Papa."<br />
"Sibt ru˙i ©o art selva©©a li<br />
qatt ma kont rajt qabel"<br />
Fuq quddiem ta’ armata kbira<br />
G˙alkemm kellu minn fejn jag˙Ωel, ipprefera<br />
l-Ar©entina: eluf ta’ emigranti kienu sejrin hemm<br />
u l-missjunarji ma kienux i˙ossuhom maqtug˙in u<br />
we˙idhom; kien hemm di©a` soçjeta` çiv<strong>il</strong>izzata li<br />
setg˙et twieΩen ix-xog˙ol tag˙hom; u kien hemm<br />
ukoll ‘is-slava©’ <strong>tal</strong>-˙olm tieg˙u. L-ittri u l-a˙barijiet<br />
ming˙and <strong>il</strong>-missjunarji ©ieg˙lu l<strong>il</strong> Dun Bosco<br />
jbiddel <strong>il</strong>-viΩjoni li kellu dwar <strong>il</strong>-Patagonja. Inbidlet<br />
ukoll l-istrategija: l-ewwel jitwaqqfu Kulle©©i,<br />
Parroççi u Oratorji g˙at-tag˙lim u formazzjoni biex<br />
imbag˙ad minn hemm jit<strong>il</strong>qu lejn <strong>il</strong>-missjonijiet.<br />
B’hekk, <strong>il</strong>-mudell ta’ missjoni ©©edded b’elementi<br />
m<strong>il</strong>l-kariΩma <strong>tal</strong>-Oratorju ta’ Turin sabiex ting˙ata<br />
importanza l<strong>il</strong>l-kura u edukazzjoni taΩ-Ωg˙ar.<br />
Il-missjunarji Salesjani ma kinux biss xhieda u<br />
appostli li ˙allew kollox sabiex ixandru l-Van©elu,<br />
imma, b˙al ponta ta’ iceberg jew l-ewwel linja ta’<br />
armata kbira, ˙assewhom li qed jirrappreΩentaw<br />
l<strong>il</strong>l-Fam<strong>il</strong>ja Salesjana kollha, li kienet issegwihom<br />
spiritwalment u materjalment, f<strong>il</strong>-fer˙ u fin-niket,<br />
fis-suççessi u fid-diffikultajiet.<br />
Don Rua kiteb hekk l<strong>il</strong>l-Koperaturi: “<strong>Is</strong>-Salesjani<br />
u Ulied Marija AwΩ<strong>il</strong>jatriçi, b˙al armata f<strong>il</strong>-kamp<br />
<strong>tal</strong>-bat<strong>tal</strong>ja, jag˙mlu l-parti tag˙hom, waqt li joffru<br />
l<strong>il</strong> Alla u l<strong>il</strong>l- proxxmu r-rieda, s-sa˙˙a u l-˙ajja<br />
tag˙hom; <strong>il</strong>-Koperaturi min-na˙a tag˙hom, jag˙mlu<br />
dak li missirijiet u ommijiet <strong>tal</strong>-fam<strong>il</strong>ja jag˙mlu g˙al<br />
uliedhom li jmorru f<strong>il</strong>-gwerra.” (Bullettin Salesjan 14<br />
-1890- pp 4-5)<br />
L-ittri <strong>tal</strong>-missjunarji, ippubblikati f<strong>il</strong>-Bullettin<br />
Salesjan, kienu jag˙tu kull det<strong>tal</strong>, kull pro©ett, kull<br />
kisba, kull suççess, kull tbatija u kull diffikulta`.<br />
Kul˙add seta’ jag˙raf u jaqsam ix-xog˙ol tag˙hom,<br />
jifra˙ bih, i˙ossu kburi, jbati mag˙hom, jitlob<br />
g˙alihom u jg˙inhom b’xi g˙otja. U l-missjunarji,<br />
li kienu j˙ossuhom parti m<strong>il</strong>l-Fam<strong>il</strong>ja kbira ta’ Dun<br />
Bosco, kienu j˙ossuhom apprezzati, inkura©©uti,<br />
ma˙buba, huma u jxerrdu l-kariΩma Salesjana maddinja<br />
kollha.<br />
6 Hajja Salesjana
<strong>Is</strong>-<strong>Sena</strong> <strong>tal</strong>-<strong>Fidi</strong><br />
Nhar is-17 ta’ Ottubru 2011, <strong>il</strong>-Papa Benedittu<br />
XVI ippubblika l-<strong>It</strong>tra Apostolika “Porta fidei”<br />
(Il-Bieb <strong>tal</strong>-fidi) li biha istitwixxa s-<strong>Sena</strong> <strong>tal</strong>-<strong>Fidi</strong>.<br />
Din is-sena speçjali se tibda f’Ottubru 2012 u<br />
tintemm fl-24 ta’ Novembru, 2013. F’Ottubru,<br />
2012 l-Assemblea Ìenerali tas-Sinodu <strong>tal</strong>-<strong>Is</strong>qfijiet<br />
se tittratta dwar “L-Evan©elizzazzjoni Ìdida fit-<br />
Trasmissjoni <strong>tal</strong>-<strong>Fidi</strong> Nisranija”.<br />
F’ dan id-dokument <strong>il</strong>-Papa jistqarr li jixtieq<br />
din is-<strong>Sena</strong> <strong>tal</strong>-<strong>Fidi</strong> bi twe©iba g˙all-kriΩi profonda<br />
<strong>tal</strong>-fidi li qieg˙da taffettwa l<strong>il</strong> ˙afna nies f’dan<br />
iΩ-Ωmien. Huwa jispjega li l-“Bieb <strong>tal</strong>-<strong>Fidi</strong>” huwa<br />
dejjem miftu˙ u huwa l-muftie˙ biex nid˙lu f<strong>il</strong>-<br />
Knisja ta’ Alla. Il-mixja <strong>tal</strong>-fidi tibqa’ sejra tul<br />
<strong>il</strong>-˙ajja kollha, m<strong>il</strong>l-mag˙mudija sakemm naslu<br />
sal-˙ajja ta’ dejjem. Ta’ spiss ji©ri li l-Insara jag˙tu<br />
aktar ˙sieb u jimpenjaw ru˙hom aktar fir-realtajiet<br />
soçjali, kulturali u politiçi minn dawk spiritwali.<br />
Il-bniedem <strong>il</strong>lum g˙alhekk g˙andu bΩonn jer©a’<br />
jisma’ b<strong>il</strong>-fer˙ <strong>il</strong>-Kelma t’Alla u jaççetta l-istedina<br />
ta’ Ìesù biex infittxu l-˙obΩ <strong>tal</strong>-˙ajja ta’ dejjem.<br />
<strong>Is</strong>-<strong>Sena</strong> <strong>tal</strong>-<strong>Fidi</strong> sejra toffri l<strong>il</strong>l-membri <strong>tal</strong>-Knisja<br />
kollha okkaΩjoni biex fiha jirriflettu u jer©g˙u<br />
jiskopru l-fidi tag˙hom. Il-Knisja dejjem g˙andha<br />
bΩonn i©©edded <strong>il</strong>-fidi, issaffiha, tikkonfermaha u<br />
tistqarrha. <strong>It</strong>-ti©did irid ise˙˙ permezz tax-xhieda<br />
ta’ dawk li b’fidi kbira jemmnu u jg˙ixu s-sej˙a<br />
tag˙hom b’mod li titwassal<br />
<strong>il</strong>-verità <strong>tal</strong>-Kelma <strong>tal</strong>-Mulej.<br />
Il-Knisja, g˙andha fi ˙danha<br />
˙afna midinbin u g˙alhekk<br />
hemm bΩonn li tissaffa u<br />
timxi ’l quddiem b<strong>il</strong>-penitenza<br />
u ti©did. <strong>Is</strong>-<strong>Sena</strong> <strong>tal</strong>-<strong>Fidi</strong><br />
g˙alhekk hija stedina g˙allkonverΩjoni<br />
vera, m©edda f<strong>il</strong>-<br />
Hajja Salesjana<br />
Mulej, l-uniku Salvatur <strong>tal</strong>-bnedmin.<br />
“Hija l-im˙abba ta’ Kristu li timl<strong>il</strong>na qalbna,”<br />
kompla l-Papa, “u t˙e©©i©na biex nevan©elizzaw<br />
<strong>il</strong>lum ukoll u tibg˙atna fit-toroq tad-dinja biex<br />
in˙abbru l<strong>il</strong> kul˙add <strong>il</strong>-Van©elu l<strong>il</strong>l-©nus kollha.<br />
Huwa me˙tie© li llum niskopru l-fer˙ fit-twemmin<br />
tag˙na u ner©g˙u nimtlew b’entuΩjaΩmu biex<br />
nikkomunikaw <strong>il</strong>-fidi.” F’din is-<strong>Sena</strong> <strong>tal</strong>-<strong>Fidi</strong>, f’dan<br />
<strong>il</strong>-mument ta’ tant bidla fid-dinja, dawk kollha li<br />
jemmnu jridu jiççelebrawha b<strong>il</strong>li j˙e©©u l<strong>il</strong> dawk li<br />
jemmnu fi Kristu biex jissa˙˙u huma u jsa˙˙u wkoll<br />
l-g˙aqda tag˙hom f<strong>il</strong>-Van©elu. Iridu jistqarru l-fidi<br />
tag˙hom fi Kristu Rxoxt f<strong>il</strong>-Katidrali u l-knejjes<br />
tad-dinja kollha, fid-djar u l-fam<strong>il</strong>ji u jittrasmettu<br />
l-fidi l<strong>il</strong>l-©enerazzjonijiet <strong>tal</strong>-futur.<br />
In-nisrani ma jistax ja˙seb li l-fidi hija xi ˙a©a<br />
privata. Hija titlob minnu responsabb<strong>il</strong>tà soçjali<br />
ukoll. Matul din is-<strong>Sena</strong>, irridu niskopru l-g˙ana<br />
tat-tag˙lim li l-Knisja laqg˙et u ˙arset matul elfejn<br />
sena ta’ storja. Irridu n<strong>il</strong>taqg˙u ma’ Kristu li jinsab<br />
preΩenti f<strong>il</strong>-Knisja, f<strong>il</strong>-Litur©ija u s-Sagramenti.<br />
Irridu nintensifikaw ix-xhieda tag˙na <strong>tal</strong>-karità,<br />
g˙aliex <strong>il</strong>-fidi ming˙ajr karità tkun biss sentiment.<br />
Il-Papa jtemm l-ittra tieg˙u b<strong>il</strong>-kliem: “A˙na<br />
nemmnu b’fidi soda li l-Mulej Ìesù reba˙ fuq <strong>il</strong>-<br />
˙aΩen u l-mewt. B’din <strong>il</strong>-fiduçja Ωgura a˙na nafdaw<br />
fih. Huwa jinsab preΩenti fostna u jirba˙ fuq issetg˙a<br />
<strong>tal</strong>-˙aΩen (Lq. 11,<br />
20). Il-Knisja, komunità<br />
viΩibbli <strong>tal</strong>-˙niena tieg˙u,<br />
tibqa’ fih b˙ala sinjal ta’<br />
g˙aqda mal-Missier.<br />
A˙na nafdaw din is-<br />
<strong>Sena</strong> ta’ grazzja l<strong>il</strong> Omm<br />
Alla, li kienet “hienja<br />
g˙aliex emmnet.” (Lq. 1,45).<br />
7
2012<br />
CALENDAR OF SALESIAN<br />
SEPTEMBER<br />
OCTOBER<br />
NOVEMBER Wed<br />
FEASTS & EVENTS<br />
5 Salesian Cooperators - Sliema - monthly meeting at 6.00 p.m.<br />
Wed 2 First Friday Devotions at St. Patrick's at 6.15<br />
Fri 7 Prayer Day for Salesian Missions<br />
First Friday: Adoration and Mass at St. Patrick’s at 6.15 p.m.<br />
Mon 10 Prayer Day for Salesian Missions<br />
Sat 22 Blessed Spanish Martyrs (k<strong>il</strong>led by Communists during Spanish Civ<strong>il</strong> War)<br />
Mon 24 Start of the new Scholastic Year. Commemoration of Mary Help of Christians at<br />
St. Patrick’s– 6.30 p.m.& at Sliema Oratory at 7.30 p.m.<br />
Wed 3 Salesian Cooperators – Sliema – monthly meeting at 6.00 p.m.<br />
Fri 5 Blessed Alberto Marvelli (Lay member of the Salesian Fam<strong>il</strong>y).<br />
First Friday Devotions at St. Patrick’s, at 6.15 p.m.<br />
Wed 10 Prayer Day for Salesian Missions<br />
Sat 13 Blessed Alessandrina M da Costa (Salesian Cooperator)<br />
20-21 Kummiedja - L-Affari Kubinski – Salesian Theatre, Sliema<br />
Mon 22 Blessed John Paul II<br />
Wed 24 Blessed Luigi Guanella (Óadem ma’ D.Bosco u kien Salesjan g˙al 3 snin)<br />
Commemoration of Mary Help of Christians at St. Patrick’s– 6.30 p.m.<br />
Mon 29 Blessed Michael Rua (First Successor of Don Bosco)<br />
Thu 1 All Saints Day<br />
Fri 2 First Friday Devotions at St. Patrick’s, at 6.15 p.m.<br />
1-2 Mid-Term school holidays<br />
Wed 7 Salesian Cooperators – Sliema – monthly meeting at 6.00 p.m.<br />
For any other info about the Salesians: www.sdb.org<br />
Daughters of Mary Help of Christians: www.cgfmanet.org<br />
Salesians in Malta : www.salesiansmalta.org<br />
Hajja Salesjana On Line : www.salesiansmalta.org/hajjasalesjana<br />
8 Hajja Salesjana
L.T.N. – 40th Anniversary: 1972 – 2012<br />
L.T.N. stands for “Librerija Taghlim Nisrani”, the<br />
Maltese phrase for “Libreria Dottrina Cristiana” –<br />
L.D.C., that is Christian Doctrine Library. <strong>It</strong> is a shop of<br />
Catholic books and other religious articles. <strong>It</strong> is a way<br />
of evangelisation and service started by Don Bosco<br />
who wrote and published many books and who always<br />
wanted to have a printing press of his own. <strong>It</strong> is an<br />
apostolate which has spread all over the world.<br />
In Malta, L.T.N. started at Savio College, Dingli, and was<br />
inaugurated on the 7th October 1972. The first sales<br />
