Diocese Of Bridgeport Set To Honor Those Who Died For Their Faith
Diocese Of Bridgeport Set To Honor Those Who Died For Their Faith
BRIDGEPORT â People of all ages throughout Fairfield County are invited to honor the memories of those who paid the ultimate price for their religious beliefs at a âCelebration of the New Martyrs,â scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, October 14 and 15, at Saint Aloysius Parish in New Canaan.
The celebration is one of the official Jubilee Year 2000 commemorations of the Roman Catholic Church by the Diocese of Bridgeport. The Jubilee Year, proclaimed by Pope John Paul II, marks the 2,000th anniversary of the birth of Jesus.
The two-day celebration will begin with a prayer service on Saturday, October 14, at 7:30 pm, featuring testimonials to men and women who were killed for their religious beliefs. The following day, Bishop Hrynchyshyn will preach at a solemn Mass at 3 pm. All are welcome to attend both ceremonies.
In addition, from October 14 through 27 an exhibition of stories and relics on the new martyrs will be mounted daily in the gymnasium of Saint Aloysius School. Teachers and students as well as families and friends are encouraged to attend.
The exhibition will include posters telling the vivid stories of martyrs such as Edith Stein (Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross), Archbishop Oscar Romero, and Jean Donovan, the lay missionary from the Diocese of Bridgeport who was murdered with three Maryknoll nuns in El Salvador in 1980. A projector will flash the names of the 7,000 martyrs from around the world, as recorded by the parish archives. Relics of martyred men and women will also be on display, including a piece of beard from Saint Maximilian Kolbe, a priest who perished at Auschwitz.
The Celebration of the New Martyrs is the second official commemoration of the Jubilee Year in the Diocese of Bridgeport. The other, continuous 24 hour Eucharistic worship has been underway on a rotating basis in parishes, schools, convents, and other Catholic institutions around Fairfield County since November 28, 1999. It will be maintained until the close of the Jubilee Year on the Solemnity of the Epiphany, Sunday, January 7, 2001.