Thursday, March 24, 2011

Servant of God, Oscar Romero, March 24



Sharing the lot of the saints in light.
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I almost missed the anniversary of his assasination, only to be reminded of it because President Obama visited Archbishop Romero's tomb this past week.  I recall having been deeply moved when I heard about his death - learning that he had been shot during the consecration and elevation of the chalice.  
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Drinking the cup of the Lord:  "My chalice you will indeed drink..."
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Romero was shot on 24 March 1980, while celebrating Mass at a small chapel located in a hospital called "La Divina Providencia", one day after a sermon where he had called on Salvadoran soldiers, as Christians, to obey God's higher order and to stop carrying out the government's repression and violations of basic human rights. According to an audio-recording of the Mass, he was shot while elevating the chalice at the end of the Eucharistic rite. When he was shot, his blood spilled over the altar along with the contents of the chalice.

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On the tenth anniversary of the assassination in 1990, the sitting prelate archbishop of San Salvador, Msgr. Arturo Rivera, appointed a postulator to prepare documentation for a cause of beatification and canonization of Romero. The documents were formally accepted by Pope John Paul II and the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in 1997, and Romero was given the title of "Servant of God". The process continues today with further investigation of the heroism and martyrdom of Romero. Upon the declaration of heroism and martyrdom, it is expected that Romero will achieve the title of "Venerable". If the decree finds that Romero was a martyr, there would be no further obstacles to his beatification. A declaration of only heroic virtue, however, would require that a miracle must be attributed to Romero in order for him to be declared Blessed. - Source

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Photo:  Moments after the Archbishop was shot.


1 comment:

  1. Servant of God Oscar, martyr, pray for us.

    ReplyDelete


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