included f<strong>il</strong>m-strips, slides, videos and cassette-tapes,<br />
posters, picture books and other audio-visual religious<br />
aids.<br />
In 1975, L.T.N. shop was transferred to a couple of<br />
rooms at the Sliema Oratory where it remained for 34<br />
years.<br />
In 1989, a branch of L.T.N. was opened in Valletta, a<br />
shop that served the people for 20 years.<br />
In 2009, the Sliema Oratory shop and the Valletta one were both closed down and the activity transferred<br />
to one central and more spacious place in No. 81 Dingli Street , Sliema. Here it is of service not only to<br />
the Maltese people but also to foreigners and many tourists who visit our <strong>Is</strong>land.<br />
L.T.N. aims at helping Priests, Missionaries, Catechists, Parents, Teachers and other pastoral operators.<br />
<strong>It</strong> also caters for the ordinary religious needs of the people in general.<br />
We congratulate “Librerija Taghlim Nisrani” for its 40 years of fruitful existence and we offer our best<br />
wishes for its future. We also thank, most heart<strong>il</strong>y, all those who in any way contributed to or were<br />
involved in this very effective Salesian Apostolate.<br />
Fr. Francis Zammit S.D.B.<br />
Hajja Salesjana<br />
9
Don Bosco Around the World<br />
The visit of the casket in<br />
SUDAN<br />
Don Bosco’s relic arrived at the Wau airport<br />
(South Sudan) on Saturday 21 January. <strong>It</strong> was<br />
welcomed by a crowd of people from the various<br />
parishes in the city. Present to receive it were<br />
Bishop Rudolf Deng Majak of Wau, the Hon. Rizig<br />
Hassan, Governor of the State of West Bahr El<br />
Gazal, the Minister of Health, the Minister of<br />
Africa<br />
Education, the Minister of Communications and<br />
other government authorities. The casket, escorted<br />
by the Police Band and that of the Salesian Institute<br />
of Tonj. was taken in procession to the Salesian<br />
Vocational Training Centre. After staying in Wau<br />
unt<strong>il</strong> Monday 23 January, the casket was in Tonj<br />
(24-25 January), Maridi and Yambio. Wherever<br />
Don Bosco went, there were so many expressions<br />
of appreciation and thanks for the Salesians. The<br />
progress of the casket was a National event: the<br />
news was passed by word of mouth, but it was also<br />
on all the radio and TV programmes. Crowds you<br />
could never imagine turned out!<br />
MOZAMBIQUE<br />
The casket of Don Bosco was in the vice<br />
Province “Mary help of Christians” of Mozambique<br />
in Apr<strong>il</strong>. After arriving at the airport of Maputo,<br />
there to welcome the relic of the Founder were Fr.<br />
Manuel Leal, Superior of the vice-Province, various<br />
representatives of the Salesian Fam<strong>il</strong>y and the<br />
band of “São José” of Lhanguene. The first Mass<br />
was celebrated in the Cathedral of Maputo, by the<br />
Archbishop Mons. Francisco Chimoio. Taking part<br />
10 Hajja Salesjana
were also the former President of the Republic,<br />
the Hon. Joaquim Chissano, diocesan priests, men<br />
and women religious of many Congregations and a<br />
large number of faithful. The day after the casket<br />
went first to the Salesian novitiate; then a long<br />
procession took the relic to the diocesan shrine of<br />
Our Lady of Fatima. Again on the move, the relic<br />
reached the city of Moamba, where the Salesians<br />
run a technical school with boarding, the missionparish<br />
and the pre-novitiate. In the afternoon<br />
the casket was taken to Inharrime, a distance of<br />
300 km, where it was awaited by a large crowd<br />
of youngsters, Salesians and FMAs. Many ch<strong>il</strong>dren<br />
and young people paid their respects to the relic<br />
through to the next morning, with prayer and<br />
traditional song and dance. After this, the casket<br />
was taken to Bagamoyo, an outlying district of<br />
Maputo, where the only parish of the whole country<br />
dedicated to Don Bosco is situated, presently run<br />
by the Orioni Fathers.<br />
SPAIN-MADRID<br />
In June the casket of Don Bosco arrived<br />
for a brief visit in Spain. On 6th it arrived at the<br />
Salesian Institute of Atocha, for the official start<br />
of its p<strong>il</strong>grimage in the Madrid Province. Present at<br />
the welcoming ceremony were the Archbishop of<br />
Madrid, Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela and Fr<br />
Luis Onrubia, Provincial of Madrid. 1,500 students<br />
from the Institute accompanied by their teachers<br />
and the Salesians f<strong>il</strong>led the courtyard for a special<br />
Hajja Salesjana<br />
day of celebration in which the atmosphere of the<br />
early days of the Valdocco Oratory were recreated.<br />
The enthusiasm was palpable and the youngsters<br />
shouted out loud “Welcome home,” when the<br />
casket of Don Bosco made its solemn entrance.<br />
Accompanied by the “Jesús de Medinaceli” Band<br />
from Alcalá de Henares the casket crossed the<br />
courtyard right up to the stage where it was<br />
received by the Archbishop, the Rector Manuel<br />
Aparicio, the Provincial and other dignitaries.<br />
Two upper school students spoke and then the<br />
Archbishop of Madrid officially welcomed the relics<br />
of the saint in the name of the whole diocesan<br />
church. Then everyone, young and old, made their<br />
way in procession to the Church, dedicated to<br />
Mary Help of Christians where there was a Liturgy<br />
of the Word, at which the Cardinal presided. The<br />
celebration ended with the Cardinal’s blessing on<br />
all those present.<br />
11
Ireland<br />
(ANS – Celbridge) –Among the Olympic Torch<br />
bearers for the 2012 London Olympic Games were<br />
two young athletes who grew up at the Salesian<br />
School in Celbridge: Mark Kenneally and Fiach<br />
O’Rourke.<br />
Mark Kenneally, Ireland's first marathon runner<br />
to qualify for the London Olympics, had been<br />
selected to carry the torch on 6 June through<br />
the streets of Dublin. On 25 May he visited his<br />
‘alma mater’ Salesian College, Celbridge where he<br />
was presented with a specially inscribed bowl to<br />
Celbridge School<br />
a nursery of champions<br />
mark his historic achievement, "Mark Kenneally,<br />
Salesian Olympian 2012, Congratulations" and<br />
the school's crest. On that occasion he was<br />
also presented with two cheques, one from the<br />
School's Parents' Association and one from the<br />
school to help with his expenses in preparing for<br />
the Olympics.<br />
Another Past Pup<strong>il</strong> of the Salesians, Celbridge,<br />
Fiach O'Rourke (2001 - 2007) who completed a<br />
degree in Sport, Health and PE in 2010 in Bangor<br />
University (Wales) and has been working in<br />
Bangor since that time, had been chosen to carry<br />
the Olympic torch on 28 May in Bangor. “"Fiach<br />
has been an inspiration to sport in Bangor, Wales<br />
and Ireland. He has a remarkable sporting prof<strong>il</strong>e<br />
before moving to Wales including competing<br />
for Ireland in sport but also organising and<br />
fac<strong>il</strong>itating of sport for youth… He captained the<br />
university badminton club which he grew to the<br />
largest club in the university, leading the team to<br />
2 league wins and promotions in 2 years… wh<strong>il</strong>e<br />
also setting up a squash club.”<br />
The Salesian school in Celbridge takes great<br />
pride in the honour given to these two past pup<strong>il</strong><br />
athletes.<br />
12 Hajja Salesjana
South Korea<br />
Olympic Champion<br />
funding a school<br />
in Southern Sudan<br />
(ANS – Seoul) – Miss Kim Yu-na, the Olympic and<br />
World Figure Ice-Skating Champion from South<br />
Korea, has given a donation to the Salesians<br />
to open a school in Southern Sudan. In the new<br />
African State the Salesians are intending to bu<strong>il</strong>d<br />
many new elementary schools.<br />
Last June, Kim Yu-na visited the Salesian<br />
Provincial House in Seoul and met Fr Vincenzo<br />
Donati and Bro Giacomo Comino, both Salesian<br />
missionaries in Southern Sudan. She gave them<br />
70 m<strong>il</strong>lions of South-Korean won, (about 47,000<br />
euros) thus personally financing the bu<strong>il</strong>ding of<br />
one of these schools.<br />
"I had a chance to visit Togo a year ago as part<br />
of efforts to win support for Korea's bid for the<br />
Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang and I felt the<br />
need to help out ch<strong>il</strong>dren there," Kim said.<br />
Fr Donati thanked her profusely and said one<br />
Hajja Salesjana<br />
of the schools to be bu<strong>il</strong>t in Southern Sudan w<strong>il</strong>l<br />
be named after Kim and asked the athlete to come<br />
visit the school after it is completed.<br />
Kim Yu-na became a Catholic convert in 2008,<br />
taking the Christian name Stella. She has made<br />
other generous donations before: in October 2009<br />
her published gifts amounted to about 2,5 m<strong>il</strong>lion<br />
euro.<br />
The project in Southern Sudan is for the<br />
bu<strong>il</strong>ding of just elementary schools. Fr Gianni<br />
Rolandi, Superior of the East Africa Province<br />
(AFE), including Southern Sudan told the MISNA<br />
Agency the reason: “This choice is the result of<br />
there being an almost to<strong>tal</strong> lack of infrastructure<br />
in Southern Sudan, an independent country<br />
scarcely a year old where the wounds of civ<strong>il</strong> war<br />
are st<strong>il</strong>l open: one can only begin by bu<strong>il</strong>ding the<br />
foundations.”<br />
13
A WORLD OF CHILDREN<br />
<strong>It</strong> was not long before the new boy was joined by<br />
ten other lads whom John somehow stuffed into<br />
the Pinardi house. After the winter of 1851, when<br />
he finally purchased Pinardi house, John was able<br />
to accept some thirty boarders. In the morning,<br />
after a prayer together, they would depart for their<br />
workshop or factory. At noon they would return<br />
and crowd the kitchen for their noonday dinner,<br />
