Ordo Fratrum Minorum Capuccinorum EN

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updated 11:54 AM UTC, Mar 20, 2024

Celebration of the Eucharist for the Deceased Brothers

With gratitude, affection and prayers, several brothers from the General Curia went to celebrate Mass at the tomb of the General Curia at San Lorenzo al Verano Cemetery on November 2nd. Br. Michael Mottura, the guardian, celebrated the Mass and the brothers prayed together for the departed souls. In his inspiring homily, Br. Michele shared the following reflections:

Today is a day of remembrance of the past, a day to remember those who walked before us, who also accompanied us and imparted the life to us. To remember in an act of commemoration. Memory is what makes a people strong, because they feel rooted in a journey, rooted in a history, rooted in an aim. Memory makes us realize that we are not alone, we are a community, a Church: a people that has history, that has a past, that has life; memory of so many who shared this journey with us and are here (indicating the various graves). It is not so easy to make remembrance.

Remembering: according to Scripture, it is always to weave, like a fabric, the works of God – his mercy – which has descended into our lives; it is not immediately recalling the things done by the individual person, but done by God in history, in the life of man. Remembering the work of God in those who preceded us, in the Order, in the Church, in our family. Remembering the works of God in your life. When we think of our loved ones, who are now deceased, we remember what they have done: the Word of God invites us to remember what they received from God himself, and then how they made it bear fruit.

Making remembrance as a communion with those who preceded us. The communion of saints, the ecclesial community that has multiple faces: the earthly face and the heavenly face of eternal life. Making remembrance as a place from which hope springs: in the Scriptures, alongside remembrances there are always some petitions for rekindling life towards the future. For us it is rekindling our trust and faith in the resurrection, a great flowering from memory. A question remains: this visit to the cemetery, our remembrance of the dead, what hope does it rekindle in us? Not an abstract hope, but an existential hope, toward which our living flows: the Risen Christ.

Last modified on Friday, 11 November 2022 09:16