Aid to the Church in Need

ACN Night of Witness
VIGIL OF LIGHT
ORGAN VOLUNTARY / CHOIR MOTET for PROCESSION into church
INTRODUCTION AND WELCOME
INTRODUCTORY HYMN
ADDRESS and Introduction to the Mysteries of Light of the Rosary –
Priest/Deacon
PRAYERS OF THE ROSARY
The Lord’s Prayer (OUR FATHER)
MC: Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come.
Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
ALL: Give us this day our daily bread
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. Amen.
HAIL MARY
MC: Hail, Mary full of grace,
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
ALL: Holy Mary,
Mother of God,
pray for us sinners now,
and at the hour of death. Amen.
DOXOLOGY
MC: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit
ALL: as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Aid to the Church in Need
12 -14 Benhill Avenue, Sutton SM1 4DA
Telephone: 020 8642 8668 Email: acn@acnuk.org Website: www.acnuk.org
A registered charity in England and Wales (1097984) and Scotland (SC040748)

VIGIL OF LIGHT
Lighting of Vigil Candle in memory of Fr Ragheed Ghanni, Iraq
Fr Ragheed Ghanni’s final hours: Reader 1 (See Case Study)
Scripture Reading: John 1:29 and Lighting of Candle: Reader 2
The next day, seeing Jesus coming towards him, John said, “Look, there is the Lamb of God that takes
away the sin of the world!”
First Mystery of Light:
The Baptism of Our Lord in the River Jordan
We remember Christians in Iraq and all those in the Middle East who face the loss of homes,
livelihoods, abuse, kidnap and even death for their allegiance to Christ: they have truly drunk
from the chalice with him and been baptised with the baptism with which he was baptised
Our Father
10x Hail Mary
Doxology
Lighting of Vigil Candle in memory of Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan
The sacrifice of Shahbaz Bhatti Reader 1 (See Case Study)
Scripture Reading John 2:5 and Lighting of Candle: Reader 2
His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you”.
Second Mystery of Light
Jesus at the Wedding of Cana
We remember Christians and all those who suffer humiliation, discrimination, arrest and
imprisonment because of the abuses of Pakistan’s Blasphemy Laws. Christ’s followers in
Pakistan know the meaning of the words “Do whatever he tells you” and in their sufferings
have borne witness to their Lord.
Our Father
10x Hail Mary
Doxology
Lighting of Vigil Candle in memory of Emmanuel Dilke, Nigeria
Children – the innocent victims Reader 1 (See Case Study)
Scripture Reading Mark 1:14-15 and Lighting of Candle: Reader 2
Jesus went into Galilee. There he proclaimed the Good News from God. “The time has come,” he said, “and
the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the Good News.”
Third Mystery of Light
Jesus’ Proclamation of the Kingdom of God, with his call to conversion
We remember children and young people in Nigeria and around the world who have
lost their lives, families or homes because they found only hatred when they proclaimed the
gospel of love.
Our Father
10x Hail Mary
Doxology
Aid to the Church in Need
12 -14 Benhill Avenue, Sutton SM1 4DA
Telephone: 020 8642 8668 Email: acn@acnuk.org Website: www.acnuk.org
A registered charity in England and Wales (1097984) and Scotland (SC040748)

Lighting of Vigil Candle in memory of Fr Bernard Digal, India
Hunted down and killed Reader 1 (See Case Study)
Scripture reading Luke 9:35 and Lighting of Candle: Reader 2
And a voice came from the cloud saying, “This is my Son, the Chosen One. Listen to him.”
Fourth Mystery of Light
The Transfiguration
Please pray for Christians in India who endure threats, assaults and acts of violence.
In moments of peril may they behold the glory of the Lord, and transformed into the image of
Jesus may they have the courage to echo his eternal words of forgiveness: ’Father, they know
not what they do.
Our Father
10x Hail Mary
Doxology
Lighting of Vigil Candle in memory of Midnight Mass bombing victims,
Naj Hammadi, Egypt
‘In the midst of life we are in death’ St John Notker Reader 1 (See Case Study)
Scripture Reading Mark 14: 22 and Lighting of Candle: Reader 2
And as they were eating he took some bread, and when he had said the blessing, he broke it and gave it to
them. “Take it,” he said, “this is my body.” [Mark 14: 22]
Fifth Mystery of Light
Jesus’ Institution of the Eucharist
Please pray for Christian communities in Egypt and around the world who draw strength from
the Eucharist and who, despite the risks, insist on their right to attend the
Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Our Father
10x Hail Mary
Doxology
ALL: Regina Caeli (Eastertide only) -OR Salve Regina (+ versicle)
Regina caeli, laetare, alleluia.
Quia quem meruisti portare, alleluia.
Resurrexit, sicut dixit, alleluia.
Ora pro nobis Deum, alleluia.
V. Gaude et laetare, Virgo Maria, alleluia. R. Quia surrexit Dominus vere, alleluia.
MC: Let us pray.
O God, whose only begotten Son, by his life, death, and resurrection, has purchased for us the
rewards of eternal life, grant, we beseech thee, that meditating upon these mysteries of the
most holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may both imitate what they contain and
obtain what they promise, through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Concluding comments
Blessing and dismissal
Aid to the Church in Need
12 -14 Benhill Avenue, Sutton SM1 4DA
Telephone: 020 8642 8668 Email: acn@acnuk.org Website: www.acnuk.org
A registered charity in England and Wales (1097984) and Scotland (SC040748)

