23 Franciscan l 3 1 j Herald Vjesnik 2008 Vjesnik I-2008.pdf · Molite, Bog će platiti.‖ Jest, Mile i obitelj su u našim mo-litvama i svetoj misi svaki put, a obiĉno i doĊe

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23. Hrvatski franjevački

Croatian Franciscan

Herald

U skrs je najznaĉajnija kršćanska svetkovina. Znaĉajniji je od Boţića, iako je Boţić postao slavljeniji. Uskrs je zato

znaĉajan jer je Isusovo uskrsnuće od mrtvih posve izmijenilo ljudsko poimanje ţivota i njegova smisla. Otvoren je novi vidik koji se zove vjeĉno zajedništvo s Bogom. Sva-tko od nas moţe i treba postati dionik toga zajedništva, jer zato je Boţj Sin sašao meĊu nas, umro i uskrsnuo za nas. On je umro za naše grijehe, da bismo mi mogli ţivjeti, neustrašivo su to navješćivali njegovi uĉenici i tu nam po-ruku ostavili zapisanu u svetim spisima. Tu radost novosti ţivota ţeljeli su podijeliti s drugima i nisu se bojali niĉega, ĉak ni prijetnje da bi mogli skonĉati okrutnom smrću poput svoga Uĉitelja. Uskrsna radost bila je u njima jaĉa od sve-ga. Ta ih je radost okupljala na molitvu na ―prvi dan u tje-dnu‖ - dan Gospodnji - jer na taj dan je ―uskrsnuo Krist Go-spodin‖. Proslava Gospodinova uskrsnuća bijaše poĉetak, glavni blagdan i razlog okupljanja njegovih prijatelja. Za taj dan izuzetne radosti i sreće svaki narod ima svoje ime. Rijeĉ Uskrs nama Hrvatima govori o ustajanju od mrtvih. Hrvati koriste još jednu rijeĉ za tu svetkovinu, Vazam. Njezino znaĉenje nije posve jasno. Neki jeziĉni struĉnjaci kaţu da dolazi od stare rijeĉi ―vzeti‖ (uzeti), jer se nakon korizmenog posta na Uskrs ponovno moglo uzi-mati meso. Drugi tvrde da dolazi od grĉke rijeĉi azymos (beskvasni kruh). Beskvasni kruh su jeli Ţidovi na dan Pashe, spomendan svoga izbavljenja iz egipatskog ropstva, a dan Kristova uskrsnuća je naše izbavljenje od ropstva gri-jehu. Na engleskom jeziku Uskrs je Easter. U nekim drugim jezicima sliĉno zvuĉi. Kaţu da ta rijeĉ potjeĉe od imena boţice Eostre, a njezino ime izvorno znaĉi proljeće. Drugi se ne slaţu s tim nego vele da ta rijeĉ dolazi od germanske rijeĉi Osten, koja oznaĉava mjesto odakle sunce izlazi, a uskrsli Krist je novo Sunce. Kod nekih naroda za tu svetkovinu susrećemo rijeĉi koje su povezane sa ţidovskom rijeĉi Pasha (Talijani, Španjolci, Francuzi). Ţidovska rijeĉ pasah znaĉi prolaziti ili poskakivati (Izl 13). Sjećajući se

izlaska iz egipatskog suţanjstva, Ţidovi su se veselili i plesali na taj dan. U svim jezicima se nastojalo izraziti radost koju ta svetkovina sa sobom nosi, jer je Uskrs dan najdublje i najveće radosti. Uskrs se slavi ove godine na 23. oţujka, ali uskrsno vrijeme traje do svetkovine Duhova, do 11. svibnja. Zato, neka nas ovo milosno vrijeme uskrsne radosti ispuni svo-jom snagom, kako bismo mogli svojim ţivljenjem unositi više radosti i nade u ovaj naš svijet koji je bremenit beznaĊem i strahom. Naš Hrvatski franjevaĉki Vjesnik ţeli vas potaknuti na traţenje i otkrivanje sreće koja je na dohvat ruke, u uskrslom Kristu, koji je meĊu nama i govori nam: „Mir vama!―

SRETAN VAM I BLAGOSLOVLJEN USKRS!

Marko Puljić, OFM

RIJEČ ČITATELJIMA

A WORD TO OUR READERS

Hrvatski franjevaĉki Vjesnik Croatian Franciscan Herald siječanj-ožujak January-March, 2007 2

E aster is the most significant Christian holy day. It’s more significant even than Christmas, though Christmas gets

more attention. Easter is significant because Jesus' Resurrection from the dead changed the human understanding of life and its meaning. Eternal togetherness with God was opened up as a new possibility. Each of us may and needs to become a participant in that togetherness with God; after all, that is why the Son of God came among us. Christ died for our sins that we might live eternally – this message was fearlessly proclaimed by his disciples and was written down in the New Testament. This joyful news about life had to be shared with everyone, regardless the dangers or persecutions. Indeed, many disciples suffered the same kind of death endured by their Master. From the beginning of the Church, the joy of the Resurrection was the center of worship when the disciples gathered together in prayer on the first day of the week, the day Christ the Lord rose from the dead. For the day of the year of exceptional joy, every nation has a special name. The English word Easter is said by some have to have its linguistic roots in a minor goddess in Teutonic mythology by the name of Estre, who was associated with the increasing light of springtime. Others disagree with that theory; they propose that the word Easter comes from the Old German word Osten having to do with the Easterly direction from which the sun rises, and of course the Risen Christ is our new sun. The Croatian word Uskrs literally refers to being restored to life, to being raised from the dead. Another Croatian word for this day is Vazam. The roots of this word are not clear. Some experts say it comes from the Old Slavic word vzeti, meaning to take, referring to how we can take meat again after abstaining during Lent. Other experts say it comes from a Greek word for unleavened bread (azymos), the same type of bread eaten by the Jews at Passover, when the Jews joyfully recall their delivery by God from the slavery of Egypt's Pharoah; likewise, Christians at Vazam joyfully recall God's delivering us from the slavery of sin and death. Languages derived from Latin use words that mean Passover: Latin, Pascha; Italian, Pasqua; Spanish, Pascua. Whatever the language, Easter is connected to profound joy. In 2008, we celebrate Easter Sunday on March 23, but the Easter Season lasts until Pentecost on May 11. May this graced season of Easter joy fill us all with its power, to the point where we are empowered to bring joy and hope into a world so full of despair and fear! We at the Croatian Franciscan Herald hope that you may be deeply touched by the Risen Christ, who speaks to us: “Peace be with you!”

HAVE A HAPPY AND BLESSED EASTER!

U ovom broju: Inside of this issue:

Vijesti - News 4 Pisma - Letters 5 Osam franjevaĉkih stoljeća Eight Franciscan Centuries 6-9

Ţupe—Središta obnove Parishes—Centers of Renewal 10-35 Hrvatski Institut Croatian Institut 36-37 In Memoriam 38-42 MeĎugorje 43-47

USKRSNA RADOST EASTER-JOY

Owned and Published by: Croatian Franciscan Custody of the Holy Family Vlasnik i nakladnik: Hrvatska franjevaĉka kustodija Svete Obitelji Address-adresa: 4851 S. Drexel Blvd. Chicago, IL 60615-1703 Phone-Telefon: 773-536-0552 Fax: 773-536-2094 E-mail: [email protected] Internet: www.croatianfranciscans.org

Editor—Urednik: Fr. Marko Puljić, OFM Editorial Board—Uredničko vijeće: Fr. Jozo Grbeš, OFM Fr. Paul Maslać, OFM Fr. Stjepan Pandţić, OFM Fr. Nikola Pašalić, OFM Fr. Philip Pavich, OFM Fr. Marko Puljić, OFM Published four times a year Izlazi četiri puta godišnje

Vjesnik Croatian Franciscan

Herald Hrvatski franjevački

3 Hrvatski franjevaĉki Vjesnik Croatian Franciscan Herald siječanj-ožujak January-March, 2007

Svetoj Ţrtvi uskrsnici dajte slavu krštenici! Janje ovce oslobodi,

Krist nas grešne preporodi.

Sa ţivotom smrt se sasta i čudesna borba nasta: Vođa ţivih pade tada i ţiv ţivcat opet vlada.

Marijo, o reci što je? Što ti oko vidjelo je?

"Grob ja vidjeh Krista Boga, svijetlu slavu uskrsloga,

Anđele i platno bijelo

u kom bješe sveto tijelo. Ufanje mi uskrslo je,

Krist, moj Gospod i sve moje;

Pred vama će tamo gdje je cvjetna strana Galileje."

Znamo da si doistine uskrsnuo, Boţji Sine;

Pobjedniče, Kralju divan,

budi nama milostivan! Amen, aleluja!

Christians, to the Paschal victim offer sacrifice and praise.

The sheep are ransomed by the Lamb; and Christ, the undefiled,

hath sinners to his Father reconciled.

Death with life contended: combat strangely ended!

Life's own Champion, slain, yet lives to reign.

Tell us, Mary:

say what thou didst see upon the way. The tomb the Living did enclose; I saw Christ's glory as He rose!

The angels there attesting; shroud with grave-clothes resting.

Christ, my hope, has risen:

He goes before you into Galilee.

That Christ is truly risen from the dead we know.

Victorious King, Thy mercy show! Amen. Alleluia.

P apa Benedikt XVI. imenovao je dr. Ivana Šaška, profesora na Katoličkome bogoslovnom fakultetu Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, pomodnim biskupom Za-grebačke nadbiskupije.

Prof. dr. Ivan Šaško rođen je 1. kolovoza 1966. godine u župi Lovrečka Varoš kod Vr-bovca, u vjerničkoj obitelji s troje djece. Za svedenika je zaređen 28. lipnja 1992. godine. Od 1996. godine predaje liturgiku na Katoličkom bogoslovnom fakultetu Sveuči-lišta u Zagrebu. Nakon objave dekreta o osnivanju Hrvatskoga katoličkog sveučilišta 2006. godine postaje predsjednikom Povje-renstva Hrvatskoga katoličkog sveučilišta. Član je Biskupske komisije Hrvatske bis-kupske konferencije za liturgiju. Član je Pre-zbiterskog vijeda i Zbora savjetnika Zagrebačke nadbisku-pije te tajnik Nadbiskupijskog odbora za sakralnu umjet-nost. Objavio je velik broj stručnih članaka i nekoliko knjiga.

P ope Benedict XVI named Dr. Ivan Šaška, a professor at the Catholic Theological Faculty University in Zagreb, as an auxiliary bishop of the Zagreb arch-

diocese. Professor Dr. Ivan Šaška was born August 1, 1966 in the parish of Lovrečka Va-roš near Vrbovac to a faithful family with three children. He was ordained a priest on June 28, 1992. Since 1996, he was teaching liturgy at the Catholic Theological Faculty University in Zagreb. After publication of the decree es-tablishing the Croatian Catholic University in 2006, he became President of the Board of the Croatian Catholic University. He is a member of the Bishops’ Conference for liturgy. He is a member of the Presbyteral

Council and Commission of Councilors for the Archdiocese of Zagreb and secretary of the Archdiocesan Commission for Sacred Art. He has published a great number of articles and several books.

NEWS VIJESTI

D jeca i odrasli jednom u godini ĉekaju Sv. Nikolu da im donese darove, a hr-

vatskim franjevcima i franjevkama u Chicagu on doĊe svaki put kad ih snijeg zamete. Ime mu je Mile Ivezić. Njega ne treba zvati ni ĉekati. On proĊe pede-set ulica i doĊe rano ujutro u svom bijelom kamionĉiću opremljenu grta-licom, razgrne i oĉisti snijeg od Drexela do Ellisa. A kad ga duboko zahvalni upitamo: ―Što dugujemo?‖ – Mile s osmijehom na licu mahne rukom i kaţe: ―Ništa - to je od mene. Molite, Bog će platiti.‖ Jest, Mile i obitelj su u našim mo-litvama i svetoj misi svaki put, a obiĉno i doĊe izjutra dok smo u ka-peli na sv. Misi. A kad iziĊemo, vidi-mo da je sve oĉistio i da su otvoreni putovi do zgrade na Ellisu, do zgrade Uprave Kustodije i Hrvatskog Insti-tuta, kao i do garaţa.

Duboko zahvalni Hrvatski franjevci

Ch ildren and adults wait once a year from St. Nicholas to bring

them gifts, but for the Croatian Franciscans and Sisters in Chicago, he comes every time snow gets in the way. His name is Mile Ivezić. It is not nec-essary to call him or wait for him. He passes across fifty streets and comes early in the morning in his white pick-up truck fitted with a plow, and clears away the snow in our driveways at Drexel and Ellis. And when we, being profoundly grateful, ask, ―How much

do we owe?‖ – Mile smiles, waves his hand and says, ―Nothing – that‘s from me. Pray for me, God will pay it back.‖ Certainly, Mile and his family are in our prayers and holy masses every day. He usually comes early in the morning while we are in the chapel at Holy Mass. And when we leave after Mass we see that everything is cleared and the driveways are open to the building at Ellis, to the Custody Office and Croatian Institute on Drexel and to the ga-rage.

The very grateful Croatian Franciscans


PISMA LETTERS

31. sijeĉnja 2008. Dragi fra Marko! Molim Vas primite moje iskrene ĉestitke povodom 22. obljetnice izlaţenja Vašeg lista. Vaša zajednica je kvalitetnija za uslugu koju joj ĉinite. Izdavati list poput Vašega je moguće samo kad se nadvlada sve izazove na koje se naiĊe - i to s velikim zalaganjem u Vašem poslanju. Zahvaljujući Vašem zauzimanju, Vaša zajednica ĉuva svoju baštinu, a s time i svoj identitet. Vrijednost Vašeg doprinosa ne moţe se dovoljno procijeniti, jednostavno, on je velik i vitalan. Sluţeći svojim ĉitateljima Vi uĉvršćujete cijelu našu zajednicu. Cijenim Vaš posao i ţelim Vam sve najbolje u dugoj i plodnoj budućnosti. S poštovanjem, Maria Pappas

January 31, 2008 Dear Fr. Marko Please accept my congratulations as you celebrate the 22nd anniversary of your publication. Your community is better for the service you provide it. Bringing a publication such as yours is done only by overcoming great challenges - and by possessing a great commitment to the mission. Because of your commitment, your community main-tains its heritage and, therefore, its identity. The value of your service simply cannot be estimated except to de-scribe it as immense and vital. In serving your audience you strengthen our entire community. I honor you service and wish you all the best for a long and productive future. Sincerely, Maria Pappas

14. veljaĉe 2008. Dragi fra Marko! Iako ne mogu ĉitati, a i razumijem vrlo, vrlo malo kada se govori na hrvatskom, ipak uţivam ĉitajući na engleskom izvješća iz Hrvatskog franjevaĉkog Vjesnika. Zaista je pravi uţitak ĉitati o raznim aktivnostima u hrvatskim ţupama po Sjedinjenim Ameriĉkim Drţavama i Kanadi, kao i po svijetu. Budući da sam kršten, potvrĊen i obrazovan kroz devet godina kod franjevaĉkih sestara u ţupi i školi Srca Isusova u Juţnom Chicagu, s radošću pratim vijesti iz te ţupe. Kao ministrant sluţiio sam mnogo svetih misa pokojnom fra Ljubi Ĉuvalu. I sada, u dobi od 67 godina, nosim lijepe uspomene na njega i sve one koji su utjecali na moj ţivot. Zahvalan sam Vam za Vaš veliki posao oko Hrvatskog franjevaĉkog Vjesnika. Neka Gospodin blagoslovi Vas i Vašu subraću. S iskrenom zahvalnošću, Nicholas M. Persin

February 14, 2008 Dear Fr. Marko: Although I cannot read it, and understand very, very little spoken Croatian, I do enjoy reading the English ver-sion of the Croatian Franciscan Herald stories. It is a real pleasure to read about the various activities of Croatian parishes throughout the United States and Canada, as well as world news. Since I was baptized, confirmed and educated for nine years (K-8) by the Franciscan Sisters at Sacred Heart Croa-tian Church and School in South Chicago, I have a deep appreciation for current news of the parish. As and altar server, I served many masses for the late Fr. Ljubo Cuvalo. At age 67, I still enjoy fond memories of him and those who influenced my life. I appreciate the hard work you have done for the Fran-ciscan Herald. May God continue to bless you and your fellow clergy. Very truly, Nicholas M. Persin


OslobaĎanje Svete Zemlje

P oĉetkom jedanaestog stoljeća arapsko pleme Saraceni, koji su postali muslimani te su po nji-

ma zapadni kroniĉari sve muslimane nazivali Saracenima, osvojili su mjesta u kojima se nekada kretao i ţivio Isus Krist i gdje je nastalo kršćanstvo – Svetu Zemlju. Kršćani, predvoĊeni rim-skim papama, nastojali su ponovno ta podruĉja staviti pod svoju upravu. Papa Urban II. uspio je okupiti Prvu kriţarsku vojnu koja je godine 1095. pošla iz Europe i godine 1099. uspjela osloboditi Jeruzalem i uspostaviti vlast kriţara. Uslijedile su nove borbe sa Sara-cenima i nove kriţarske vojne. Od 1095. do 1291. bilo ih je sedam. Prva je bila najuspješnija, a jedna od njih bila je znaĉajna za Franju iz Asiza. Franjin put u Egipat Tijekom godine 1218. Peta kriţar-ska vojna vodila je teške borbe sa Sa-racenima na sjeveru Egipta. Kršćanska vojska Europe nastojala je potisnuti muslimane i cijelu Svetu Zemlju staviti pod svoju upravu. Borbe su dugo tra-jale, a pojaĉanja su sporo pristizala. U okvirima razmišljanja ljudi onoga vremena sudjelovanje u oslobaĊanju Svete Zemlje od muslimana predstav-ljalo je jedan od najuzvišenijih naĉina svjedoĉenja i ţivljenja kršćanske vjere. Ĉetvrti lateranski sabor je 1215. sebi stavio u zadatak osnivanje nove kriţar-ske vojne, koja je trebala poĉeti godi-ne 1217. Koliko je to bio znaĉajan pot-hvat za Crkvu vrijedi istaknuti da je jedno vrijeme Petom kriţarskom voj-nom upravljao španjolski kardinal Pe-lagio Galvani. U proljeće 1219. Franjo Asiški od-luĉio je pridruţiti se jednoj grupi kriţa-

ra koji su odlazili kao pojaĉanje u Egi-pat. Poveo je sa sobom brata Ilumi-nata, koji se mogao sporazumijevati na arapskom jeziku i s vojskom se uputio u Damiatu, grad na obali Nila. Damiata je bila jedan od ondašnjih najbogatijih trgovaĉkih gradova u Egiptu. Upravo tu, u Damiatu, redovito su se vodile velike borbe izmeĊu kriţara i musli-mana. Na putovanju, koje je trajalo oko šest tjedana, Franjo je upoznao naj-razliĉitije karaktere meĊu ĉlanovima Vojne, od svećenika, biskupa i iskrenih kršćana do razbojnika i mešetara sva-ke vrste. Sredinom kolovoza došli su na odredište, u Damiatu, gdje se već nalazilo preko sto tisuća boraca na krš-ćanskoj strani. Muslimanska utvrda u Damiatu iz-gledala je veliĉanstveno i zastrašujuće. Zahvaljujući pomoći koja im je redovito pristizala s Istoka, muslimani, predvo-Ċeni al-Malikom al-Kamilom, sultanom Egipta, Palestine i Sirije, uspješno su branili svoju utvr-du. Iako je kardinal Pelagio bio strog i nepopustljiv, kroni-ĉari su zabiljleţili da nije uspijevao uspostviti red i di-sciplinu meĊu svo-jim vojnicima. Fra-njo je bio iznena-Ċen nekršćanskim ponašanjem nekih vojnika, koji su u pojedinim prigoda-ma znali poĉiniti uţasne zloĉine nad zarobljenicima.

