Bishops Stress Christian Life in Celebrations of Assumption
Special masses have been held around Slovenia on Wednesday to mark the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, one of the biggest holidays on the Church calendar and a national holiday in Slovenia since 1992. In their sermons, Slovenian bishops underscored the dangers of atheism and unbridled opulence for Slovenian and European society and broached a number of topical issues, including post-World War II summary killings and plans for a gaming resort in western Slovenia.
The biggest mass was held at Slovenia's holiest pilgrimage site in Brezje, where Ljubljana Archbishop and Metropolitan Alojz Uran led the proceedings on the square in front of the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians. In his sermon to 8,000 people, Uran emphasised the importance of choosing good over bad.
"I especially ask you not to go down paths that could in the long-term bring harm to our nation and our future," said Uran. He said today's holiday "was like a beacon in our more or less dark valley of life that gives meaning to our existence".
"Today there seems to be at first glance a lot of confusion, both as regards events and people. The good and the bad stand side by side, face each other and intertwine like wheat and weeds, but there is nevertheless a big difference between the yearning and fate of one and the other." He stressed that the "ship - the Church, which is being battered by waves, nevertheless holds strong, as it is build by Jesus' love."
Uran also paid homage to the recently deceased former Ljubljana Archbishop Alojzij Sustar, who 15 years ago gave the first mass at Brezje on Assumption Day following Slovenia's independence. He also pointed out that a century had passed since the coronation of the image of Mary Help of Christians at Brezje.
The mass at Brezje was attended by around 8,000 people, including some who arrived late because of extensive tailbacks on the main road leading from Ljubljana towards the northern Gorenjsko region. Among Slovenian politicians in attendance were Finance Minister Andrej Bajuk, National Council President Janez Susnik and MP Branko Grims (Slovenian Democrats - SDS).
At Ptujska Gora, Archbishop Franc Kramberger, the metropolitan of Slovenia's other archdiocese, Maribor, told pilgrims that the Feast of the Assumption was much like a second Easter. He said the holiday provided Christians with the message that their lives were not passing "to nothing in to an abyss of no destiny, but to the resurrection and eternal life".
He pointed out to the importance of Europeans being aware of their Christian roots, saying that rejecting them meant rejecting the future. "We know of many old civilisations who had in their opulence forgotten about the basic human values and about God , which resulted in them falling into oblivion".
Kramberger also touched on the recent discovery of a large mass grave near Maribor containing the remains of victims of Communist reprisals. According to him, this is the biggest place of summary execution in Europe. "Despite being a small nation, we are covered with a big stain, the biggest stain in Europe."
According to him, the important thing now is for people to recognise and admit the truth and ask for forgiveness. "We do not want to pass sentence on anyone. Instead we wish to follow the example of the late Pope John Paul II in purifying our minds," he said and called for Slovenians to reconcile and show greater respect for one another and more faith in God.
This view was echoed by Murska Sobota Bishop Marjan Turnsek, who said in his sermon in Turnisce that "the need for purifying the soul of the nation grows larger in the face of newly discovered mass graves throughout the country". He called on believers to do what they can as Christians to transform such places of crime into sacred places.
Turnsek, who today declared Turnisce the central pilgrimage site of the Virgin Mary in the Murska Sobota Diocese, also lambasted the "growing disease of atheism, intolerance towards the truth, allergies to faith and the Church and fear of Christ" in Europe. He called the faithful to "strive to make our families small domestic Churches, temples of life, places of fertility and natural incubators of spirituality".
Giving a mass in Log near Vipava, Koper Bishop Metod Pirih criticised plans for a gaming resort in the Gorisko region. "I ask and call on you to take part in the public debate and consider the moral and social reasons against the gaming resort," Pirih told the crowd.
He also stressed the importance of protecting and promoting family life. According to him, the fall in the number of marriages has contributed to Slovenia's demographic problems. He said young people should not be afraid to enter into marriage and said that young people considering joining the clergy should not be scared away by those who claim that one cannot be happy if he follows God's calls.
Celje Bishop Anton Stres meanwhiles used the examples that were set by Jesus and Mary during their life in pointing to the importance of courage and internal strength in making sacrifices and standing up against opulence. "The point of our lives is not to have something at any price and wherever it may be possible," he said during a mass at the pilgrimage site in Petrovce.
According to him, there is many opportunities for people to make a sacrifice: "Caring fatherhood and loving motherhood, respect of human life from conception to death, self-sacrificing and good work for the good of the family and unselfish service in all the areas where we are needed by God and where fellow human beings wait for us".
The Feast of the Assumption has deep-seated roots in Slovenia, where over 300 parish, succursal and pilgrimage churches are consecrated in the honour of Mary. Masses large and small are being held in churches across the country today to celebrate the holiday.
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