which was served by John. The boys would depart<br />
for afternoon work, returning in the evening for<br />
supper, when Professor Bosco would supervise<br />
their lessons.<br />
Part 4<br />
Saint John Bosco<br />
A brief account of his life<br />
Throughout history, God has sent prophets and saints to warn, teach and lead His people.<br />
Modern times are no exception. God has sent saints to found religious orders of men and<br />
women for particular needs. He has sent martyrs, virgin, and holy men, such as Don Bosco, to<br />
teach virtue and apostleship to a special portion of God’s people – namely youth. This is his<br />
life story.<br />
The increased activity, however, took its toll on<br />
Mama Margaret, now in her mid-60’s. She to<strong>il</strong>ed<br />
all day long cleaning house, washing and mending<br />
clothes, and nursing the little boys who were <strong>il</strong>l.<br />
One day, fed up with her clothes-line being knocked<br />
down, her vegetable garden trampled, weary from<br />
endless washing, mending and cooking. Mama<br />
Margaret announced to her son: “I’m going home.”<br />
Don Bosco felt his mother’s anguish and said<br />
nothing. He simply pointed to a crucifix hanging on<br />
the wall. His mother understood and her eyes f<strong>il</strong>led<br />
with tears. Mama Margaret replaced her apron.<br />
PROJECTS AND PLANS<br />
As quickly as John finished one project, he began<br />
another. In rapid succession he bu<strong>il</strong>t a boarding<br />
home for 150 boys, a new chapel to accommodate<br />
the Oratory’s increased enrolment, and pioneered<br />
evening education and vocational schools for<br />
his future craftsmen. He bu<strong>il</strong>t shoemaker, ta<strong>il</strong>or,<br />
carpenter, bookbinder, printing and ironwork<br />
shops. His schools, considered among<br />
Turin’s best, took their inspiration and<br />
direction from Don Bosco himself. A<br />
colleague, a distinguished professor,<br />
explains why. “His love shone<br />
forth from his looks and his words<br />
so clearly and all felt it …They<br />
experienced an immense joy in<br />
his presence.”<br />
John demanded much from<br />
his teachers. At a time when<br />
schoolmasters considered<br />
14 Hajja Salesjana
whipping an indispensable tool of their trade, Don<br />
Bosco forbade any such violence. “Make yourself<br />
loved,” he counselled them. “If you wish to be<br />
obeyed, be fathers not superiors.”<br />
Bosco could make no such demands unless<br />
he himself led the way. He joined in students’<br />
recreation, challenged them in conversation, and<br />
joked with them. He would often race with them,<br />
and, although plagued with varicose veins at 54, he<br />
could st<strong>il</strong>l outrun any of them. If he had to punish,<br />
he was careful never to demean or embitter a ch<strong>il</strong>d.<br />
“Without affection, there is no confidence,” he<br />
often counselled his faculty, “without confidence,<br />
no education.”<br />
Don Bosco saw a relationship with God as the very<br />
source and foundation of all human growth and<br />
activity. For him it was essential to present God as<br />
a loving Father to his ch<strong>il</strong>dren. He most effectively<br />
did this by being a loving father to his Oratory.<br />
BELOVED BEGGAR<br />
During the bu<strong>il</strong>ding of this big magnificent shrine,<br />
Bosco was always somehow able to pay his b<strong>il</strong>ls.<br />
When money did not come from ordinary sources,<br />
Don Bosco was quite prepared to beg for it.<br />
Once he visited an extremely wealthy man who<br />
had been bedridden for three years. After a few<br />
moments of chatting, Don Bosco ordered the man<br />
to get his clothes, go to the bank and withdraw the<br />
money necessary to pay the Bas<strong>il</strong>ica’s latest b<strong>il</strong>ls.<br />
“Promise to take your money out of the bank,” Don<br />
Bosco said, “and Our Lady w<strong>il</strong>l take you out of bed.”<br />
The man made the promise and left his bed. John,<br />
taking no chances, accompanied him to the bank.<br />
A wealthy lady judging him a great financier, asked<br />
him where she could best invest her money. Not<br />
saying a word, Bosco simply held out his open<br />
hands in front of her. Although m<strong>il</strong>lions of dollars<br />
passed through his hands, he never kept a penny<br />
for himself. Indeed, he lived poorly, going so far as<br />
to save half sheets of letters, dyeing string black<br />
to use as shoelaces and saving wrapping paper and<br />
cord. He wore a cast-off m<strong>il</strong>itary overcoat and used<br />
Hajja Salesjana<br />
old army blankets on his bed. He gravely warned<br />
his Salesian sons that if they should ever lose their<br />
love of poverty, it would be a sure sign that the<br />
Society “had run its course.”<br />
THE BLESSED MOTHER<br />
Don Bosco made many a demand on the Blessed<br />
Mother. Once a pastor requested him to give a<br />
three-day mission to prepare his people for the<br />
feast of the Assumption. Stricken by a terrible and<br />
lengthy drought, the people were suffering bitterly<br />
and the farmers were desperate. In his opening<br />
sermon Bosco remarked, “Come for these three<br />
days, make a good confession, do your best to<br />
prepare for a fervent communion on the Feast of<br />
the Assumption, and I promise you, in Mary’s name,<br />
that rain w<strong>il</strong>l come to refresh your parched land.”<br />
After the sermon, the pastor accusing Bosco of<br />
raising false hopes, was furious. For the next three<br />
days the farm folk jammed the church. On the Feast<br />
of the Assumption, the day of the promised event,<br />
Bosco awoke and looked into the sky. <strong>It</strong> was a<br />
cloudless blue. As John made his way to the church<br />
for morning Mass, people crowded around him.<br />
“W<strong>il</strong>l it rain?” they demanded.<br />
Calmly he responded, “Purify your hearts.”<br />
As evening came and the people gathered for the<br />
last devotion for the Feast, there was st<strong>il</strong>l no sign<br />
of rain. As John entered the church for the final<br />
evening devotion, he looked once more to the<br />
horizon. <strong>It</strong> was cloudless – almost. A miniscule grey<br />
cloud hung like a tiny rag on the porcelain sky.<br />
John made his way to the pulpit. Hundreds of faces<br />
turned up to him, and all had written on them the<br />
same question, “When is it going to rain?” These<br />
wondering questioning faces could, in a short time,<br />
turn hard and bitter with disappointment. Suddenly<br />
yellow lightning stabbed the sky, thunder clapped<br />
and the first heavy raindrops splattered on the<br />
roof. The farmers, with a new lease on life, broke<br />
into heavy cheers and joyful songs. Although the<br />
farmers did not realise it, the most relieved man in<br />
the district was their pastor. (to continue)<br />
15
A MARTYR’S<br />
LETTER<br />
TO HIS<br />
GIRLFRIEND<br />
Blessed Bartolome’ Blanco Marquez was born in Pozoblanco, Spain on 25 November 1914. After<br />
being orphaned as a ch<strong>il</strong>d he was raised by a fam<strong>il</strong>y who had known his parents well. He was<br />
educated by the Salesians and was an excellent student. He also served as a lay catechist. At<br />
eighteen he was elected youth secretary of Catholic Action in Pozoblanco.<br />
On 18 August 1936, during a time of persecution<br />
for Catholics in Spain, Barrolome’ was arrested<br />
and imprisoned. On 24 September 1936 he was<br />
moved to a prison in Jaen where he was held with<br />
fifteen priests and other laymen before being<br />
judged and condemned to death for sedition (for<br />
being a Catholic). During his trial he remained<br />
true to his faith and his religious convictions. He<br />
did not protest his death sentence and told the<br />
court that if he lived, he would continue being an<br />
active Catholic. The letters he wrote on the eve of<br />
his death to his fam<strong>il</strong>y and to his girlfriend Maruja<br />
show his profound faith. In a letter to his relatives<br />
he wrote, ‘May this be my last w<strong>il</strong>l: forgiveness,<br />
forgiveness, forgiveness; but indulgence, which I<br />
wish to be accompanied by doing them as much<br />
good as possible. Therefore, I ask you to avenge<br />
me with the vengeance of a Christian: returning<br />
much good to those that have tried to do me ev<strong>il</strong>.’<br />
According to documents supporting his cause<br />
for beatification, Bartolome’ went to the site of his<br />
execution barefooted, ‘in Christ.’ Although only<br />
twenty-one, he impressed even his executioners<br />
with his courage. He kissed his handcuffs,<br />
surprising the guards that had put them on him,<br />
and refused to be shot from behind. “Whoever<br />
dies for Christ should do so facing forward and<br />
standing straight. Long live Christ the King!’ he<br />
shouted as he fell to the ground under a shower<br />
of bullets. Bartolome’ was beatified by Pope<br />
Benedict XVI on 28 October 2007.<br />
In ja<strong>il</strong> prior to his execution he wrote a<br />
beautiful and moving letter to his girlfriend,<br />
16 Hajja Salesjana
Maruja. The letter is a witness of human love bu<strong>il</strong>t<br />
on the foundation of Christ. Clearly deeply in love<br />
and ready to take up the vocation of marriage,<br />
God called him instead to embrace the vocation<br />
of martyrdom.<br />
Provincial prison of Jaen 1 Oct. 1936.<br />
My dearest Maruja,<br />
Your memory w<strong>il</strong>l remain with me to the grave<br />
and as long as the slightest throb stirs my heart,<br />
it w<strong>il</strong>l beat for love of you. God has deemed fit<br />
to sublimate these worldly affections, ennobling<br />
them when we love each other in him. Though<br />
in my final days God is my light and what I long<br />
for, this does not mean that the recollection of<br />
the one dearest to me w<strong>il</strong>l not accompany me<br />
unt<strong>il</strong> the hour of my death. I am assisted by many<br />
priests who – what a sweet comfort – pour out the<br />