Zabrinjavao ga je nedostatak krš-ćanskog i vjerniĉkog duha kod velikog broja kršćanskih vojnika. S druge stra-ne, svakodnevno je mogao ĉuti „mu-jezine― – vjerske sluţbenike – koji su u obliţnjem muslimanskom taboru pet puta dnevno pozivali svoje vjernike na molitvu. To je na Franju snaţno dje-lovalo te je, potaknut tim obiĉajem, po povratku u Italiju napisao Pismo upra-viteljima naroda u kojem je zahtijevao da se uvede svakodnevni poziv vjerni-cima na veĉernju molitvu, kako bi sva-ki dan narod mogao „dati slavu Bogu Svemogućemu―. Ni nakon borbe od godine dana kriţari, zaustavljeni pred tvrĊavom u Damiatu, nisu uspijevali napraviti ne-kakav znaĉajniji napredak. Već su bili izgubili petinu svoje vojske. I Sultanu je dodijalo takvo stanje, te je i dalje traţio primirje i dogovor, ali njegovi prijedlozi nisu bili prihvaćeni od druge strane, jer je kardinal i zapovjednik Pelagio namjeravao potisnuti musli-mane iz cijele Svete Zemlje. Susret sa Sultanom Franjo je molio Kardinala da pri-hvati primirje sa Sultanom. Kad je vi-dio da u tome neće uspjeti onda je molio Kardinala da njemu, Franji, do-pusti pregovarati sa Sultanom. Kardi-nal se tome protivio, ali je popustio na

FRANCISCAN LIFE AND HERITAGE

Priredio: Marko Puljić, OFM

Franjo i Illuminatus pred Sultanom Francis and Illuminatus in front of the Sultan (Giotto, Assisi)


Franjino uporno traţenje, vje-rujući da će, ako Franjo poĊe na pregovor sa Sultanom, voj-nici već istoga dana prije za-laska sunca donijeti Franjinu odrubljenu glavu. Franjo je došao do za-kljuĉka da je taj rat besmislen i nepravedan te da će „više svojim primjerom nego rije-ĉima― u to uvjeriti i Sultana, a moţda ga i obratiti na kršćanstvo. Bez ikakva oruţja i pratnje Franjo i njegov subrat Iluminatus pošli su pre-ma muslimanskom taboru. Nisu dugo morali ĉekati da ih protiviniĉke straţe uhvate i nakon kratkog ispitivanja do-vedu pred Sultana, baš onako kako je Franjo i ţelio. Sv. Bonaventura, pisac Franjina ţi-votopisa, biljeţi da ih je Sultan pri-jateljski primio i zapitao o tome tko i zašto ih šalje. Franjo mu je neustrašivo odgovorio da ih šalje Gospodin, a ne nikakvi ljudi, da Sultanu i njegovim po-danicima navijesti pravi put spasenja. Kad je Sultan vidio Franjin zanos od-luĉio je poslušati što mu taj jedno-stavni ĉovjek ima poruĉiti. Franjo je govorio o Bogu koji se objavio svome Izabranom narodu, iz kojeg se rodio Isus Krist, koji jedini donosi spasenje i ţivot vjeĉni. Te Franjine rijeĉi Sultanovi savjetnici su protumaĉili kao poziv na prijelaz na kršćanstvo, te su zatraţili da se odmah provede zakon koji nala-ţe da se odsijeĉe glava onomu koji nekoga nagovara na prijelaz na krš-ćanstvo. Ali, Sultan je poštedio Franju i divio se njegovoj hrabrosti, zato nije dao da ga se pogubi, nego je ostao kod njega u njegovu dvoru tjedan da-na, što je bilo neĉuvano za ondašnje prilike. Oĉito je da je Sultan u Franji prepoznao plemenita i dobronamjerna ĉovjeka i to mu se vrlo svidjelo. S dru-ge strane, Franjo je bio pošao Sultanu s namjerom da ga obrati, ali kad je uvidio da to neće ići i da ĉak „neće po-stati muĉenik, odluĉio je vratiti se ―ta-mo od kud je pošao‖, kako veli sv. Bo-naventura. Kroz razgovor do obostranog poštovanja Razgovor Sultana i Franje, koji su bili otprilike iste dobi, pobudio je u nji-ma obojici obostrano poštovanje i po-

zitivno je djelovao na obojicu, vele kro-niĉari. Sultan je Franji osigurao pratnju na putu prema svetim kršćanskim mje-stima u Svetoj Zemlji. Na rastanku Sul-tan ga je htio nagraditi, ali Franjo je ponizno odbio sve darove osim jedno-ga, a to je bio rog kojim su „mujezini― pozivali narod na molitvu. Kasnije ga je Franjo upotrijebljavao kad je on narod pozivao na molitvu. Nakon susreta s Franjom, kroniĉari kaţu, da je Sultan bio mnogo paţljiviji prema kršćanskim zarobljenicima. Vje-rojatno je taj susret pogodovao da je Sultan ponovno zapovjedniku Pelagiju ponudio primirje i pregovore, koje je Pelagije opet odbio. Vrativši se u kršćanski vojni tabor Franjo je zatekao masu kršćana kojoj je trebalo obraćenje kao i „nevjerni-cima protiv kojih se bore―, jer su bili nespremni na „promjenu srca i pravi mir―. Taj Franjin susret sa Sultanom, koji se zbog obostranog uvaţavanja sugo-vornika ĉesto spominje kao primjer is-pravnog voĊenja dijaloga kroz obostra-no uvaţavanje, zabiljeţen je u doku-mentima francuskih i talijanskih kri-ţara, prvih ţivotopisaca sv. Franje, ali i u islamskim kronikama. Iscrpljeni kriţarski vojnici nisu us-pjeli napraviti nikakav napredak na bojnom polju te je 30. kolovoza 1221. potpisano primirje. Ni Sultanu nije bilo više do rata jer mu je prijetila nova opasnost sa sjeveroistoka, Mongoli, za-to je rado pristao na primirje. Kroniĉari su zabiljeţili da je tom prigodom Sul-tan kršćanima predao relikvije pravoga Kristova kriţa. Sve skupa bilo je sedam kriţarskih vojni koje su uglavnom bile neuspješ-ne i nisu postigle svoj cilj: oslobaĊanje kršćanskih mjesta od muslimana. Nazoĉnost kršćana, a pogotovo franje-vaca u Svetoj Zemlji riješena je na drugi naĉin.

Pred novim izazovima U proljeće godine 1220. Franjo se brodom vratio u Veneciju. Ĉim je do-šao uoĉio je da je meĊu braćom na-stala podjela. Budući da još nisu imali od Pape potvrĊenog Pravila ni ĉvrst program ţi-vota i djelovanja, bilo je teško drţati na okupu i idealnom raspoloţenju sku-pinu od nekoliko tisuća ĉlanova. Jedna skupina je zahtijevala da bu-du redovniĉka zajednica poput ostalih, već postojećih redova koji imaju svoje škole i sveuĉilišta i iz kojih je nastalo dosta biskupa i kardinala. Franjo nije nikako mogao prihvatiti nešto takvo jer se to suprostavljalo njegovu poimanju malenosti i siromaštva. On je uporno ustrajavao u pozivu na ţivot u siro-maštvu, bez vlasništva i slobodi od svega materijalnog, pa tako i bilo ka-kve vlasti i moći, koje prijeĉe posve-mašnje oslanjanje na Boţju providnost. Druga skupina braće podupirala ga je u tome. Ova dva pogleda na budućnost za-jednice obiljeţili su Franjine zadnje go-dine ţivota, pogotovo vrijeme pisanja i priprave Pravila do njegove potvrde od pape Honorija III., 29. studenoga 1223., ali i vrijeme nakon toga. Znaĉajne promjene u ţivotu Franji-ne braće poĉele su se dogaĊati kad je Franjo, zbog pogoršanog zdravlja, ustupio voĊenje zajednice Petru Ka-tanskom 1220. godine i uskoro nakon Petrove smrti još veće promjene kad je brat Ilija godine 1221. preuzeo nje-govu ulogu.

(Nastavak u sljedećem broju)

FRANJEVAČKI ŢIVOT I BAŠTINA

―Kojim putom poći...?‖ ―What way shall we take...?‖


FRANCISCAN LIFE AND HERITAGE

Liberation of the Holy Land

At the beginning of the 11th century an Arabic tribe of Saracens who

became Muslims, and according to whom Western chroniclers call all Muslims Sara-cens, took possession of the places where Jesus Christ once walked and lived and is the place where Christianity originated – the Holy Land. Christians, following the lead of the Popes in Rome, struggled to put that region again under their authority. Pope Urban II. succeeded in assem-bling the first Crusader army which set out from Europe in 1095 and in 1099 suc-ceeded in liberating Jerusalem and impos-ing Crusader authority. New battles with the Saracens followed and also new Cru-sades. From 1095 to 1291 there were seven crusades. The first one was the most successful. One of them was signifi-cant for Francis of Assisi. Francis’ journey to Egypt During 1218 the Fifth Crusade en-gaged in heavy battles with the Saracens in northern Egypt. The Christian army of Europe struggled to drive back the Mus-lims and to place all of the Holy Land un-der their authority. The battles lasted a long time and reinforcements were slow to arrive. To people‘s way of thinking in those days, taking part in the liberation of the Holy Land from the Muslims represented one of the most sublime ways of witness-ing and living the Christian faith. The Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 set for itself the task of establishing new Cru-sades, that should begin in 1217. To un-derstand the extent to which that was a

significant undertaking for the Church, it is worth mentioning that at one time the Fifth Crusade was led by the Spanish Cardinal, Pelagio Galvani.. In the spring of 1219 Francis of Assisi decided to join a group of soldiers who were departing for Egypt as reinforce-ments. He took with him Brother Illumina-tus, who was able to make himself under-stood in the Arabic language and together with the solders set out for Damieta, a city on the Nile River. Damieta was at that time one of the wealthiest trading cities in Egypt. It was right there in Damieta, that regular big battles between the Crusaders and the Muslims took place. During the journey which took about six weeks, Francis got acquainted with the very diverse characters among the mem-

bers of the army, from priests, bishops and sincere Christians to criminals and dealers of every kind. By the middle of August they arrived at the headquarters in Damieta, where already more than 100,000 warriors were located on the Christian side. The Muslim fortress in Damieta looked grandiose and intimidating. Thanks to help that arrived regularly from the East, the Muslims, led by Malek el-Kamel, the Sultan of Egypt, Palestine and Syria, they successfully defended their fortress. Even though Cadinal Pelagio was strict and unyielding, chroniclers recorded that he was not successful in establishing order and discipline among his soldiers. Francis was astonished by the unchristian behavior of some soldiers, who in certain cases knew how to commit horrible crimes on those taken prisoners. The lack of Christian spirit and faith on the part of a large number of Christian soldiers both-ered him. On the other hand, every day he could hear the muezzins – servants of the faith – who in proximity of the Muslim camp called their faithful to prayer five times a day. That affected Francis strongly and, moved by that custom, after his return to Italy he wrote The Letter to the Rulers of the People in which he requested them to introduce a daily call of the faithful to eve-ning prayer, so that every day the people could ―give glory to God Almighty‖. Even after a battle of one year, the Crusaders, held back in front of the for-tress in Damieta, were not successful in making any kind of significant progress. They had already lost one fifth of their army and the Sultan, annoyed with such a situation, was looking for a truce and ne-gotiations. But his proposals were not accepted by the other side, because the Commander, Cardinal Pelagio, intended to push Muslims back from all of the Holy Land. Encounter with the Sultan Francis asked the Cardinal to accept a truce with the Sultan. When he saw that he was not going to succeed in that, Fran-cis then asked the Cardinal to allow him to negotiate with the Sultan. The Cardinal was against that, but, at Francis‘ persistent asking, he consented, believing that, if Francis went to negotiate with the Sultan,

Prepared by Marko Puljić, OFM

St. Francis in Prayer Franjo u molitvi


soldiers would already before sunset be carrying out Francis‘ chopped off head. Francis came to the conclusion that this war was senseless and unjust and that, ―more by example than by words‖ he would convince the Sultan of that, and perhaps even convert him to Christianity. With no weapon or escort, Francis and his confrere Illuminatus went toward the Muslim camp. They did not have to wait long for enemy guards to capture them and after a brief interrogation, they were led before the Sultan, just as Francis had wanted. St. Bonaventure writes in his biogra-phy of Francis, that the Sultan was friendly in receiving them and inquired about who had sent them and why. Francis fearlessly answered him that the Lord sends them, not any man, to announce to the Sultan and his subjects the true way of salvation. When the Sultan saw Francis‘ enthusiasm, he decided to listen to what this simple man had to proclaim. Francis spoke about the God who revealed Himself to His Cho-sen People from whom Jesus Christ was born, and who alone brings salvation and life eternal. The Sultan‘s councilors inter-preted those words of Francis as an invita-tion to convert to Christianity, and they immediately asked to carry out the law that commands cutting off the head of one who tries to persuade someone to convert to Christianity. But, the Sultan spared Francis and marveled at his courage, and there-fore did not have him executed. Instead Francis stayed with him for a week in his fortress, something unheard of in the cir-cumstances of those days. It is obvious

that the Sultan rec-ognized in Francis a noble and well inten-tioned man, some-thing that pleased him very much. On the other hand, Fran-cis had come to the Sultan with the inten-tion of converting him, but when he realized it was not going to happen and that he was not even going ―to become a martyr he decided to

go back‖ where he had come from, says St. Bonaventure. Through conversation to mutual respect Chroniclers say the conversation of the Sultan and Francis who were about the same age, aroused in both of them a mu-tual respect and affected them both posi-tively. The Sultan assured safe travel for Francis on his journey to the Christian holy places in the Holy Land. At their farewell the Sultan wanted to reward Francis, but Francis humbly refused every gift but one, and that was the horn the muezzins used to call the people to prayer. Later Francis used it when he would invite the people to prayer. After the meeting with Francis, chroniclers say that the Sultan was much more attentive to the Christians in captiv-ity. That encounter was probably the occa-sion for the Sultan again to offer com-mander Pelagio a truce and negotiation, which Pelagio again rejected. Returning to the Christian army camp, Francis came across a mass of Christians who needed conversion just the same as ―the infidels against whom they were fighting‖, because they were not ready for ―a change of heart and real peace‖. That encounter of Francis with the Sultan which, because of the mutual es-teem of the speakers, often cited as an example of how to conduct dialogue, ob-serving mutual respect, is recorded in documents of French and Italian crusad-ers, the early biographies of St. Francis,

and also in Islamic chronicles. The exhausted crusaders did not succeed in making any progress on the battle field and on August 30, 1221 agreed to a truce. Nor was the Sultan interested in more war because he was being threat-ened by a new danger, Mongols from the north! Therefore, he gladly accepted a truce. Chroniclers have recorded that on that occasion the Sultan handed over rel-ics of Christ‘s true cross to the Christians. In all there were seven crusades that were for the most part unsuccessful and did not achieve their goal: liberation of the Christian holy places from the Muslims. Facing new challenges In the spring of 1220 Francis sailed back to Venice. As soon as he came he saw that there were divisions had arisen among the friars. Since they had not yet received an approved rule from the Pope, nor a firm program for how to live and work, it was hard for all of them to be to-gether even in an ideally sized group of several thousand members. One group insisted on being a religious community like other already existing orders which have their own schools and universities and out of which came quite a few bishops and cardinals. In no way could Francis agree to something like that because it contradicted his understanding of minority and poverty. He tirelessly persevered in his call for a life in poverty, without owner-ship and free of everything material, and of any kind of authority and power that hin-ders complete dependency on Divine Providence. The other group of friars sup-ported him in that. These two viewpoints about the future of the community marked Francis‘ last years of life, especially from the time of writing and preparation of the Rule up to its approval by Pope Honorius III on November 29, 1223, and also be-yond that. Significant changes in the life of Fran-cis‘ brothers began when Francis, due to worsening health, gave up leadership of the community to Peter Catanio in1220 and soon after Peter‘s death even more significant changes when Brother Elias took over his role in 1221.

(To be continued in the next issue)

FRANJEVAČKI ŢIVOT I BAŠTINA

Damieta


B oţićno vrijeme, koje nam se svima ove godine, izgleda brţe nego obiĉno primaklo, potaklo

nas je da razmišljamo i ţivimo u za-hvalnosti. U pripravi za Gospodnji dola-zak i u slavlju Boţića probudila se u nama svijest da je sve lijepo što be-splatno primamo i dajemo jesu, zapra-vo, najdragocjeniji darovi. Dragocijen nam je dar ţivota, roditelji, prijatelji, kršćanska i hrvatska zajednica u kojoj ţivimo. Na to su nas podsjetila i djeca naše Hrvatske škole na ovogodišnjoj boţić-

noj priredbi u Hrvatskom kulturnom centru. Program je kao i uvijek bio protkan tradicionalnim plesovima i boţićnim pjesmama. To su darovi koje smo naslijedili od naših pradjedova davno, a neumornih uĉitelja i uĉiteljica danas u našoj školi. Ĉizme koje su ostale bez svoga para u boţićnoj pri-redbi, rekle su nam da jedino u bo-ţićno vrijeme ima smisla jedna ĉizma bez svoga para, koja ĉeka da sv. Nikola unutra stavi svoj dar. I najveća strepnja naših najmlaĊih ipak je sretno završila. Na koncu priredbe sv. Nikola

je uletio sa svojim saonicama, koje su vukli mladi, i snaţni jelenovi iz predškolskih ra-zreda naše škole. Priredba je uistinu sve oduševila, a ponajviše najmla-Ċe koji su od sv. Nikole dobili svoje darove. A kad ih je sv. Nikola upitao koji je to najveći dar ĉovjeĉanstvu, djeca su sva uglas

spremno odgovorila: ―RoĊenje malog Isusa‖. Tako smo pouĉeni od najmla-Ċih uvidjeli kako smo zapravo svi primili najveći dar od Neba i od svojih najbliţih. Stablo darivanja—Giving Tree Potaknuti ovim spoznajama ove godine naši su se ţupljani izvanredno i srdaĉno odazvali akciji Giving Tree na kojem je bilo devedeset ukrasa s ime-nima djece iz Misericordije koji su, ili bez roditelja ili na drţavnoj skrbi. Vrlo brzo su svi nakiti razgrabljeni i ţelje

koje su se nalazile na njima vrlo brzo su ispunjene. Ĉetiri puna auta, de-vedeset razliĉitih paketa punih ispu-njenih ţelja odvezli smo u Misericordiju i tako uvelike obradovali one kojima je najpotrebniji osjećaj bliskosti i ljubavi. Silvija Ziman i Jelena Grbavac na taj su naĉin pokazali da mladi imaju do-brih ideja i snage provesti ih u djelo, a stariji su pokazali da su spremni po-drţati mlade u njihovim dobrim nasto-janjima, te da se pokaţu odvaţni uklju-ĉiti još više u ţivot ţupe. Stoga smo u si jeĉnju poĉeli su-

srete i misu za mlade, koju će-mo nastojati ima ti barem jedan-put mjeseĉno. Do sada smo imali dva takva susreta. Jedan koncem sijeĉnja, drugi na kraju ve ljaĉe. Mladi rado pro vedu ovo vrije-me sa sveće-

nikom, imaju puno pitanja i puno za-nimanja. Nadamo se samo da će za to i naći vremena, za sada, barem jedan-

put mjeseĉno. Proslava zaštitnika Misije U veljaĉi smo pod sveĉanom puĉkom misom proslavili blag dan Blaţenog Alojzija Stepinca. Ove godine ušli smo u desetu godinu od proglašenja kar-dinala Stepinca blaţenim i u desetu go-dinu otkako naša misija nosi njegovo ime. Sveĉanu sv. misu predvodio je fra Tomislav Puljić, koji nas je još jednom potsjetio na veliĉinu vjere, hrabrosti i ustrajnosti blaţenoga Alojzija, te da

potaknuti njegovim primjerom i zago-vorom ţivimo jedni za druge i za Boga, ostajući vjerni svojoj Crkvi, kako je to i naš zaštitnik ĉinio. Tako smo ove godine veoma rano ušli u korizmu, razmatranjem Kristove muke i povlaĉenjem u pustinju naših vlastitih dubina kroĉimo k Uskrsu, naj-većoj kršćanskoj svetkovini i još je-dnom velikom daru – otajstvu vrhunca našega otkupljenja.

Fr. Ivica Majstorović, OFM

Ţupnik-Pastor

6346 N. Ridge Avenue Chicago, IL 60660

Phone: 773-262-0535

Fax: 773-262-4603 [email protected]

ŢUPE - SREDIŠTA OBNOVE

CHICAGO

BL. ALOJZIJE STEPINAC

Jelena i Silvija spremaju darove za

djecu iz Misericordiije


T he greatest gift of the Christmas season is the gratitude found in our

thoughts and in our lives during that time of the year; the season seems to have passed more quickly this year than ever before. The Christmas mystery of welcom-ing Christ enables us to realize that gifts freely given and freely received are most wonderful and the most precious of all gifts; life, relatives, and friends, together with the Christian and Croatian communi-ties in which we live, are among the most precious of gifts. The children of our Croatian school at the Croatian Cultural Center reminded us of this through the annual Christmas pro-gram. The program, as in the past, con-sisted of traditional dances and Christmas songs which we received from our ances-tors through the ongoing efforts of our teachers in the school. A boot, waiting to be filled by St. Nicholas, is a sure sign of the Christmas season. St. Nicholas him-self appeared at the end of the program; he came in a sleigh pulled by young and strong reindeer from our preschool pro-gram. St. Nicholas asked the children, ―Which is the greatest gift given to human-ity?‖ All the children immediately re-sponded, ―The birth of the Child Jesus.‖ Hence, the children taught all the people how we received the greatest of gifts from heaven. This year our parishioners spontane-ously and gladly organized the Giving Tree project. The tree was decorated with ninety names of children at Misericordia Home who are without parents or on state support. The decorative names were quickly taken and the wishes of the chil-dren fulfilled. Ninety packages were deliv-ered in four cars to Misericordia Home. While the gifts themselves fulfilled the wishes of the children, they also brought warmth and love to those so much in need of these two most precious gifts. Through this project Sylvia Ziman and Jelena Grba-vac showed that the youth both have good ideas and the ability to translate the ideas

into action. The adults showed that they were ready to support the youth in their noble en-deavors. Such pro-jects encour-age the youth to be more in-volved in their parish. We began having a monthly gather-ing and Mass for our youth in January. Thus far we have had two, the one in January and another at the end of Febru-ary. The youth have many questions and interests, and they enjoy spending time with their priest. We hope the youth will find time for this at least once a month. We solemnly celebrated the feast of our patron Blessed Alojzije Stepinac at Sunday Mass in February. This year is the tenth anniversary of his beatification and also the tenth year since our mission was put under his patronage. Fra Tomislav Puljić presided at the solemn Mass and

reminded us of the faith, courage and perseverance of Blessed Alojzije. Through his example we are encouraged to live for God and one another, and to always re-main faithful to our Church as did our pa-tron. This year we began Lent very early. We reflect on the passion of Christ as we enter our desert journey to Easter which is the greatest Christian feast and yet an-other great gift – the accomplishment of our salvation.

PARISHES - CENTERS OF RENEWAL

John i Lily pripremaju djecu za Prvu svetu pricest

John and Lily preparing children for the First Holy Communion

Thanks to these good ladies there were “krafne” for everyone

Zahvaljujući ovim vrijednim gospođama bilo je dovoljno “krafni” za svakoga


Klub knjige (Book Club)

Ž upa sv. Jeronima je mjesto su-sreta ljudi koji vole knjigu. Tako je grupa ljudi, zaljubljenika u

knjigu organizirala «St. Jerome – Book club» s ciljem ĉitanja i komentiranja odreĊenih knjiga. Ovakve ĉitalaĉke za-jednice sve su popularnije u Americi. Juliana Perišin je s nekoliko prijate-ljica pokrenula ovaj projekt i okupila ljubitelje dobre literature. Knjige koje se ĉitaju trenutno su najtraţenije ame-riĉke knjige. Tako i naša zajednica po-staje mjesto gdje se njeguje dobro šti-vo, dobra rasprava i stvaraju prija-teljstva utemeljena na ljubavi prema knjizi.

Doček nove godine Hrvatska škola Kardinal Ste-pinac je organizirala doĉek Nove godine u ţupnoj dvorani Sv. Jeronima. Roditelji Hrvat-ske škole s djecom i prijate-ljima, u intimnoj, obiteljskoji i prijateljskoj atmosferi, ĉekali su dolazak novog Ljeta. Za glazbu se pobrinula grupa «Bravo». Tjedan Katoličkih škola: Svjetlo na putu Zadnji tjedan mjeseca sijeĉnja tra-dicionalno se u Chicagu zove: Tjedan katoliĉkih škola. Tema ovogodišnjeg tjedna bila je ―Svjetlo na putu‖. Djeca u našoj ţupnoj škloli gradila su kuće od svjetla znakovito pokazu-jući kako oni kao osobe mogu ovome svijetu donositi svjetlo. U svim ovim projektima vidljivo su izraţeni djeĉji stvaralaĉki talenti. Druge aktivnosti ukljuĉivale su: zajedniĉki izlet, sjećanja na sedamdesete, otvorena škola za sa-dašnje i buduće obitelji, dan posvećen uĉiteljima, slavlje sveĉane obiteljske školske Sv. Mise, itd. Taj tjedan bio je

pun dogaĊanja koji dotiĉu dubinu kato-liĉkog dentiteta. Lovačka večer, 2. veljače U subotu 2. ve-ljaĉe lovci iz lovaĉ-kog društva «Kuna» imali su svoju go-

dišnju veĉer lovaĉkih specijaliteta. Ve-liki broj Hrvata Chicaga, zaljubljenih u lov i ribolov odlaze u daleke dijelove Amerike i Kanade u lov. Ta ljubav prema prirodi rodila je mnogim poje-dinaĉnim i obiteljskim prijateljstvima. Bila je to veĉer zajedništva i, sva-kako, tradicionalnih i novih lovaĉkih priĉa.

