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Washington D.C., Apr 30, 2020 / 06:00 am (CNA).- The Syrian civil war has led to one of the largest refugee crises of modern times, and presented unique problems for Syria’s ancient Christian communities. Marginalized for centuries, persecuted by ISIS, afraid to attract any attention from the West, Syrian Christians remain, by most accounts, the war’s most invisible victims.

In partnership with the Philos Project, CNA sat down with Mary Sayegh, a Syrian who lives now in the United States:

Tell me a bit about yourself.

My name is Mary Sayegh. I am 22 years old and live in the United States. I was born and raised in my beloved hometown of Aleppo, Syria. I moved to New Jersey about six years ago, running away from war to build a better future for myself. It was hard to leave my parents, family and friends behind and start all over. To be honest, it wasn’t easy to fit in a new country, even though I’m an extrovert. In America, I had to try and rebuild my social life in a strange land. As for Syria, I was involved in the scouts in church, Sunday school, computer program classes, art, and basketball.

When I came here, I started high school as a junior. I was held back for a year because I had to do ESL and take two courses in US history. During that time, I started planning for college and eventually got accepted to Montclair State University as a biology major and a public health minor. During my studies I also worked several part-time jobs in retail, as an executive office assistant and a front desk receptionist for a doctor. I tried to find balance by going to the gym, hanging out with friends and volunteering at the hospital.

When and how did you flee to the US?

Before my dad was married, he lived in the US, and therefore had American citizenship. Naturally, he passed it on to the rest of the family when he got married and settled in Aleppo again. The American citizenship made it possible for me to have a safe flight to the US when I left Aleppo. I flew from Lebanon to Spain to spend 6 weeks with my uncle and his family. Then my aunt (from New Jersey) came and took me to the States because I was too afraid to fly alone. On September 27, 2014 I landed in America. My mom and brother came three months later, and I didn’t see my dad until a couple of years later. 

When did you start recognizing that there was a war going on in Syria?

I have lost track of the years. I have no idea what happened when. In general, everything started changing when they hit my hometown and we became more in danger. We couldn’t stay out late anymore or go to certain areas. It got to the point where I would walk in the streets and couldn’t find a familiar face. I didn’t recognize anyone on the streets mainly because many Christians in my neighborhood had fled Aleppo. Bombs, shootings and noises became a daily experience for us. On the contrary, it felt weird when nothing was happening.

Tell me about Aleppo.

Aleppo was one of the most beautiful cities. It is famous for its architecture, the churches, mosques, schools, tombs and baths. As an important center for culture and as one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Aleppo was loved by all Syrians.

The Citadel of Aleppo was one of the things that made the city special. The Citadel is considered to be one of the oldest and largest ones in the world. It is the best place to watch the sunset and learn about our ancestors’ history. During the siege, the Citadel of Aleppo was partly destroyed, unlike its surrounding buildings that were left in ruins. Today, the area is filled with locals and even tourists that enjoy nice meals in the newly built restaurants around it.

Did you ever feel like you were less valued because you were a Christian in Aleppo/Syria?

I never felt that way. Maybe back in the day. But in my days, we never felt a difference. We felt we were all equal and we treated each other as human beings, brothers and sisters, regardless of our religious differences.

What are your best and worst memories from Syria?

My best memories were every second I spent in Syria growing up until I moved to the States. I would say my worst memory was having to attend friends’ funerals at a time when I thought I would be attending their graduations and weddings.

Tell me about Aleppo when it was under siege.

I consider myself one of the lucky ones. There were obviously people who lived under better conditions during this horrible time because they were rich, and my dad owned his own business, so we were considered upper middle class. However, days passed when we would not have water or electricity. Still, we were fortunate to at least have had a roof over our heads. Close to my home, al-Assad School opened up for the people whose homes had been destroyed in the clashes. So, one really gets a perspective.

A lot of young girls and boys helped their parents to buy or bring gallons of water or fuel to their homes. I would help my dad fill up huge bottles with water so we would always have some when needed. We also filled up our bathtub as soon as water was available. We had three buckets: one for clean water, one with the soap for when we would wash our hands, and one for when we rinse our hands. The latter one was later reused as water to flush in the toilet.

