On Tuesday 1 October, Fra Toufic Bou Mehri, of the Custody of the Holy Land, closed the gates behind him of the Franciscan convent in Tyre, a port city in the south of Lebanon, and together with his confrere, Fra Pierre Richa, left for Beirut. “A missile fell a few dozen metres from our convent,” says Father Toufic. “Two children who had sought shelter with us were injured, hit by some detritus. We are not here to be heroes, but to serve our people. In just a few days everyone fled, at this point it did not make sense to remain.” As well as their personal belongings, they took with them the Blessed Sacrament, the relics of the convent and the holy oils.
Ora…
The doors of St James’ convent in Beirut opened for Fra Toufic and Fra Pierre. The convent is welcoming some families of evacuees in the part dedicated to hospitality even though the facility does not have this as its purpose. “There are six of us and this week it is already my turn to lead the prayer,” he said. “We immediately fitted in with the regular life of the convent, we follow the daily programme of prayer and of the community, who had very little in the last days in Tyre: we were concentrated only on following and helping the people. Here we found our dimension as Franciscans again, including from the point of view of the community and the order, and we can see that nevertheless we are able to do all the work and answer those who are in need.”
… et labora
Fra Toufic, who is the Latin parish priest for the south of Lebanon, spends his days on the phone to coordinate the aid to the evacuees who have arrived in the capital from the south. “On the same night we arrived in Beirut, they bombed Deir Mimas”, a Christian village a few kilometres from the Israeli border. Everyone fled, 148 families who are in Beirut today. “There are even three or four families in one apartment. As the Custody, we try to help them with expenses and find food and medicine, but clothes as well, because they left everything behind them. The young people of the village have got organized to reach everyone and get to know their needs.” Some of the evacuees from Deir Mimas also took part in the Sunday Mass and Fra Toufic tries to ensure spiritual assistance for everyone. “I have seen that Providence has not abandoned us and I don’t think that it is going to leave us now,” Fra Toufic says.
Marinella Bandini