Novi Ďakon Ţupa Sv. Jeronima dobila je veliku pomoć u osobi Ċakona fra Josipa Mi-oĉa. Fra Josip je roĊen u Šujici. Sje-menište je završio na Humcu kod Ljubuškoga, a gimnaziju u Ljubuškom. Novicijatske dane proveo u samo-stanu Gorica kod Livna. Petogodišnji filozofsko-teološki studij završio je 2007. u Zagrebu. “Kardinal Stepinac” - 35 godina Hrvatska škola pri ţupi sv.Jeronima osnovana je 1973. godine i nosi ime ―Kardinal Stepinac‖. To je bila prva organizirana škola za uĉenje hrvatskog jezika u Chicagu. Prvi voditelj škole bio je fra Ivan Bradvica, a njegovi surad-nici ĉasne sestre i roditelji uĉenika. Godine 1980. škola je imala 114 uĉenika, rasporeĊenih u 8 razreda i djeĉiji vrtić, s ĉetiri uĉitelja koji su po-uĉvali hrvatski jezik, povijest, zemljo-pis, vjeronauk, te hrvatsku glazbu, kola i plesove. Godine 1988. osnovan je i ―Klub Stepinac‖ - plesna grupa i Tamburica, a svrha je bila okupiti djecu nakon završene osnovne škole, da kroz ples i pjesmu predstavljaju ţupu sv. Jeroni-ma na raznim dogaĊanjima te da djeca ostanu vezana uz hrvatsku tradiciju. Sveĉani program proslave 35 godina uspješnog rada i odgajanja brojnih ge-neracija u uĉenju hrvatskog jezika i


CHICAGO

SV. JERONIM ST. JEROME

Cardinal Stepinac Way 2823 S. Princeton Avenue

Chicago, IL 60616 Phone: 312-842-1871 Fax: 312-842-6427

[email protected] www.stjeromecroatian.org

Fr. Jozo Grbeš, OFM

ţupnik-Pastor

Fr. Ivan Strmeĉki, OFM

Vikar Associate Pastor

fra Ivan Strmečki i fra Josip Mioč

Tamburica


kulture odrţan je u Forum dvorani Sve-uĉilišta Illinois. Nastupali su folklorne grupe ―Croatia‖ iz Los Angelesa, Hrvatska loza, Kolo grupa Srce Isusovo, Hrvatska baština iz Chicaga i domaćin - Klub Stepinac i Tamburica. Nakon hrvatske i ameriĉke himne izveli su pjesme i plesove iz Zagorja, Srijema, Bunjevaĉko kolo, Prigorske uspomene, MeĊimurje, Vrlika, Slavo-nija, Posavina, Šokaĉko kolo, te kola raspjevanih Hrvata iz Madţarske. U nedjelju 10. prosinca sveĉanom sv. misom u ţupi sv.Jeronima, koju je predvodio fra Marko Puljić, kustos Franjevaĉke kustodije, sveĉano je obi-ljeţen spomendan Bl. Alojzija Stepinca. U propovijedi je fra Marko naglasio znaĉaj ţivota i vjere blaţenog Stepinca te govorio o teţini vremena u kojem je kardinal ţivio i svjedoĉio. Nakon sv. mise odrţan je kratki na-stup Kluba Stepinac i folklorne grupe ―Croatia‖ iz Los Angelesa, te su nakon njih fra Josip Mioĉ i fra Jozo podijelili s nazoĉnima prigodne tekstove o kardi-nalu Stepincu. Bridgeport Choral Society Svake godine na blagdan Bogo-javljenja lokalni glazbenici, zaljubljeni u klasniĉnu glazbu, te skupljeni u zbor «Bridgeport Choral Society» predstavili su još jedan ugodan koncert klasiĉne, nadvremenske duhovne glazbe pod nazivom «Koncert za Bogojavljenje».

Rana povijest Hrvata Chicaga U nedjelju, 27. sijeĉnja 2008. Hrvati Chicaga imali su vrlo jedinstvenu pri-liku sudjelovati na predavanju o Hrva-tima Chicaga i okolice, s kraja 19. i poĉetka 20. stoljeća. Predavanje je odrţao ugledni profesor povijesti na Joliet Collegu, dr. Ante Ĉuvalo u dvorani Sv. Jeronima. On je iznio vrlo zanimljive podatke o ranim hrvatskim udrugama, klubovima, društvima u gradu Chicagu i okolnim mjestima. Govoreći o vaţnijim osobama zaje-dnice koji su u to vrijeme bili aktivni u okupljanju Hrvata, dr. Ĉuvalo je iznio fotografije, ĉlanke mjesnih novina, arhivske zapise i mnoštvo podataka o crkvama koje su bile središnje mjesto organiziranja i okupljanja. Ĉuvalovo predavanje doista je «pro-zorĉić kroz kojeg moţemo na trenutak pogledati u ţivot i rad hrvatske zaje-dnice u Chicagu unazad 100 godina. I još više, ono nam daje priliku zaviriti u srca i um tog naraštaja». U ĉlancima koje je predstavio iz toga vremena vidljivo je s koliko su ljubavi i ţara Hrvati, ne samo ĉuvali svoj identi-tet i kulturnu baštinu, nego i mislili na svoju domovinu Hrvatsku i slobodu svog hrvatskog naroda. Njihovi politiĉki nazori su odjek ideo-loških gibanja u Hrvatskoj u ta vreme-na. Iz gotovo svih zapisa, dogaĊaja i zabava i drugih organiziranih priredbi vidljiv je hrvatski duh toga puka. U zajednicama i klubovima isticali su se

ljudi koji su bili vrlo školo-vani te su kao lijeĉnici, od-vjetnici ili ban-kari pomagali usmjeravati ţi-vot i rad odre-Ċenih društa-va. Zanimljivo je bilo vidjeti fo-tografije iz tih vremena te na poseban naĉin statistiĉke po-datke, pose-bice ţupe Sv. Jeronima, krštenja, bra-kove, razloge smrti u to vrijeme, te na-stanke i nestanke ranih hrvatskih ţupa u uţoj i široj okolici grada Chicaga. Predavanje koje je prof. Ĉuvalo iznio izazavalo je vrlo veliku pozornost nazoĉnih. Slijedeći korak u istraţivanju i osvje-ţavanju uspomena na te zanimljive go-dine kraja 19. i poĉetka 20. stoljeća bit će svakako vrlo zanimljiva knjiga koju priprema prof. Ĉuvalo na istu temu.


Prvi predsjednik društva Sv. Jeronima u

Chicagu

Dan za sjećanje A day to remember


Year 2008 gets a friendly welcome

F or the first time, Cardinal Stepinac Croatian School organized a New Year‘s Eve party in our Parish

Hall. Parents of our Croatian School‘s students along with their children awaited the arrival of 2008 in an atmosphere that was intimate and filled with friendship. The music for the night was provided by the band ―Bravo.‖ It was pleasant to be among people who have become good friends, in a place that was safe, and where one could anticipate the good days promised by the coming New Year.

Hats off to St. Jerome schoolchildren St. Jerome Parish is rightly proud of its excellent elementary school, and Catholic Schools Week at the end of January gives us all a good opportunity to celebrate this school. Activities included a special Family Mass, an Open House for Current and New Families, an All School Field Trip, a 1970s Day, a Student Appreciation Day and a Teacher Appreciation Day. And the kids put into practice their concern for the poor by collecting at Sunday Masses win-ter hats and gloves for the poor of wintry Chicago. St. Jerome Book Club begins A group of St. Jerome parishioners recently organized the ―St. Jerome Book

Club,‖ in order to read and discuss specifi-cally chosen books. Such small circles of readers are evermore popular across America. Calling upon her own experience and love for books, Juliana Perišin, along with several other friends, gathered like-minded lovers of good literature. Enthusiastic dis-cussions create a bond of friendship and foster a love of good books. Croatian School “Cardinal Stepinac” celebrates St. Jerome‘s Croatian School was founded in 1973 and was named in honor

of Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac. This was the first Croatian School to be organized in Chi-cago, and its first director was Fr. Ivan Bradvica. He was assisted by many volunteers, including the parents and the Sisters of our parish. By 1980, the enrollment was already 114 students, in eight grades plus a kindergarten, learning Croatian language, cate-chism, Croatian songs, and kolo dancing. The Croatian School Board was created in 1982. That same year saw the

founding of Klub Stepinac. This club was founded to draw together those who have completed the Eighth Grade of Croatian School, and Klub Stepinac soon became a top-level performance group representing St. Jerome Parish through song and dance at numerous festivals and events in Chi-cago, the U.S., Can-ada, as well as Croa-tia. More recently, 2004 saw the first ―Croatian Days for Children, Young Peo-ple, and Parents‖ workshops. Enthusias-tic workshop teachers from Croatia engage

participants with the Croatian language, puppet shows, drama, Croatian culture, and the national heritage of Croatia. The official celebration of the 35th Anniversary of the Croatian School Cardi-nal Stepinac, took place Feb. 9, a Satur-day evening, in the newly-opened Forum Theater on the Chicago campus of the University of Illinois. The program was graced by the presence of various folklore groups, namely, Croatia (from Los Ange-les), Hrvatska loza (from Chicago‘s North Side), Sacred Heart Parish‘s kolo group from South Chicago, Chicagoland‘s Hrvat-ska baština, and, of course, our own ―Cardinal Stepinac‖ kolo group and Tam-burica. The audience saw and heard per-formances from Zagorje, Srijem, MeĎimurje, Vrlika, Slavonija, Posavina, as well as the Bunjevačko kolo, Šokačko kolo and songs by Croatians living in Hungary. Ljubica Jukić and Tomo Rogić served as hosts for the evening. Counsul General Zorica Matković, congratulated the Croa-tian School Cardinal Stepinac on its 35 years of success. A 130-page, all-in-color commemorative book also marked the anniversary. A Mass in honor of Blessed Cardinal Stepinac was celebrated Sunday, Febru-ary 10, on the Cardinal‘s feast day. Fr. Marko Puljić, the Custos of the Croatian Franciscan Custody, was the celebrant and delivered a homily that considered the meaning of Blessed Stepinac‘s life and faith, the difficult times in which the Cardi-nal lived, and his heroic witness. Following Mass, a luncheon was held in St. Jerome‘s Hall. Klub Stepinac, and ―Croatia‖ from Los Angeles performed short programs. Bridgeport Choral Society Each year on the feast of the Epiphany the local choral group, Bridgeport Choral


Hats and gloves donations for poor

St. Jerome Book Club


Society, presents its annual concert of classical choral music. The annual Epiph-any Concert of the choral group presents sacred music that spans the centuries. Those attending the concert found their spirits refreshed by the music in our acoustically rewarding church. Early History of Croatians in Chicago revealed Croatians of Chicago had a unique opportunity on Sunday, January 27, to learn about the earliest Croatians in Chica-goland, at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries. A noted professor of history at Joliet College, Dr. Ante Čuvalo, lectured in St. Jerome‘s up-per hall about fascinating facts about early Croatian associations, clubs, and societies in the city of Chicago and nearby settle-ments.

Professor Čuvalo presented photo-graphs, articles from local news-papers, archival materials, and a multitude of facts about the various churches that served as organiz-ing centers for our Croatian people.

His lecture truly served as a ―small win-dow through which we can momentarily view the life and work of the Croatian com-munity in Chicago some 100 years ago. What is more, it gives us an opportunity to peer into the hearts and minds of that generation.‖ Through this lecture, one could appreciate the love and zeal the Croatians of those early times showed toward the preservation of their national identity and cul-tural heritage, as well as their long-ing for Croatia and for the freedom of its people. Their political views

were a reflection of the ideological move-ments in Croatia at that time. Almost without exception, from the articles, events, entertainments, and other organized presentations, one could glimpse the Croatian soul of those people. Welcome, Brother Josip! Joining Fr. Jozo and Fr. Ivan in their Franciscan service to the people of St. Jerome‘s is Brother Josip Mioč, a young Franciscan friar ordained as deacon in December. Brother Josip will be with us learning pastoral service, and English as well, as he prepares for his mid-year ordination to the priesthood.


Bridgeport Choral Society

Dr. Ĉuvalo‘s lecture at St. Jerome

“Stepinac Club” from Chicago and “Croatia” from Los Angeles performed in honor of the Blessed A. Stepinac Feast Day


A dvent je vrijeme bitnog! Vri-jeme darovano da ĉovijek nu-trinu svoga ţivota otvori za

susret s Bogom. Zapravo, mi smo kao zajednica kroz advent molili da moţemo doĉekati Isusa, ljubav Boţju! Negdje poĉetkom adventa posjetila nas je vrhovna po-glavarica Školskih sestara franjevaka, s. Natalija Palac, iz Rima. U razgovoru sa ţupnikom, na ruĉ-ku, zanimala se za ţivot naše ţupe i pastoralnog dijelovanja. Bio je to lijep susret. Boţić i vrijme blagdana Prije Boţića, djeca naše ţupne škole, imala su prigodni Boţićni pro-gram u Crkvi, na kojem su pjevali bo-ţićne pjesme na više jezika, ukljuĉujući

i hrvatski. Tako su na simboliĉan naĉin uprizorili Kristov dolazak svim ljudima na zemlji. Lijepo su predstavili dolazak Boţića u svim narodima! A djeca naše hrvatske škole imala su predboţićni nastup 23. prosinca 2007. u Muzeju znanosti i industrije. Nastupila je naša kolo grupa s pri-godnim plesnim programom i mlaĊa djeca s boţićnim pjesmama. To je bilo još jedno lijepo svjedoĉanstvo o kulturi i tradiciji našega naroda. Boţić nam je i ove godine darovao toliko nade za ţivot. Bili smo radosni da smo opet mogli slaviti Boţji pojavak meĊu nama. Na uoĉnicu Boţića, s poĉetkom u pet sati, na misi za Ċake i roditelje, djeca su predvodila pjevanje. Sv. Misu polnoćku predvodio je fra Marko Puljić skupa sa ţupnikom fra Stjepanom Bedenikovićem i gvardija-nom našega samostana u Chicagu, fra Josipom Nenadom Galićem. Dobar broj ţupljana došao je na Polnoćku. Pjevanje je bilo uljepšano tamburicama i našim zborom. Ljepo je ĉuti njeţne melodije i poznate pjesme koje nam griju dušu i ispunjaju je zahvanošću.

Na Boţić su slavlje-ne svete mise na engleskom i hrvat-skom jeziku. Na mi-sna slavlja su došli i oni koji daleko ţive, jer je lijepo zajedno, kao ţupna obitelj, proslaviti Kristovo ro Ċenje.

Doček Nove Godine Na posljednji dan stare godine slavljena je misa za-hvalnica koju je predvodio ţupnik. Kao zajednica zahvalili smo Bogu za proteklo vrijeme zajedništva i ţivota. Na doĉeku No-ve Godine okupili su se naši ţupljani u li-jepom broju, a glaz-benik iz Zagreba na-stojao je tu veĉer uĉiniti lijepom i za sjećanje. Ostalo se dugo u noć, koju su zimske pahuljice

pobijelile i tako najavile da će ova zima biti snijeţna. Lovačka večer To je poseban dogaĊaj svake godine u ţupi kad lovaĉko društvo SRNA prireĊuje svoju lovaĉku veĉeru s jelima od divljaĉi. Mnoštvo ljubitelja takve hrane doĊe na veĉeru i zabavu i uţivaju u specijalitetima naših lovaca. Nekoliko dana poslije toga lovci su priredili ruĉak na farmi i pozvali na blagoslov kuće. Ove godine je to bio poseban dogaĊaj je su bili nazoĉni: provincijal Bosne Srebrene fra Mijo Dţolan, definitor fra Zdravko Dadić, za-tim fra Jozo Grbeš, fra Ivica Majsto-rović, fra Tomislav Puljić, fra Ante Be-kavac, i Ċakon fra Josip Mioĉ. Lijepo je bilo s lovcima na njihovoj farmi. Tijedan katoličkih škola Ove godine naša škola se pridru-ţila tjednu katoliĉkih škola. Tih dana naša ţupna škola je bila otvorena za sve koji su ţeljeli upoznati se s radom škole i onim što djeca uĉe. Nakon svih sv. Misa, imali su prigodu posjetiti školu i vidjeti kako izgleda škola i time se prisjetiti moţda i vlastitih dana provedenih u školi, ali i shvatiti vaţnost škole za odgoj dijece. HVALA U našoj ţupi ima jedna osoba kojoj se posebno ţelimo zahvaliti kroz proteklo vrijeme. Ona se zove Margie Nikshich. Margie je u nekoliko zadnjih godina svojom ljubavlju i dobrotom pomagala u sakristiji i svemu što je


CHICAGO

SRCE ISUSOVO

SACRED HEART

2864 East 96th Street Chicago, IL 60617

Phone: 773-768-1423 Fax: 773-768-3750

Fr. Stephen Bedeniković, OFM

Ţupnik Pastor

Fr. Ante Bekavac, OFM


Sr. Thomasine, Sr. Germaine, Sr. Sandra i Sr. Natalia


vezano u unutarnji prostor Crkve. Prala je i šivala crk-veno ruho, uvijek nasmi-jana i vedra lica. Jednostavna i puna dobrote radovala se kada je nešto moga uĉiniti za svoju Crkvu. Provela je ĉitav svoj ţivot u ovoj ţupi, ali se sa-da preselila kod svoje kćeri u drugi grad, u Indijanu, pa smo osjećali potrebu reći joj rijeĉ zahvalnosti za dobrotu koju je svaki dan neumorno iskazivala. Zima je ove godine dugo prisutna kroz snijeg i hladno vrijeme. S nadom ĉekamo nove dane i oslušukujemo ţivot koji se do-

gaĊa. Zato je potrebno biti zahvalan za sve trenutke koji su utkani u naše ţi-

vote i naše vrijeme, koje teĉe i polako odbrojava dane.


A dvent is a time of waiting in antici-pation to celebrate the birthday of Jesus our Savior. Here at Sacred

Heart we were busy with all the prepara-tions for Christmas. Our Franciscan Sisters had a visit from Rome. Sr. Natalija Palac the General Superior of the School Sisters of Christ the King made her canonical visit to Sr. Thomasine and Sr. Germaine. Sr. Natalija also paid a visit to the pastor Fr. Stephen Bedenikovic. Sister visited our parish school where the Franciscan sisters have ministered from its beginning. Christmas Sacred Heart Christmas season be-gan with a Christmas program prepared by the Parish School children. The program Christmas around the world portrayed how different cultures celebrate the birth of Christ. The children delighted all present with Christmas songs in deferent lan-guages as they portrayed Christmas around the world.

Sacred Heart Croatian School, Tambura and Ko-lo group was responsible this year for decorating the Croatian Christmas tree at the Museum of Science and Industry. They also had the Christ-

mas program at the Museum on Sunday December 23rd. After the program at the museum, all gathered at the Sacred Heart Parish Hall for a Christmas party where Santa Claus

made a visit with gifts for young and old. Christmas season began with a Vigil Mass at 5:00pm where the Sacred Heart School Children‘s Choir delighted the con-gregation with their beautiful voices. The Midnight Mass began with a Christmas program. Joseph Slomka di-rected the Croatian Choir and played the organ this year. Our Sacred Heart Tam-burica players provided the beautiful tam-bura music for our traditional Croatian Christmas songs. Fr. Marko Puljić, ofm, Custos of the Croatian Franciscan Friars

Christmas Program Sacred Heart School

Lijepo je biti zajedno, pogotovo na lovačkoj večeri It is nice to be togheter, especially at Srna’s Hunter Dinner



was the main celebrant at the Mass to-gether with the Guardian of St. Anthony Friary in Hyde Park Fr. Joe Galić, ofm, and the pastor Fr. Stephen Bedeniković, ofm. Fr. Marko, in his homily encouraged all present to be a light of Christ to all they encounter in their lives. On Christmas day we continued to celebrate Christ‘s birthday as a parish community along with a number of guests and former parishioners who came home from different parts of the country to cele-brate Christmas with us. New Year Sacred Heart parish community closed the 2007 with Vigil Mass of Thanks-giving celebrated by the pastor Fr. Stephen Bedeniković, ofm and concelebrated by the associate pastor Fr. Ante Bekavac, ofm. After the Mass people were invited to the parish hall where the Croatian School, Tambura and Kolo prepared a New Year‘s Eve dinner dance. The music was provided by a special guest from Zagreb, Croatia, who entertained the guests with beautiful Croatian songs and music especially a number of kolos people enjoyed dancing. The celebration continued long in to the night as all welcomed in the 2008. Srna Hunter’s Dinner The Annual Dinner sponsored by the Hunters Club Srna has become a commu-nity event at Sacred Heart. This year again hall was full with guests anticipating the delicious delicacies prepared by the cooks. After the dinner all enjoyed the music provided for singing and dancing. Few days after the dinner the hunters invited the Franciscan Friars to their farm for more hunters‘ delicacies. Along the friars from Chicago there were special guests from Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Franciscan provincial Fr. Mijo Dţolan, and the definitor of that Province , Fr. Zdravko Dadić. Celebrating Catholic School Week Sacred Heart school has been provid-ing excellent Catholic education since 1916. The celebration of the Catholic School week this year began with Mass on the 27th of January. After Mass all were invited

to the school for open house where parish-ioners, parents and former graduates had the opportunity to see all the classrooms, library and computer lab. As a number of our graduates toured the school they recalled many wonderful memories. During the week the school had different activates and celebrations for students, teachers and the staff. On Wednesday January 30th was the grandparents and senior parishioners ap-preciation day. The children prepared a special program for the guests. We want to Thank Sr. Thomasine Novakovich and all those involved in pre-paring the celebration of pride of our Catholic education. We All Want To Say Thank You Life moves on for all of us. Recently a lifelong parishioner Marge Niksich moved from our neighborhood to live in Indiana near her daughters. As Marge was saying goodbye to her friends at Sacred Heart she said that her heart is at Sacred Heart and will still re-main a member of our parish. We are all grateful to Margie for her years of service to our parish community. Margie volunteered for a number of years as our Sacristan. She would faithfully every day prepare the altar for Mass, wash the church linens, clean the chalices and candelabra, sew and mend vestments,

altar cloths and server cassocks. All of this she did faithfully out love for God and her church. Now as Marge moves on to a well deserved retirement, on behalf of the entire parish community we want to say: Thank You, Marge, for your faithful service. May God Bless you!

