March 4 is the 10th anniversary of the death of four Missionaries of Charity, who were killed in a terrorist attack at a nursing home in Yemen.
At the time, Pope Francis mourned their death and held them up as martyrs:
"These are the martyrs of today," he exclaimed. "They are not found on the covers of newspapers, and they do not make the news. These people are victims of the attack of those who killed them and of also indifference, of this globalization of indifference…May Mother Teresa, accompany her martyr daughters of charity in Heaven, and intercede for peace and sacred respect for human life."
To recall their sacrifice, Bishop Paolo Martinelli, Apostolic Vicar of Southern Arabia, will preside at a Mass at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Abu Dhabi.
In a press release about the event, Bishop Martinelli explained how timely the witness of these sisters are in the current climate:
Celebrating this anniversary at a time when the entire Gulf region is experiencing serious conflict is a source of hope. The Missionaries of Charity Sisters gave their lives and some of them are still present in Yemen today, serving the poorest without distinction, witnessing to the charity of Christ that overcomes every barrier. Looking to them, we feel encouraged to be, in this land, builders of peace.
Final prayer
According to writer Sarah Robsdottir, the sisters prayed the following prayer before they were killed:
Lord, teach me to be generous. Teach me to serve you as you deserve; to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and not to ask for reward.
It is a beautiful prayer and echoes the need for all Christians to be generous and to not count the cost, even in the face of violence or threat of violence.
These sisters remind us to be beacons of peace in a world shrouded in war, praying for a peaceful resolution to the violence that plagues the Middle-East.
May these martyr-nuns intercede for us and for our world.
