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Fr General reflects on the life of Pope Francis...

general and pope francis

Today, with great sadness, we learned of the death of Pope Francis. He left us early… on Easter Monday morning. His last gestures were significant: the meeting with prisoners, the meeting with the Vice President of the United States, his last blessing on Easter Sunday and his last passage in St. Peter’s Square, touching newborns and people. He celebrated his Easter – in the Francis way and he made his Easter – in the octave of Easter…

I had the opportunity to be in St. Peter’s Square on the day of his election, March 13, 2013. I could see all the smoke coming out of the chimney of the Sistine Chapel. Arriving for the afternoon session of the conclave, I noticed a white seagull that had landed on the chimney. That image went around the world. The afternoon gave way to night, with a light rain that made umbrellas compete for every inch in front of the Vatican balcony. Until someone shouted: “White smoke!” At first, you couldn’t make out much, until a jet of white smoke came out. And the wait… who could it be?

Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, with a very weak voice, made the traditional announcement: “Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum: habemus Papam!,” but left many in the square in doubt… However, everyone heard: Franciscus . I was near a group of young Italians and one of them exclaimed: “Francesco, a name like ours!”. But there was still uncertainty about who he was. Then someone said: “He is the Cardinal Archbishop of Buenos Aires.”

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TESTAMENT OF THE HOLY FATHER FRANCIS...

__________________

Miserando atque Eligendo

In the Name of the Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

As I sense that the twilight of my earthly life is approaching, and with firm hope in Eternal Life, I wish to express my final wishes regarding my burial place.

I have always entrusted my life and priestly and episcopal ministry to the Mother of Our Lord, Mary Most Holy. Therefore, I ask that my mortal remains rest, awaiting the day of resurrection, in the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major.

I wish that my final earthly journey conclude precisely in this ancient Marian shrine, where I go to pray at the beginning and end of every Apostolic Journey to faithfully entrust my intentions to the Immaculate Mother and to give thanks for her gentle and maternal care.

I ask that my tomb be prepared in the burial niche in the side nave between the Pauline Chapel (Chapel of the Salus Populi Romani) and the Sforza Chapel of the aforementioned Papal Basilica, as indicated in the enclosed plan.

The tomb should be in the ground; simple, without particular ornamentation, and bearing only the inscription: Franciscus.

The expenses for the preparation of my burial will be covered by a benefactor and the sum will be transferred to the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major. I have given the appropriate instructions to Monsignor Rolandas Makrickas, Extraordinary Commissioner of the Liberian Chapter.

May the Lord grant the deserved reward to those who have wished me well and will continue to pray for me. The suffering that marked the final part of my life, I offer to the Lord, for peace in the world and brotherhood among peoples.

Domus Sanctae Marthae, 29 June 2022

FRANCIS

Pope Francis RIP...

pope francis rip

Easter Greetings 2025...

christ pantocrator

Enjoy this splendid Solemnity of Easter…2025

Christus Resurrexit! Vere Resurrexit!

Χριστὸς ἀνέστη! Ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη!

The Lord is truly risen!

Alleluia Alleluia!

We the Redemptorists

of the London Province wish

our Confreres around the world,

our Sisters,

those Cloistered and Apostolic,

our Co-Workers,

our brother Clergy and fellow Religious,

our Families,

our Friends,

our Benefactors,

those whom we have had the privilege to minister to,

and all those people who follow us on line,

a Happy, Holy and Peace filled EASTER!

Enjoy this Season and pray for us,

as we do for you each and every day!

www.redemptorists.co.uk

Christ the Pantocrator, Monreale Cathedral, Palermo

Fr General CSsR sends Easter Greetings...