Final Motet/Hymn Depart in silence
CASE STUDIES
CASE STUDY 1: FR RAGHEED GHANNI, IRAQ
Reader 1
He was only thirty-five when they gunned him down: a brilliant young scholar, recently ordained,
who had just returned home to Iraq after seven years studying in Rome.
In 2003 Ragheed Ghanni left the peaceful cloister garden of the Angelicum University to tend to his new
flock back home in Iraq.
But Iraq changed that year: violence erupted on the streets following the US-led invasion and the fall of
Saddam Hussein. Islamic extremists targeted Christians with [bombs]s and kidnappings.
“Close your church!” they ordered, regularly threatening him with bombs and guns.
But he refused, his only concession to safety to celebrate Mass in the crypt.
One day, Fr Ragheed and three subdeacons, driving away from the church after mass, were ambushed by
gunmen.
“I told you to close the church,” one screamed. “Why didn’t you do it? Why are you still here?”
Fr Ragheed responded, “How can I close the House of God?”
Then they opened fire and killed them all.
Aid to the Church in Need
12 -14 Benhill Avenue, Sutton SM1 4DA
Telephone: 020 8642 8668 Email: acn@acnuk.org Website: www.acnuk.org
A registered charity in England and Wales (1097984) and Scotland (SC040748)

CASE STUDY 2: SHAHBAZ BHATTI, PAKISTAN
Reader 1
Four months before he died, Pakistan’s only Christian government minister predicted his death at
the hand of extremists.
Shahbaz Bhatti was Pakistan’s minorities minister.
He supported reform of the country’s draconian blasphemy laws.
For this, he had received repeated death threats.
On the morning of the 2nd of March 2011, Shahbaz left his mother’s home in a quiet residential district
of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, to attend a cabinet meeting.
His driver was at the wheel, but Shahbaz had no security escort.
Within moments the vehicle was surrounded by masked gunmen.
They had been lying in wait close to his mother’s home.
They sprayed the vehicle with bullets, killing Shahbaz instantly.
As the killers escaped, leaflets from al-Qaeda and the Taliban fluttered in the wake of their getaway car.
Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha of Lahore said
“The murder of Shahbaz Bhatti means that we have lost a great leader of our community, who stood up for
us and articulated the concerns and fears of our people.
We do not have a leader now.”
Aid to the Church in Need
12 -14 Benhill Avenue, Sutton SM1 4DA
Telephone: 020 8642 8668 Email: acn@acnuk.org Website: www.acnuk.org
A registered charity in England and Wales (1097984) and Scotland (SC040748)

CASE STUDY 3: MADALLA, NIGERIA
Reader 1
He was only four years old, and so excited that it was Christmas. But a bomb blast cut off his short
life before it had barely begun.
It was the 25th of December 2011.
At St Theresa’s Church in Madalla, near the Nigerian capital Abuja,
hundreds of worshippers had gathered to celebrate the birthday of the Prince of Peace.
Suddenly, the air was rent, not by angel voices, but by a mighty explosion.
It ripped through the church,
mangling the roofing girders like cardboard,
blasting out the windows,
covering the surrounding area with dust and debris.
Forty massgoers were killed and many others were injured.
Most of the dead were young people and children.
Among them were four year-old Emmanuel Dilke and his brother and sister
and seven month-old Chiemerie Nwachukwu.
Bishop Martin Igwe Uzoukwu of Minna said:
“Those who died were martyrs. They will be remembered forever.”
Aid to the Church in Need
12 -14 Benhill Avenue, Sutton SM1 4DA
Telephone: 020 8642 8668 Email: acn@acnuk.org Website: www.acnuk.org
A registered charity in England and Wales (1097984) and Scotland (SC040748)

CASE STUDY 4: BERNARD DIGAL, INDIA
Reader 1
A sensitive, much-loved priest, he was hunted down by Hindu extremists and died of his wounds two
months later.
On the night of the 23rd of August 2008 a Hindu leader in Orissa state in north east India was killed.
Hindu Extremists blamed Christians, although others admitted responsibility.
The next morning Hindus gathered outside the church where Fr Bernard was staying, chanting anti-
Christian slogans.
Fearing for his live, Fr Bernard escaped and hid in the forest.
The next day he was tracked down by an angry mob.
“Kill him! Kill him!” they shouted.
They stripped him and beat him with crowbars on every part of his body.
Then they left him for dead.
The next day, Fr Bernard was discovered and rushed to hospital,
but after weeks of long and painful treatment, he died.
His archbishop said, “He has been given the martyr’s crown, he has received the palm of victory from the
saints in heaven. The Kandhamal Christians now have a powerful intercessor in heaven.”
Aid to the Church in Need
12 -14 Benhill Avenue, Sutton SM1 4DA
Telephone: 020 8642 8668 Email: acn@acnuk.org Website: www.acnuk.org
A registered charity in England and Wales (1097984) and Scotland (SC040748)

CASE STUDY 5: NAJ HAMMADI, EGYPT
Reader 1
Mums and dads, boys and girls, uncles and aunts, grannies and grandpas walked happily to church
to celebrate the birth of the infant Jesus, but before they had a chance to return home for their
Christmas meal together, their joy was turned to terror as gunmen opened fire.
It was the 7th of January 2010, Christmas Eve in the Coptic Calendar.
Midnight mass had just ended at St George’s Cathedral in the town of Naj Hammadi, near Luxor in Egypt.
Families spilled out onto the streets from the crowded church, smiling, laughing and calling out Christmas
greetings to their friends.
A car screeched to a halt in front them and three men leapt out.
They were armed with machine guns.
They pointed their weapons right into the crowd of worshippers and sprayed them with bullets.
At least seven people were killed and a dozen wounded.
Aid to the Church in Need
12 -14 Benhill Avenue, Sutton SM1 4DA
Telephone: 020 8642 8668 Email: acn@acnuk.org Website: www.acnuk.org
A registered charity in England and Wales (1097984) and Scotland (SC040748)