The second day of celebrations marking the end of the Holy Marian Month were held at the Our Lady of Lourdes grotto in Na'our, with the rosary prayed, and the Holy Mass celebrated and presided over by Fr. Imad 'Alamat, parish priest of Fuheis. It was followed by a procession with candles held high as hymns sung and prayers said.
During the Mass, parish priest Fr. Rif’at Bader and Fr. Imad baptized Iraqi baby girl Mariam Firas Touma who was born in Na'our on January 4, 2015.
Her parents chose this very date for her baptism because her elder brother "Fadi" was baptized on this very day in the year before at their hometown and at their church in Mosul. Since May 30 last year, up to this very day of this year, there have been untold stories of suffering, pain and homelessness. Two weeks after the baptism of Fadi, events developed and tragedies snowballed with the advent of terrorist groups to this historic city, thus the city was stripped of its religious "pluralism" to have all those who do not follow the religion of the "majority" displaced. Consequently, Firas and his wife, alongside their son Fadi, fled their home and stayed at the Latin Convent hall in Na'our where they were supported by Jordan Caritas. Every night, Fadi used to wake up in the middle of the night and cry, retrieving memories of their forced exodus.''
Today, his sister, who was forcefully displaced while still being an embryo, suffers silently and opens her eyes for the first time in Jordan, the country that opened its arms wide to receive one wave after the other of those tormented. Jordan welcomed the religiously displaced who were shaken by the waves of persecution; so they came to this safe country as their number stands nowadays at 800 in addition to the thousands of others displaced from Syria and Iraq. The baptism is a reminder that faith is not a commodity designed for trading. This family left everything behind and followed Lord Jesus to preserve sublime plurality in the Orient that is sustaining all kinds of torture, and wars among the brethren rather than among the adversaries.
In the Church of Na'our, and by Our Lady of Lourdes grotto, the worshippers--including parishioners, Iraqis and the "pilgrims" of the new grotto--applauded the displaced Iraqi child who was a persecuted embryo, not under the threat of abortion as is the case the ''civilized'' countries, but rather under the threat of the brutal sword which views others as enemies rather than a cultural and historical partners.
As Fr. Imad Alamat sang "Hymn lyrics you who baptized into Christ "(which says: You who are baptized into Christ, Christ have you put on), a lady from Na'our who was passionately moved by what happened took off her gold necklace and cross and had it put on the baby Mariam who was baptized on the Sabbath of Mary in the Holy Month of Mary and named Jesus of Mary Crucified after the new saint.
With the baby Mariam crying during baptism, as it is always the case, ''the elderly'' believe that this crying is a heartfelt prayer for the crucified people… it is rather a sign of life for a homeless people who left their nets at the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and moved away firmly sticking to the dearest thing they own, namely their faith.
As the worshippers proceeded holding the candles and signing hymn of Our Lady of Lourdes ''Ave, Ave, Ave Maria! Ave, Ave, Ave Maria", it is to be admitted that peace will not be the fruit of discussions and negotiations but rather the fruit of prayers by the faithful of the Orient and the world so as to terminate the whirlpool of violence and murder in the name of God and to save childhood represented by Mariam and her brother Fadi.
Peace be upon thee, O Na'our.