Fr. Ante, Margi Niksich i Fr. Stephen


O bred pokapanja mrtvih od najstarijhih vremena bio je od izuzetno velike vaţnosti u

ţidovskom narodu. Ukoliko bi se do-godilo da netko zbog nekih razloga ne bi bio pokopan po doliĉnu obredu, tada bi tijelo pokojnika bilo izloţeno pticama i ţivotinjma, koje su do kostiju raski-dale i raznosile njegovo tijelo. To je bilo smatrano Boţjom kaznom, o ĉemu govori i Mojsijeva knjiga Ponovljenog zakona: ―I mrtvo tijelo tvoje postat će hranom svim pticama nebeskim i svoj zvjeradi zemaljskoj. Nikoga neće biti da ih plaši.‖ (28,26). Zbog toga razloga na obred poka-panja budno se pazilo i bio je obavljan nad svim pokojnicima, pa ĉak i nad najzloglasniim zlikovcima, kojima je zbog prevelikog uĉinjenog krimena bilo zabranjeno pokapanje u obiteljsku grobnicu. ―Ako tko uĉini grijeh koji zasluţuje smrt, te bude pogubljen vje-šanjem o stablo, njegovo mrtvo tijelo neka ne ostane na stablu preko noći, nego ga pokopaj istoga dana, jer je obješeni prokletstvo Boţje.‖ (Pon Zakon 21, 22-23).

Kako je tekao obred? Obred pokapanja sastajo se u tome da, kad smrt nastupi, oĉi pokojnika bi se zatvarale, usta povezala vrpcom i cijelo tijelo bi se okupalo i pomazalo najskupocijenijim pomastima ili mirodi-jama. U krajevima velikih vrućina po-mazanje mirodijama imalo je namjenu zaštite od brzog trunjenja, da ne bi odmah širilo neugodne mirise raspada-jućeg tijela. Zatim bi tijelo bilo umota-no u pripremljenu linenu plahtu ili od-jeću koju je pokojnik već nosio. Tako pripremljeno tijelo stavaljalo bi se u grob, koji je bio najĉešće obi-ĉna prirodana špilja u podnoţju oma-njih breţuljaka. Kad se tijelo unese u grobni prostor, vrata groba ili špilje bi se zatvarala okruglim kamenom koji bi se ukotrljavao u izdubljeni ţlijeb pred vratima. Grob bi se zapeĉatio reme-nom i ostao bi zatvoren 12 mjeseci, koliko je bilo potrebno da pokojnikovo tijelo potpuno istrune. Nakon toga grob bi se otvorio, kosti pokupile i stavile u jednu omanju ka-menu kosturnicu ossaries i pohranji-vale u zajedniĉke obiteljske kosturnice,

a grobovi po-novno bi bili na raspolaganju za pokope drugih nadolazećih po-kojnika. To se ĉinilo zato što nije bilo dovoljno prostora za no-ve grobove. I kad je Isus bio pokopan, sam Pilat je strogo naredio da se njegov grob zapeĉati i ĉuva kako bi bio pošteĊen zlouporabe i nasilja.

EvanĎeosko izvješće Prema evanĊeljima, Isusovo tijelo je bilo pokopano u ţurbi, prije subote, u grobnicu Josipa iz Arimateje, ne-daleko od mjesta razapinjanja. Nakon što je subota prošla, neke ţene, znajući gdje je Isus bio pokopan, doĊoše na to mjesto da bi dovršile obred. No, kada doĊoše na to mjesto ne naĊoše tijelo Isusovo, nego samo prazan grob, o ĉemu ĉitamo kod evanĊeliste Marka: ―Kada doĊe subota, Marija iz Magdale, Marija, majka Ja-kovljeva i Saloma kupe miomirisa da odu pomazati Isusa. I vrlo rano prvoga dana sedmice doĊu na grob s izlaskom sunca. MeĊusobom su govorile: ‗Tko će nam odmaknuti kamen s vrata groba?‘ I kad pogledaju, vide da je kamen već odmaknut. Bio je, uistinu, vrlo velik. UĊoše u grob i opaziše mladića obuĉena u bijelu dugu haljinu, gdje sjedi s desne strane. I zapre-pastiše se. On im rekne: ‗Ne budite zapanjene! Vi traţite razapetog Isusa Nazarećanina. Uskrsnuo je! Nije ovdje. Evo mjesta gdje ga poloţiše‘.― (16: 1-6). Posjet Isusovu grobu ispuni poseb-nim osjećajem svakog hodoĉasnika.


KITCHENER

SVETA OBITELJ

HOLY FAMILY

180 Schweitzer Street

Kitchener, ON N2 K 2R5 C a n a d a

Phone: 519-743-7121

Fax: 519-571-0115

Fr. Miro Grubišić, OFM ţupnik-Pastor

Naše ţupljanke na Isusovu grobu


MILWAUKEE

SRCE ISUSOVO

SACRED HEART

917 North 49th Street

Milwaukee, WI 53208 Phone: 414-774-9418

Fax: 414-774-7406 [email protected]

Fr. Paul Maslach, OFM

Ţupnik Pastor


Č etiri obitelji su palile svijeće na početku misnih salvlja u našoj crkvi

na adventskom vijencu za vrijeme Došašća. To su: Filip i Marija Braovac (prva); Robert, Carol Ann, Mara, Nina i Luka Braovac (druga); Mario, Katarina i Sara Gros (treća); Nikola, Veronika i Marija Tusić (čet-vrta).

D uring Advent four families were chosen to light the Advent candles

before Mass. There were: Filip and Marija Braovac (First Sunday); Robert, Carol Ann, Mara, Nina, and Luka Braovac (Second Sunday); Mario, Katarina, and Sara Gros (Third Sunday); Nikola, Ve-ronika and Marija Tusic (Fourth Sunday).

MAKSIMILIJAN JON

SCHECHINGER sin Jona i Jadranke Schechinger

(roĊene Berkec) kršten je u na-šoj crkvi 23. prosinca 2007. Kum

je bio Mato Veber.

MAKSIMILIJAN JON

SCHECHINGER son of Jon and Jadranka

Schechinger (born Berkec) was baptized at our church on De-

cember 23, 2007. The godfather

was Mato Veber.

Congratulations!

ZAGREB BOYS CHOIR Twenty four boys, ages 10 to 14, touring Wisconsin and singing songs in various languages, gave us the honor of hearing them during Mass in Croatian on January 13, 2008. They also gave us a short concert after Mass. This arrangement was made with the help of Matea Macan, Fr. Paul, and the leaders of the group. Although this was done in a short notice, our church was packed. Pelicaric Family sponsored the food for the dinner.

ZAGREBAČKI DJEČACI Dvadeset i ĉetiri djeĉaka u dobi od 10 do 14 godina pjevali su za vrijeme mise na hrvatskom u našoj crkvi, 13. sijeĉnja 2008. Nakon svete mise odrţali su kratki koncert. Ovaj lijepi zbor, koji pjeva na više jezika, bio je na turneji po Wisconsinu. Zahvaljujući Matei Macan, Fr. Paulu i vo-diteljima zbora imali smo ĉast da nas posjete. Unatoĉ kratkom vremenu za pri-pravu, crkva je bila prepuna. Obitelj Peli-caric je darovala hranu za ruĉak.



M argaret Hrdi and her children called together relatives and

friends to celebrate their arrival to Amer-ica and their good life here. They arrived here 50 years ago. At that time, with Margaret and her late husband John came their children: sons John and Michael, and daughters Mary (Schauer) and Katica (Puljić). Ana and Marjorie were born in America. Margaret and her children are very active members of our parish and in the Croatian community. With the help of God and their faith they all did their best, especially loving each other and sending that love to oth-ers. We wish them all continued God‘s blessing and good health.

M argaret Hrdi i njezina djeca pozvali su rodbinu i prijatelje na

proslavu pedesete obljetnice svoga dolaska u Ameriku. Prije pedeset godina Margaret i njezin pokojni muţ John došli su sa svojim sinovima Johnom i Michaelom te kćerima Marijom (Schauer) i Ka-ticom (Puljić). Još su im se rodile dvije kćeri u Americi, Ana i Marjorie. Margaret i njezina djeca vrlo su aktivni ĉlanovi u hrvatskoj ţupi i hrvatskoj zajednici. Uz Boţju pomoć i snagom vlastite vjere, uspjeli su izgraditi svoje obitelji i obogatiti druge darom svoje ljubavi. Neka ih Gospodin prati svojim blagoslovom u dobrom zdravlju.

+ IVAN GREGURIĆ

Pošao je ususret Gospodinu

19. sijeĉnja 2008. Iza njega je ostala supruga Magda, kći Ilonka (Bruno) Mattern, unuĉad

i praunuĉad. Volio je svoju ţupu i hrvatsku zajednicu

u kojima je bio vrlo aktivan ĉlan.

Poĉivao u miru Boţjem!

He went to meet the Lord on January 19, 2008.

Survived by his ever-loving wife Magda, daughter Ilonka

(Bruno) Mattern, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Ivan loved our parish and the Croatian community

of which he was an active member. May he rest in God‘s peace!

Priredila - Prepared by Ljubica Violet Jelić

Queen of heaven, rejoice, alleluia. The Son whom you merited to bear, alleluia, has risen as he said, alleluia. Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia! For the Lord has truly risen, alleluia.

Kraljice neba, raduj se, aleluja. Jer koga si dostojna bila nositi, aleluja. Uskrsnu kako je rekao, aleluja. Moli za nas Boga, aleluja.

Veseli se i raduj, djevice Marijo, aleluja. Jer uskrsnu Gospodin uistinu, aleluja

Regina caeli, letare, alleluia, quia quem meruisti portare, alleluia, resurrexit sicut dixit, alleluia; Ora pro nobis Deum, alleluia.

Gaude et laetare, Virgo Maria, alleluia, Quia surrexit Dominus vere, alleluia.



MONTREAL

SV. NIKOLA TAVELIĆ

4990 Place de la Savane

Montreal, Quebec H4P 1Z6 C a n a d a

Phone: 514-739-7497

Fax: 514-737-6803

Fr. Jozo Grubišić, OFM Ţupnik-Pastor

S. Ivana Škrinjar, OP

S. Mirka Vareškić, OP

“Kralj Zvonimir” - Norval

“Stare tambure”: Ljudevit Horvat, Vlado Varga, Vlado Tomašević i dr. Đuro Palaić

“Croatoan” iz Ottawe

N aša ţupna folklorna skupina ―Bl.

Kardinal A. Stepinac‖ odrţala je zabavu 19. sijeĉnja 2008. Pored

domaćih glazbenika nastupili su i naši gosti, kolo skupine: ―Croatoan‖

iz Ottawe i

―Kralj Zvonimir‖ iz Norvala.

U nedjelju 10. veljaĉe, sve

ĉano smo pro-

slavili dan blaţe nog A. Stepin-

ca. Nakon mi-snog slavlja bio

je ruĉak u dvo-rani uz prigodni

program naših

ţupnih glazbe-nika.



U hrvatskoj zajednici u Montrealu prva plesna skupina osnovana je 1953. pod vodstvom gosp. Josi-

pa Šunjića, a uĉitelj plesa je bio gosp. Le-gul. Skupina je imala svoj tamburaški orkestar, a uĉitelj je bio gosp. Alojz Hor-vat. To društvo prestaje djelovati 1963. godine. Pokojni fra Vilim Primorac, glazbeno nadaren, po dolasku u misiju sv. Nikola Tavelić, Montreal, 1968. godine osniva folklornu skupinu i tamburicu pod ime-nom «Kardinal Alojzije Stepinac». Naši mladi s ponosom plešu u lijepim hrvatskim nošnjama i uz milozvuĉne titra-je tamburice, prenose, šire i ĉuvaju boga-

tu hrvatsku kulturnu baštinu. Ĉlanovi odbora skupine su: Zdenka Baljak, Dragica Bljajić, fra Jozo Grubišić, Katica Komšić i Danijela Vlaho. Uĉiteljica plesa je Marian Jazvac-Martek, uĉiteljica tamburice je Diana Ća-pin. Kolo grupa će nastupiti na trideset i ĉetvrtom kanadsko-hrvatskom folklornom festivalu, koji organizira društvo ―Kraljica Jelena‖ u Kitcheneru, Ontario. Svim su-dionicima festivala ţelimo puno uspjeha u budućem radu i ĉuvanju hrvatske bašti-ne.

Prvi red: Ivana Baljak, Ana Baljak, Kristen Connan, Rafaella Arapović,

Tanja Matenda

Drugi red: Fra Jozo Grubišić, Dragica Bljajić, Sabina Janković,

Adriana Bljajić, Mara Razov, Josipa Kalinić, Kristina Komšić, Diana Ćapin, Christian Vlaho, Katica

Komšić, Zdenka Baljak

Treći red: Daniela Vlaho, Marian Jazvac-Martek, Vanessa Šimić, Suzana Barešić, Iva Piperković,

Linda Komšić, Josip Komšić

Četvrti red: Stipe Kardum, Ivan Blaţević, Marko Piperković, Miron

Vlaho, Riccardo Rota-Martin, Kristina Markota (odsutna)

Miro Arapović postavlja obnovljeni grb

na proĉelju crkve

Na proslavi Stepinĉeva dana zabavljali su na sveĉanom ruĉku



Novi posluţitelji oltara

V eć je dugogodišnja tradicija da se na nedjelju Krista Kralja primaju u sluţbu novi mini-

stranti. Ovaj put su u nedjelju 25. stu-denoga u sluţbu primljena 3 mini-stranta i 13 ministrantica. Misno slavlje je predvodio ţupni vikar fra Stipe Re-nić. Skupa s novima, u ţupi je trenutno

aktivno 26 ministranata i 13 ministran-tica. Treća godišnjica klanjanja Isusu u Presvetom Oltarskom Sakramentu Na Bezgriješno zaĉeće Blaţene Djevice Marije (8. prosinca 2007.) pro-šle su tri godine od kako je u ţupi za-poĉelo redovito klanjanje Isusu u Euharistiji. Zahvalni smo Bogu na svim milostima kojima je obasuo one koji dolaze provesti jedan sat s njime. Za-hvalni smo Blaţenoj Djevici Mariji, Majci Boţjoj, što svojim zagovorom štiti ovu poboţnost. Marija je bila prvi ta-bernakul; nosila je Isusa pod srcem da bi ga dala nama da ga susretne-mo. Zahvalni smo ĉlanicama Dru-štva sv. krunice i svima drugima koji svake srijede dolaze moliti za potrebe naše ţu-pe. Uzdamo se da ćemo i ubudu će nastaviti s ado racijom Isusu pod euharistij-skim prilikama.

Predboţićna dogaĎanja U nedjelju 9. prosinca 2007., na drugu nedje-lju došašća, na-kon puĉke svete mise, došao je sv. Nikola u Hr-vatski centar. Djeca su bila oduševljena da ih se sv. Nikola sjetio i ove godine, a roditelji zadovoljni kad su vidjeli toliku radost svoje djece. Hrvatska škola priredila je u subotu 15. prosinca 2007. tradicio-nalnu boţićnu priredbu u Hrvatskom centru. Na pozornici se izmijenilo oko 140 djece i 25 ĉlanova kolo grupe Kardinal Stepinac. Djeĉji igrokazi, recitacije, pjesme i plesovi bili su dar Hrvatske škole svima za Boţić.

NEW YORK

SV. ĆIRIL I METOD

SS. CYRIL & METHODIUS

Cardinal Stepinac Place 502 West 41st Street New York, NY 10036

Phone: 212-563-3395 Fax: 212-868-1203

[email protected]

Fr. Stipe Renić, OFM


Fr. Nikola Pašalić, OFM

Ţupnik Pastor

Pastoralne suradnice Školske sestre franjevke Krista Kralja

Phone: 212-594-1861

S. Anica Matić

S. Marina Ivanković

S. Izabela Galić

Proslava blagdana bl. Alojzija Stepinca

Sveti Nikola uvijek donosi radosti


Dvorana je bila prepuna posjeti-telja koji ţele i znaju cijeniti trud djece u ĉuvanju hrvatskih boţićnih obiĉaja. Posebne pohvale idu uĉiteljima i Od-boru Hrvatske škole. Boţić i Nova godina Boţić smo doĉekali na misi pol-noćki koju je predvodio ţupni vikar fra Stipe Renić u koncelebraciji s ţupni-kom fra Nikolom. U koncelebraciji je takoĊer bio i naš gost tijekom boţićnih blagdana fra Ljubo Krasić, svećenik franjevac iz Chicaga. Novu godinu smo ţeljeli doĉekati u obiteljskom zajedništvu ţupljana i prijatelja naše ţupe. Slavlje smo za-poĉeli sv. misom zahvalnicom, a na-stavili razgovorom, pjesmom i plesom do kasno u noć. Doĉek je bio orga-niziran u Velikoj dvorani za odrasle, djecu i mlade. Za zabavu su se po-brinuli John Škibola i grupa More. Sami trenutak prijelaza iz 2007. u 2008. godinu doĉekali smo uz veliki ekran na kojem se prenosilo spuštanje svijetleće kugle na Time Squareu.

Novi franjevac u našoj ţupi Poĉetkom mjeseca veljaĉe naše ţupno osoblje se povećalo za još jed-nog ĉlana. Naš novi franjevac je fra Velimir Bagavac. Za Ċakona je zareĊen 1. prosinca 2007. u Zagrebu. Vrijeme provedeno u New Yorku i u našoj vrlo aktivnoj ţupi sigurno će mu biti nezaboravno. Naša ţupa će se obogatiti njegovom pomoći, posebno za blagoslov obitelji, dijeljenju sv. Pri-ĉesti i u Hrvatskoj školi.

Proslava Stepinčeva 2008. Kao ţupna i hrvatska zajednica sveĉano smo proslavili Stepinĉevo – spomendan blaţenog kradinala Alojzija Stepinca u nedjelju 10. veljaĉe 2008. Ţupnik fra Nikola je predvodio sv. Misu i u homiliji istaknuo vaţnost svjedo-

ĉenja vjere u Boga i vrijednosti koje je Isus nauĉavao, bez obzira na mjesto ili vrijeme. Nakon sv. mise uslijedio je banket i zabava u Velikoj dvorani. Organizatori su bili ţupa i kolo grupa Kardinal Stepinac. Ovu lijepu sveĉanost su uzveliĉali i mnogi gosti: Dubravka Šuica, gradona-ĉelnica Dubrovnika, Niko Bulić, pred-sjednik Hrvatske turistiĉke zajednice, Petar Ljubiĉić, generalni konzul RH u New Yorku te Dragan Primorac, mini-star znanosti, obrazovanja i športa. Ministar Primorac se je obratio okupljenima na banketu prigodnim i poticajnim rijeĉima za koje je dobio veliki pljesak. U kulturnom dijelu programa iz-mjenjivali su se ĉlanovi mlaĊe i starije skupine kolo grupe Kardinal Stepinac s 4. razredom Hrvatske škole, a sve je zaĉinila klapa Subrenum iz Ţupe Du-brovaĉke koja je svojim izvedbama sve oduševila. To je bila veĉer za pamće-nje.


Fra Nikola Pašalić (ţupnik), Dragan Primorac (ministar), Miroslav Dugandţić (predsjednik Hercegovaĉkog kluba) i Petar Ljubiĉić (generalni konzul RH)

Fra Nikola Pašalić (ţupnik) i Durbravka Šuica

(gradonaĉelnica Dubrovnika


New Altar Servers

A lready for many years it is a tradi-tion on the Feast of Christ the King to receive new alter servers

into active service. On Sunday, November 25 there were 3 boys and 13 girls ac-cepted to join those who are serving the altar during liturgical celebrations. The Eucharist was celebrated by Fr. Stipe Renic, Parochial Vicar. Together with the new servers the parish now has 26 male and 13 female altar servers. Third Anniversary of Eucharistic Adoration On feast of Immaculate Conception (December 8, 2007) we remembered how three years ago we started Wednesday‘s Eucharistic Adorations. We are grateful to God for all graces that are received by those who are spending one hour in ado-ration. We are grateful to Mother of God, who was the first tabernacle because she carried Jesus under her heart, on every-one who was regularly coming to pray and adore to Jesus, especially to members of Holy Rosary Society. We put our hope in Our Lady‘s motherly intercessions that we will be able to continue with this devotion

and that all parish community will benefit from that. Pre-Christmas Happenings On Sunday, December 9, 2007, on Second Sunday of Advent, after the High Mass, St. Nicholas arrived to Croatian Center. Children were so excited that St. Nicholas remembered them this year too and parents were happy seeing how big is their children‘s joy. At the Croatian Center on Saturday, December 15, 2007, Croatian School pre-pared a traditional Christmas Show. About 140 children and 25 members of the Kardi-nal Stepinac kolo group took their turns on the stage. Children‘s skits, recitals, songs and dances were a gift to everyone for Christmas. The Center was full of visitors that know to appreciate an effort that many put in preserving the Croatian Christmas traditions. Special thanks go to teachers and the Croatian School Board. Christmas and New Year's celebration We welcomed Christmas at the mid-night mass celebrated by Parochial Vicar Fr. Stipe Renić with Fr. Nikola, Pastor, concelebrating. In concelebration we had Fr. Ljubo Krasić from Chicago, our guest during Christmas season. The New Year was welcomed to our Croatian parish by our parishioners and friends. We began the celebration with a

Holy Mass of thanksgiving and continued with singing, dancing and enjoying in con-versation. The celebration was organized for adults, children and youth in the Big Hall. John Škibola and More took care for entertainment. For the very moment of transition from year 2007 to year 2008 we were in front of the big screen where the famous New Year's Eve Ball was de-scending from the flagpole atop Times Square. New Friar in our Parish Beginning of February our Parish Staff get enlarged for a new friar, Fr. Veli-mir Bagavac. He was ordained for deacon-ate on December 1, 2007, in Zagreb. The time he will spend in New York and in our busy parish, surrounded with such warm hearted people, will definitely remain in his thoughts as very precious. Our parish will benefited from him in many ways, espe-cially for blessing of the families, distribut-ing the Holy Eucharist and being present in Croatian School. Stepinčevo 2008 Celebration As a Parish and Croatian community we celebrated Stepinčevo – Feast of blessed cardinal Alojzije Stepinac on Sun-day February 10. Our pastor Fr. Nikola was the celebrant at the High Mass. His homily stressed importance of witnessing for faith in God and values rooted in the teaching of Christ, regardless of place and time. Banquet and celebration in Big Hall was organized by Parish and Kardinal Stepinac Kolo Group. We were honored by many guests: Dubravka Šuica, mayor of Dubrovnik, Niko Bulić, director of Croatian National Tourist Board, Petar Ljubičić, consul general of Republic of Croatia and Dragan Primorac, Minister of Science, Education and Sports. Minister Primorac addressed all gath-ered on banquet with inspiring words that were enthusiastically received. In cultural part of program we had older and younger group of Kardinal Stepinac Kolo Group that took turns with 4th grad-ers from Croatian School. Klapa Subre-num from Ţupa Dubrovačka put cherry to the top with their masterful interpretation of several Croatian traditional songs. Indeed, that was night to remember.