We never really knew which groups were fighting, or where, unless we saw it on the news. We just heard the bombs and the shootings. There would also be snipers on buildings that would shoot as soon as someone would pass by. Once, a sniper shot at our car, but it wasn’t critical, so we just continued driving.

I was also lucky because I didn’t lose any loved ones in the war. I had a fellow peer in the church scouts who was killed by a bomb. That was really emotional because it was the first time my scout played at a funeral and not a wedding of a person belonging to the scouts. Another scout lost his mother.

If there were to be peace in Syria tomorrow would you move back?

As much as it hurts me to say this, I wouldn’t go back. I will go to visit but not live there anymore. It’s just impossible for our young generation to go and build everything all over. And to be honest, what’s left for us to even go back to? Even if I want to what would I do with my degree?

 

 

By Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J.

Some the most breathtaking scenery in the United States is found throughout Upper New York and northward to the St. Lawrence Seaway.      Two famous pilgrimage shrines are located in this area and deserve special attention for their historic and religious significance.  In this country, October 19th is the feast of the North American Martyrs. First, some history.

New France

In the seventeenth century, French authorities sent a number of expeditions to conduct fur trading in this territory and named it New France.  Soon, French Jesuit missionaries followed to minister to their own and to convert the Native Americans to the Catholic faith. Today this direct form of proselytism toward a native people would be considered out of step with ecumenical norms.

The Jesuit missions began their work early in the 1630s. Our story picks up twelve years later with eight French Jesuits who were martyred while working among these Native Americans.  Here is their story.

The Huron Indians

By the seventeenth century, the Huron Indians, who belonged to the Iroquois Federation, had developed a fairly high way of life. They spoke in the Wendat language, and their religious beliefs had been fixed for years.  Perhaps the Jesuits did not fully appreciate this fact. The Hurons encountered both the Dutch and the French. The Dutch were primarily merchants who established trading posts at the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson; the French came south from present-day Quebec to establish fur trading posts.

Jesuit Relations: Instructions to the French Jesuit Missionaries

Much of what we know about the Jesuits’ work among the Hurons was recorded in annual reports, “Jesuit Relations,” written by Fathers Paul LeJeune, S.J. and Paul Ragueneau, S.J.  The “Relations” gave the Jesuits a long list of practical instructions to be followed when ministering to the Hurons.  Three of the many are:

“You must have sincere affection for the Savages, looking upon them as ransomed by the blood of the Son of God, and as our brethren, with whom we are to pass the rest of our lives.”

“You must so conduct yourself as not to be at all troublesome to even one of these Barbarians.”

“You must bear with their imperfections without saying a word, yes, even without seeming to notice them.  Even if it be necessary to criticize anything, it must be done modestly, and with words and signs which evince love and not aversion.  In short, you must try to be, and to appear, always cheerful.”    

By 1642, Father Isaac Jogues, S.J., leader of the missionary group, planned to work among the Hurons along the south side of the Mohawk River from east to west. It was only natural for the Native Americans to resent the overtures of the missionaries despite the respect given to them. Why would “black-robed” foreigners want to change their way of life and their religious beliefs? Suspicious, they eventually blamed the Jesuits for the outbreak of small pox and other diseases.
 
At various times, between1642-1649, the Jesuits were brutally tortured – accused as witch doctors.  Most of them were bludgeoned to death under the tomahawk.  

First Group of Jesuit Missionaries

The first group of French Jesuits answered the call to minister in this region.  These included Father Isaac Jogues, and two donnés, René Goupil and John Lalande.  Due to deafness, Goupil could not be ordained a Jesuit but was trained as a doctor and surgeon.  After years of ministering to the Indians along the St. Lawrence River, Jogues and Goupil were captured.  Goupil was the first of the eight to be martyred – he was bludgeoned to death.  

For thirteen months, Jogues lingered from brutal torture. Knowing that his index fingers and thumbs were essential to the celebration of Mass, his captives mangled them.

Curiously enough, his escape to France prompted a desire to return to his mission.  Accompanied by John de Lalande, the nineteen-year old donné, Jogues returned to the Mohawk Mission in New York. With papal approval, he celebrated Mass even with stubs as fingers.  On his return to the region, he resumed his work but was soon tortured again.  This time he succumbed.  The date was October 18th, 1646.  Lalande himself was killed the next day.  