treasures of grace into my soul, strengthening it.<br />
I look death in the eye and, believe my words, it<br />
does not daunt me or make me afraid.<br />
My sentence before the court of mankind w<strong>il</strong>l<br />
be my soundest defense before God’s court; in<br />
their effort to rev<strong>il</strong>e me, they have ennobled me;<br />
in trying to sentence me, they have absolved me,<br />
and by attempting to lose me, they have saved<br />
me. Do you see what I mean? Why, of course!<br />
Because in k<strong>il</strong>ling me, they grant me true life<br />
and in condemning me for always upholding the<br />
highest ideals of religion, country and fam<strong>il</strong>y, they<br />
swing open before me the doors of heaven.<br />
My body w<strong>il</strong>l be buried in a grave in this<br />
cemetery of Jaen; wh<strong>il</strong>e I am left with only a few<br />
hours before that definitive repose, allow me to<br />
ask but one thing of you: that in memory of the<br />
love we shared, which at this moment is enhanced,<br />
Hajja Salesjana<br />
that you would take on as your primary objective<br />
the salvation of your soul. In that way, we w<strong>il</strong>l<br />
procure our reuniting in heaven for all eternity,<br />
where nothing w<strong>il</strong>l separate us.<br />
Godbye, unt<strong>il</strong> that moment, then, dearest<br />
Maruja! Do not forget that I am looking at you<br />
from heaven, and try to be a model Christian<br />
woman, since, in the end, worldly goods and<br />
delights are of no ava<strong>il</strong> if we do not manage to<br />
save our souls.<br />
My thoughts of gratitude to all your fam<strong>il</strong>y and,<br />
for you, all my love, sublimated in the hours of<br />
death. Do not forget me, my Maruja, and let my<br />
memory always remind you there is a better life,<br />
and that attaining it should constitute our highest<br />
aspiration.<br />
Be strong and make a new life; you are young<br />
and kind, and you w<strong>il</strong>l have God’s help, which I w<strong>il</strong>l<br />
implore upon you from his kingdom. Goodbye,<br />
unt<strong>il</strong> eternity, then, when we shall continue to<br />
love each other for life everlasting.<br />
17
12 Thoughts<br />
to Remember<br />
Something<br />
to think about…<br />
18 Hajja Salesjana
Hajja Salesjana<br />
1. Remember that you are a unique and<br />
unrepeatable creation.<br />
2. Remember to count your blessings,<br />
not your troubles.<br />
3. Remember that you'll make it through<br />
whatever comes along.<br />
4. Remember that decisions are too<br />
important to leave to chance.<br />
5. Remember that nothing wastes more<br />
energy than worry.<br />
6. Remember that not getting what you<br />
want is sometimes a wonderful stroke<br />
of luck.<br />
7. Remember not to take things too<br />
seriously.<br />
8. Remember to laugh.<br />
9. Remember that a little love goes a<br />
long way.<br />
10. Remember that happiness is more<br />
often found in giving than getting.<br />
11. Remember that life's treasures are<br />
people, not things.<br />
12. Remember that miracles st<strong>il</strong>l happen.<br />
19
IT-TNAX-IL APPOSTLU<br />
MAGÓÛULA MINN KRISTU<br />
“Morru fid-dinja kollha, xandru l-Bxara t-tajba<br />
l<strong>il</strong>l-˙olqien kollu”(Mark 16:15)<br />
IL-MISSJONI TAL-APPOSTLI<br />
Il-kelma ‘appostlu’ ©ejja m<strong>il</strong>l-verb grieg<br />
‘apostello’ li jfisser ‘jibg˙at’. Anke l-verb ebrajk<br />
‘xaluah’ g˙andu l-istess tifsira. F<strong>il</strong>-Malti g˙andna<br />
l-kelma ‘rasul’ li tfisser ‘messa©©ier’ u li g˙andha<br />
affinità mal-verb Lhudi. <strong>It</strong>-tnax-<strong>il</strong> appostlu kienu<br />
tassew ‘mibg˙utin’ minn Kristu sabiex ixandru<br />
l-Bxara t-Tajba tieg˙u. Kollha kienu bnedmin<br />
sempliçi u ordinarji, imma laqg˙u s-sej˙a ta’<br />
Kristu, imxew mieg˙u u wara bdew jg˙allmu f’ismu<br />
u jwettqu g˙e©ubijiet kbar, li b’hekk inxterdet <strong>il</strong>-<br />
Knisja mad-dinja kollha.<br />
Fit-Testment <strong>il</strong>-©did insibu erba’ listi <strong>tal</strong>ismijiet<br />
<strong>tal</strong>-Appostli, dejjem maqsumin fi tliet<br />
gruppi ta’ erbg˙a. Dawn l-ismijiet insibuhom f’Mt<br />
10, 2-4; f’Mk 3, 16-19; f’Lq 6, 14-16 u f’Atti 1,13. San<br />
Ìwann, fir-raba’ evan©elju ma jag˙ti l-ebda lista,<br />
iΩda jsemmi ‘t-<strong>Tnax</strong>’ darbtejn f’6:67 u f’20:24 u<br />
jag˙tina ˙afna tag˙rif dwar l-appostli. Anke l-Atti<br />
Fr. Charles Buttigieg<br />
<strong>tal</strong>-Appostli huwa sors important fejn insibu ˙afna<br />
tag˙rif dwarhom. Il-kittieba <strong>tal</strong>-ewwel sekli <strong>tal</strong>-<br />
Knisja wkoll ikomplu jag˙tuna ˙afna tag˙rif.<br />
L-EWWEL GRUPP TAL-APPOSTLI<br />
Fl-ewwel grupp <strong>tal</strong>-Appostli nsibu dejjem<br />
l-ewwel wie˙ed l<strong>il</strong> Pietru; imbag˙ad l<strong>il</strong> Andrija; l<strong>il</strong><br />
Ìakbu u l<strong>il</strong> Ìwanni.<br />
San Pietru: Ìesù biddel l-isem ta’ Xmun bin<br />
Ìona g˙al Pietru (isem li jfisser ‘blata’; bl-aramajk:<br />
‘kefa’ ; b<strong>il</strong>-grieg: ‘petra’). Pietru kien miΩΩewwe© u<br />
sajjied fl-g˙adira ta’ Tiberjas f<strong>il</strong>-Gal<strong>il</strong>ija; kien minn<br />
Beth Saida u wara mar joqg˙od f’Kafarnahum u<br />
Kristu g˙aΩlu biex ikun l-ewwel Kap <strong>tal</strong>-Knisja u<br />
fdalu f’idejh l-imfieta˙ tas-Saltna. Huwa g˙araf l<strong>il</strong><br />
Kristu b˙ala l-Messija fl-istqarrija <strong>tal</strong>-fidi tieg˙u<br />
f’Çesareja ta’ F<strong>il</strong>ippi: “Inti l-Messija…” (Mk 8, 29).<br />
Kien dejjem ma’ Ìesù fl-iktar mumenti partikulari<br />
b˙al dak tat-Trasfigurazzjoni u <strong>tal</strong>-Getsemani.<br />
B˙ala bniedem dg˙ajjef ça˙ad l<strong>il</strong> Kristu f<strong>il</strong>-passjoni<br />
20 Hajja Salesjana
g˙al tliet darbiet imma mal-ewwel nidem. G˙andna<br />
Ωew© ittri kanoniçi minn tieg˙u. Huwa ppriedka f<strong>il</strong>-<br />
Palestina, f’Antijokja tas-Sirja fejn kien l-ewwel<br />
isqof ta’ din <strong>il</strong>-komunità, fl-Asja Minuri, f<strong>il</strong>-Greçja<br />
u wara sar <strong>Is</strong>qof ta’ Ruma u l-ewwel Papa. Madwar<br />
is-sena 64 W.K. ˙a l-martirju f’Ruma b<strong>il</strong>li ©ie<br />
msallab b’rasu ‘l isfel. Il-qabar tieg˙u jinsab ta˙t<br />
l-ar<strong>tal</strong> <strong>tal</strong>-BaΩ<strong>il</strong>ika <strong>tal</strong>-Vatikan. Il-festa litur©ika<br />
tieg˙u hija flimkien ma’ ta’ San Pawl l-<strong>Appostlu</strong><br />
<strong>tal</strong>-Ìnus, fid-29 ta’ Ìunju – l-Imnarja.<br />
Sant’Andrija: Andrija jew Indrì kien ˙u Pietru,<br />
kien ukoll sajjied u qabel ma’ ltaqa’ ma’ Kristu<br />
kien dixxiplu ta’ Ìwanni l-Battista. Meqjus fi<br />
Llvant b˙ala l-‘protoclete’, ji©ifieri l-ewwel wie˙ed<br />
imsejja˙ minn Kristu. Infatti skond San Ìwann kien<br />
huwa li introduça l<strong>il</strong> ˙uh Pietru ma’ Kristu: “Sibna<br />
l-Messija” (Ìw 1, 41). Kien hu wkoll li ressaq lejn<br />
Ìesù lit-tifel li kellu l-˙ames ˙obΩiet u Ωew© ˙utiet<br />
g˙at-tkattir <strong>tal</strong>-˙obΩ (ara Ìw 6, 1-15). Ippriedka fl-<br />
Asja Minuri u fl-Asja ta’ dak iΩ-Ωmien. Óa l-martirju<br />
f’Patras f<strong>il</strong>-Greçja b<strong>il</strong>li ©ie mislub fuq salib forma<br />
ta’ ‘X’ (crux decussata), madwar is-sena 69 W.K.<br />
Huwa meqjum ˙afna f<strong>il</strong>-Knisja ta’ Kostantinopli u<br />
f<strong>il</strong>-Knejjes kollha <strong>tal</strong>-lvant, kif ukoll fl-<strong>Is</strong>kozja. Ilfesta<br />
tieg˙u hija fit-30 ta’ Novembru.<br />
San Ìakbu: Ìakbu, bin Ûebedew u ˙u San<br />
Ìwann l-Evan©elista, hu meqjus b˙ala l-ewwel<br />
appostlu li ˙a l-martirju. L-isem ©ej minn<br />
‘Iakobos’ li huwa forma griega <strong>tal</strong>-isem ‘Ìakobb’<br />
u hu msejja˙ ‘<strong>il</strong>-Kbir’ biex jag˙mlu differenza minn<br />
Ìakbu l-ie˙or li kien appostlu wkoll. Dan kien<br />
sajjied fl-G˙adira <strong>tal</strong>-Gal<strong>il</strong>eja li flimkien ma’ ˙uh<br />
©ie msejja˙ minn Kristu b˙ala ‘Boanerges,’ ji©ifieri<br />
Hajja Salesjana<br />
‘ulied ir-rag˙ad’ (ara Mk 3, 17). Qabel dan kien<br />
dixxiplu <strong>tal</strong>-Battista. Huwa kien ukoll wie˙ed minn<br />
dawk preΩenti f<strong>il</strong>-Getsemani u fit-Trasfigurazzjoni.<br />
Huwa ppriedka f<strong>il</strong>-Palestina u skond ittradizzjoni<br />
anke fi Spanja. Óa l-martirju b<strong>il</strong>-qtug˙<br />
tar-ras fis-sena 44 W.K. minn Erodi Agrippa I,<br />
neputi ta’ Erodi l-Kbir (ara Atti 12 , 1-2). Il-fdalijiet<br />
tieg˙u jinsabu f<strong>il</strong>-post ta’ pellegrina©©i kbar ta’<br />
Santiago de Compostela ©ewwa Spanja. (Iago<br />
tfisser Ìakobb bl-<strong>Is</strong>panjol). Il-festa tieg˙u hija f<strong>il</strong>-<br />
25 ta’ Lulju.<br />
San Ìwann: Ìwanni ˙u Ìakbu, huwa meqjus<br />
b˙ala d-dixxiplu l-ma˙bub ta’ Ìesù u dan g˙aliex<br />
kien g˙adu Ωag˙Ωug˙ meta ©ie msejja˙ u g˙alhekk<br />
kellu bΩonn attenzjoni partikulari. Kien sajjied<br />
flimkien ma’ ˙uh u missieru. Kien imqabbad minn<br />
Ìesù biex flimkien ma’ Pietru jipprepara g˙alla˙˙ar<br />
çena. L-uniku wie˙ed m<strong>il</strong>l-appostli kollha<br />
li baqa’ preΩenti f<strong>il</strong>-©rajja <strong>tal</strong>-Passjoni fejn minn<br />
fuq is-salib Ìesù fdalu l<strong>il</strong>-Marija b˙ala ommu (ara<br />
Ìw 19-27). Flimkien ma’ Pietru mar ˙dejn <strong>il</strong>-qabar<br />
ta’ Kristu. Kien appostlu prominenti f<strong>il</strong>-bidu <strong>tal</strong>-<br />
Knisja. Huwa ppriedka fis-Samarija, f<strong>il</strong>-Greçja, u<br />
fl-Asja Minuri. Kiteb ir-raba’ evan©elju, tlitt ittri<br />
u l-ktieb <strong>tal</strong>-Apokalissi. Ìie me˙lus m<strong>il</strong>l-martirju<br />
meta tefg˙uh fiΩ-Ωejt jag˙li u ma ©ralu xejn u ©ie<br />
eΩ<strong>il</strong>jat ukoll fuq <strong>il</strong>-gΩira ta’ Patmos f<strong>il</strong>-Greçja. Miet<br />
f’età avvanzata ˙afna ©ewwa Efesu fit-Turkija<br />
madwar is-sena 100 W.K. Huwa çert li ma mietx<br />
martri. Il-festa tieg˙u hija fis-27 ta’ Diçembru.<br />
21
IT-TIENI GRUPP<br />
Fit-tieni grupp f<strong>il</strong>-lista <strong>tal</strong>-appostli nsibu l<strong>il</strong><br />