Slika za sjećane, jer sv. Nikola dolazi samo jednom u godini A picture with St. Nicholas is important, for he comes only once a year



NORVAL

HFS KRALJICA MIRA

CFC QUEEN OF PEACE

9118 Winston Churchill Blvd. Norval, ON L0P 1K0

C a n a d a

Phone: 905-456-3203 Fax: 905-450-8771

[email protected] www.queenofpeacenorval.com

Fr. Stjepan Pandţić, OFM Ţupnik-Pastor

Fr. Vinko Bebek, OFM


Pastoralne suradnice Školske sestre franjevke Krista Kralja

Phone: 905-457-8755

S. Daniela Ĉilić

S. Marcela Primorac

S. Ljudevita Boras

Z avršne priprave za blagoslov

crkve privode se kraju. Blagoslov je planiran za 6. tra-

vnja. Ovih dana ţupnu zajednicu

na norvalu posjetio je sarajevski

pomoćni biskup Pero Sudar. Zaţelio je da se izgradnja crkve

uspješno dovrši i da bude na sreću i blagoslov svih koji će u

nju dolaziti. Biskup Sudar je 10. veljaĉe pred-

vodio misno slavlje u hrvatskoj

ţupi 'Hrvatskih muĉenika' u Mi-ssissaugai, prigodom proslave

blagdana bl. A. Stepinca. Nakon misnoga slavlja sastao

se sa svećenicima i ĉasnim se-

strama iz okolnih hrvatskih ţupa. Zanimao se za rad i ţivot pasto-

ralnih djelatnika s hrvatskim pu-kom u hrvatskim ţupama juţ-

noga Ontaria.


It was time again to choose the theme for Advent, the theme that

would appear in our weekly bulletin. Fr. Veselko couldn‘t have chosen more pow-erful words than those written above. When we realize all the special gifts we receive from God every day to ―Make a Living‖, then we should ask ourselves do we ―Make a Life by What We Give‖? We are very pleased that through the kindness of our parishioners, we were able

to send monetary gifts to ten different charitable organizations from Fr. Dominic‘s Charity Fund. Advent has a twofold nature. It pre-pares us for Christ‘s second coming at the end of the ages. It also prepares us for Christmas when we recall Christ‘s first coming. The Christmas season is the most beautiful part of the year in our parish. Father went all out to decorate our church with lots of love and hard work. Jesus was born for each one of us, so that we could be reborn to create a better world. Fr. Veselko tried to explain to us how we could do that in his Christmas homily. Here are some parts of that homily: ―I have to admit that this year I feel a little bit like the college student who was ill-prepared for his exam. Seeing the test in front of him, he drew a blank. Since it was right before Christmas, he wrote on his paper: ‗Only God knows the answers to these questions. Merry Christmas!‘ When the college professor grated the test, he added this note: ‗God gets a hundred. You get a zero. Happy New Year!‘ I hope my homily does not get a low grade, but whatever happens, give God a hundred percent. That is what he gives to you and to me. Christmas is the proof. Today the angels are bringing us the good news of great joy for all the people, ‗for to us is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.‘ This good news of great joy is for all the people of God. As His people we have a claim to the joy and the peace that the birth of Christ brings to the world. But how do I personally enter into this ―great joy of Christmas?‖ Christmas rings out ―joy to the world,‖ yes, but how do I make this joy my own? This is an important question, for even though God has declared joy to the world, there are still many among us who do not experience this joy, many among us who do not know how to claim this joy and make it their own personally. But you need to do something to claim this right before it can become your own personally, before it can actually quench your thirst. Such is the good news of great joy that God show-ers on the world at Christmas. We still need to do something, make a little effort, before we can personally experience this

joy in our lives, in our families, and in our world. How do we do that? Well, that is rather easy to explain but pretty hard to practice, so I‘ll explain. Look at the word JOY. You see that is made up of three letters: first J, then O, and lastly Y. J stands for Jesus, O for Others, and Y for You. Joy therefore is: JESUS, OTHERS, BEFORE YOU. To know joy in our lives we need to place Jesus first in everything. Secondly we need to try to please others before trying to please yourself. That is the recipe for joy. That is how we can con-vert the Christmas ―joy to the world‖ into personal ―joy in my life‖ now and always. As we listen to the Christmas story we would do well to pay attention to the various people and groups of people that are mentioned and see whether they try to please Jesus and others before them-selves, or whether they seek their own interests first. You will discover that those who practice J-O-Y are the ones who en-joy peace and joy, and those who practice ―self-first‖ are always the unhappy and miserable ones. Here are a few examples. On the negative side we have the innkeeper who turned Joseph and Mary out in the cold night while he enjoyed the warmth of the inn. There‘s also Herod who wanted, above all, his job security as king to the point that he was prepared to kill Jesus and others. These people never get to experience the joy of the good news. On the positive side, consider the shepherds who leave everything they own, their flock in the bush, and go to adore Jesus first. Or the magi, the wise men from the East who leave the security of their homeland and make a long and dangerous journey to Bethlehem, just to worship the new-born Jesus and give him gifts. These are the ones who receive God‘s favor, the ones who experience in their hearts the true peace and joy of Christmas.‖ Blessed Alojzije Stepinac Feast Day Our Lady of the Highways Parish cele-


SAUL STE. MARIE

OUR LADY

OF THE HIGHWAYS

NAŠA GOSPA ZAŠTITNICA PUTNIKA

ST. JOSEPH ISLAND

ST. BONIFACE CHURCH

466 Second Line East

Sault Ste. Marie.ON P6B 4K1 C a n a d a

Tel: 705-253-8191

Fax: 705-253-8804

Fr. Veselko Kvesić, OFM

Ţupnik—Pastor


brated the feast day of Blessed Alojzije Ste-pinac on Sunday, Febru-ary l0, 2008 at the Croa-tian Mass. This was also the first Sunday of Lent. Fr. Veselko brought our attention to the beautiful words that he read in the Gospel: ―One does not live by the bread alone, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth of God.‖ He also stressed the continued relevance of the life and example of the courageous Archbishop of Zagreb, who suffered much for his flock, and who always kept in his mind Jesus‘ words how we do not live by bread alone. When Father continued with the rest of his homily there was hardly a dry eye in the church. He said: ―Alojzije Stepinac was born on May 8, l898, in Krašić, Croatia. In World War I, he was an Army officer. In l930 he was ordained a priest in Rome, and in l931 he received the degrees of Philosophy and Theology at the University Gregoriana in Rome and then returned to Croatia. Shortly after, in l934 he became Archbishop in Zagreb capital of Croatia, at the time, the youngest Archbishop in the world. The characteristic note of Alojzije Stepinac is his unshakable courage and zeal in defending the religious and civil rights of all. He is well known as a great apostle of charity for all suffering and per-secuted peoples, regardless of race, creed or political opinions. In l943 he wrote: ‗We always stressed in public life the principles of God‘s eternal law regardless we spoke about Croats, Serbs, Jews, Gypsies, Catholics, Muslims, Orthodox or whoever else.‘ By l945 Communists had taken over Croatia, and Archbishop Stepinac contin-ued to defend human rights. When he condemned the execution of priests by communist militants, he was arrested. When he was later released, they tried to persuade him to have the Church break with Rome, without success. The situation became more tense when the nation‘s

bishops issued a pas-toral letter demanding freedom for the Catho-lic Press, Catholic schools, religious in-struction and the Catholic association. This resulted in more attacks on the Church and the eventual arrest again of Archbishop Stepinac. He was put on trial in l946 and sentenced to l6 years hard labor, his crime being the defense of

the unity of the Catholic Church and its unity with the See of Peter. Many people around the world protested, including Pope Pius XII. In l951 the Archbishop was moved from prison and put under house arrest in Krasic, because of his ill health. Stepinac was a living martyr of Jesus Christ. In recognition of his outstanding merits for the Catholic Church, Pope Pius XII ele-vated him to the honor of Cardinal on January l2, l953, which resulted in break-ing of diplomatic relations between the Yugoslav regime and the Holy See. In l959 when asked to testify at the trial of the spiritual director of the diocesan seminary, the Archbishop cited reasons why he could not attend and concluded that „I know what my duty is with the grace of God, I will carry it out to the end without hatred to anyone, and without fear from anyone.‟ Cardinal Stepinac did not live to the end of his sentence. He died on February l0, l960. His grave in the Cathedral in Zagreb has become the source of spiritual strength for the denied and enslaved Croa-tian Nation. The entire civilized world rec-ognizes his sacrifice and martyrdom as a courageous and heroic battle for truth, justice and human rights. One of the church‘s most outstanding figures in the 20th century, Cardinal Alo-jzije Stepinac was beatified on October 3, l998 by the Holy Father Pope John Paul II during his second pastoral visit to Croatia. At the beatification, at which half a million attended, the Pope recalled the many martyrs of those lands from the time of the Roman empire and said they were all ex-

traordinary witnesses united to Christ‘s suffering. He added that Cardinal Stepinac did not shed his blood in the strict sense of the word. His death was caused by the long-suffering he endured. And the Pope included him among the long list of mar-tyrs. He said „he courageously endangered his own life in order to bear witness to the Gospel and the unity of the Church.‘ The Pope said that the newly Blessed sums up, so to speak, the whole tragedy, which befell the Croatian people and Europe in the course of that century, marked by three great evils of Fascism, National So-cialism and Communism. In his human and spiritual journey Blessed Alojzije Stepinac gave his people a sort of com-pass to serve as an orientation: faith in God, respect for man, love towards all even to the offering of forgiveness and the unity with Church guided by the successor Peter. He knew well that no bargens can be made with truth, because the truth is not negotiable. We are thankful to God for the strong faith of Croatian people, despite the many trials through the centuries.

Josipa Ravlich


Edmund and Ruby Nelson with Fr. Veselko

60th Anniversary

Confirmation



D evetog prosinca proslavili smo blagdan sv. Lucije i sv. Nikole u našoj ţupi sv. Lucije. Imali

smo sveĉani ruĉak, na kojem su se okupili mnogobrojni ţupljani sa svojom djecom. Vrijedne domaćice su se odazvale fra Jozinu pozivu i donijele kolaĉa. Na-še vrijedne i neumorne kuharice su na-pravile prekrasan ruĉak. Svojim prisu-stvom poĉastila nas je naša dobroĉini-teljica, gospoĊa Lucija Prepolec sa svojom obitelji. Fra Jozo je blagoslovio sve nazoĉne i hranu prije jela. Zamolio je dragog Boga da nas blagoslovi u prelijepom zajedništvu. Naše domaćice su zlatnih ruku, objed je bio prekrasan, a da ne priĉam o kolaĉima. Poslije objeda naša ţupna zaje-dnica priredila je malo iznenaĊenje za djeĉicu. Pojavio se Sveti Nikola s puuuuno poklona. Gospodin Boţo Ĉun-

ko je i ove godine imao ĉast biti u toj ulozi i toliko je bio uvjerljiv da su se i stariji htjeli slikati s njim. Došao nam je u goste fra Ljubo Lebo koji je s fra Jozom poslije objeda pošao ispovijedati ţupljane u Grand Rapidsu. Vaţnost sakramenta pomirenja Tijekom dana došašća fra Jozo je govorio i upozoravao o znaĉenju i vri-jednosti sakramenta svete ispovijedi ili pomirenja. Kratko pred Boţić imali smo veliku ispovjed u našoj ţupi. Fra Jozi je u ispomoć došao mladi svećenik iz su-sjedne ţupe. Time što je bio na usluzi svima onima koji iz bilo kojeg razloga nisu mogli doći na veliku ispovjed, fra Jozo je svojim primjerom pokazao koliko je vaţna sveta ispovjed, osobito mladima koji su na školama. Boţićna radost Na 24. prosinca je bila ponoćka. Djeca su ministrirala i obukla se u tra-dicionalne narodne nošnje. Crkva je bi-la puna naroda. Djeca u procesiji su donijela maloga Isusa, pšenicu, kruh, i svijeće. Fra Jozo je rekao svima da bi dostojno doĉekali i proslavili Boţić mo-ramo se pomiriti sa samima sobom i sa svojim bliţnjima. Tamburaški orkestar, pod vod-stvom Kena Kosoveca, je uveliĉao sve-tu misu prekrasnim sviranjem uz naš crkveni zbor pod vodstvom moje

mame, Alme. Poslije mise hrvatski nogometni klub Croatia pozvao je sve nazoĉne u ţupnu dvoranu na malu za-kusku. To je u njihovoj tradiciji u zad-njih desetak godina, koliko ja pamtim. Neka ih dragi Bog blagoslovi i njihove uspjehe na zelenom terenu. Na boţićno jutro nastavili smo ra-dosno slavljenje od prošle noći. Vjernici su se okupili u lijepom broju s osmje-sima na licima i vjerom u srcu da će nam mali Isus ove godine donijeti mir i ljubav. Boţićno raspoloţenje od prošle noći nastavilo se kroz nadolazeće dane. U tom smo duhu doĉekali i Novu Godinu u našoj ţupnoj dvorani. Bilo je prelijepo. Roditelji sa svojom djecom su pjevali i plesali do duboko u noć. Ova godina je poĉela vrlo lijepo. Na-dam se da će nam potrajati tako. S nadom u novu godinu Godina 2007. je iza nas, bila je dobra, a nadam se da će 2008. biti i bolja jer naši ţupljani su pokazali što se sve moţe uraditi kad smo sloţni. ―Svima, koji su na bilo koji naĉin pomagali tijekom prošle godine od svega srca hvala i neka vam dragi Bog stostruko uzvrati‖, bile su rijeĉi našeg ţupnika, fra Joze na misi na dan Nove godine.

Gabrijela Konjevod

TROY

SV. LUCIJA

ST. LUCY

200 East Wattles Road

Troy, MI 48085

Tel: 248-619-9910

Fax: 248-619-9912

[email protected]

Fr. Jozo Ĉuić, OFM

Ţupnik - Pastor

Polnoćka 2007.


On December 9th St. Lucy parish celebrated the holy day of

Saint Nicholas and Saint Lucy. We had a festive lunch, which many parishioners attended along with their children. Our expert homemakers took up Fr. Jozo‘s invitation and brought cookies. Our outstanding and tireless cooks made an excellent lunch. Our benefactress, Mrs. Lucy Prepolec and her family honored us with their presence. Fr. Jozo said the blessing over the food and blessed all of us present before the meal. He called on God to bless us in our very enjoyable gath-ering. Our cooks with their golden touch made a wonderful lunch, and don‘t even get me started on the sweets. After the meal our parish had a little surprise for the children. Saint Nicholas showed up with loootttttts of presents. Mr. Bozo Cunko was Saint Nick again this year. He was so believable that even the grown-ups wanted to get their picture taken with him. Fr. Ljubo Lebo came as our guest. After the lunch he went with Father Jozo to help with confessions of our parishioners in Grand Rapids. Importance of the Sacrament of Reconciliation During the days of this Advent Fr. Jozo spoke and admonished us about the meaning and value of the holy sacrament of Reconciliation. On December 22 we had a big group for confessions in our parish. A young priest from a neighboring parish came to help out Fr. Jozo. By having him present to help, Fr. Jozo was by example able to show all those who for whatever reason were not able to come to the big day for confessions, how important holy confession is. Especially for the young people who are in school. Joy of Christmas At the December 24th midnight mass the children served and were dressed in

traditional national costumes. The whole church was full. In the procession children carried the baby Jesus, wheat, bread, and candles. Father Jozo told everyone, that in order to worthily prepare for and celebrate Christmas we have to be at peace with ourselves and with our neighbors. The DTO (Detroit Tamburitzan Orches-tra) led by Ken Kosovec enhanced our Holy Mass with their beautiful playing along with our parish choir, under the di-rection of my mother, Alma. After the mass the Soccer Club ―Croatia‖ invited all present to the parish Hall for a midnight snack. This is their tra-dition and has been for the past ten years as far as I can remember. May dear God bless them and their successes on the field. Christmas morning the same atmos-phere continued as the night before. A good number of parishioners gathered in the church with smiles on their faces and belief in their hearts that baby Jesus would

bring us peace and love in the coming year. The Christmas spirit of the night be-fore continued through the following days. In that spirit we also welcomed the New Year in our church hall. It was wonderful, parents with their children sang and danced late into the night. This year began very beautifully. I hope it will stay that way for us. With hope in the new year The year of 2007 is behind us. It was good but I hope 2008 will be even better because the parishioners of Saint Lucy have shown me all that can be done when we are together. ―Thanks from bottom of my heart to all who have in any way helped us during this past year and may dear God reward you a hundredfold‖, said our pastor Fr. Jozo Ĉuić at mass on New Year‘s day.

Gabrijela Konjevod


Procesija s malim Isusom

Procession with the baby Jesus


A dvent, the season of joyous an-ticipation, was observed at St. Augustine‘s with solemnity and

joviality. The Advent Wreath candles were lit during the entrance rite of all Sunday Masses and also burned for weekday Masses. The Liturgy of the Hours with Morning and Evening Prayer was cele-brated on some week-days. The Masses of Christmas lifted hearts and minds to the presence among us of the eternal Word made flesh. A new stable of wood, bark and moss, constructed here in the parish, gave a rustic ambiance to our Nativity display. Many com-mented on the artistry of the scene. Well-known

English and Croatian Christmas hymns proclaimed the ever old and yet always new Christmas message. The choir‘s rendition of ―Joy to the World‖ inter-spersed with sections of the ―Hallelujah Chorus‖ from Handel‘s ―Messiah‖ was the recessional hymn for Midnight Mass and 9:00 a.m. Mass; this has become a tradi-tional highlight of the season. A small group of tamburitzans enriched the Mid-night Mass, and many from the Milwaukee CFU Tamburitzans provided the instru-mental accompaniment at the 11:00 a.m. Mass and afterwards delighted the ears of many in the rectory. On the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, the last day of the Christmas Sea-son, the penitential rite included a sprin-kling with water. Some water from the Jordan river, brought back from our May

pilgrimage to the Holy Land, was mixed with our local water. Indeed, all water is seen as consecrated by God since the water of the earth was touched by our Lord and Christ. This added touch brought to mind that we have been baptized into Christ who came forth from the water of the Jordan as God‘s beloved Son; through him, we are the beloved of God. Social activities included many gath-erings. Our multicultural group presented ―Christmas in Croatia‖ on Sat., December 15th; the children echoed the birth of our Lord through our beloved Croatian hymns; adults provided a traditional pork dinner. Our Franciscan friars and sisters gathered for socializing and a festive meal in the rectory on Wednesday, December 12th. The Parish Council and committees

had the annual open-house on Sunday, De-cember 16th. The Secu-lar Franciscans gath-ered for an evening of prayer, games, refresh-ments and socializing on Sunday, December 30th. The choir had its an-nual party on the Feast of the Epiphany, Janu-ary 6th. Other smaller gatherings also graced the festive season.

WEST ALLIS

SV. AUGUSTIN

ST. AUGUSTINE

6762 West Rogers Street

West Allis, WI 53219

Tel: 414-541-5207 Fax: 414-541-0273

[email protected]

Fr. Lawrence Frankovich, OFM Ţupnik—Pastor


Nativity Scene - Jaslice

Christmas Day after Mass Nakon boţićne mise


A dvent ili Došašće, vrijeme beskrajne nade i ĉeţnje za

dolazak Spasitelja, je sve-ĉano slavljeno u našoj ţupi Sv. Au-

gustina. Uz posebne molitve na poĉetku nedjeljnih misa, plamen

na svijećama adventskog vijenca

nas je podsjećao na blizinu lsu-sovog dolaska. Svakog tjedna na

neke dane okupljali smo se na mo-ljenje Jutarnje i Veĉernje molitve

Crkve.

Obredi Boţića i ukrašena crkva ispunjali su nam srca i um pravim

znaĉenjem toga dana, na dolazak i nazoĉnost samoga Boga meĊu

nama. Središnji ovogodišnji ukras bila je naša nova štalica. Nekoliko

spretnih osoba sagradilo je štalicu

priprostog izgleda od drvene kore i mahovine. Štalica je sve vrlo odu-

ševila i podsjetila na priprosto mje-sto gdje se Spasitelj svijeta rodio.

Crkvom su odzvanjale boţićne

pjesme na hrvatskom i engleskom jeziku. Na završetku polnoćke i mi-

se u devet sati na Boţić zbor je pjevao ―Joy to the World—Radost

svijetu‖. Crkva se zaorila kad je

zbor pjevao dijelove ―Aleluje‖ iz Haendelova ―Mesije‖.

Mala grupa tamburaša se pri-kljuĉila pjevaĉkom zboru na pol-

noćki i pridonjela sveĉanosti sa zvucima milih hrvatskih melodija.

To je zaista pravi uţitak kad

pjevaju i sviraju ĉlanovi ―Milwa-ukee CFU Tamburizans‖ na boţić-

noj misi u jedanaest sati. Nekoliko ih je još nastavilo svirati u ţupnom

uredu poslije mise.

Na blagdan Isusovog Krštenja, ţupnik je blagoslovio poĉetkom

mise sve nazoĉne svetom vodom. Voda je bila pomiješana s vodom iz

rijeke Jordana koju smo ponijeli

prošlog svibnja s hodoĉašća u Sv. Zemlju. Mješanje s vodom iz Jor-

dana nas je podsjećalo da smo svi kršteni u Kristu koji je izišao iz Jor-

dana kao premili Sin Boţji. Po nje-mu smo svi postali Boţja draga

svojina.

Razne društvene aktivnosti bile su razlog i ostalih naših okupljanja.

Multikultularna grupa naše ţupe predstavila je kako se slavi ―Boţić

u Hrvata‖ u sobotu, 15. prosinca.

Grupa je prikazala boţićne obiĉaje i pravo znaĉenje Boţića rijeĉima i

pjevanjem hrvatskih boţićnih pje-sama. Oko 130 osoba je uţivalo

hrvatska jela, a pogotovo peĉenice

s raţnja. Franjevci i ĉasne sestre iz Chi-

caga i okolice bili su na sveĉanom ruĉku u ţupnom stanu, 12. pro-

sinca. U nedjelju, 16. prosinca, svi ĉlanovi ţupnog vijeća imali su svoj

godišnji domjenak. Ĉlanovi Treće-

ga reda sv. Franje, naši ţupljani, došli su na molitvu, igre i okrijepu

u nedjelju, 30. prosinca. Pjevaĉko društvo je imalo svoju godišnju

zabavu na Bogojavljenje.

Ovi spomenuti susreti, kao i ostali manjeg znaĉaja, dali su svoj

doprinos sveĉanosti i radosti pro-teklih svetih vremena.


