As part of the “Queen Katarina Days” event, which is celebrated in Kraljeva Sutjeska parish on October 26 and 27 on the occasion of the 600th anniversary of the birth of Queen Katarina Kotromanić Kosača, a holy mass was held on Sunday in the Franciscan monastery of St. John the Baptist.
The Eucharistic celebration was led by the Provincial of Bosnia Srebrena, Fr. Zdravko Dadić, the General Minister of the Order of Friars Minor, Fr. Massimo Fusarelli, preached, and the provincials of the South Slavic Conference participated in the mass.
“For us, the Franciscan family, this is a particularly important day, as Christians we are aware that we are travelers on this earth and it is important to us what our life is like and whether it will lead us to what we want, to eternal life in God. Exactly the Queen Katarina is an example of how we should live so that when we hold great and important duties, when we leave them or when we die, people feel sorry that such a person is no longer there who govern, it is obvious that we think more about the earthly, than about the heavenly, therefore, inspired by the life of Queen Katarina, aware of the great pain of suffering, suffering, kidnapping of children, she remains faithful to God and Bosnia, for our faith to be stronger, because a faith that has not been tested is not a faith,” said Friar Zdravko Dadić at the beginning of the mass.
The General Minister Fr. Massimo Fusarelli said during the sermon that he is happy that on this day, on this special occasion, he can also preach in Kraljeva Sutjeska.
“We friars, in the heart of ancient Rome, guard both the grave and the prayerful memory of blessed Katarina Kotromanić. I am grateful to the Lord for this day and this opportunity that so happily unites our Franciscan communities. Today’s Gospel puts us almost before the temptation of Jesus’ glory, and when we we Christians read the gospel, we don’t read it as some holy story that is locked in the past. We believe that it speaks to us today, here and now. In today’s gospel, Francis also tells us something similar, he does not see and look at himself only with the eyes of the body. with heart and faith, we move forward with the confidence that the one who calls us and knows us, that he also loves us”, said Fusarelli.
He emphasized that each of us has wounds, suffering and “blindness” and called on believers not to close themselves off, but to believe that the eyes of faith see the possibility for love and beauty in the darkness of suffering.
“We also sometimes have a hard time in our daily life and fail to see God, but the Lord calls us to take a step further by following him. If we look at Catherine’s life, we can find a mixture of suffering, faith and perseverance. As we know, in 1463 the Turks occupied BiH, among others, they captured her children and forced them to leave Christianity. The same year, the queen went to Rome where the Pope received her with honors. She became a Franciscan nun and lived a holy life, enjoying the respect and respect of everyone, but let’s think about it what a pain it is for a woman and mother, not being able to see her children, not knowing their fate, being without her country and home in a foreign country. Such pain can blind a person, but her faith helped her to see further and she did not give up rather, she helped others find God. Queen Katarina teaches us not to close ourselves off, to believe that the eyes of faith see the possibility of beauty and love in the darkness. This is not a fairy tale, but can be our reality,” said Fusarelli, Fena news agency writes.