F<strong>il</strong>ippu; l<strong>il</strong> Bart<strong>il</strong>mew; l<strong>il</strong> Tumas u l<strong>il</strong> Mattew.<br />
San F<strong>il</strong>ippu: F<strong>il</strong>ippu hu wkoll sajjied minn Beth<br />
Saida. Qabel kien ukoll dixxipplu <strong>tal</strong>-Battista u<br />
huwa wie˙ed minn <strong>tal</strong>-bidu li mexa wara Ìesù kif<br />
jurina Ìw 1, 43. Kien hu li ntroduça l<strong>il</strong> Natanjel ma’<br />
Kristu: “Sibna l<strong>il</strong> dak li fuqu kitbu Mosè f<strong>il</strong>-Li©i u<br />
l-Profeti f<strong>il</strong>-kotba tag˙hom. Ìesù min- NaΩaret bin<br />
ÌuΩeppi “…”Ejja u ara” (Ìw 1,45-46). Kif ukoll g˙en<br />
l<strong>il</strong> xi Griegi f’Ìerusalemm qabel <strong>il</strong>-Passjoni sabiex<br />
j<strong>il</strong>taqg˙u ma’ Kristu: “Dawn marru g˙and F<strong>il</strong>ippu<br />
u <strong>tal</strong>buh: ‘Sinjur, nixtiequ naraw l<strong>il</strong> Ìesù . F<strong>il</strong>ippu<br />
mar jg˙id l<strong>il</strong> Indrì, u mbag˙ad Indrì u F<strong>il</strong>ippu marru<br />
jg˙idu l<strong>il</strong> Ìesù’ (Ìw 12: 20-22). Skont it-tradizzjoni<br />
huwa ppriedka fl-Asja Minuri, f<strong>il</strong>-Greçja u anke fi<br />
Franza. Óa l-martirju, skond xi w˙ud, permezz tattislib<br />
fuq salib g˙oli f’Hierapolis ©ewwa t-Turkija.<br />
O˙rajn isostnu li ©ie m˙a©©ar. Il-fdalijiet tieg˙u<br />
jinsabu f<strong>il</strong>-BaΩ<strong>il</strong>ika tat-<strong>Tnax</strong>-<strong>il</strong> Appostli ©ewwa<br />
Ruma. Il-festa tieg˙u hija fit-3 ta’ Mejju flimkien<br />
ma’ San Ìakbu Ω-Ωg˙ir.<br />
San Bart<strong>il</strong>mew: Bart<strong>il</strong>mew huwa msejja˙<br />
Natanjel fl-evan©elju ta’ San Ìwann. Kien minn<br />
Kana <strong>tal</strong>-Gal<strong>il</strong>eja u ©ie mfa˙˙ar minn Ìesù meta<br />
rah l-ewwel darba : “Ara dan tassew wie˙ed minn<br />
IΩrael li jixraqlu dan l-isem; ma hemm ebda qerq<br />
fih” (Ìw 1, 47). Huwa jistqarr l<strong>il</strong> Ìesù: “Mg˙allem,<br />
int l-Iben ta’ Alla, int is-Sultan ta’ IΩrael” (Ìw 1,<br />
49). Huwa ppriedka f’Ìerusalemm, fl-Asja Minuri,<br />
fl-Armenja, f<strong>il</strong>-Persja u anke, skond xi w˙ud, fl-<br />
Indja. Óa l-martirju f’Derbend, fl-Armenja b<strong>il</strong>li<br />
qaxxruh ˙aj. Il-fdalijiet tieg˙u jinsabu f<strong>il</strong>-knisja<br />
ta’ San Bart<strong>il</strong>mew f’Ruma fuq <strong>il</strong>-gΩira tat-Tevere<br />
fejn in©iebu m<strong>il</strong>l-imperatur Otto III fis-sena 983.<br />
Il-festa tieg˙u hija f<strong>il</strong>-24 ta’ Awissu.<br />
San Tumas: Tumas imsejja˙ ‘Didimus,’ b<strong>il</strong>grieg<br />
tfisser ‘it-Tewmi’. ‘L-appostlu tad-dubji’ kif<br />
t˙obb tlaqqmu t-tradizzjoni g˙aliex m’emminx<br />
mal-ewwel f<strong>il</strong>-qawmien ta’ Kristu: “Jekk ma narax<br />
f’idejh <strong>il</strong>-marka <strong>tal</strong>-imsiemer u ma nqieg˙edx<br />
sebg˙i fuq <strong>il</strong>-marka <strong>tal</strong>-imsiemer u idi fuq ©enbu,<br />
jien ma nemminx” (Ìw 20, 25). IΩda meta ra l<strong>il</strong><br />
Kristu rxoxt huwa wie©eb bl-isba˙ stqarrija <strong>tal</strong>fidi:<br />
“Mulej tieg˙i u Alla tieg˙i” (Ìw 20, 28). Skont<br />
it-tradizzjoni mar jippriedka fis-Sirja, f<strong>il</strong>-Persja u<br />
fl-Indja fejn ˙a l-martirju qrib Chennai (Madras),<br />
minfud b’lanza. Il-fdalijiet tieg˙u jinsabu ©ewwa<br />
l-katidral ta’ Ortona, l-<strong>It</strong>alja. Il-festa tieg˙u hija<br />
fit-3 ta’ Lulju.<br />
San Mattew: Mattew, bin Alfew minn<br />
Kafarnahum kien pubblikan, ji©bor it-taxxi g˙ar-<br />
Rumani. L-isem Lhudi tieg˙u kien Levi (kif insibu<br />
f’Mk u f’Lq) waqt li dak grieg kien ‘Mattew’ (kif<br />
insibu f’Mt) li jfisser ‘don t’Alla’. Ìie msejja˙ minn<br />
Kristu waqt ix-xog˙ol tieg˙u (ara Mt 9, 9-13) u<br />
laqg˙u g˙andu fid-dar g˙all-ikel (ara Lq 5:27-32).<br />
Huwa ppriedka b’mod partikulari f<strong>il</strong>-Palestina, fl-<br />
Asja Minuri, u skont it-tradizzjoni mar <strong>il</strong>-Persja u<br />
anke l-Etjopja. Huwa kiteb l-ewwel evan©elju bl-<br />
Aramajk kif jixhed tajjeb Papija fis-sena 130 W.K.<br />
Aktarx ˙a l-martirju ©ewwa l-Etjopja jew l-E©ittu.<br />
Il-festa tieg˙u hija f<strong>il</strong>-21 ta’ Settembru.<br />
22 Hajja Salesjana
IT-TIELET GRUPP<br />
L-a˙˙ar erba’ appostli huma Xmun <strong>il</strong>-Kananew;<br />
Ìuda Taddew; Ìakbu t’Alfew u Ìuda l-<strong>Is</strong>karjota.<br />
San Xmun: Xmun <strong>il</strong>-Kananew (skont Mt u Mk),<br />
jew Xmun iΩ-Ûelota (skont Lq) aktarx li qabel<br />
kien membru <strong>tal</strong>-grupp rivoluzzjonarju kontra<br />
r-Rumani, iΩ-Ûeloti. Huwa mag˙ruf ukoll b˙ala<br />
Xmun l-Im˙e©©e© u kien minn Kana. Skont xi w˙ud<br />
huwa ppriedka fir-Russja, fl-Afrika u anke, skond<br />
xi tradizzjonijiet, f<strong>il</strong>-Brittanja. Óa l-martirju f<strong>il</strong>-<br />
Persja. Il-festa tieg˙u hija fit-28 t’Ottubru flimkien<br />
ma San Ìuda Taddew.<br />
San Ìuda Taddew: Ìuda Taddew hu l-isem li<br />
nsibu f’Mt u f’Mk b˙ala Taddew. F’Luqa u fl-Atti<br />
nsibuh b˙ala Ìuda ta’ Ìakbu g˙ax kien ˙u Ìakbu<br />
u qarib <strong>tal</strong>-Mulej (ara Ìuda 1, 1). Jissemma fl-a˙˙ar<br />
çena waqt id-diskors ta’ Ìesù (ara Ìw14, 22).<br />
Huwa l-awtur ta’ ittra kanonika u possib<strong>il</strong>ment<br />
it-tielet isqof ta’ Ìerusalemm wara Ìakbu u<br />
Xmun. Ippriedka fl-Asja Minuri u f<strong>il</strong>-Persja fejn ˙a<br />
l-martirju. Il-fdalijiet jinsabu fi Franza, f’Rheims u<br />
f’Toulouse. Il-festa tieg˙u hija fit-28 ta’ Ottubru<br />
ma’ San Xmun.<br />
San Ìakbu t’Alfew: Ìakbu Ω-Ûg˙ir, bin Alfew<br />
huwa meqjus minn ˙afna b˙ala l-qarib <strong>tal</strong>-Mulej<br />
kif juri San Pawl f’Gal 1, 19. Huwa l-awtur ta’ ittra<br />
kanonika u sar isqof ta’ Ìerusalemm u mexxa<br />
l-ewwel konç<strong>il</strong>ju ta’ Ìerusalemm (ara Atti 15, 13 u<br />
Gal 2, 9). Huwa ppriedka fis-Sirja u wara fir-Russja<br />
fejn ˙a l-martirju b<strong>il</strong>li qasmuh min-nofs, fis-sena<br />
62 W.K. Il-festa tieg˙u hija fit-3 ta’ Mejju flimkien<br />
ma’ San F<strong>il</strong>ippu.<br />
Hajja Salesjana<br />
Ìuda l-<strong>Is</strong>karjota – San Mattija: L-appostli<br />
kollha huma m<strong>il</strong>l-Gal<strong>il</strong>ija minbarra Ìuda<br />
l-<strong>Is</strong>karjota, li aktarx kien minn Keriot, qrib Hebron<br />
fin-nofsinhar <strong>tal</strong>-Ìudija. O˙rajn isostnu li kien<br />
marbut maΩ-Ûeloti. Ìuda kien jie˙u ˙sieb <strong>il</strong>-kaxxa<br />
<strong>tal</strong>-flus <strong>tal</strong>-appostli. <strong>It</strong>tradixxa l<strong>il</strong> Kristu g˙al tletin<br />
biçça <strong>tal</strong>-fidda (ara Matt 26, 14-16). Miet iddisprat<br />
min˙abba f’dak li g˙amel b<strong>il</strong>li tg˙allaq (ara<br />
Matt 27, 3-5 u Atti 1, 7). Minfloku, imbag˙ad kien<br />
intg˙aΩel Mattija kif naraw fl-Atti 1:23. Il-festa ta’<br />
San Mattija hija fl-14 ta’ Mejju.<br />
KONKLUÛJONI<br />
Ìesù g˙amel sej˙a speçjali l<strong>il</strong> dawn it-tnax-<strong>il</strong><br />
appostlu biex imorru jippriedkaw ir-Reb˙a Tieg˙u<br />
fuq <strong>il</strong>-mewt, kif insibu fl-a˙˙ar ta’ kull van©elu<br />
kanoniku; liema missjoni g˙ada sejra u tkompli<br />
f<strong>il</strong>-Knisja. Il-mixja tag˙hom hija wkoll <strong>il</strong>-mixja ta’<br />
kull wie˙ed u wa˙da minna, li tibda m<strong>il</strong>l-mument<br />
çentrali tas-sej˙a ta’ Kristu u tkompli b<strong>il</strong>-missjoni<br />
ta’ din l-istess sej˙a nisranija.<br />
23
Malta Salesjana<br />
WORSHIP TEAM: ORATORJU SLIEMA<br />
Nhar it-18 ta’ Mejju, minflok it-<strong>tal</strong>b tas-soltu,<br />
l-membri <strong>tal</strong>-Oratorju in©abru f<strong>il</strong>-kappella<br />
g˙all-˙in ta’ adorazzjoni mmexxi m<strong>il</strong>listess<br />
Ωag˙aΩag˙. Xi whud irreçtaw sketch<br />
fuq <strong>il</strong>-kanzunetta “Everything” <strong>tal</strong>-grupp<br />
Lifehouse, waqt li l-membri <strong>tal</strong>-Worship<br />
Team animaw l-adorazzjoni b<strong>il</strong>-muΩika. Dik<br />
<strong>il</strong>-lejla, <strong>il</strong>-membri <strong>tal</strong>-Worship Team raqdu<br />
fl-Oratorju sabiex l-g˙ada setg˙u jit<strong>il</strong>qu<br />
kmieni lejn Ta’Qali fejn qattg˙u <strong>il</strong>-©urnata<br />
f’avventuri, picnic u log˙ob. Nag˙tu prosit<br />
l<strong>il</strong> min organizza kif ukoll l<strong>il</strong> min ˙a sehem<br />
fl-adorazzjoni u f<strong>il</strong>-˙ar©a sa Ta’ Qali.<br />
EUROVISION PASTA NIGHT<br />
Nhar <strong>il</strong>-lejla <strong>tal</strong>-Eurovision Song Contest,<br />
is-26 ta’ Mejju, ©ie organizzat “Pasta Night”<br />
fl-Oratorju, Sliema, sabiex flimkien, dawk<br />
li riedu, setg˙u jaraw <strong>il</strong>-festival fuq screen<br />
kbir. Grupp ta’ membri lestew l-imwejjed,<br />
si©©ijiet, platti u kull ma kien hemm bΩonn;<br />
dawk aktar kbar ˙adu ˙sieb it-tisjir g˙al<br />
aktar minn 100 ru˙. Kienet lejla daqsxejn<br />
storbjuΩa, imma ferrie˙a waqt li ˙afna<br />
minnhom setg˙u jivvutaw u jippruvaw<br />
jaqtg˙u min ser jirba˙: f<strong>il</strong>-fatt daqs 30 ru˙<br />
qatg˙u li tirba˙ l-<strong>Is</strong>vezja.<br />
G˙alkemm kien tard, ˙afna kienu dawk li<br />
g˙inu sabiex kollox jer©a’ jitpo©©a lura<br />
f’postu!<br />
FESTA TA’ MARIJA F’GHAWDEX<br />
Il-Festa ta’ Marija G˙ajnuna <strong>tal</strong>-Insara ©iet iççelebrata<br />
fl-Oratorju ‘Dun Bosco’, G˙awdex, nhar l-24 ta’ Mejju.<br />
Mgr. George Tabone mexxa l-konçelebrazzjoni animata<br />
m<strong>il</strong>l-Chorus Urbanus. Wara l-quddiesa saret purçissjoni<br />
bl-istatwa ta’ Marija fit-toroq madwar l-Oratorju. Ilçelebrazzjoni<br />
ing˙alqet b<strong>il</strong>-konsagrazzjoni <strong>tal</strong>-Oratorju l<strong>il</strong><br />
Marija G˙ajnuna <strong>tal</strong>-Insara u b<strong>il</strong>-barka ewkaristika. Qabel<br />
dan <strong>il</strong>-jum, kienet saret t˙ejjija b<strong>il</strong>li f<strong>il</strong>-quddiesa kienet<br />
issir omelia fuq id-devozzjoni lejn Marija u l-˙e©©a ta’ Dun<br />
Bosco sabiex iferrex din id-devozzjoni. Intwera wkoll, f<strong>il</strong>kappella,<br />
video fuq <strong>il</strong>-˙ajja <strong>tal</strong>-Ver©ni Marija.<br />
24 Hajja Salesjana
TREVOR ZAHRA F’SAVIO COLLEGE<br />
Kienet esperjenza unika g˙all-istudenti <strong>tal</strong>-Form3 kollha,<br />