Friars and Sisters Gathering Susret fratara i ĉasnih sestara

―Christmas in Croatia‖


Boţić i sv. Nikola

B oţićne blagdane i dolazak sv. Nikole proslavili smo prigodnim programom kojeg su izveli

uĉenici ''Hrvatske škole'' i kolo grupe i tamburice ''Bl. Kardinal A. Stepinac.‖ Bilo je milina slušati i gledati djecu kako lijepo pjevaju na hrvatskom je-ziku i veselo poskakuju izvodeći naša lijepa hrvatska kola. Veselo, toplo, i

spontano - kako to samo djeca znaju. Bio je to najljepši dan svima nazo-ĉnima, a posebice roditeljima koji su ih nagradili toplim pljeskom. Najviše pljeska – kao i uvijek dobili su oni naj-mlaĊi i najslaĊi. Polnoćka je bila sveĉana – kako samo Badnja veĉer moţe biti. Svake godine, pa i ove, u središte pozornosti dolaze jaslice s likom Malog Isusa. U 6 sati imali smo malu Polnoćku. Fra Ljubo je nosio Maloga Isusa u procesiji, a pratili su ga naši ministranti i par braĉnih parova sa zapaljenim svijećama. Toĉno u ponoć procesija je krenula s Malim Isusom u pratnji naših prošlogodišnjih prvopriĉesnika. Taj trenutak bio je za sve nazoĉne tre-nutak sreće. U zraku se osjetila sveĉanost oĉe-kivanja Onoga koji dolazi, a svi nazoĉni pjevali su pjesme vjekova: ''Slava Bogu na visini, a na zemlji mir ljudima dobre volje.‖ U Novu 2008. godinu zakoraĉili smo s puno nade, planova i molitvom za puno zdravlja, mira i uspjeha.

Branka Gavrić Blagoslov grla

O blagdanu sv. Vlaha ili sv. Blaţa obavili smo u našoj ţupnoj crkvi ob-

red blagoslova grla ili grliĉanje. Na završetku sv. Mise fra ljubo je blagoslovio dvije svijeće s kojima je kasnije pristupao k vjernicima i molio blagoslovnu molitvu: ―Po zagovoru sv. Vlaha, biskupa i muĉenika, oslobodio te Bog od bolesti grla i svakog drugog zla. Amen‖. Ovaj blagoslov grla se temelji na prastaroj legendi po kojoj je sv. Vlaho svojim blagoslovom spasio djeĉaka kome je u grlu

zapela riblja kost. On-dašnje vlasti osudile su ga da je vraĉ i pogubili odrubivši mu glavu. Sv. Vlaho posebno se slavi u Dubrovniku. Gra-Ċani Dubrovnika progla-sili su ga svojim zašti-tnikom godine 972. Sve-ĉeva glava se i dan da-nas ĉuva u Dubrovniku kao dragocjena relikvija. U vrijeme ―Fešte sv.

Vlaha'', toĉnije 3. veljaĉe, u dugoj pro-cesiji unutar zidina gradske jezgre bi-skup nosi sveĉevu glavu koju vjernici sa strahopoštovanjem ljube. Uz sve-ĉevu glavu i ostali prisutni biskupi i svećenici nose i druge relikvije hrvat-skih svetaca i svetica. Ove godine je proslavljena 1036. fešta sv.Vlaha. Uz ovaj sveĉev dan slavi se i dan ţivota. ''Ţivot je blago-slov i radost za svakog pojedinca.‖ Za-to ĉuvajmo naše ţivote i ţivote drugih ljudi.

s. Slavica Bašić Dan blaţenog Alojzija Stepinca

K olo grupa i Tamburica Bl. Kar-dinal Alojzije Stepinac Wind-sor je na pola puta do kraja

ovogodišnjih proba i proslava. Uz naše vrijedne uĉitelje sve grupe od naj-mlaĊih do najstarijih su napravile veliki napredak i uspjeh u pjesmi i plesu. Ove godine Tamburica kolo grupe je promijenila puno ĉlanova jer su stariji ĉlanovi morali napustiti vjeţbanje zbog odlaska na školovanje izvan Windsora, ali zato naši mladi ĉlanovi brzo uĉe i ţele da budu spremni za nastupe što prije kako bi još više uljepšali go-

WINDSOR

SV. FRANJO ASIŠKI

ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI

1701 Turner Road Windsor, ON N8J 3J9

C a n a d a

Tel: 519-252-6871 Fax: 519-252-6942

[email protected] www.stfranciscroatian.com

Fr. Ljubo Branimir Lebo, OFM

Pastor—ţupnik

S. Matija Filipović

S. Klara Benović

S. Slavica Bašić


Blagoslov grla za sve uzraste


stovanje naših grupa na festivalu u New Yorku (sastanak 4 grupe s istim imenom) ili bilo gdje da sudjeluju. Grupe su nastupile na proslavi Niko-linja i djeca su bila sva sretna kada im je sv. Nikola podijelio darove. Nakon boţićnih blagdana Kolo Grupa i Tamburica imali su prigodu uljepšati sveĉanost proslave blagdana bl. Kar-dinala Alojzija Stepinca i tako su odr-ţali svoj godišnji koncert 9. veljaĉe . Sve su grupe tako lijepo oduševile na-šu publiku i svaki roditelj je bio po-nosan na ovako lijep uspjeh od naj-mlaĊih do najstarijih. Lijepo je bilo vidjeti bake, djedove, i svu rodbinu koji su došli dati potporu i pomoć našoj Kolo Grupi i Tamburici. Veselje se nastavilo do kasnih sati, tako da su naši stariji ĉlanovi uţivali uz muziku i ples. Djeca su nakon svog velikog na-stupa i veĉere bila sretna da idu spa-vati, jer ipak je to bio dug i naporan dan za naše malene. Sada nas oĉekuju probe kako bi nastup na festivalu u Kitcheneru bio uspješan, kao i svake godine. Grupa od 16 godina i stariji planiraju svoj odlazak u New York, gdje će se po tradiciji od posljednjih nekoliko go-dina sastati 4 grupe s istim imenom (Montreal, Windsor, Chicago, New York). Ove godine je to u New Yorku,

i tako svake godine u jed-nom od ova ĉetiri grada. Ţelimo da na-ša Kolo Gru-pa i Tambu-rica oţivi sve ljepote naše drage Hrvat-ske, a to oni u s p j e v a j u kroz pjesmu i ples i vode nas u budućnost gdje ni-kada ne prestaje ljubav prema svojoj Domovini i korijenima.

Nada Ţivković “Kršćanska ţena” i njezin rad

O vo društvo u našoj ţupi djelu-je već preko 30 godina. Ĉlani-ce su bile ukljuĉene u dobi

od dvadeset do devedset godina. Kršćanska ţena uspješna je u svom svakom radu i uvjek je spremna poma-gati gdje god to treba. Ukljuĉena je u pomoć pastoralnom osoblju u njihovim proslavama za obljetnice i pri njihovom odlasku na drugo radno mjesto. Rado pomaţe i novozareĊenim svećenicima. Za vrijeme rata Kršćanska ţena je na poseban naĉin pomogla jednom djetetu koje je ostalo bez oba roditelja.

Ove godine pomaţe za put našim dje-vojkama koje zastupaju našu ţupu na susretu mladih s Papom u Australiji. Više puta kroz godinu Kršćanska ţena organizira i prodaje peĉenje kolaĉa i krofna i tako pomaţe svoju crkvenu zajednicu. Nadam se i ţelim da i dalje sloţno i kršćanski radimo. Ovim putem pozivamo sve one koji se ţele prikljuĉiti da nam se jave i svojim prisustvom i radom obogatite druge. Neka nas ĉuva i podrţi dragi Bog u svakom našem idućem radu.

Marija Cindrić


C hristmas Season 2007 went fast, at our par-ish, St. Francis of

Assisi Croatian Church in Win-dsor. We had a Christmas party together with all of our church organizations that was spon-sored by Knights of Columbus, Cardinal A. Stepinac Council 11774. By celebrating and working together, we can achieve our goals. Our church was beautifully decorated outside and inside and Croatian Christmas songs were playing. It was a place I wanted to come to Mass and pray. We thank our Franciscan

Sisters, S. Clara, S. Matija, and S. Slavica, for their leadership and guidance which makes everyone more confident in assisting with different roles in the church. With leadership of Father Ljubo, listening to his teach-ings, preaching, as well as his assistance in the meetings and in church organizations, espe-cially with the Knights of Co-lumbus, makes us understand each other better. We have plans for year 2008, so we want to finish the landscaping in the courtyard and place monument for un-born children. These are the projects of the Knights of Co-lumbus and with the help of our

parishioners, we will suc-ceed. The monu-ment will be a reminder to the young people that life must be r e s p e c t e d , and that the-re are always better ways to choose than abortion. In that way, they can save a life and save themselves from making a poor decision. We‘re trying to bring back Carrousel of the Nations. After not having a Carrousel for the past few years, parishioners

are asking to have a Village during the Month of June, so we can join the other 16 Na-tions that have their villages open. It will bring us closer to the community of Windsor so we can show our culture and Croatian cooking. (G.K.J.M.)


4851 S. Drexel Blvd.

Chicago, IL 60615-1703

Tel: 773-373-4670

Fax: 773-373-4746

[email protected]

www.croatian-institute.org

Fra Ljubo

Krasić, OFM

Voditelj

Director

HRVATSKI INSTITUT - CROATIAN INSTITUTE

U Hrvatskom In-

stitutu koji vode u Chicagu Hrvatski

franjevci novo je pu-no toga, ali i malo.

Puno toga je novo

jer su svi odjeli goto-vo dnevno puniji, bo-

gatiji, sreĊeniji - i Ar-hiv i Knjiţnica i Muzej

i Periodika i posebne zbirke o ţupama, do-

brotvornim, glazbe-

nim, folklornim, sport-skim i drugim društvi-

ma, kao i podaci o znamenitim Hrvatima

Amerike i Kanade.

Ali je i malo toga, jer je već malen pro-

stor za sve što HEI ima. Mala su i sred-

stva za rad. Malo je i

struĉne i radne pomo-ći da bi se mogla ispu

niti sve veća traţenja i oĉekivanja posjeti-

telja i istraţivaĉa, i da bi se moglo odgovoriti

na stotine pitanja i

poruka putem elek-tronske pošte.

Ali Hrvatski Institut je tu, za vas je tu!

DoĊite, i dovedite

svoje roditelje, djecu, prijatelje, kolegice i

kolege iz škole. Bit će vam zahvalni.

Evo i nekoliko spon

tanih zapisa i poruka iz kojih zraĉi što tra-

ţe, nalaze, otkrivaju, ili što vide i kaţu o

HEI posjetitelji s ra-znih strana svijeta.

Fra Ljubo Krasić, OFM

Hrvatska kolo grupa Croatia iz ţupe Sv. Ante, Los Angeles „What a wonderful library and a great source of Croatian Heritage in the USA!― - uskliknula je i zapisala di-rektorica Heidi Wohlfahrt-Granić kad je ušla u Institut i uvela divnu skupinu od 26 kolo plesaĉa iz Los Angelesa 9. veljaĉe 2008. Došli su za Ste-piĉevo kao gosti Hrvatske škole Kardinal Stepinac u ţupi Sv. Jerke. Zaljubljeno su gledali originale hrvatskih knjiga iz 16. i 17. stoljeća, oĉima gutali golemu fotografiju s ti-sućama Hrvata u San Franciscu na Svjetskoj izloţbi 20. rujna 1915., za-ĉuĊeno prelistavali stotine hrvatskih novina i listova koji su izlazili u Ameriki od 1892. do danas... Nije im se dalo otići iz HEI.

Ivana Lušić i Nataša Bobinec Ivana ravnateljica Ansambla Lado, a Nataša voditeljica inozemnih turneja Ansambla Lado - 21. sijeĉnja 2008.

―Iznimno vrijedna hrvatska kulturna i vjerska institucija na podruĉju Sjeverne Ame-rike, koja vrlo detaljno pri-kazuje dio povijesti hrvatskog

iseljeništva. Drago nam je da smo imale priliku upoznati HEI i dajemo punu podršku za daljnji rad i oĉuvanje.―


HRVATSKI INSTITUT - CROATIAN INSTITUTE

Dr. Stanko Miletić, stomatolog, Sesvetski Kraljevac, Hrvatska Dr. Jasna Grmšek, stomatolog, Duga Resa, Hrvatska

Po ţelji i uz blagoslov roditelja Ilije i Ruţe Miletić, troje njihove djece - Ivan, Marija i Stanko - otišli su iz Chicaga u Hrvatsku i tamo zavazda ostali i završili škole. Ivan i Stanko stomatologiju, a Marija klasiĉne jezike. Prvi put nakon 15 godina Stako je došao u posjet roditeljima u Chicago, zajedno sa svojom zaruĉnicom Jasnom, koja je takoĊer stomatolog kao i njezina majka.Tim povodom su nam bili dragi gosti-posjetitelji u Hrvatskom Institutu i, prije povratka u

Hrvatsku, ubiljeţili svoje dojmove: „Jako nam je drago što smo posjetili Hrvatski etniĉki institut za vrijeme posjeta Chicagu. Iz-nenadili smo se obiljem hrvatske kulturne baštine koja je danas još uvijek jako dobro oĉuvana zahvaljujući velikim naporima fra Ljube Krasića. Veselimo se uskoro novom susretu.― „Ako Bog da u Hrvatskoj!―- obe-ćao im je fra Ljubo.

Stanko, Jasna, Ilija, Ruža i fra Ljubo

U organizaciji Hrvatske matice iseljenika (HMI),

GK RH u Chicagu, hrvatskih dopunskih škola, Hrvatskog etniĉkog instituta (HEI) i hr-vatskih ţupa već petu godinu zaredom odrţava se projekt ―Hrvatski dani za djecu, mla-deţ, uĉitelje i roditelje‖. Voditelji projekta su pro-fesorice Lada Kanajet Šimić, rukovoditeljica Odjela za školstvo, znanost i šport HMI, Lidija Cvikić, znanstvena no-vakinja na Filozofskom fa-kultetu u Zagrebu, Odjel za kro atistiku, Livija Kroflin, lutkarski pedagog i glumac i dramski pedagog Zvonko Novosel. I ove godine od 22. do 27. veljaĉe program je okupio oko 100 djece i 20 uĉitelja u djeĉjoj radionici, te uĉitelje u dodatnoj radionici u tri dopunske škole,

koji su kroz jeziĉne, dramske, lutkarske i radionice hrvatske kulturne i prirodne baštine obo gatili svoj standardni program. U organizaciju projekta uklju ĉene su tri hrvatske dopunske škole; ―Kardinal Stepinac‖ (75 djece i 10 uĉitelja u osam ra-zreda osnovne škole i pred-školska djeca), ―Presveto Srce Isusovo‖ (13 djece i 2 uĉitelja u osam razreda osnovne ško-le) i ―Hrvatski kulturni cen-tar‖ (44 djece i 6 uĉitelja u pet razreda osnovne škole), uz do datne uĉitelje pjevanja, plesa i tamburica. Kao i dosadašnjih godina in-tencija projekta je poboljšanje kvalitete nastave hrvatskog je-zika i uĉenje novih metoda, ta-ko da je program osmišljen kroz razliĉite radionice: jeziĉnu (Lidija Cvikić), dramsku (Zvon-

ko Novosel), lutkarsku (Livija Kroflin), hrvatska kulturna i pri-rodna baština (Lada Kanajet Šimić). Sve radionice pratili su djelatnici GK RH u Chicagu. Rezultati petogodišnjeg ra-da s djecom su vidljivi, ali ot-varaju i nova iskustva i spo-znaje. U vremenu sve veće glo balizacije i asimilacije potreb-no je da i nadleţna tijela u RH struĉno pomognu školama u uĉenju hrvatskog jezika kako bi se oĉuvao hrvatski identitet i

kultura, posebno kada se ima na umu da se škole hrvatskog jezika u SAD-u odvijaju isklju-ĉivo zahvaljujući naporu rodi-telja i hrvatskih katoliĉkih ţu-pa. Projekt pod nazivom ―Hrvat-ski dani za djecu, mladeţ, uĉi-telje i roditelje‖ odrţava se i u dvije hrvatske dopunske škole u New Yorku od 28. veljaĉe do 1. oţujka, a po prvi put i u Bo-stonu (2. oţujka).

M. Matković

Hrvatski kulturni centar

Ţupa Sv. Jeronima - “Kardinal Stepinac”

Ţupa Srca Isusova


Predavači, učitelji i organizatori

Lj ubo (fra Makso) Jurčić ro-

dio se 9. listopada 1913.

godine u preteţno brdovitom i

vinorodnom selu Ruţići (blizu

Imotskoga), čiji su se marljivi i

prodorni stanovnici teško pro-

bijali kroz ţivot. Usprkos siroma-

štvu i neimaštini, natalitet sta-

novništva u dvadesetom sto-

ljeću bio je u tom kraju iznimno

visok. Ali u vrtlogu ratova, gladi

i raseljavanja opao je broj sta-

novnika i s time u vezi i duho-

vnih zvanja. Njegovo rodno

mjesto sigurno nije dalo ple-

menitijeg i svetijeg mještanina

od njega.

Patnik jobovske strpljivosti

U takvom ozračju rastao je i

Ljubo Jurčić sve do odlaska u

sjemenište na Široki Brijeg 1926.

godine. Kod ulaska u novicijat

(29. lipnja 1932.) na Humcu kod

Ljubuškog uzeo je redovničko

ime Maksimilijan. Svi su ga od

milja zvali Makso i takav je

ostao do smrti.

U njemu se cijeloga redo-

vničkog ţivota lomio patnik jo-

bovske strpljivosti i svetačke du-

hovnosti. Pokretna snaga nje-

govih akcija zrcalila se u nje-

govoj ljubavi prema Bogu i čo-

vjeku i time ispisivala njegovu

osobnu povijest.

Bio je čovjek osjetljive sa-

vjesti i od đačkih dana pravi

bogalj. Trpio je od poremeće-

nja pršljenova na kraljeţnici i

stoga je stalno nosio steznik oko

tijela sve do nasilne smrti 28.

siječnja 1945. godine u Vrgor-

cu. Ţivio je uronjen u svoju bol

koja ga je izjedala. Bio je

osjetljiv na svako počinjeno zlo,

jer teško je biti nemoćan pred

nasrtajem zloće zavedenih i

zločestih ljudi.

Fra Makso je nakon završene

srednje škole i poloţene mature

napustio Široki Brijeg i spustio se

1935. godine u dolinu Neretve,

u Mostar, gdje je u samostan-

skoj oazi mira našao sama se-

be. Po naravi šutljiv i povučen,

lako se uklopio u novu sredinu

koja je disala duhom franje-

vačke duhovnosti i Tankreove

ascetike.

Naš posljednji susret

Nakon tri godine filozofskih i

bogoslovnih nauka zaređen je

za svećenika 12. lipnja 1938.

godine u Mostaru. Iste godine

je napustio Mostar i otišao na

daljnje školovanje u grad

Perugiu, u srednjoj Italiji, kada

su se već sudbonosni oblaci

sukoba gomilali na obzorju ne-

mirne Europe. Tada smo se kao

sukolege, fratri i prijatelji, po-

sljednji put vidjeli i oprostili s

vizijom ponovnog susreta kao

Pavlovo „novo stvorenje“ (Gal

6,16) u kući Vječnog Oca, oba-

sjani Duhom i istinom.

Aktivan u “Rudinom domu”

Nakon povratka iz Italije ime-

novan je ţupnim pomoćnikom

u Gorici kod Imotskog. Tu je za-

orao prve brazde svoga pasto-

ralnog djelovanja, oduševljeno

prihvaćen od tamošnjih ţu-

pljana i posebno od omladine

koja je u njemu doţivljavala sve

ćenika Boţjega duha.

Ali već u srpnju 1943. godine

bio je premješten na Humac

kod Ljubuškog sa zaduţenjem

da vodi Društvo svetog Ante i

pjevački zbor mjesne ţupe. Sav

njihov rad odvijao se u Hrvat-

skom domu pri ulazu u samo-

stanske prostorije. Taj dom sa-

gradio je fra Rudo Mikulić tri-

desetih godina dvadesetog

stoljeća milodarima kršćanske

sirotinje. Fra Rudo je umro u če-

trdeset petoj godini ţivota, 15.

lipnja 1942. godine od zloću-

dne bolesti, raka u grlu.

Taj dom su komunisti „naci-

onalizirali“ 1945. godine. U tom

„Rudinom domu“ fra Makso je

razvio zavidnu aktivnost na p-

onos mjesnih katolika i na zazor

bezboţnika, odnosno partiza-

na.

I jednog dana 1944. godine

fra Makso je na ukusno izrađe-

nim kartonima napisao Deset

Božjih zapovijedi i nalijepio ih

po zidovima Hrvatskog doma,

što su partizani shvatili kao „pa-

role“ uperene protiv njih, kako

napisa fra Janko Bubalo u

IN MEMORIAM

(Uspomene na hrabrog branitelja ispovjedne tajne)


IN MEMORIAM

B oţidar Theodore Ivanuš, dok-tor prava i politiĉkih znanosti, D.J., M.A., M.L.S, umirovoljeni

profesor na Sveuĉilištu Notre Dame (1963.—1990.), South Bend, Indijana, SAD, roĊen je 15. oţujka 1916. godine u Velikoj Gorici, u Hrvatskoj, preminuo je blago u Gospodinu u South Bandu, u Indijani, SAD, u sjeni zlatne kupole najvećeg katoliĉkog sveuĉilišta gdje je zlatousnim uĉenjem istine hranio duše nekoliko naraštaja ameriĉke intelektu-alne elite. Spomen misa bila je u bazilici sve-uĉilišta 21. prosinca 2007. godine, u onom istom svetištu u kojem se nalazi najveće remek djelo hrvatskog kipara

Ivana Meštrovića, Pieta, koje će, za-jedno s tim velikanom hrvatskog duha, Meštrovićem i Ivanušom, slaviti i pro-

micati hrvatsko ime za buduća poko-ljenja. Dr. Ivanuš je završio summa cum laude klasiĉnu gimnaziju u Zagrebu 1934. godine. PohaĊao je pravni fa-kultet i postigao je na Hrvatskom Sve-uĉilištu 1941. summa cum laude doktorat iz prava i politiĉkih znanosti. PohaĊao je takoĊer studij glazbe na Drţavnoj glazbenoj akademiji u Za-grebu i postigao stupanj magistra 1937. Svoju glazbenu karijeru u pred-ratnim godinama ostvario je kao pro-fesionalni pianist, jednako kao soloist i

kao dio glazbenog sastava, posebno poznatom predratnom jazz sastavu u Zagrebu.