Second Group of Jesuit Missionaries

The second group of Jesuits was martyred within the confines of Midland at Martyrs’ Shrine, Sainte Marie. In 1635, Father Anthony Daniel founded the first Huron Boys’ College in Quebec and worked among the Hurons for twelve years until, on July 4th, 1648, still wearing Mass vestments, he was attacked as he ended the celebration of Mass.  His martyred body was thrown into the flames of the burning church.  

The thirty-three year old, Father Jean de Brébeuf was a gifted linguist and mastered the Huron language. Gentle in manner, massive in body, it is said he had the heart of a giant.  Like Brébeuf, Father Gabriel Lalemant was a gifted scholar, professor and college administrator, but unlike Brébeuf, his body was frail.  Eventually both were captured, tied to stakes and underwent one of the worst martyrdoms ever recorded in history. The Jesuit Relations describes in detail how grisly were their tortures: “The Indians dismembered their hearts and limbs while they were still alive, and feasted on their flesh and blood” (L. Poulot, “North American Martyrs,” New Catholic Encyclopedia, 507).

Brébeuf suffered for three hours before dying on March 16th, 1649. Lalemant died the next morning.   Father Charles Garnier was assigned to the Huron mission at Sainte Marie for thirteen years and then to the mission at Saint Jean.  He was beloved by his congregants, but in 1649, was tomahawked to death about thirty miles from Sainte Marie.

Father Noël Chabanel, S.J.

Perhaps the saddest and most poignant story of all is reserved for twenty-eight year old Father Noël Chabanel who was assigned to work with Father Charles Garnier.  Though he was a brilliant professor of rhetoric and humanism at home in southern France, he had no ear whatsoever for the Huron language. Plagued by a sense of uselessness, he was convinced that his ministry had failed. Feeling a strong repugnance to the life and habits of the Huron, and fearing it might result in his own withdrawal from the work, he bound himself by vow never to leave the mission. Today, in all likelihood, superiors would frown on this extreme position. Chabanel was martyred on December 8, 1649, by a “renegade” Huron.  Yet to the end, he persevered in his missionary activity.

In 1930, Pius XI canonized the North American Martyrs.  The Canadian Catholic Church celebrates their feast day on September 26th.    

The Shrines at Midland and Auriesville

Because the two shrines are not far from one another, they are popular places to visit at the same time during the summer months or during October when the fall foliage is at its peak period. Martyrs’ Shrine at Midland has a church and museum that feature seventeenth-century maps, songs written by Brébeuf, a history of the shrine, and the stories of the Canadian martyrs. It offers the pilgrim a walking tour to get a sense of how the Jesuits lived, worked, and prayed among the Huron Indians.  One can see the simulated rustic village that comprised a chapel, living quarters, and classroom where the Jesuits carried out their apostolates.

The shrine at Auriesville has a similar layout.  One of its most popular features is the expansive outdoor Stations of the Cross, a familiar feature of Jesuit retreat houses.  There is a large auditorium which seats 6,000 pilgrims.

“The Blood of the Martyrs … the Seed of the Church”

From the earliest days of Christianity, martyrdom for the faith has always been part of the Christian psyche. It was understood that those who openly professed their faith might have to suffer for this pearl of great price. But, it was better to stay alive.

When the missionaries were assigned to work in New France, martyrdom could not be ruled out, just as danger and death cannot be ruled out for policemen or firefighters.  Missionaries were expected to die for the sake of Christ, though they did not seek it out. It is a stark reality that remains a constant for missionaries today. But let us not forget that there are so many ways to be martyred, real and metaphorical.

The North American Martyrs were high-minded men, cultured, refined, and well educated.  For them, the savage, bloody road of martyrdom was transformed into a way of beauty, a road that remains sacred ground.  Our Lady of Martyrs Shrine at Auriesville and Martyrs’ Shrine at Midland are among the most frequently-visited pilgrimage sites in the world – both sacred ground.  Those who do visit them are disposed to receive special favors from the saints for whom the shrines are named.  It is said that during her lifetime, Dolores Hope, wife of comedian Bob Hope, made a pilgrimage to Auriesville almost every year.

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