Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today I join with the very many people who are celebrating the feast of Saint Angelus of Sicily, and my first thought is to pray for his intercession and protection for a world that is learning to live the corona virus, Covid-19. May he protect us today just as in times gone by he protected the city of Licata.
Today we open the celebrations of the eighth centenary of his death as a martyr. Sant’Angelo has remained in the mind and the devotion of the people for eight hundred years. This anniversary has led to the return of the Carmelite Friars to the Shrine of Sant’ Angelo in Licata. I thank the Cardinal Archbishop of Agrigento, Francesco Montenegro for his invitation and for the way in which he has facilitated the return of my brother Carmelites to Licata.
Saint Angelus from Jerusalem, is remembered and honoured in the Church as a Carmelite religious, a martyr and a witness to the Gospel.
Carmelite
Born in Jerusalem, Angelo knew the first generation of the Carmelites, that group of people who settled on Mount Carmel and who received the Rule of Carmel from the Patriarch, Albert of Jerusalem. The figure of Jesus Christ pervades that Rule. The Carmelite who follows it lives his life in "allegiance to Jesus Christ" and puts on "the armor of God". He follows the Gospel of Christ and clothes himself in the virtues of God - justice, faith, salvation and the Word of the Lord. Armor on the one hand protects us from all evil and on the other hand proposes the truth of the Gospel. With gift and mission Angelo left the Middle East and made his way to Europe. He arrived in Sicily, and as a man clothed in the armor of God he dedicated himself to his mission. He preached the Gospel, and opposed the falsehood and injustice of the powerful. He died as a martyr, a consequence of the gospel he proposed and the justice he defended. Today we can find in him a model and a companion when we feel oppressed by the evils of today, organized crime, human trafficking, abuse of our common home, the problem of the many people who seek a safe place in society and do not find it. We can all find strength in the armor of God - holy thoughts, justice, faith and salvation offered to all without exception.
Martyr
Martyrdom is the measure of the depth of our commitment to truth and justice. It is the measure of true commitment in favor of a cause which is not one's own gratification, but the good of one's neighbor, the defense of truth. Martyrdom is the measure of our love. The martyr is one with strong and deep convictions, and one who accepts the consequences of holding those convictions. Faced with the possibility of death or suffering, the person who loves like Sant'Angelo does not turn back. In him we find an example for today's young people, young people who seek a purpose for their life, an environment conducive to their growth, among people who are capable of dedicating their lives for the good of others, people who do not draw back in the face of difficulties. The martyrs today are those we see in hospitals, who stay at the bedside of virus sufferers, knowing that their own lives are in danger.
Witness
The world today follows a witness more than a teacher and if it follows the teacher it is because he or she is a witness. Witness lets us see the truth of life and the truth of the Gospel, so as to awaken in those who see it the desire to live according to that truth of life and that Gospel. "By this they will know that you are my disciples," says the Lord. They will see the love you have for others. For his witness, the world remembers Angelo di Sicilia- Because of his witness the people recognized in him, immediately, eight centuries ago, the truth of his life, and the truth of the Gospel he preached and so their memory and memory of the Church gives us the feast that we celebrate today.
I pray to God that the Jubilee that begins today, and the return of the friars to the Shrine of Sant'Angelo may be signs of God's love for his people, and that the shrine under the guidance of the Carmelites, may offer the local people, the immigrants and the pilgrims, a place of encounter, restoration and gospel enlightenment. May the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel, guide our steps. Thank you.
Míceál O'Neill, O.Carm.
Prior General
Rome, 04th May 2020.
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