LOS NEGRALES, Madrid, Spain.
“Our Christian Faith cannot be hidden; it must be present in our social life. St. Pedro Poveda sets an example of fortitude and courage in the confession of his faith when he surrendered his life in martyrdom that 28 of July of 1936, in Madrid, declaring to those that drove him off: I am a minister of the Lord” said Rev. Lluis Martinez Sistach, Cardinal Archbishop of Barcelona and President of the Episcopal Commission for Liturgy, who presided the Eucharist concelebrated with several priests and many people that attended the celebration of St. Pedro Poveda’s Feast, July 28.
The celebration took place at 7:00 PM in Santa Maria de Los Negrales where the remains of St. Pedro Poveda are venerated. The presence of the XVII General Assembly, inaugurated last July 25, added special touch to the celebration. The Assembly consists of ninety representatives from the different countries where the TA is present.
Cardinal Sistach pointed out that “the intuition inspired by the Spirit of the Lord to St. Pedro Poveda is very important because he envisioned the relevance of the role of Christian laity in the world, anticipating himself to the ecclesiological contents of Vatican II Council”. He also emphasized “the audacity of St. Pedro Poveda in the announcement of the Gospel and his fortitude in the confession of his faith. Both aspects-he affirmed-have a crystal clear and indisputable relevance today. Today also, and even more so, the announcement of the Gospel is urgent. The Church lives the challenge of the first evangelization-ad gentes- and the new evangelization in countries like ours with much secularization and de-Christianization”
Loreto Ballester, President of the TA Association, in her entrance admonition before the Eucharist, said: “the Teresian Association prepares to initiate her second centenary when the Church convokes the Synod of the New Evangelization on the fiftieth anniversary of the start of the Vatican II Council; for this reason we wish that this Eucharistic be not only a thanksgiving celebration but also a commitment that engages our lives”.
And she expressed gratitude for the words of encouraging words sent by the His Holiness Benedict XVI with the occasion of the XVII GeneralAssembly… “the members of the TA thank the word of the Church that exhorts us to continue to identify ourselves with Christ- ‘following the footprints and the example of St. Pedro Poveda’- to receive with a humble heart and a solicitous docility his Word, announcing it with a renewed ardor and confronting, also with faith and in communion with the shepherds of the Church, the challenges of our world today”.
The President invited all participants to donate the collection of the Eucharist as a contribution to sustain the Chinautla Project in Guatemala that works with children and youth at high risk and live in impoverished areas.
The celebration, solemn and rich in symbols, enjoyed the presence of a numerous international group, together with families, alumni, and friends, members from the associations and youth movements. Finally,a light dinner was offered in the gardens of the House.
Testimony of the members who found the lifeless body of Pedro Poveda
In the morning the assembly participants of the XVII General Assembly of the TA gather together to “evoke, bring to mind, the memory of the last moments of Pedro Poveda, a memory that passes through the heart” in the words of Loreto, as she guides the group through that moment of prayer and reflection.
In the chapel where the remains of St Pedro Poveda are venerated, different persons read portions of the testimonies of Maria Astudillo and Emma Alvarez, written on July 29 1936, where they relate the search of Pedro Poveda the night of July 27, after he had been taken from his house in the Alameda Street, number 7 until they found the martyred body on the 28 at dawn. “Many voices for one only narration, taking turns in the readings of those first ones that found him. A narration that speaks to us of a man ‘identified with Christ Crucified, as so many other men and women that carried their commitment until death and a death of Cross”.
At the end there was a grateful remembrance of all the realities in which the charism of the Teresian Association is incarnated. “Wondering ifthe way is made as we the walk or if it is the walking what shapes us…”
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Fotos: Bu Villanueva