Une Minute avec Marie
Faire connaître et aimer Marie
Bishop Salim Sayegh, former Patriarchal Vicar for Jordan in the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, gave an interview to the magazine France Catholique at the Our Lady of Peace Center he founded south of Amman.
Here is an excerpt from the interview:
Q: There are Melkites, Maronites, Chaldeans, Armenians, Syriacs... How do Jordan's Catholics deal with the diversity of rites?
Bishop Sayegh: Catholics generally go to pray at the nearest church to where they live: it's common for a Latin to go to a nearby Melkite church, and vice versa! Despite the difference in rites, everyone is aware that they share the same faith. We even know Orthodox people who come to pray with us because our liturgy is in Arabic, and the faithful take an active part in it!
Q: Devotion to the Virgin Mary is very present in the country's churches. What place does Mary have among you?
Bishop Sayegh: Jordanians, like the rest of Christianity in the East, are indeed very attached to the Blessed Virgin. As priests, we try to spread the prayer of the Rosary, because it's a very concrete devotion which brings the believer into the life of Jesus and Mary.
We even know Orthodox people who pray the Catholic rosary every day! When we ask the Blessed Virgin to pray for us “now and at the hour of death” fifty times a day, we realize that this “hour of death” is the most important hour of our lives.
So we tell the faithful that they should pray the rosary with faith, conviction, tranquility and peace, because at the hour of their death, the Blessed Virgin will be at their side. That's why I always carry an extra rosary in my pocket to give to anyone who doesn't have one with them!
Q: There are many representations of the Sacred Heart in Jordanian churches...
Bishop Sayegh: This is another devotion that we Jordanian priests are trying to spread among the population. Our apostolic mission is not limited to saying Mass: we have to reach people with something that will speak to their prayer life.
The rosary touches people in this way, and so does the Sacred Heart, a reminder that Christ is a living being.
In our parish, we have witnessed the faithful's attachment to this devotion: the parish priest has instituted a Mass every first Friday of the month, from eleven o'clock to noon, to honor Jesus' request to Saint Margaret Mary. At first, there were only about 15 participants, now there are 90!