Supplier: Notre Dame d'Aiguebelle Abbey
Net Weight: 50g
Made in France
At the Notre Dame d'Aiguebelle abbey, you can discover:
The Tibhirine Memorial
Between May 8, 1994 and August 1, 1996, 19 Catholic religious men and women were assassinated in Algeria:
Brother Henri Vergès, Brother Marist
Sister Paul- Hélène Saint – Raymond, Little Sister of the Assumption
Sister Esther Paniagua Alonso, Sister Augustine Missionary
Sister Caridad Alvarez Martin, Sister Augustine Missionary
Father Jean Chevillard, Father White
Father Charles Deckers, White Father
Father Christian Chessel, White Father
Father Alain Dieulangard, Pere Blanc
Sister Angèle- Marie (Jeanne Littlejohn), Sister of Our Lady of the Apostles
Sister Bibiane (Denise Leclercq), Sister of Our Lady of the Apostles
Sister Odette Prévost, Little Sister of the Sacred Heart
The 7 Trappist brothers:
Dom Christian de Chergé
Brother Luc Dochier
Father Christophe Lebreton
Brother Michel Fleury
Father Bruno Lemarchand
Father Célestin Ringeard
Brother Paul Favre-Miville
Monsignor Pierre Claverie, Bishop of Oran
All these brothers and sisters died as martyrs but, in giving their lives, they entrusted us with a message and with it, the mission to spread it.
They died out of loyalty to friends. Friendship is not a one-sided love but a shared love. And indeed their love was shared. Should we recall the starting point of the Algerian history of our brother Christian de Chergé: the gift that the rural policeman Mohamed made with his life to protect Christian, threatened with death by fellagahs during the Algerian war? And the answer that the same Mohamed gave to Christian who assured him of his prayer: “Oh you, the French, you don't know how to pray”. If Christian returned to Algeria and to the Trappe de Tibhirine, it was precisely out of gratitude for Mohamed. And Father Claverie! With him died Mohammed Bouchikhi, his young Muslim friend who served as his driver during the holidays. Mohammed sensed, however, that this friendship could cost him his life. The bomb that killed them both shuffled their bodies, uniting them forever. This is what friends our brothers and sisters gave their lives for. But is that all? Are there just those? In his will, Christian de Chergé, addressing his murderer, calls him "the last-minute friend". The death of Christ, the death of the brothers, will they not in fact affect the murderer and save him, give him the grace of repentance, bring about friendship? Our memorial wants to be a monument raised to the glory of friendship between Christians and Muslims, and what is more, between all men regardless of their religion. May God hear us!