li j<strong>il</strong>qg˙u f<strong>il</strong>-Kulle©© Savio <strong>il</strong>-mag˙ruf kittieb Malti, Trevor<br />
Zahra. Dan ©ara nhar it-12 ta’ Ìunju, meta l-kittieb qasam<br />
ma’ l-istudenti l-istorja <strong>tal</strong>-karriera tieg˙u b˙ala kittieb.<br />
Huwa wkoll ˙ass fer˙ kbir li jkun fost studenti, lest li<br />
jisma’ l-istejjer tag˙hom, g˙aliex g˙alihom huwa jikteb u<br />
minnhom jie˙u l-ideat. Dan l-avveniment kien mod kif Ms.<br />
Dorothy Bezzina, g˙alliema <strong>tal</strong>-Malti f<strong>il</strong>-Kule©©, riedet turi<br />
l-apprezzament tag˙ha g˙ax-xog˙ol eççellenti u kreattiv<br />
<strong>tal</strong>-istudenti li g˙arfu jg˙aqqdu flimkien <strong>il</strong>-letteratura u<br />
l-media. Kien ukoll ˙a©a sabi˙a u nkura©©anti <strong>il</strong>-mod kif is-<br />
Sur Zahra analizza <strong>il</strong>-˙sibijiet u r-reazzjonijiet <strong>tal</strong>-istudenti<br />
g˙all-ktieb tieg˙u “Sfidi” li ©ew murija f<strong>il</strong>-video ta’ kull<br />
Hajja Salesjana<br />
PAST PUPILS F’GÓAWDEX<br />
<strong>Is</strong>-Sibt 2 ta’ Ìunju inzerta sabi˙ u dak inhar <strong>il</strong>-Past<br />
Pup<strong>il</strong>s and Friends of Don Bosco qasmu l-fliegu<br />
sabiex iqattg˙u ©urnata G˙awdex. Mal-wasla<br />
tag˙om l-Im©arr, grupp ta’ Ωeffiena tawhom mer˙ba.<br />
Imbag˙ad rikbu <strong>il</strong>-karozza li ˙adithom dritt lejn is-<br />
Santwarju <strong>tal</strong>-Madonna Ta’ Pinu. Il-quddiesa ©iet<br />
iççelebrata minn Fr Joe Forte, u wara, <strong>il</strong>-grupp kollu<br />
mar <strong>il</strong>-Belt Victoria fejn min mar g˙all-kafe` u min<br />
Ωar is-suq u l-˙wienet. G˙all-˙in <strong>tal</strong>-ikel <strong>il</strong>-karozza<br />
˙adithom fir-Restaurant ‘Ta’ Kenuna’ fejn kielu ikla<br />
tajba u abbundanti. L-a˙˙ar ˙in ta’ wara l-ikel u<br />
qabel it-tluq g˙addewh Marsalforn, minn fejn, g˙all-<br />
˙abta ta’ 4.30 p.m. telqu lejn <strong>il</strong>-port u lura lejn Malta.<br />
Jum m<strong>il</strong>l-isba˙, flimkien, f’isem Dun Bosco.<br />
klassi. Prosit l<strong>il</strong> Ms. Bezzina li g˙arfet<br />
tg˙aqqad b’mod ori©inali l-istudju,<br />
l-letteratura u t-<strong>tal</strong>enti tat-tfal.<br />
FESTA TAL-QALB TA’ GESU – L’ISLA<br />
Il-Komunita` Salesjana <strong>tal</strong>-<strong>Is</strong>la tie˙u ˙sieb torganizza <strong>il</strong>purçissjoni<br />
ta’ nhar <strong>il</strong>-Qalb ta’ Ìesu`.<br />
Mal-parruççani <strong>tal</strong>-<strong>Is</strong>la, din is-sena, ing˙aqdu numru ta’<br />
membri u Past Pup<strong>il</strong>s m<strong>il</strong>l-Oratorju ta’ Tas-Sliema. Barra<br />
minn dawn kien hemm ukoll is-Salesian Brigade li mxiet<br />
quddiem nett, u l-Worship team li kien hemm sabiex janima<br />
<strong>il</strong>-quddiesa. Mexxa iç-çelebrazzjoni l-Arçipriet <strong>il</strong>-©did <strong>tal</strong>-<br />
<strong>Is</strong>la, Dun Ivan Scicluna. Wara l-purçissjoni kien hemm bibita<br />
g˙al kull min ˙a sehem, u wara, bosta minn dawk li ©ew<br />
minn Tas-Sliema marru jieklu pizza ix-Xatt <strong>tal</strong>-<strong>Is</strong>la.<br />
25
Qamet kmieni, qamet ming˙ajr ma biss<br />
g˙alqet g˙ajn m’g˙ajn tul <strong>il</strong>-lejl. Mhemmx<br />
dwejjaq e˙rex minn dawk ta’ meta<br />
takkuΩa l<strong>il</strong>ek innifsek b’xi Ωball serju li<br />
bih qsamt qalb xi ˙add, xi ˙add li sa ftit<br />
minuti qabel kont ta˙lef li t˙obb. Hawn<br />
min jemmen li l-im˙abba g˙andha ˙abta<br />
tinbidel f’mibeg˙da f’tebqa’ t’g˙ajn; qatt<br />
ma emmintha, imma wara dak li ©ara<br />
l-biera˙ f<strong>il</strong>g˙axija …<br />
L-ewwel deçiΩjoni li ˙adet Moira kienet li<br />
m’hemmx xog˙ol g˙aliha. Mhux possibli li<br />
tiffaççja jum problemi fl-uffiçju meta mo˙˙ha u<br />
qalbha kienu f’taqtig˙a bejniethom. Iddeçidiet<br />
x’kellha tag˙mel: iççempel l<strong>il</strong> s˙abha l-uffiçju u<br />
ter˙<strong>il</strong>ha lejn l-G˙adira, fejn kienu l-lejla ta’ qabel;<br />
forsi hemm is-sitwazzjoni tidher aktar çara, tkun<br />
taf x’kellha tag˙mel, jekk hux minnu li hi u Maurice<br />
issa kienu mi©©<strong>il</strong>din g˙al kollox. Sa ftit jiem qabel<br />
tkellmu dwar g˙erusija u l-©ejjieni. Il-biera˙<br />
faqqg˙et <strong>il</strong>-bomba!<br />
G˙al xid-disg˙a waslet. NiΩlet bl-g˙a©©la fuq<br />
ir-ramel, firxet xugaman, intefg˙et b<strong>il</strong>-qieg˙da,<br />
tiççassa t˙ares lejn dik <strong>il</strong>-medda ka˙la u kalma<br />
ta’ quddiemha. Kien g˙adu nofs Mejju, kollox<br />
sliem, kollox nadif, kollox sabi˙ u kwiet - minbarra<br />
qalbha!<br />
Kienu <strong>il</strong>hom i˙ejju g˙al dik l-ikla fuq ir-ramel.<br />
Grupp ta’ xi g˙oxrin xebba u ©uvni, jew koppji;<br />
Fuq ir-Ramel<br />
<strong>tal</strong>-Ghadira<br />
Lina Brockdorff<br />
kul˙add fer˙an, jiekol, jixrob, u jkanta, xi drabi<br />
jiΩfnu g˙ar-ritmu <strong>tal</strong>-muΩika li ©abu mag˙hom. Hi<br />
u Maurice bdew jiΩfnu ˙afjin, fuq dak ir-ramel s˙un<br />
mix-xemx <strong>tal</strong>-jum. Óin minnhom rifset çag˙aka,<br />
t<strong>il</strong>fet <strong>il</strong>-b<strong>il</strong>anç u ggranfat ma’ se˙ibha. Qal li<br />
we©©g˙atlu u girfitlu g˙onqu, u li xtaq li jieqfu<br />
miΩ-Ωfin biex ipo©©u fuq <strong>il</strong>-pultruni <strong>tal</strong>-kanvas.<br />
Moira serr˙itlu mo˙˙u li g˙addielha, li setg˙u<br />
jkomplu jiΩfnu, imma hu nsista li jmorru lura b<strong>il</strong>qieg˙da.<br />
Po©©iet, iΩda ma setg˙etx tifhem g˙alliema<br />
ra©uni ma komplewx jiΩfnu. Baqg˙et t˙ares<br />
çass lejh g˙ax deher<strong>il</strong>ha li rat espressjoni stramba<br />
fuq wiççu, deher im˙asseb, imdejjaq. Wara li po©©a<br />
pprova jibda, bi kliem maqtug˙ minn xulxin …<br />
“Moira … ejja ˙alli nitkellmu ftit …<br />
“X’ji©ifieri nitkellmu, mhux dejjem nitkellmu…<br />
mhux nitkellmu konna waqt li qed niΩfnu!”<br />
“ Le, bis-serjetà … g˙ax <strong>il</strong>i jiem s˙a˙ nipprova<br />
ng˙idlek …”<br />
“X’inqala’?”<br />
“Mhux qed insibha ˙afifa biex ng˙idlek …Forsi<br />
jkun a˙jar … ferm a˙jar … jekk a˙na t-tnejn ma<br />
nkomplux flimkien!”<br />
“Din xi çajta tieg˙ek? Ma nkomplux g˙ax kont<br />
ser naqa’ fir-ramel? Taf x’qed tg˙id?”<br />
“U le, x’g˙andu x’jaqsam ir-ramel! Ili na˙sibha<br />
biex intarraflek xi ˙a©a, imma dejjem nibΩa’<br />
nibda. Ftit <strong>il</strong>u … tiftakar … inti semmejt g˙erusija.<br />
Ósibt ˙afna dwarha u fl-a˙˙ar iddeçidejt li a˙jar<br />
26 Hajja Salesjana
ninsewha.”<br />
“Jien m’g˙edtlekx biex nitg˙arrsu l-lejla,<br />
nistg˙u intawlu jekk trid …”<br />
“ Moira … Ma xtaqtx nid˙ol g˙al risponsabb<strong>il</strong>tà<br />
b˙al dik ming˙ajr ma nkun Ωgur minni nnifsi.”<br />
“ Din ©dida! Daqs kemm <strong>il</strong>ek tg˙idli li t˙obbni!<br />
Li jien kollox g˙alik … li ming˙ajri l-˙ajja ma tfisser<br />
xejn … x’qed tivvinta issa? Taf li <strong>il</strong>na ‘steady’ g˙al<br />
kwaΩi sena?”<br />
“G˙andek ra©un! …Kull ma g˙edtlek kien<br />
kollu minnu, hekk ˙assejt u nista’ ng˙id li hekk<br />
g˙adni n˙oss g˙alik, imma … çerti çirkustanzi qed<br />
irossuni biex nie˙u din id-deçiΩjoni …”<br />
“Kemm ©ej b’misteri l-lejla! Ma nistax nifhmek.”<br />
Skiet g˙al ftit sekondi. “Kompli, g˙aliex waqaft?<br />
M’g˙andekx kura©© tkompli? Ma nag˙mlux kaΩ li<br />
ser tg˙idli li hemm xi ˙add ie˙or, hux ?”<br />
“Ne˙˙ieha minn mo˙˙ok! La kien hemm … u<br />
lanqas ikun hemm. Ara, nibqg˙u ˙bieb kemm trid<br />
… imma Ωwie© qatt!”<br />
“Dawn x’affarijiet huma?”<br />
“Ja˙asra ifhem dak li qed nipprova ng˙idlek<br />
… <strong>il</strong>i li ssuspettajt, imma issa n˙ossni Ωgur … ma<br />
rridx inqarraq bik … A˙jar ma niΩΩewwi©x … u forsi<br />
ma na˙sibx aktar f’nisa!”<br />
Ma’ dik l-a˙˙ar kelma Moira ˙arset çass lejh<br />
qisha mhix temmen dak li semg˙et, imbag˙ad<br />
qabditlu idu li kellha ©o jdejha u sabtit<strong>il</strong>u fuq <strong>il</strong>maqbad<br />
<strong>tal</strong>-pultruna f<strong>il</strong>waqt li qaltlu: “Eh, iva, sur<br />
galantom! Domt biex indunajt … Qatt ma kont<br />
nistennieha minnek! Ara, x’qed ng˙idlek, ara biss<br />
ifett<strong>il</strong>lek tersaq lejja jew t˙ares lejn wiççi!”<br />
Dak <strong>il</strong>-˙in stess ©abret <strong>il</strong>-basket, libset iΩ-<br />
Ωarbun u telqet ti©ri wa˙edha biex tirkeb <strong>tal</strong>linja<br />
u tin©abar id-dar. Qam warajha jipprova<br />
jkellimha, jg˙id<strong>il</strong>ha li lest iwassalha, imma bdiet<br />
twarrbu u tkeççieh bi kliem li qatt ma basret li ser<br />
tindirizzahom l<strong>il</strong> ˙add. Xorta wa˙da, x˙in waslet<br />
id-dar sabitu hemm qrib jistennieha. Lanqas biss<br />
indenjat tkellmu, warrbitu bi drieg˙ha waqt li<br />
Hajja Salesjana<br />
b<strong>il</strong>©iri da˙let ©ewwa.<br />
Din ix-xena baqg˙et ddur quddiem g˙ajnejha<br />
tul <strong>il</strong>-lejl kollu, waqt li titqalleb min-na˙a g˙allo˙ra<br />
tas-sodda.<br />
L-ewwel reazzjoni tag˙ha kienet li tit˙assar<br />
l<strong>il</strong>ha nnifisha. X’ser tg˙id<strong>il</strong>hom l<strong>il</strong> tad-dar, l<strong>il</strong><br />
s˙abha <strong>tal</strong>-grupp? Kif ser tag˙mel biex tinsieh?<br />
L-o˙rajn kienu jafu bl-istorja? Imma wara li ˙liet<br />
ir-rabja kollha fuq dawn <strong>il</strong>-˙sibijiet, bdiet ti©i<br />
quddiemha stampa ta’ wiçç Maurice. Bdiet ter©a’<br />
tara l-espressjoni ta’ w©ig˙ g˙all-kliem xejn<br />
xieraq li bih bdiet toffendih. X’fettl<strong>il</strong>ha? L-aktar<br />
kliem iebes li qaltlu kien meta bdiet ti©ri biex<br />
ta˙rab minnu fuq ir-ramel, waqt li hu jsej˙<strong>il</strong>ha<br />
biex jwassalha d-dar. Kull kelma li qaltlu bdiet<br />
tirbombja ©o mo˙˙ha. Possibli li kellha kura©©<br />
tkellmu hekk? Ipprova jkun sinçier mag˙ha, qal<strong>il</strong>ha<br />
çar u tond li jirrispettaha kien u jibqa’, imma li ma<br />
xtaqx iqarraq biha. U jekk tab<strong>il</strong>˙aqq kien g˙adu<br />
kif inteba˙ bl-orjentazzjoni tieg˙u, xi ˙tija kellu?<br />
Kien xi diΩunur? Min jaf x’kien qed i˙oss issa li<br />
jinsab g˙al kollox wa˙du ming˙ajr biss <strong>il</strong>-˙biberija<br />
tag˙ha? Wa˙du, b<strong>il</strong>-fakra <strong>tal</strong>-kliem iebes li qaltlu.<br />
Kien jafdaha biΩΩejjed biex feta˙ qalbu mag˙ha …<br />
b’riΩultat li warrbitu u offenditu.<br />
Ma fel˙itx aktar. Hemm fuq dak ir-ramel kiesa˙,<br />
f’salt wie˙ed infaqg˙et tolfoq. Bdiet tolfoq mhux<br />