fr general cssr easter 2025

Missionaries of Hope in the Footsteps of the Redeemer

YEAR DEDICATED TO MISSION

The Lord who sends us as Missionaries and Pilgrims of Hope in a wounded world

Lk 4:16-19, Mk 6:7-12, Lk 9:2-6, Ps 130:7 Const. 1-20, St. 01-020

DEAR CONFRERES, FORMANDI AND LAY PARTNERS IN OUR MISSION,

We celebrate the mystery of Christ’s Resurrection, which is presented as our true hope. The apostle Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans that ‘hope does not deceive’ (Rom 5:5). This is the firm foundation on which our faith rests: the hope that, through the death and Resurrection of Jesus, we are called to a new life, to victory over death and to the transformation of our being.
Jesus, our Hope, continues to walk among us with his wounded but glorified body, showing us, that hope is not extinguished, even in the midst of difficulties, pain and suffering. He reveals to us that true hope – that which is born of the cross – is capable of illuminating the darkest paths, of giving strength in adversity and of always pushing us forward. Certainly, this requires of us a great leap of faith.
We are celebrating the great Jubilee of Hope. Hope is not an illusion or a mere wish; it is a virtue which, even when wounded, persists, remains steadfast in its purpose and urges us onward, so that we can contemplate the horizon that opens before us. Like the Risen Christ, who precedes us on the road to eternal life, we are called to live a hope that transforms, that gives meaning to our lives and that encourages us never to give up. As Redemptorist missionaries, we are called – in the light of hope – to develop the resilience necessary to face this complex world and its difficulties: strong in faith, joyful in hope and fervent in charity, with a deep apostolic zeal (cf. Const. 20).
As Redemptorist Family, we are Missionaries and Pilgrims of this hope. We are called to announce to the world the good news of the Resurrection, to proclaim by our lives and by our witness – even with our wounded bodies – the power of a hope that never fails, never gives up and is renewed with every dawn. “Absolute hope allows us to act anew in the heart of the deepest despair. It is filled with an unshakable faith that there is meaning. It is precisely faith in the wisdom of having a direction and a stance in the face of negativity”, the Korean philosopher Byung-Chul Han reminds us (Contro la società dell’angoscia: speranza e rivoluzione, (Against the Society of Anguish: Hope and Revolution), Einaudi: Torino, 2025, p. 50). As witnesses of the Redeemer, the light of the world, we follow his mission of giving meaning and orientation, helping people to discover the light of redemption that never goes out (cf. Communicanda 1/2024).
In this Easter season, let us renew our trust in the promise of Christ the Redeemer: ‘Behold, I am with you always, to the close of the age’ (Mt 28:20). May we, as his followers, always be Messengers of Hope to the world, bearing in our hearts the light that overcame darkness and the love that conquered death.
Happy and blessed Easter to you all! May the Hope of the Risen Christ guide and strengthen us in our mission, together with Mary and our Saints, Blesseds and Martyrs.

In Christ the Redeemer, our Infinite Hope,

Fr. Rogério Gomes, C.Ss.R
Superior General

Coordinator of the Conference of Redemptorists in Europe CRE...

Easter, April 20, 2025

fr piotr chyla cssr

Dear Confreres, Redemptoristines Sisters and Lay Partners,

Once again, God gives as the privilege to live the paschal triduum which ends with the celebration of Christ Resurrection. Once again, we can experience that Lord walks with us, right beside us.

Many times, just like the disciples on the Easter morning, we run far away from Jerusalem which in our case is represented by the challenges and difficulties of live. We feel lonely and abandoned with so many tasks and worries.

Then suddenly we realize that He walks right beside us. We realize that He was always there with His respectful and delicate presence. This is the beauty of Easter – to see, to know, to feel that no matter what, the Lord walks always with us – yet to the end of time.

As the pilgrims of hope, in this jubilee year we are invited to confess that it is exactly Jesus – the Risen Lord that is our hope. We bring that Hope to all that are in need, neglected, wounded and forgotten. This brings us joy and strengthens us on our way living our Redemptorist charism.

Allow the Risen Lord to walk always beside you.

Blessed Easter

In the Redeemer

Piotr Chyla CSsR

Holy Saturday 2025...

Full text of the “ancient homily for Holy Saturday”

Something strange is happening – there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.

He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him, Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: “My Lord be with you all.” Christ answered him: “And with your spirit.” He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying:

“Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.

“I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise.

“I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated. For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth.

“For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.

“See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.

“I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.

“Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God.

“The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.”