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September 23, 2024Saint Arethas and his companion martyrs! Who are they? Who are these people? I have never heard their names! I think many of you asked this question when you first heard about these saints and the extraordinary jubilee in memory of their martyrdom in both, the Northern and the Southern Vicariates of Arabia. Now that we have reached the conclusion of this jubilee, we all know well who these saints are. They have become familiar to us and very dear to us.We thank our Holy Father Pope Francis who granted us to celebrate the joy of this extraordinary year of grace marking the martyrdom of St Arethas and his companions that took place fifteen hundred years ago in Najran. I thank Monsignor Aldo Berardi, the Apostolic Vicar of Northern Arabia, who started this initiative and who was with us last year at the inaugural celebration.Let us recollect, how many times in the past year have we turned to St Arethas and Companion martyrs in prayer or turned to God through their intercession! I have seen the many pilgrims who came to the Holy Door to receive the plenary indulgence for the forgiveness of sins! Every Saturday afternoon there was a long line of pilgrims who came to pass through the Holy Door and pay homage to the Relics of the holy martyrs of Arabia. The pilgrims came from all the parishes in the UAE, Oman and even from other countries in the Gulf. Even today we have faithful among us who have come from Oman. I cordially greet you all, you are all welcome in the house of God for this solemn celebration in which we will soon close the holy door.However, it is not only the faithful who came to visit Saint Arethas and his companions in the Cathedral, but Saint Arethas also visited all our parishes in the Vicariate through the relics that you welcomed and venerated with love in your own parishes.Now we should ask ourselves: why have these saints become so dear and precious to us? I see at least two reasons. First of all, because they are holy martyrs. They preferred to die rather than deny Christ. Jesus says: “Those who are ashamed of me and of my words, of them the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” (Luke 9:26)The Holy Martyrs of Najran were not ashamed of Christ, they recognized him before the world, even before the oppressors. They accepted Jesus as the meaning of their life and showed us that it is worth living and dying for Jesus. We learn from them that we too are called to be witnesses in words and in deeds to the truth of the Gospel and to give our life as witness.Saint John Paul II said: “the martyrs are the most authentic witnesses to the truth about existence. The martyrs know that they have found the truth about life in the encounter with Jesus Christ, and nothing and no-one could ever take this certainty from them. Neither suffering nor violent death could ever lead them to abandon the truth which they have discovered in the encounter with Christ. This is why to this day the witness of the martyrs continues to arouse such interest, to draw agreement, to win such a hearing and to invite emulation” (Fides et Ratio 32).These words are founded in the letter to the Romans: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 8:38-39)How beautiful it is to have such a deep awareness of being loved by God and to be certain that no one can ever separate us from Jesus. The martyrs of Najran remind us that we too are loved forever, with a love stronger than death. Today, as we conclude this extraordinary jubilee, we renew our decision to follow Jesus and to be witnesses in the world.Let us look at the other reason why these saints have become important to all of us. As we know, we come from many different countries, speak different languages, we have different liturgical rites and spiritual traditions. Each of us has devotions to saints from our own culture and we may wish to celebrate them here as well. But Saint Arethas and his companions are saints of this land of Arabia in which we now live. Therefore, they are our saints, whom we all can celebrate in common. They are a sign for us to be united and help us to recognize that we are one Church - the Church of Arabia.One of the Fathers of the Church, Tertullian, said that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christianity. Martyrdom and the testimony of faith are always fruitful, they sow the seeds of faith in other persons.By celebrating this extraordinary jubilee, we have thus found the common roots of our Church in Arabia. We are a Church made up of different peoples. Our differences are a blessing and a wealth for all. Coming to this country in the Gulf as migrants we become an indivisible part of the history of this Church of Arabia, rooted in the Apostolic testimony and watered by the blood of the martyrs.Today, the extraordinary jubilee comes to an end in our Vicariate, but Saint Arethas and his companions will remain with us, the relics of saint Arethas will always remain among us, we will continue to implore their intercession so that we can be a Church always united in love, capable of witnessing to all the joy of the Gospel. From now on, every year we will celebrate the feast of Saint Arethas and companions.Dear People of God, this extraordinary jubilee has been, therefore, a great occasion of joy for all of us. This jubilee concludes but the joy does not end. In a few months, we will begin the great Jubilee 2025, the Holy Year of the Lord. So, we move from one joy to another, from one jubilee to another. In fact, Jesus came among us for this Joy as he says: so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. A time of prayer now opens for us in preparation for the jubilee of the Holy Year.May Our Lady of Arabia protect us, Saint Aretha and his companion martyrs always accompany us on the pilgrimage of our life on this earth. Amen.Read report on the Jubilee Year
See photos of the ceremony