g˙ax issa tinsab ming˙ajr sie˙eb, imma aktar g˙ax<br />
kienet Ωgura kemm offendietu, farrkitlu d-dinjità<br />
tieg˙u. Kull ma g˙amlet g˙amlitu biex tpatt<strong>il</strong>u <strong>tal</strong>li<br />
ddiΩappuntha. M<strong>il</strong>l-banda l-o˙ra, hu xi ˙tija kellu?<br />
Baqg˙et hemm bla tag˙ti kaΩ ta’ xi koppji turisti<br />
g˙addejjin minn quddiemha j˙arsu lejha. Lanqas<br />
ma kienet taf jew jimpurtaha x’˙in sar. Baqg˙et<br />
hemm sserra˙ qalbha bla ma taf x’kellha tag˙mel<br />
biex issewwi s-sitwazzjoni. Wara ˙afna ˙in, m<strong>il</strong>lbasket<br />
tag˙ha semg˙et ç-çemp<strong>il</strong>a fam<strong>il</strong>jari <strong>tal</strong>mowbajl.<br />
Gerfxet qalb l-affarijiet <strong>tal</strong>-basket sa ma<br />
sabitu. Kien hu, Maurice. Wie©bet m<strong>il</strong>l-ewwel bla<br />
qag˙det ta˙sibha.<br />
27
“Bon©u Moira! G˙idli s-sewwa, fejn tinsab?”<br />
Malli semg˙et le˙nu aktar bkiet u ma fel˙itx<br />
twie©eb. “Moira, we©ibni g˙all-erwie˙, taf kemm<br />
jien inkwetat fuqek. G˙idli fejn tinsab u ni©i ni©ri<br />
˙dejk. Mo˙˙i fik!”<br />
“Fuq ir-ramel <strong>tal</strong>-G˙adira, fejn konna lbiera˙,”<br />
lissnet waqt li baqg˙et tolfoq.<br />
“Ibqa’ hemm u tiççaqlaqx. Dalwaqt inkun ˙dejk<br />
… Fuq kollox tridni ni©i, jew veru dak li g˙edtli<br />
lbiera˙ … li ma tridx tarani b’g˙ajnejk jew nersaq<br />
lejk?”<br />
“Ejja, Mor, nixtieq li tkun ˙dejja b˙alissa. Imma<br />
int fejn tinsab?”<br />
“Dak mhux importanti. Ibqa’ hemm, dalwaqt<br />
tarani ˙dejk.”<br />
F’inqas minn g˙oxrin minuta tarah ©ej<br />
ji©ri ˙dejha. Óadet nifs qawwi ta’ solliev. Intefa’<br />
g˙arkubbtejh fuq ir-ramel qribha. Óare© pakkett<br />
‘tissues’ u waqt li warrb<strong>il</strong>ha xag˙arha minn<br />
quddiem wiççha, beda jixxut<strong>tal</strong>ha d-dmug˙.<br />
“Ma rridx narak tibki aktar Moira. Jien ukoll<br />
bkejt ˙afna dal-lejl. Naf li we©©ajtek, li farraktlek<br />
<strong>il</strong>-˙olm leqqieni kollu li bnejna flimkien … a˙firli.”<br />
“Mhux g˙alhekk … mhux g˙alhekk qed nibki …<br />
mhux dak li qed jaqsamli qalbi …”<br />
“Mela, x’inqala’ aktar m<strong>il</strong>l-biera˙ ‘l hawn?”<br />
“G˙ax jien ma rra©unajtx <strong>il</strong>biera˙. Naf li<br />
we©©ajtek bi kliemi, u int ma kienx jixraqlek .. naf<br />
li kont u g˙adek tirrispettani … u jien … ma nafx<br />
xi ©rali, ˙sadtni ma’ dik l-a˙bar …g˙idli li ta˙firli,<br />
g˙idli li ser tinsa kull kelma li g˙edtlek …”<br />
“Ieqaf u insa int ukoll. Ieqaf d<strong>il</strong>-minuta, Moira.”<br />
Re©a’ dar lejha u xxut<strong>tal</strong>ha d-dmug˙ li kien g˙adu<br />
jleqq fi xfar g˙ajnejha. Qam minn fejn kien, “Ser<br />
in©ib Ωew© kikkri kafè minn g˙and <strong>tal</strong>-gabbana …<br />
tiççaqlaqx …”<br />
“Le, le! Ibqa’ hawn ˙dejja. Jekk tassew ˙firtli<br />
ibqa’ ˙dejja … er©a’ po©©i hawn b<strong>il</strong>qieg˙da, hawn<br />
… ˙alli nersaqlek fuq ix-xugaman. Hekk ag˙tini<br />
idejk f’tieg˙i, anzi … ˙addanni mieg˙ek biex inkun<br />
Ωgura li ˙firtli.”<br />
Baqg˙u hemm g˙al Ωmien tw<strong>il</strong> bla ma jit˙arrku,<br />
bla ma jitkellmu, i˙arsu lejn ir-ramel dehbi<br />
mbewwes m<strong>il</strong>-ba˙ar ik˙al li lejn ix-xefaq jisfuma<br />
f’çelesti. Óassew s-se˙er <strong>tal</strong>-armonija misterjuΩa<br />
g˙addejja m<strong>il</strong>l-istess natura g˙al ©ewwa qalbhom;<br />
bdiet tissarraf f’im˙abba li b˙al balzmu bdiet<br />
tfejjaqhom. G˙aliex kellha dik l-im˙abba ta’<br />
bejniethom tinbidel f’velenu qerriedi ta’ mibeg˙da,<br />
tg˙ajjir u ©lied? G˙aliex kellhom ikissru u jferu ‘l<br />
xulxin, wara tant xhur ta’ m˙abba sinçiera? Iva,<br />
fehmu li issa kienet im˙abba differenti minn dik<br />
ta’ qabel fejn t˙obb biss biex takkwista m<strong>il</strong>l-ie˙or.<br />
Kienet warrdet f’im˙abba altruista; t˙obb l<strong>il</strong>lie˙or<br />
g˙ax hu tab<strong>il</strong>˙aqq ta’ min i˙obbu!<br />
28 Hajja Salesjana
On May 1 Pope Benedict XVI beatified the most famous one-time parishioner of the<br />
Salesians, Karol Wojtyla from St. Stanislaus Kostka Parish in the Debniki - Krakow,<br />
Poland. The world now knows him as Blessed Pope John Paul II.<br />
Hajja Salesjana<br />
<strong>Extraordinary</strong> Salesian<br />
Parishioner<br />
By Michael Mendl, SDB<br />
In August 1938, 18-year-old Karol and his<br />
father moved from their native Wadowice<br />
into tiny quarters at 10 Tyniecka St. in Krakow,<br />
a three-minute walk around the corner from<br />
St. Stanislaus Church at 6 Konfederacka St.,<br />
where Karol attended Mass da<strong>il</strong>y at 6:00 a.m.<br />
Karol would be counted as a parishioner unt<strong>il</strong><br />
1944, well into his seminary years.<br />
Pope John Paul himself wrote in Gift<br />
and Mystery, “I cannot fa<strong>il</strong> to mention one<br />
particular place … from [which] I really<br />
received much during that period. The place<br />
was my parish, dedicated to Saint Stanislaus<br />
Kostka…. I believe that the presence of the<br />
Salesians played an important role in the<br />
formation of my vocation” (G&M, p. 23).<br />
The Pope spoke further of his vocation<br />
when he travelled to Turin in September<br />
1988. At the end of the beatification Mass<br />
of Bl. Laura Vicuna, he thanked Providence<br />
for the gift of Don Bosco and then added<br />
some very personal remarks: “I bring my<br />
own gratitude because I also lived for five<br />
or six years in a Salesian parish. And when I<br />
find myself here at Colle Don Bosco…, when<br />
I look at the imposing facade of this great<br />
church, it brings to my mind that of another<br />
church: the parish church of St. Stanislaus<br />
Kostka in Krakow. ..And so I too come here<br />
in p<strong>il</strong>grimage with all of you to give thanks<br />
for the part played by St. John Bosco, his<br />
spiritual Fam<strong>il</strong>y, and his charism in my life”<br />
(Acts of the General Counc<strong>il</strong>, n. 328, p. 19).<br />
John Paul also notes the “special devotion<br />
there to Mary, Help of Christians.” <strong>It</strong> was<br />
precisely in front of the image of Mary Help of<br />
Christians venerated in the church in Debniki<br />
that young Karol came to the decision to<br />
devote himself entirely to the service of<br />
the Lord and his Church. Germany launched<br />
World War II in Europe by invading Poland on<br />
Sept. 1, 1939. In the first year of the German<br />
29
occupation, writes Weigel, the Salesians “at<br />
the risk of their lives … tried to continue<br />
this [youth] apostolate…, conducting<br />
underground catechetical programmes for<br />
elementary and high school students” (p.<br />
59). Another biographer, Tad Szulc, singles<br />
out a pre-Easter retreat they organized in<br />
1940 for the young people of the parish as<br />
a significant moment. “The retreat having<br />
proved successful,” he writes in Pope John<br />
Paul II, “the Salesians requested a priest<br />
who lectured at the Jagiellonian University<br />
to hold weekly theological encounters for<br />
twenty to thirty young people between<br />
the ages of sixteen and twenty-five, who<br />
had come to<br />
the original<br />
r e t r e a t ”<br />
(p. 112).<br />
From these<br />
g a t h e r i n g s<br />
the Salesians<br />
came up with<br />
the idea of<br />
“the Living<br />
Rosary” to<br />
maintain a clandestine network among the<br />
youths to circumvent the Nazis’ wariness of<br />
church organizations. Karol’s experience of<br />
Salesian pastoral care for the young must<br />
have made a profound impression on him,<br />
not only in terms of his vocation and his<br />
Marian devotion, as he has testified, but also<br />
in his interest in young people, so evident<br />
throughout his own priestly, episcopal, and<br />
papal ministry. Writing to the Salesians on<br />
Feb. 22, 2002, Pope John Paul remarked:<br />
“Your life, my dear sons, is lived out among<br />
the boys as Don Bosco wanted it to be. You<br />
are happy among them, and they enjoy your<br />
friendly presence. Yours are ‘houses’ in<br />
which they feel at ease.” (Acts of GC25, n.<br />
145). Surely the Holy Father was speaking<br />
from personal experience. If Pope John Paul<br />
II “connected” with the young and inspired<br />
so many of them to deepen their faith in<br />
Jesus Christ and even to pursue religious or<br />
priestly vocations, may we attribute that in<br />
good part to the Salesians of Debniki?<br />
One participant in the youth gatherings<br />
following this Lenten retreat of 1940, by<br />
no means one of the younger ones, was a<br />
30 Hajja Salesjana
39-year-old ta<strong>il</strong>or named Jan Tyranowski who<br />
offered to take charge of the Living Rosary.<br />
The Salesians, recognizing “his gifts of good<br />
sense, piety, and apostolic zeal” (ANS),<br />
entrusted the pastoral care of the young men<br />
and women to him. This unpretentious and<br />
devout man was steeped in the spirituality of<br />
the Carmelite mystics, especially St. John of<br />
the Cross and St. Teresa of Av<strong>il</strong>a.<br />
When the Gestapo arrested Fr. Jan Swierc,<br />
St. Stanislaus Kostka’s pastor, and 11 other<br />
Salesians from the parish and the Salesian<br />
seminary on Tyniecka St. on May 23, 1941, the<br />
parish was left with only one elderly priest<br />
and the provincial, Fr. Adam Cieslar. Within<br />
12 months Fr. Swierc and 7 others had been<br />
k<strong>il</strong>led at Auschwitz. One, Fr. Joseph Kowalski,<br />
is among 108 Polish martyrs of the Nazis<br />
beatified in 1999, including 5 young leaders<br />
of the Salesian youth centre in Poznan—<br />
evidence of just how dangerous youth<br />
gatherings were, during the occupation, and<br />
for that matter, the underground seminary<br />
program that Archbishop Sapieha of Krakow<br />
organized in the fall of 1942 and in which<br />
Hajja Salesjana<br />
Karol enrolled (cf. G&M 12-13).<br />
During his last visit to Poland, John Paul<br />
II stopped in front of St. Stanislaus Church<br />
on August 17, 2002,<br />
and declared: “I<br />
always remember<br />
those Salesians who<br />
were taken away<br />
from this parish to<br />
the concentration<br />