Kao student prava u godinama 1938.—1940. bio je predsjednik kluba slušatelja prava i politiĉkih znanosti. U toj je ulozi u burnim godinama radio na promicanju hrvatske istine. Zbog toga je u prosincu 1940. godine zatvoren i izdrţava kaznu zatvora u Lepoglavi do travnja 1941. godine. Dolazak u SAD Za vrijeme ratnih godina boravi u Austriji, a u poratnim godinama do 1952. godine u Njemaĉkoj, odakle do-lazi u SAD. Ţiveći i radeći u Clevelandu

svojim memoarima Apokali-

ptični dani (131. str.). Nakon to-

ga, fra Maksu su zatvorili u zlo-

glasni zatvor u Ljubuškom, ali

on, kao nevin svećenik, nije po-

kleknuo pred tim zatornicima

slobode.

“Poginuo je

branitelj ispovijedne tajne”

Fra Maksov školski kolega i

najintimniji prijatelj, fra Janko

Bubalo, javlja u svojim već spo-

menutim memoarima (str. 127.)

da su u nedjelju 28. siječnja

1945. godine hrvatske vojne po

strojbe od Širokog Brijega kao

vihor prodrle sve do Neretve i

potpuno razbile partizanske od

rede u juţnoj i zapadnoj Her-

cegovini. Partizani su se bez

otpora povukli u dalmatinska

brda i tamo se spremali za po-

novni napad. Ali prije povla-

čenja ovi su partizanski osve-

tnici sa sobom poveli zatvore-

nike iz Ljubuškoga – njih oko

četrdeset – prijeteći im smr-

tnom odmazdom. Među njima

bio je i zatočeni fra Makso

Jurčić.

Partizanski zločinci sve su ih

strijeljali na dolasku u Vrgorac,

rodno mjesto poznatog pjesni-

ka Tina Ujevića. Tu je, na vrgo-

račkim uzvisinama, fra Maksov

zvonki glas zauvijek ušutkan i

uzavrela krv pravednika i pat-

nika prolila se po kamenom

pločniku.

Hercegovinom se tada pro-

nio glas: poginuo je branitelj

ispovjedne tajne! Saznalo se

da je fra Makso prije smrti mu-

čen i ispitivan o njegovim ispo-

vijedima. Ali on je za cijelog

„procesa“ samo šutio kao zid i

nije pokleknuo pod pritiscima

krvnika i laţnih „ispovjednika“

marksizma. Ostao je u ţivoj

uspomeni kod starijih hrvatskih

vjernika kao mučenik i hrabri

branitelj ispovjedne tajne.

Pred ovim svetačkim likom

svećenika, franjevca i muče-

nika ostajemo zapanjeni tim vi-

še što je fra Makso kroz cijeli

svoj redovnički ţivot bio dubo-

ko uronjen u tajne kršćanstva i

njegovih vječnih vrednota. Hra-

nio se otajstvima vjere u naj-

kataklizmatičnijim vremenima

naše povijesti. Kršćanske tajne

bile su utkane u sve pore nje-

gova bića do potresnog zavr-

šetka pod noţem partizanskih

krvnika. S njegovim smaknu-

ćem nestao je sa zemlje sveti

svećenik koji je obasjan vlasti-

tom krvlju otputovao na nepre-

sušne izvore vječnog ţivota.

Prošao je svijetom čineći

dobro, kao i njegov Učitelj.

Dr. fra Častimir Majić

Chicago, 24. listopada 2007.

15. oţujka 1916. - 18. prosinca 2007.

March 15, 1916 - December 18, 2007

By Melkior Mašina, M.A.


IN MEMORIAM

kao manualni radnik, Dr. Ivanuš na-stavlja sa studijima te postiţe dva stupnja magistra - 1956. iz politiĉkih znanosti te 1963. iz knjiţniĉarstva. U Clevelandu je vrlo aktivan u hrvatskoj zajednici. Tu je vodio od 1959. do 1963. hrvatski radio program. Jedan je od osnivaĉa Ameriĉko-hrvatskog akademskog kluba. Za vrijeme hrvatskog proljeća ovaj je klub sponzorirao predavanja inte-lektualaca iz domovine (Dr. Dalibor Brozović, profesor Ivan Ĉizmić, dr. Fra-njo TuĊman). Vrlo cijenjen profesor Godine 1966. Dr. Ivanuš postaje profesorom politiĉkih znanosti na katoliĉkom sveuĉilištu Notre Dame u South Bendu u Indijani. Osim profe-sorske sluţbe, godinama je pri istom sveuĉilištu bio knjiţniĉarski ravnatelj u Odjelu za drţavne i meĊunarodne stu-dije, u Institutu za meĊunarodne stu-dije i u Memorijalnoj biblioteci. U svojstvu profesora odgojio je nekoliko naraštaja ameriĉke intelektu-alne elite, a kao ravnatelj u gore nave-denim bibliotekama podigao je njihovu razinu do visoke razine, posebno na podruĉju instoĉno-europskih studija kao i u kritiĉnom znanstvenom obraĊi-vanju marksistiĉko-komunistiĉkih su-stava, gdje je Dr. Ivanuš imao aukto-ritativnu ulogu. Aktivan u hrvatskoj zajednici Godine 1970. sklopio je brak s Amerikankom hrvatskog podrijetla, Anom roĊenom Kliĉek, ĉiji su roditelji došli iz Hrvatske Moslavine. Ana je umrla 1998. godine. U Sjeverozapadnoj Indijani Ana i dr. Ivanuš bili su aktivni u hrvatskoj zajednici. U gradu Gary, gdje je ţivjelo veliko mnošto Hrvata, profesor Ivanuš je nekoliko godina vodio hrvatsko-ameriĉko pjevaĉko društvo ―Prerado-vić‖, na kojem je poloţaju naslijedio

poznatog hrvatskog glazbenika Rudolfa Matza. Dr. Ivanuš je bio ĉlan udruge ―American Association for the Advance-ment of Slavic Studies - Croatian Section (AAASS), Hrvatske akademije Amerike, lobistiĉke udruge Croatian American Association, te brojnih ame-riĉkih znanstvenih i kulturnih ustanova. U zadnjim je godinama dr. Ivanuš darovao veliki dio svoje knjiţnice i pismohrane ovim ustanovama: Notre Dame sveuĉilište, Hrvatski etniĉki insti-tut u Chicagu, te Institutu za suvreme-nu povijest u Zagrebu. Nikada pasivni promatrač nego aktivni pokretač Ţivot dr. Ivanuša u mnogoĉemu sliĉi promjenjivoj sudbini hrvatskog na-roda u zadnjih osam desetljeća. Me-Ċutim, on nije bio pasivni promatraĉ dogaĊaja nego njihov aktivni pokretaĉ te je tako svojim radom i utjecajem pridonio stvaranju hrvatske drţave. Kao mladi studentski voĊa borio se za pravedno rješenje krize tridesetih godina. Ĉetrdesetih godina prošloga

stoljeća u diplomatskoj je sluţbi kao mladi pravnik i doktor politiĉkih zna-nosti, te u Austriji svjedok najveće tra-gedije hrvatskog naroda kada je sto-tine tisuća Hrvata poubijano na poljima u Bleiburgu i po masovnim grobni-cama. U tim teškim godinama patnje, pedesetih godina, u Americi nastavlja svojim studijima izgraĊivati sebe inte-lektualno u novim okolnostima kako bi se izvukao iz sudbine ―displaced person‖ i postao profesor na katedri je-dnog od najvećih svjetskih sveuĉilišta, ali još više, kako bi naoruţan novim znanjem i ugledom mogao promicati interese svoje domovine i pravo hrvat-skog naroda na svoju drţavnu suvere-nost. Kao profesor an sveuĉilištu, osim gore navedenih zasluga, treba takoĊer spomenuti njegov udio u stvaranju školarinske fundacije hrvatsko-ameri-ĉkog filantropa Ivana Crnića za ško-lovanje Hrvata ameriĉkog podrijetla na ovom sveuĉilištu. TakoĊer je pomagao kako bi se golemo umjetniĉko djelo koje je na ovom sveuĉilištu ostavio svjetski po-znati hrvatski kipar Ivan Meštrović do-stojno saĉuvalo i promoviralo. Ivan Meštrović je i sam bio pro-fesor na Notre Dame sveuĉilištu te je tu ostavio svoj arhiv i preko stotinu ki-pova od kojih su najpozantiji Pieta u sveuĉilišnoj bazilici i Isusov susret sa Samarijankom na kampusu na istoĉnoj strani pred ulazom u Meštrovićevu ga-leriju (sada muzej). Za vrijeme domovinskog rata pro-fesor Ivanuš je pomagao svaku do-brotvornu i humanitarnu akciju te je svojim savjetom i ugledom utjecao na ameriĉke politiĉke krugove kao i na kljuĉne osobe u dogaĊanjima stvaranja moderne hrvatske drţave. Neka mu Gospodin udijeli svoj mir!

T heodore Boţidar Ivanuš, Doctor of Laws and Political Science, M.A., M.L.S., Faculty Emeritus of

the University of Notre Dame (1963-1990), was born on March 15, 1916 in Velika

Gorica, Croatia. He passed away in South Bend, Indiana, December 18, 2007. A Mass of Christian Burial was cele-brated Friday, December 21, 2007, in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at Notre

Dame, Indiana. The Final Commendation at the end of the Mass concluded with Alma Mater, the hymn of Notre Dame University, and with Lijepa naša Domovino, the Croatian


IN MEMORIAM

National Anthem. Burial was in Croatia. Dr. Ivanus graduated summa cum laude in 1934 from the First Classical Gymnasium in Zagreb, the oldest Croatian public educational institution, founded in 1607. His grandfather Adolf Ivanuš, M.D. (1871) and his brother (1938), and five other close relatives were also graduates from that prominent institution of learning. In 1941 he received, summa cum laude, a degree in Law and Political Sci-ence from the School of Law and Political Science at the University of Zagreb. A gifted musician and accomplished piano player, he also studied piano for many years at the State Academy of Music in Zagreb. There he received the M.A. de-gree in Music in 1937. During his student years T. B. Ivanuš was very active as a professional pianist playing in a large jazz orchestra and as a soloist in many places and on many occa-sions. On his father‘s side, Dr. Ivanuš comes from a long line of professionals such as attorneys, physicians, judges, and univer-sity professors. On his mother‘s side his ancestors were Franjkovići, a class of peasant-soldiers known from the time of military borders from Oštarije, near Ogulin, Croatia. Franjkovići originate from the famous Croatian noble family of ―Fran-kopani‖. In the sixteenth century during the Turkish invasion of Lika they moved from their ancestral homes in Oštarije to the Croatian Litoral. But during the years of the liberation of Lika and the establishment of the Military Frontier several generations later the Franjkovići again moved back to the Ogulin area, where they served as soldiers and frontier customs administra-tors. Dr. Ivanuš was brought up in the cul-tural and patriotic milieu of his family, where he received not only an excellent education and a noble spirit, but he was also imbued with the highest sentiments of Croatian national pride and a determina-tion to pursue the struggle for freedom. His grandfather, Dr. Adolf Ivanuš, was a physician and the chief medical adminis-trator of the Poţega County. His great aunt (Adolf‘s sister) Sofija was married to pro-fessor Dr. Stjepan Spevec who was the first professor of Roman Law at the reno-

vated Croatian University. He also served as president of the Supreme Court in Croa-tia, known as the Table of Seven (pred-sjednik Stola Sedmorice). Their three sons Alexander, Vladimir, and Ivo distinguished themselves as well. Dr. Alexander Spevec was president of the Appellate Court in Zagreb, while Dr. Vladimir Spevec was the governor of the Croatian Bank. Dr. Ivo Spevec was a well-known attorney in Za-greb, one of the signatories of the ―Zagreb Punctations‖ in 1932 in which the leading Croatian intellectuals, among them Dr. Vladko Maček, sought the abolition of the so-called Vidovdan Constitution and a return to the status that prevailed before this event. T.B. Ivanuš‘s great-aunt Marija was married to Dr. Franjo Spevec, who was a professor of Civil Law at the University of Zagreb. His uncle was Dr. Ferdo Ivanuš, also an attorney in Zagreb. Along with Dr. Stjepan Buć he was the leading proponent of the theory that the Croats are genetically Goths. His uncle on the maternal side was Vladimir Franjković. He was the com-mander of the fortification regiment in the Bay of Kotor. During the war years 1941 – 1945 he was a colonel in the Croatian Armed Forces. It is then no accident that during the academic years 1938-1940 young Boţidar Ivanuš was elected Secretary and the President of the Students‘ Club of the School of Law and Political Science and as one of the student leaders at the University of Zagreb. His responsibility was not only to advance and protect the interests of the student body but he was also one of the student leaders at the University in the struggle for a free and sovereign Croatian state against the then Yugoslav Serbian hegemony. In the winter of 1940 he was arrested by the enemies of his nation and confined in the concentration camp of Le-poglava, where he underwent harsh treat-ment in solitary confinement. Arrival to the USA During the period of WWII, he lived in Austria and Germany and migrated to the USA in 1952 and settled in Cleveland, Ohio. Working for living in various facto-ries, he at the same time studied at the Case Western Reserve University in

Cleveland. At that university he attained two advanced degrees: an M.A. (1956) in political science and a master‘s degree in library science (M.L.S. - 1963). In Cleveland, the center of one of the largest Croatian communities in the USA, he inaugurated and successfully con-ducted a Croatian Radio Program from 1959-1963. In the spirit of preserving and cultivating Croatian patriotic sentiments he presented to his audience programs of Croatian musical and cultural heritage, and both local and international news with a particular emphasis on the situation in the homeland of Croatia. That radio program continued with its broadcasting into the seventies and eighties under the capable leadership of the prominent Croatian pa-triot and activist, Mr. Janko Skrbin. Dr. Ivanuš was also one of the foun-ders of the American Croatian Academic Club in Cleveland. This Academic Club organized annual seminars and symposia on Croatian cultural heritage and the prob-lems of Croats in the diaspora. Many out-standing Croatian scholars from around the world participated in these events. During a brief period in the late sixties and early seventies (the time of the Croatian Spring) some prominent scholars from Croatia were also able to attend (Dalibor Brozović, Ivan Čizmić, Ivan Supek, Franjo Tudjman). These cultural and political endeavors of T. B. Ivanuš and others in Cleveland filled the enormous cultural vacuum that was created among the Croatian diaspora in America due to the war era. At the same time the positive benefits of their sacrifices that resulted in the realization of the dream of a free Croatia can be traced through the ongoing process of the education of subse-quent generations back to the Cleveland Croatian colony in the fifties. Well regarded professor In 1963 T. B. Ivanuš joined the Fac-ulty of one of the most prominent educa-tional institutions in the world, the Univer-sity of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana. For twenty-seven years he served the University of Notre Dame as a professor in the Department of Government and Inter-national Studies, the Institute for Interna-tional Studies and as the library adminis-


IN MEMORIAM

trator for the Memorial Library. He taught courses on the Government and Politics of East Central Europe, the former Soviet Union and International Communism. Ivanuš was instrumental in developing the International Resources Center, which houses among other things rich library resources on Eastern and Central Europe and the former Soviet Union. Numerous books, documents, and periodicals from these regions are now in the possession of the University of Notre Dame. Dr. Ivanuš contributed in this manner to the growth of International Studies at Notre Dame Uni-versity, which today is among the most notable in the USA and in the world. Active in the Croatian Community On May 2, 1970 Theodore Ivanuš married his beloved wife Anne, an Ameri-can of Croatian descent. They traveled extensively in Europe, the USA, Canada, and Croatia, the land of their ancestors. Anne passed away February 19, 1998. For several years in the late sixties Dr. Ivanuš dedicated his musical talents as director and conductor of the Croatian American Glee Club ―Preradović‖ in Gary, Indiana. He was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies (AAASS), the Croatian Academy of America, The American Croatian Aca-demic Club in Cleveland, OH, the Croatian Fraternal Union of America, the Croatian American Association, and the Association of Croatian Studies in the USA and Can-ada. In recent years, Dr. Ivanuš donated his rich personal library and archives to the following institutions: The Institute for Con-temporary History in Zagreb, the Memorial Library at the University of Notre Dame, the Croatian Catholic Union of USA and Canada in Hobart, Indiana, and the Croa-tian Ethnic Institute in Chicago. He do-nated to Notre Dame University a selection of 350 mostly Croatian musical recordings. Never a passive observer of events The life of Dr. Ivanus in many ways resembles the changing fortunes of his Croatian nation in the last decades. How-ever, he was not a passive observer of the events. He belongs to the generation that

caused the events to become our common history both in diaspora and in the home-land of Croatia. As a student and a young man in the thirties he contributed in the struggle for the establishment of an Independent Croa-tian state, for which he suffered incarcera-tion. In the forties he offered his services in diplomatic and cultural endeavors while working in the field of diplomacy in Vienna, Austria. Following WWII he was forced to emigrate to foreign lands, first in Europe, then in the USA, where together with hun-dred of thousands Croatian exiles he ex-perienced the harsh conditions of life. Nonetheless, he has not surrendered to the vicissitudes of times, but pulled himself up from the destiny of a refugee without a country to the highest chair of a university professor. In the fifties and sixties, al-though he had a Ph.D. in Jurisprudence, he was forced to work at manual labor jobs in factories and at the same time he com-pleted several advanced academic de-grees to better himself and the Croatian cause and finally to become a professor at Notre Dame. In this new environment he pursued Croatian national aspirations by educating several generations of American intellec-tual and business elite many of who had acquired knowledge of and a love for Croa-tia, and were in the forefront as champions for Croatian freedom and sovereignty. His enormous knowledge of international poli-tics, his life experiences and his keen sci-entific criticism of Marxist communist ideol-ogy in many ways contributed to historic changes that occurred in the late eighties of the past century. At the same time he continued the highest level of active engagement within Croatian communities and organizations throughout the USA and Canada. Not only did Dr. Ivanuš regularly frequent the an-nual meetings and activities of the Croatian American Academy and other Croatian institutions, but also their publications and activities were supported financially by his unselfish generosity. He also unselfishly assisted a number of Croatian intellectuals who studied or taught at the University of Notre Dame, while at the same time he took ―under his wing‖ some of the brightest Catholic students, whether Croatian Ameri-

cans or other nationalities. To his generations of over thirty thou-sand Croatian patriots and intellectuals driven from Croatia into exile, immediately following WWII, he has been the soul and the nexus of their continuous camaraderie. He is among the last to leave us. It is un-fortunate that Dr. Ivanus never wrote any-thing about his diplomatic experience dur-ing the WWII as cultural attaché at the Vienna Croatian Embassy, or in the post WWII period when he was a witness of an organized hunt against all Croatians. So, to those of his generation who are still among us and to all of us, we will end with the words that he has repeated to me personally so many times quoting the Latin poet Horace: ―Incipe. Si non incipis, eris ut agricola quis stabat apud pontem et ex-pectabat dum demfluat amnis; ac ille labi-tur et labitu in omnibus volubillis ad aevum‖ (―Begin, if you don‘t begin, you will be like a peasant who stood by the bridge and waited until the river waters run through, but the river was running and running in all volumes for ever and ever‖). May he rest in God‘s peace!


Kršćanstvo je najprije osoban odnos s Bogom, a tek onda doktrina O. Livio Fanzaga je svećenik, redovnik pijarist, član kongregacije koju je u 17. stoljeću osnovao sveti Giuseppe Calasanzio (1557.-1648.). Ovaj se red po-svetio apostolatu odgoja djece i mladih, prvenstveno siromašnih. Ispričajte nam kako ste čuli za Međugorje? Za MeĎugorje sam čuo u svojoj ţupi u Milanu. Kad sam čuo tu riječ, osjetio sam kao neki unutarnji poziv. To je bilo u oţujku 1985. Taj sam poziv primio zajedno s dvojicom mladića iz moje ţupe, i on je za mene značio ţivotnu pro-mjenu jer sam počeo pratiti Gospine poruke. Od 1985. na-dalje svake sam godine na odmor dolazio u MeĎugorje. Do-lazio sam i po 3-4 puta godišnje. To je bilo ključno iskustvo mojeg ţivota. Kako ste pokrenuli Radio Mariju? Upoznao sam jednu ţupnu radiopostaju koja se zvala Radio Marija. Putem tog radija fra Slavko je već bio prenosio poruke četvrtkom, pa sam se i ja uključio u rad tog ţupnog radija. Bio je to radio molitve i zabave poput svih drugih ţu-pnih radiopostaja u to vrijeme. Godine 1987., jedna skupina ljudi povezana s MeĎugorjem osnovala je udrugu „Radio Marija“. Tako je započela ta velika pustolovina... Kako ste započeli s Radio Marijom u drugim zemljama? U roku od tri godine pokrili smo cijelu Italiju, a zatim počeli pokretati Radio Mariju u raznim zemljama svijeta. Stiţu nam brojni zahtjevi od strane svećenika koji studiraju u Rimu i slušaju Radio Mariju. Kad se vrate u svoje biskupije, oni o tome pričaju svojim biskupima. Tako nam stiţu zahtjevi sa svih strana svijeta. Svoje smo slušatelje zamolili da nam pomognu odgovoriti na sve te zahtjeve. Nijednu Radio Ma-riju nismo osnovali samoinicijativno... Jeste li u svim zemljama povezani s Međugorjem? Tako funkcionira samo Radio Marija u Italiji. To je ravnateljev izbor. Što se tiče drugih Radio Marija u svijetu, to

MEĐUGORJE

Christianity before being a doctrine is a personal relationship with God

Father Livio Fanzaga is a priest and a religious, member of the Congregation of the Scolopian Fathers, a Religious Order founded in the 17th century by S. Giuseppe Calasanzio (1557-1648) and customarily dedicated to the apostolate and education of poor children and young people. Please tell us how did you hear about Medjugorje I have felt to speak about Medjugorje in my parish of Milan. When I have felt this word, I have had like one called inner. Therefore, in March of 1985 for before the time, with to two boys of my parish, I have received this call that has been for me a change of life. Because from then they are put to me to I listen of the messages of the Madonna. From the 1985 always the years for my vacations to Medjugorje have come all. I came also 3-4 times the year. This has been the fundamental experience of my life. How have you begun with Radio Maria? I knew a parish radio called Radio Maria, where father Slavko used to give the Thursday messages, and I started to be involved. It was a radio of prayer and entertainment, like all parish radios at that time. In 1987, a group connected with Medjugorje founded the association ―Radio Maria‖. This was the beginning of this great adventure... How have you begun with Radio Maria in other countries? We have covered Italy in three years, and then we started realizing Radio Maria in several countries of the world. We receive many demands from priests who are studying in Rome and listening to Radio Maria. When they return in their dioceses, they speak about it to their bishops. This is how we receive demands from every part of the world. We have asked to our listeners to help us to face these demands. We have never founded one Radio Maria of our initiative...

