AFRICA/EGYPT - Here, prayer becomes life and life becomes prayer

by Anselmo Fabiano*

Kom Ghareeb (Agenzia Fides) - Temperatures here are already approaching 30 degrees Celsius. In recent days, we experienced a sandstorm, one of those scenes from movies where dust and sand obscure everything, even the sun. Fortunately, it only lasted a few hours, partly because then movement becomes complicated and dangerous.
The activities of our parish of the Virgin Mary are progressing well, accompanied by the joy of the Risen Lord after the intense Easter week.
A week in which we truly prayed a lot between the various celebrations, rites, and Masses. An extraordinary richness that gave me the opportunity to share the authentic and profound faith of these people. Everything was new to me, and so, like a child, I discovered new rites, prayers, and signs, trying to understand their deeper meaning. It was certainly an unforgettable and deeply enriching faith experience.
I was deeply moved by the Good Friday prayer, when the priest, in a very special rite, anointed the icon of the death of Jesus with the perfume of nard and various oils. The perfume filled the church and allowed us to gather with Mary in prayer, eyes closed, and feel almost physically close to her. We shared this intense moment of faith before the body of the dead Jesus, lovingly caressed by Mary and then carefully placed in the tomb, thus experiencing the great mystery of our salvation.
It is Mary who accompanies us on our journey even in this month of May, dedicated to her. Even from Egypt, the prayer of the Holy Rosary unites us and allows us to pray for the whole world and especially for the Church, which is called to elect a new Pope. Here, prayer becomes life, and life becomes prayer.
The children and young people also pray for their end-of-year exams so that they can complete the school year in the best possible way. I meet them in the morning as they go to school; they stop by church to greet Jesus, and they are always joyful, even if they may be a little worried and nervous. The prayer of adults is also a prayer for the harvest of the fields, especially wheat, so that it bears good fruit and guarantees a good harvest for the whole year. I also try in my own way, to take the faces of the people I meet and whom I carry in my heart into prayer, and at the same time, to transform my daily life into a prayer in which I thank God for all the good, and sometimes difficult, things he grants me on my journey. (Agenzia Fides, 6/5/2025)

*Missionary of the Society of African Missions (SMA) in Egypt

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