Sea, mountains and prayer” “

“Only in silence is man able, in the depths of his conscience, to listen to the voice of God that truly makes him free. And holidays may help us to rediscover and cultivate this indispensable interior dimension of human existence”: that’s the message that JOHN PAUL II sent out on 11 July during his brief period of rest at Les Combes, in the Val D’Aosta. Holidays as a time for the spirit: the Pope’s advice seems to have been well received in various European dioceses, which have also developed to this end various events and projects which we present below POLYGLOT SPIRITUAL ASSISTANCE. The many summer events being promoted by various German dioceses include that of the diocese of Trier in partnership with the French diocese of Metz, which have organized spiritual assistance in German and French for holidaymakers on campsites. From 17 July to 28 August religious services are being provided in various resorts close to the Franco-German frontier to enable tourists to participate in Mass. Father Wolfgang Müller, parish priest of Dudweil, describes the aims of the project, now in its 25th year, as follows: it is intended to “enable tourists to experience the Church and spiritual assistance on holiday, in a period of rest and recuperation”, in line with the hope expressed by the Pope. “The number of participants in masses has remained unchanged over the years, and new people interested in participating show up each time”. The service for holidaymakers has evolved in the course of time: from a programme originally intended for children it has been successively expanded to provide similar opportunities for adults. To this end, Father Müller also organizes private talks by appointment during the week. Further information can be found on the website of the diocese of Trier http://www.bistum-trier.de/ AN ecumenicaL ‘TENT’. The German diocese of Hildesheim and the Land MeCKleNburg-WESTERN Pomerania have joined forces to organise “Friedensgrund 2004” (field of peace 2004), a journey that will take 50 German teenagers, accompanied by the bishop of Hildesheim, and other youngsters from Eastern Europe to Stary Sacz, in Poland, where they will live and work together till 13 August. The 180 youth will participate in the building of a pilgrims’ centre. The camp is being organized to promote the meeting between youngsters of various nations and confessions. At the centre of the spiritual side of the programme is the “Tent of the Church”, in which morning and evening prayers will be recited in various languages and the religious services of the various communities celebrated: Catholic, Russian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, and Serb Orthodox. The “Friedensgrund” project was founded by Msgr. Homeyer in 1990, and is held each year to permit youth from the diocese of Hildesheim to meet with those of their own age group from Central and Eastern Europe and to promote reconciliation between peoples and peace in Europe. In previous years the event was held in Romania, Russia, the Czech Republic, Belarus and in other Eastern European countries. For further information, consult the website: http://www.friedensgrund.de/ “tour” OF CHARITY. A bishop and a group of 55 priests, sisters and young people are making a 235-mile cycling trip along the roads of the diocese of Birmingham, in England. This unique event, a five-day “tour of charity”, led by Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Birmingham in person, began on 19 July. Its aim is to meet the faithful of the diocese in a rather different and special way. The first stage to be reached in “Cycle for Youth”, as the event is called, was Burton-on-Trent, in Staffordshire, after a 40-kilometre cycle ride through pinewoods, along rivers and over areas of plain. “We cycled through wonderful landscapes – reminisces the archbishop – and met so many people, including the children of the Catholic St. John’s school who came out to greet us and cheer us as we passed. It was a wonderful moment”. The cyclists are being given overnight hospitality by families on the way. Alarm clocks are set for dawn next morning, given that each day begins with early morning mass for the group, celebrated at 6.30 am. A SPIRITUAL TOURIST GUIDE ON THE internet. 500 websites to describe all the summer events being organized for tourists in dioceses, in monasteries and in retreat centres all over France can be found on the site: http://infocatho.cef.fr/fichiers_html/vacances. Promoted by the French Episcopal Conference, the site lists airport and port chapels, saints for the months of July and August, Sunday liturgies and other information on pilgrimages and parish and diocesan feasts. But the site also contains more offbeat information and suggestions for holiday events: visits to organs in remote rural parish churches, conferences on medieval humour, picnics on the sites of ancient abbeys, theatrical performances in cloisters. The aim of the website, says its presentation, is to provide a useful service for all those who “wish to transform their own holiday into a genuine and deep dialogue. God speaks to us through landscapes, and through paintings and statues by great artists. So the kind of holiday we propose is one that will naturally make prayer spring to your lips and transform this period of rest into a moment of joy”. ———————————————————————————————————– Sir Europa (English) N.ro assoluto : 1317 N.ro relativo : 57 Data pubblicazione : 28/07/2004