From Međugorje

Official Home Page: www.medjugorje.hr

Preuzeto sa sluţbene stranice Međugorja: www.medjugorje.hr

Razgovor vodila Interviewed by:

Lidia Paris

Skratio - Shortened by Fr. M. P.


MEĐUGORJE

ovisi o ravnatelju u o mjesnom crkvenom autoritetu... Što ste naučili od Gospe? Od Gospe sam sve naučio, napose sam otkrio dubinu, veličinu i ljepotu kršćanske vjere. Poruka koja me se najviše dojmila u MeĎugorju jest da je kršćanstvo najprije osoban odnos s Bogom u ljubavi, a tek onda doktrina. Moje veliko otkriće u MeĎugorju, otkriće koje doţivljavaju i drugi hodo-časnici, je da imamo nebesku Majku koja se zove Marija. Teoretski sam to znao i prije, ali u MeĎugorju sam to osjetio srcem. Temeljno meĎugorsko iskustvo je susret s Marijom, našom Majkom, koja je i Majka Crkve i čovječanstva. Ona brine za naš ţivot, ona nas uzima za ruku i vodi, ona nas uči ţivjeti kršćansku vjeru, pokazuje nam put spasenja. Ona brine za naš osobni ţivot, ali istovremeno za ţivot Crkve i za budućnost cijelog čovječanstva. To je bilo moje temeljno is-kustvo. Često se pitam zašto su hodočasnici po povratku iz MeĎugorja nošeni nekom tajanstvenom snagom? U Me-Ďugorju nema ništa posebno privlačnog. Ne postoji neko ve-liko svetište kao u Lurdu… Zašto se ljudi vraćaju kući sretni i ţele ponovno doći? To je tajna. Meni se čini da je to zato što ljudi ovdje otkrivaju Marijino majčinsko srce. Kad sam prvi put došao u MeĎugorje, 15. oţujka 1985., kišilo je, bilo je hladno. Prije Mise otvorila su se vrata sa-kristije u kojoj su vidioci imali ukazanje. Najprije sam vidio nasmiješeno lice Marije Pavlović, zatim drugih vidjelaca: čista lica, lica puna svjetlosti. Koncelebrirao sam Misu s fra Slavkom. Za vrijeme koncelebracije sinula mi je neka po-sebna svjetlost: ovdje je Gospa, rekoh sebi, znači da je kršćanstvo jedina istinska religija! Gospa je katolkinja! To je snaga koju sam prenosio preko programa Radio Marije. Na toj ideji sam izgradio programsku shemu Radio Marije kao navjestitelja istine u ljubavi! Gospa je ovdje da bi nam dala Isusa Krista. Stvorili smo radio koji daje Isusa Krista, koji preko Marijinog majčinskog srca daje EvanĎelje. Vidioci? Ja sam dugogodišnji Vickin prijatelj i osobno poznajem sve vidioce. U više od dvadeset godina otkada dolazim ništa nije potaknulo moje sumnje. Kod vidjelaca me se najviše dojmilo to da su potpuno normalni. Kroz sve te godine oni nikada nisu bili u zabuni ni u pitanjima vjere, ni u pitanjima morala. Budući da su poznati širom svijeta mogli bi se pona-šati kao zvijezde, no oni su puni jednostavnosti i poniznosti. Što se tiče famozne kritike koju im je uputio čak i mo-starski biskup, da nisu postali redovnici, sada se jasno vidi da je Gospa predvidjela da kriza obitelji traţi svjedočanstvo kršćanskih obitelji... Poruke? Poruke utiru put kršćanskog savršenstva kakvog nema u cijeloj Katoličkoj Crkvi. Ja uvijek kaţem da je knjiţica s po-rukama vrjednija od Nasljeduj Krista. Marijina duhovnost je majčinska, utire put svetosti za Crkvu. To je duhovnost za sve. Poruke treba svakako čitati srcem, u svjetlu Duha Sve-toga. Imaju izvanrednu dubinu. Jedna stvar je sigurna: po-ruke daju vodstvo milijunima kršćana. Nismo svjesni u kojoj mjeri Gospine riječi postaju svakodnevni kruh u velikom di-jelu Crkve. I to je pravo, jer se radi o evanĎelju za malene. Ništa se ne moţe usporediti s tom predivnom katehezom Majke Boţje.

Are you connected with Medjugorje in all the countries? Only Radio Maria Italy makes a particular reference to Medjugorje. It is a choice of the director. For the other Radio Maria of the world, it depends on the Director and the local ecclesiastical authority. What have you learned from Our Lady? From Our lady I have learned everything, in particular the depth, the greatness and the beauty of the Christian faith. The message that stroke me most in Medjugorje is that Christianity, before being a doctrine, is a personal relationship of love with God. My great discovery in Medjugorje – which make many other pilgrims also - namely that we have a heavenly Mother called Mary. Theoretically I knew it before, but in Medjugorje I have felt it with the heart. The fundamental experience in Medjugorje is the encounter with Mary our Mother, who is also the Mother of the Church and of the humanity. She takes care of our life, she takes us by the hand and leads us, she teaches us to live Christian faith, shows us the way of salvation. She takes care of our personal life, but in the same time of the life of the Church and of the future of the entire humanity. This has been my fundamental experience. Often I ask myself why the pilgrims go to Medjugorje and then return home carried by a mysterious force? In Medjugorje, there is nothing particularly attractive. No great shrine like in Lourdes… Why do people return home content and want to return? This is a mystery. It seems to me that people discover here the motherly Heart of Mary. When I came to Medjugorje for the first time, on March 15th, 1985, it was raining, it was cold. Before Mass, the door of the sacristy where the visionaries had the apparition opened. First I saw the smiling face of Marija Pavlović, and then of other visionaries. Pure faces, faces full of light. I concelebrated Mass with Father Slavko. During the concelebration, I had something like a particular light: Our Lady is here, I said to myself, this means that Christianity is the only true religion! Our Lady is a Catholic! This was the force that I have transmitted in the programs of Radio Maria. On this idea I have constructed the program of Radio Maria, as an messenger of truth in charity! Our Lady is here in order to give to us Jesus Christ. We have created a radio that gives Jesus Christ, a radio that gives the Gospel through the maternal Heart of Mary. The visionaries? I am friend of Vicka for a long time now, and I know them all personally. In more then twenty years of frequentation nothing has ever provoked any doubts. What hit me most is that the visionaries are completely normal. In all these years, they have never been in error, neither in matters of faith nor in matters of moral life. They could behave like stars, because they are known in the world, but they are full of simplicity and humility. As far as the famous critic, made even from the bishop of Mostar, that they are not religious, it is clear now that Our Lady has seen for time that the crisis of the family needs a the testimony of Christian families... The messages? The messages trace a way of Christian perfection, without equal in


MEĐUGORJE

Što je Međugorje potaknulo u svijetu i u Katoličkoj Crkvi? Ja jasno kazujem ono što mislim. Jasno je da je sre-dište Crkve Vatikan, jer tamo je Petar. No u jednom odreĎe-nom smislu, u ovom trenutku, srce Katoličke Crkve je MeĎu-gorje. Ovdje se ostvaruje Gospin program. Ona nije izabrala samo šestoro vidjelaca. Izabrala je jednu ţupu. U poruci koju je dala ţupi 1. oţujka 1984. Gospa to i kaţe: „Ja sam ovu ţupu na poseban način izabrala i ţelim je voditi.“ 8. oţujka 1984. Gospa daje svoj program koji se savršeno ostvario: „Obraćajte se vi u ţupi. Tako će se moći obratiti oni koji budu ovamo dolazili.“ Posljednjeg dana u godini poslije Mise vidio sam da svjetlo još gori u tridesetak ispovjeda-onica pred kojima su čekali ljudi u dugim redovima. Eto, Gospa ostvaruje svoj program kroz ţupu MeĎugorje. Preko hodočasnika i svećenika koji ovamo dolaze ona obnavlja cijelu Crkvu. Ovdje se po drugi puta dogaĎa ono što se već dogodilo kad je Isus rekao svetom Franji: „Idi i popravi moju Crkvu“. Franjevački red je protagonist tog preporoda Crkve. Ne zaboravimo veliki pastoralni trud prihvaćanja svih tih hodočasnika koji dolaze sa svih strana svijeta. Veliki pa-storalni trud franjevačkog reda izloţen je pogledu svih očiju. Nije li to malo idealiziran način gledanja? Realnost nije uvijek tako idealna. Moţe li se doista reći da se ţupa Međugorje obratila? Ţupa nije savršena… I bolje da nije savršena, da se ne uzoholi! Gospa ţupi ostavlja sve njezine slabosti, sve njezine nedostatke, ali ono što je htjela u ovoj ţupi to je i postigla. Gospa je od ove ţupe htjela napraviti veliko molitveno središte. Kada doĎemo u

all the catholic Church. I always say: the booklet of the messages is superior to Imitation of Christ. The spirituality of Mary is maternal, tracing a way of holiness for the Church. A spirituality for all. The messages must be read with the heart, in the light of the Holy Spirit. They have an extraordinary depth. One thing is sure: the messages are guiding millions of Christians. We are not aware how much Our Lady’s words become a daily bread in great parts of the Church. And this is right, because it is the Gospel for the little ones. Nothing can be compared to this wonderful catechesis of the Mother of God. What has been initiated in the world and in the catholic Church thanks to Medjugorje? I say clearly what I mean. Obviously the center of the Church is the Vatican, because there is Peter. But in a certain sense, in this moment, the heart of the Catholic Church is Medjugorje. The program of Our Lady is being realized here. She has not chosen only the six visionaries. She has chosen a parish. In the message given to the parish on 1. March 1984 she says that she has chosen this parish: ―I have chosen this parish in a special way and I wish to lead it‖. On 8. March 1984, Our Lady is giving her program that has been realised perfectly: ―You in the parish, be converted. That way all those who shall come here shall be able to convert." On the last day of the year, after Mass, I have seen lights in 30 confessionals, with long rows of persons. Here, Our Lady is realizing her program through the parish of Medjugorje. Through the pilgrims and the priests who come here, she is renewing the whole Church. Here is happening for the second time what already has happened when Jesus said to saint Francis: ―Go and repair my Church‖. The Franciscan Order is the protagonist of this revival of the Church. Let us not forget the great pastoral hard work of receiving all these pilgrims who come from every part of the world. The great pastoral hard work of the Franciscan Order is exposed to the eyes of all. Isn’t this a little idealized was of seeing things? The truth is not always so ideal. Can really be said that the parish Medjugorje has been converted? The parish is not perfect… Better that it is not perfect, not to become haughty! Our Lady leaves to the parish all its weaknesses, all its defects, but what she wanted from this parish, she has obtained. Our Lady wanted to make of this parish a great center of prayer. When we come here to Medjugorje, than strikes us? Prayer! People pray everywhere: in the chapels, on the roads, on Cross Mountain, on Apparition Hill. Also in the houses. There is no doubt that Our Lady is renewing the Church. In that way? With prayer. Today, the attack of Satan regards faith. Today, which it is the greatest danger in the Church? That people lose faith. The Synod of the bishops of Europe said that silent apostasy reigns in Europe. Many think that everything ends with death. The loss of faith is the spiritual disease of Europe today. Which is the medicine that Our Lady has found to recover the loss of faith, which is the true danger of our time? Already Paul VI said: ―Today, the true issue is that of faith‖. Through prayer, Our Lady leads people to meet God, to meet Jesus Christ, in Holy Mass, in confession… In Medjugorje,


MEĐUGORJE

MeĎugorje, što nas se doima? Molitva! Moli se posvuda: u kapelama, na cesti, na Kriţevcu, na Brdu ukazanja. Moli se i u kućama. Nema sumnje da Gospa obnavlja Crkvu. Na koji način? Molitvom. U današnje vrijeme, sotonski napadi usmjerili su se protiv vjere. Koja je danas najveća opasnost u Crkvi? Da ljudi izgube vjeru. Sinoda europskih biskupa rekla je da u Europi vlada tihi otpad od vjere. Mnogi misle da smrću sve prestaje. Gubitak vjere je duhovna bolest današnje Europe. Koji je lijek Gospa iznašla da izliječi od gubitka vjere - prave opasnosti našeg vremena? Već Pavao VI. je to rekao: „Pravo pitanje današnjice je pitanje vjere“. Putem molitve, Gospa ljude vodi do susreta s Bogom, s Isusom Kristom, u svetoj Misi, u ispovijedi… U MeĎugorju svi vjeruju. Temeljni problem danas je najprije vjera, a tek onda moral. Dakle, Gospa obnavlja Crkvu preko molitve, jer molitva jača vjeru. Hodočasnici se iz MeĎugorja vraćaju kući sa ţivljom vjerom. Neki, kao na primjer novinari, redovito kritiziraju zbog trgovina i novih automobila. Sve me to ne sablaţnjava. Ne protivim se pravednom materijalnom blago-stanju pod uvjetom da je Bog na prvom mjestu. Ne idealiziram ţupu MeĎugorje, znam da ima svoje granice. Kaţem samo da je to ţupa koja ţivi vjeru kao malo koja druga. Posjetio sam mnoga europska svetišta, ali nigdje nisam našao molitveni zanos kao ovdje u MeĎugorju. Postoje nedostatci, ali oni me ne sablaţnjavaju. Ljudska krh-kost ne moţe Gospu spriječiti u ostvarivanju njezinih plano-va. MeĎugorje je jedino mjesto gdje su svi ljudi povjerovali u ukazanja i hrabro se suprotstavili progonstvima. To se nije dogodilo ni u Fatimi, ni u Lurdu. Zašto je Gospa izabrala ovo mjesto? Gospa je rekla da je došla ovamo dovršiti ono što je započela u Fatimi. U fatimskoj poruci postoji taj lik antikrista, ateističkog komunizma. Gospa ga je pobijedila ovdje, u je-dnoj komunističkoj zemlji. Vidio sam kako se komunizam ru-ši u srcima. Gospa je rekla: ne bojte se! Gospa je snaţnija od komunizma. Ovdje, u jednoj komunističkoj zemlji, srušio se komunizam! Nije li do rušenja komunizma došlo zahvaljujući papi Ivanu Pavlu II., zahvaljujući njegovoj molitvi, njegovom utjecaju u svijetu, njegovom diplomatskom i pastoral-nom djelovanju? Da, ali Ivan Pavao II. bio je papa koji je rekao „Totus Tuus“! Marijino oruĎe! Katkada mi se čini da smo pomalo pretenciozni u svezi s Međugorjem, kad mislimo da je Međugorje središte svijeta… Sjetimo se samo svega što se ţivi u Crkvi ši-rom svijeta! Spasenje svijeta ne ovisi o Međugorju. Isus je već spasio svijet, Crkva je ţiva! MeĎugorje je pomalo kao Nazaret… marginalno i nepo-znato selo. Gospa nas je često znala podsjetiti da ne po-stanemo oholi, da ostanemo ponizni, ali nema sumnje da je izabrala ovu ţupu da obnovi Crkvu! Izabrala ju je kao oruĎe. Zato ţupa ne smije zaboraviti da je „beskorisno oruĎe“, kako kaţe Isus… Svi smo mi beskorisno oruĎe. Činimo ono što nam je činiti i ne smatrajmo da imamo ikakve zasluge. Po-sebne milosti ovdje su darovane po Boţjoj velikodušnosti. Ima još nešto što me se doima. Marija, vidjelica koja

all are believers. The fundamental problem today, before morality, is faith. Therefore, Our Lady renews the Church through prayer, because prayer strengthens faith. Pilgrims return home from Medjugorje with a stronger faith. There are some, species the journalists that make usual critics concerning the shops or new cars. I am not at all scandalized by these things. I am not contrary to a just material well-being, on condition that God is on the first place. I am not idealizing the parish Medjugorje, I know that it has its limits, but I say that this parish is living faith like few other parishes. I have visited many shrines in Europe, but nowhere I have found the fervor of prayer that is to be found in Medjugorje. There are defects, but they do not scandalize me. Human fragility cannot prevent Our Lady to realize her plans. Medjugorje is the only place where all people believed in the apparitions, facing with courage the persecution. This has not happened in Fatima, has not happened in Lourdes. Why has Our Lady chosen this country? Our Lady said that she has come here to complete what she has begun in Fatima. In the message of Fatima there is this figure of antichrist, of the atheist communism. Our Lady has defeated it here in Medjugorje, in a communist country. I have seen the communism collapse in the hearts. Our Lady said: do not be afraid! Our Lady is stronger than the communism! Here, in a communist country, the communism has collapsed! But wasn’t it Pope John Paul II with his prayer, his influence in the world, his diplomatic and pastoral action that brought forth the collapse of the communism? Yes, but John Paul II was the Pope of the Totus Tuus! An instrument of Mary! Sometimes it seems to me that we are a little pretentious about Medjugorje, believing that Medjugorje is the center of the world… Let us think about all that is lived in the universal Church! The salvation of the world does not depend on Medjugorje. Jesus has already saved the world, the Church is alive! Medjugorje is little like Nazareth… a marginal and unknown village. Our Lady has often reminded us not to become proud, and to remain in humility, but there is no doubt that she has chosen this parish in order to renew the Church! She has chosen is as an instrument. But the parish should not forget that it is a ―useless instrument‖, as Jesus said… We are all useless instruments. We do what we have to do, but without attributing the merits to ourselves. And in fact, special graces are given here thanks to divine generosity. Then, there is another thing that strikes me. Marija, the visionary who receives the message for the parish, lives in Italy, in Milan. But Our Lady, when she gives her message, says: ―here in Medjugorje‖… This is a holy place, the place of grace, even if the apparitions happen somewhere else! Our Lady said: ―Here I am giving particular graces‖. Here! Let us not forget then that the sign will be given here, in this land, in this place, on the Apparition Hill, and will be visible from here. Them most beautiful is still to come.


MEĐUGORJE

dobiva poruku za ţupu, ţivi u Italiji, u Milanu. Pa ipak, kad Gospa daje svoju poruku, ona kaţe: „ovdje u MeĎu-gorju“. To je sveto mjesto, mjesto milosti, iako se ukazanja dogaĎaju negdje drugdje! Gospa je rekla: „Ovdje dajem posebne mi-losti“. Da! Ne zaboravimo ni to da će znak biti dan ovdje, u ovoj zemlji, na ovom mjestu, na Brdu uka zanja, i da će se odavde vidjeti. Ono najljepše tek odlazi. Sve ovo je pripre-ma, i MeĎugorje će u bu-dućnosti biti još poznatije. Kardinal Ivan Dias, prefekt Kongregacije za nauk vjere, odrţao je u svojstvu papinskog legata govor u Lurdu 8. prosinca 2007., i time otvorio pro-slavu 150. obljetnice Go-spinih ukazanja. Rekao je da je Gospa tijekom dvaju proteklih stoljeća pripre-mala svoju vojsku za bor-bu i za pobjedu u velikoj bitci protiv snaga zla, pro-tiv antikrista. Taj govor objavio je Osservatore Romano 9. prosinca 2007. Svojim ukazanjima u Rue de Bac u Parizu Gospa je pritekla upomoć Crkvi kad se svijetu nametao anti-krist u smislu društva koje misli da moţe samo sebe spasiti, svojim snagama, po cijenu izdaje istine. MeĎugorje je fi-nalna faza te eshatološke borbe na kraju koje ćemo imati vrijeme mira, „vrijeme proljeća“ kako kaţe Gospa. To nau-čavaju i posljednji pape počevši od Pavla VI. Ovim ţelim reći da je MeĎugorje u samom srcu Crkve i velike zadaće koju ona mora obaviti da spasi naš naraštaj. Katkada nam se moţe učiniti da su katolici ponešto pla-šljivi, ponešto licemjerni, mirno ţive svoju vjeru kao neku staru tradiciju, bez zanosa… ulaze u kompromise s vrije-dnostima ovoga svijeta. Kardinal Dias citirao je jednu rečenicu kardinala Woytile kratko prije nego što je postao papa: „Danas smo suočeni s najvećom bitkom koju je čovječanstvo ikad vidjelo.“ Mislim da kršćanska zajednica to još uvijek nije u potpunosti shva-tila. Danas smo pred konačnom bitkom izmeĎu Crkve i antikrista, izmeĎu evanĎelja i anti-evanĎelja. Ţivimo u tre-nutku najveće eshatološke bitke svih vremena, a čini se da Katolička Crkva toga nije svjesna. U svakom slučaju, odl-učna će biti uloga „maloga stada“. Da bi zmiji zgazila glavu, Gospa treba ljude koji su odgovorili na njezin poziv, ljude koji su joj vjerni.

All this is a preparation, and Medjugorje will be even more known in the future. The cardinal Ivan Dias - prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of faith - has made on 8 December 2007, as envoy of the Pope, a speech in Lourdes where he has opened the celebrations of the 150º anniversary of the apparitions. He said that during the last two centuries Our Lady has prepared her army in order to fight and to gain the great battle against the powers of evil, against Antichrist. This speech was published in the Roman Observer of 9 December 2007. Our Lady, with her apparition of Rue de Bac in Paris, has come to aid of the Church, while in the world there was a growing imposture of the antichrist, in the form of a society that considers itself able to save itself, with its own forces, paying the price of the apostasy from the truth. Medjugorje is the final phase of this eschatological fight, at

the end of which we will have a time of peace, ―a time of spring‖, as Our Lady says. This is the teaching of the last Popes, beginning with Paul VI. I want to say with this that Medjugorje is placed in the heart of the Church and of the great task that the Church must carry out in order to save our generation. Sometimes it can seem to us that the Catholics are little timid, a little hypocritical, they live their faith quietly, like an ancient tradition, without zeal… making compromises with the values of the world… Cardinal Dias has quoted one phrase of the cardinal Woytila shortly before becoming Pope: ―We are confronted today of forehead towith the greatest combat that the humanity has never seen‖. I do not think that the Christian community has understood it totally yet. We are today facing the final fight between the Church and the Anti-Church, the Gospel and the Anti-Gospel. We are in the moment of the greatest eschatological battle of all times, and the Catholic Church seems not to be aware of it. However, the role of the ―little flock‖ will be decisive. In order to crush the head to the serpent, Our Lady needs people who have answered to her call, those that are faithful.


Jesus stood up

and exclaimed,

“Let anyone who thirsts

come to me and drink.

Whoever believes in me,

as scripture says:

„Rivers of living water will

flow from within him,‟”

(John 7, 37-38)

Isus ustade i poviče:

“Ako je tko žedan,

neka dođe k meni;

i neka pije.

Tko vjeruje u me,

kako veli Pismo:

‘Iz njegove će nutrine

poteći potoci

žive vode’”

(Ivan 7, 37-38)

Documents

23 Franciscan l 3 1 j Herald Vjesnik 2008 Vjesnik I-2008.pdf · Molite, Bog će platiti.‖ Jest, Mile i obitelj su u našim mo-litvama i svetoj misi svaki put, a obiĉno i doĊe