camp.... I also<br />
remember Mr. Jan<br />
Tyranowski’s Living<br />
Rosary...” (ANS). He<br />
was a special “person from whom I received<br />
much during that period” (G&M 23); from this<br />
spiritual mentor Karol “learned the basic<br />
methods of self-formation which would later<br />
be confirmed and developed in the seminary<br />
program. Tyranowski…helped me to read the<br />
works of Saint John of the Cross and Saint<br />
Teresa of Av<strong>il</strong>a, something uncommon for a<br />
person my age” (G&M 24). Many of the Living<br />
Rosary Group eventually became priests or<br />
religious.<br />
After his ordination on Nov. 1, 1946, Fr.<br />
Wojtyla returned to St. Stanislaus on Nov.<br />
3 to celebrate one of his “first Masses” as<br />
a priest, “with a beaming Jan Tyranowski<br />
present” (Szulc, p. 133).<br />
31
CHEYENNE THE DOG AND DAD<br />
Dad had been a lumberjack in Washington<br />
and Oregon. He had entered gruelling lumberjack<br />
competitions, and had placed often. The shelves<br />
in his house were f<strong>il</strong>led with trophies that attested<br />
to his prowess. The years marched on relentlessly.<br />
The first time he couldn't lift a heavy log, he joked<br />
about it; but later that same day I saw him outside<br />
alone, straining to lift it. He became irritable<br />
whenever anyone teased him about his advancing<br />
age.<br />
Four days after his sixty-seventh birthday,<br />
he had a heart attack. At the hospi<strong>tal</strong>, Dad was<br />
rushed into an operating room. He was lucky; he<br />
survived. But something inside Dad died. His zest<br />
for life was gone. My husband, Dick, and I asked<br />
Dad to come live with us on our small farm. We<br />
hoped the fresh air and rustic atmosphere would<br />
help him adjust. Within a week after he moved in, I<br />
regretted the invitation. He criticized everything I<br />
did. I became frustrated and moody.<br />
Alarmed, Dick sought out our pastor and<br />
explained the situation. The clergyman set up<br />
weekly counselling appointments for us. At the<br />
close of each session he prayed, asking God to<br />
soothe Dad's troubled mind. But the months wore<br />
on and God was s<strong>il</strong>ent. Something had to be done<br />
and it was up to me to do it.<br />
The next day I sat down with the phone book<br />
and methodically called each of the men<strong>tal</strong> health<br />
clinics listed in the Yellow Pages and I explained<br />
my problem. Just when I was giving up hope, one<br />
of the voices suddenly exclaimed, "I just read<br />
something that might help you! Let me go get<br />
the article..." The article described a remarkable<br />
Story by Catherine Moore<br />
study done at a nursing home. All of the patients<br />
were under treatment for chronic depression. Yet<br />
their attitudes had improved dramatically when<br />
they were given responsib<strong>il</strong>ity for a dog.<br />
I drove to the animal shelter that afternoon. I<br />
moved down the row of pens, each contained five<br />
to seven dogs all jumping up trying to reach me.<br />
As I neared the last pen a dog in the shadows of<br />
the far corner struggled to his feet, walked to the<br />
front of the run and sat down. <strong>It</strong> was a pointer,<br />
but this was a caricature of the breed. Years<br />
had etched his face and muzzle with shades of<br />
gray. But it was his eyes that caught and held<br />
my attention. Calm and clear, they beheld me<br />
unwaveringly.<br />
I pointed to the dog. "Can you tell me about<br />
him?" The officer looked, then shook his head in<br />
puzzlement. "He's a funny one. Appeared out of<br />
nowhere and sat in front of the gate. We brought<br />
him in, figuring someone would be right down to<br />
claim him. That was two weeks ago and we've<br />
heard nothing.” I looked at the pointer again. The<br />
calm brown eyes awaited my decision. "I'll take<br />
him," I said. When I reached the house I honked<br />
the horn twice. I was helping my prize out of the<br />
car when Dad shuffled onto the front porch. "Tada!<br />
Look what I got for you, Dad!" I said excitedly.<br />
Dad looked, then wrinkled his face in disgust.<br />
"If I had wanted a dog I would have gotten one.<br />
And I would have picked out a better specimen<br />
than that bag of bones. I don't want it". Anger<br />
rose inside me. <strong>It</strong> squeezed together my throat<br />
muscles and pounded into my temples. "You'd<br />
better get used to him, Dad. He's staying!"<br />
32 Hajja Salesjana
Dad ignored me. "Did you hear me, Dad?" I<br />
screamed. At those words Dad whirled angr<strong>il</strong>y, his<br />
hands clenched at his sides, his eyes narrowed<br />
and blazing with hate. We stood glaring at each<br />
other like duellists, when suddenly the pointer<br />
pulled free from my grasp. He wobbled toward<br />
my dad and sat down in front of him. Then<br />
slowly, carefully, he raised his paw... Dad's lower<br />
jaw trembled as he stared at the uplifted paw.<br />
Confusion replaced the anger in his eyes. The<br />
pointer waited patiently. Then Dad was on his<br />
knees hugging the animal.<br />
<strong>It</strong> was the beginning of a warm and intimate<br />
friendship. Dad named the pointer Cheyenne.<br />
Together he and Cheyenne explored the<br />
community. They spent long hours walking down<br />
dusty lanes. They spent reflective moments on<br />
the banks of streams, angling for tasty trout.<br />
They even started to attend Sunday services<br />
together, Dad sitting in a pew and Cheyenne lying<br />
quietly at his feet. Dad 's bitterness faded, and he<br />
and Cheyenne made many friends. Then late one<br />
night I was startled to feel Cheyenne's cold nose<br />
burrowing through our bed covers. He had never<br />
before come into our bedroom at night. I put on<br />
my robe and ran into my father's room. Dad lay<br />
in his bed, his face serene. But his spirit had left<br />
quietly sometime during the night.<br />
Two days later my shock and grief deepened<br />
when I discovered Cheyenne lying dead beside<br />
Dad's bed. I wrapped his st<strong>il</strong>l form in the rag rug<br />
he had slept on. As Dick and I buried him near a<br />
favourite fishing hole, I s<strong>il</strong>ently thanked<br />
the dog for the help he had given me<br />
in restoring Dad's peace of mind. The<br />
morning of Dad's funeral I was surprised to<br />
see the many friends Dad and Cheyenne had<br />
made f<strong>il</strong>ling the church. The pastor began his<br />
eulogy. <strong>It</strong> was a tribute to both Dad and the dog<br />
who had changed his life. And then the pastor<br />
Hajja Salesjana<br />
turned to Hebrews 13:2. "Do not neglect to show<br />
hospi<strong>tal</strong>ity to strangers, for by this some have<br />
entertained angels without knowing it."<br />
"I've often thanked God for sending that<br />
angel," he said. For me, the past dropped into<br />
place, completing a puzzle that I had not seen<br />
before: the sympathetic voice that had just<br />
read the right article, Cheyenne 's unexpected<br />
appearance at the animal shelter, his calm<br />
acceptance and complete devotion to my father,<br />
and the proximity of their deaths.<br />
And suddenly I understood. I knew that God<br />
had answered my prayers after all. God answers<br />
our prayers in His time... not ours! (Edited)<br />
33
“A good priest is a truly human person who<br />
expresses his love for God in prayer and in<br />
love for people. These gifts are sanctified<br />
and focused through the grace of ordination<br />
when he becomes ‘a man for others’.”<br />
Cardinal Cormac Murphy – O’Connor<br />
• Do I really want to follow Jesus and show<br />
his love to others, especially to the young,<br />
as Don Bosco did?<br />
• <strong>Is</strong> prayer and my own relationship with God<br />
at the centre of my life?<br />
• Do I want to be honest and ‘real’ before<br />
God and others?<br />
• Do I enjoy the life and company of other<br />
people? Am I approachable?<br />
• Am I concerned for the young, the poor<br />
and vulnerable?<br />
If you believe you have a calling to be a<br />
Salesian priest then contact the vocations<br />
director, Fr. Louis Grech SDB at:<br />
Tel. 21 454546 / 21 456251<br />
or e-ma<strong>il</strong>: vocations@salesiansmalta.org<br />
for more information<br />
www.vocations.salesiansmalta.org<br />
Are you<br />
being called<br />
PRIESTHOOD<br />
to the<br />
And to the<br />
SALESIAN<br />
way of life?<br />
34 Hajja Salesjana
Testmenti<br />
Tista’ tg˙inna fix-xog˙ol li a˙na nag˙mlu mat-tfal u<br />
maΩ-Ωg˙aΩag˙ foqra b<strong>il</strong>li tiftakar fina fit-testment tieg˙ek<br />
jew tibg˙at donazzjoni.<br />
Huwa b<strong>il</strong>-g˙ajnuna ta’ nies b˙alek li x-xog˙lijiet li<br />
g˙andna madwar id-dinja jibqg˙u jag˙tu l-frott.<br />
Il-kontribuzzjonijiet kollha, kemm Ωg˙ar u kemm kbar,<br />
huma dejjem apprezzati.<br />
Ibg˙at <strong>il</strong>-kontribuzzjonijiet tieg˙ek l<strong>il</strong>:<br />
Fr. Eric Cachia SDB - Amministratur tad-Delegazzjoni<br />
Savio College, Buskett Road, Dingli DGL2702<br />
Tel: 2145 4546<br />
BorΩa ta’ Studju<br />
X’INHI BORÛA TA’ STUDJU?<br />
Hija somma ta’ flus li tg˙inna biex in˙allsu parti m<strong>il</strong>l-formazzjoni<br />
ta’ Ωag˙Ωug˙ li qed i˙ejji ru˙u biex isir saçerdot Salesjan.<br />
KEMM TRID TAGÓTI BIEX TWAQQAF BORÛA TA’ STUDJU?<br />
Kapi<strong>tal</strong> ta’ b600<br />
JEÓTIEÌ LI BILFORS TAGÓTI S-SOMMA F’DAQQA?<br />
Le. Wie˙ed jista’ jag˙tiha biçça biçça, tant fix-xhar jew tant fis-sena.<br />
JEÓTIEÌ LI BILFORS IS-SOMMA TKUN MOGÓTIJA MINN WIEÓED BISS?<br />
Le. Jistg˙u jiftehmu flimkien iktar minn persuna wa˙da u kul˙add jag˙ti<br />
sehmu. IΩda min jo˙ro© wa˙du s-somma kollha, ikun fundatur ta’ dik <strong>il</strong>-BorΩa.<br />
JISTÀ WIEÓED IÓALLI L-BORÛA BÓALA LEGAT WARA MEWTU?<br />
Jistà. U min jag˙mel hekk, jistà jikteb fit-testment: “In˙alli b˙ala legat<br />
lis-Salesjani ta’ Don Bosco, is-somma ta’ g˙all-formazzjoni ta’<br />
Ωag˙Ωug˙ Malti fl-istess Soçjetà.
NEWSPAPER POST ST.PATRICK’S SCHOOL, ST. JOHN BOSCO STREET, SLIEMA 1925