On Wailing Places

Pope Francis made a detour from the joyful gathering of hundreds of thousands of Catholic young people gathered in Krakow Poland in order to visit a wailing place at the Nazi death camp of Auschwitz-Bierkenau.

The Holy Father chose to speak no words in his visit to Auschwitz.  His dignified silent prayer was sufficient witness.  Pope Francis stopped and prayed at the darkened cell which once held St. Maximilian Kobe. To memorialize his visit, Pope Francis wrote in the guest book in Spanish:  "Lord, have pity on your people. Lord, forgive so much cruelty."

After his silent visit the facilities, Pope Francis spent time meeting with surviving victims from Auschwitz and righteous gentiles who helped rescue some Holocaust victims.

From Auschwitz, Pope Francis attending a large outdoor gathering praying the Stations of the Cross. Pope Francis' meditation tried to address the disteleological surd of where is God when there is so much pain and suffering in the world.  The Pontiff's answer is that Jesus is joined with us in our suffering as he himself experienced so much on the Via Dolorosa.  If we join our trials with God then such suffering can be redeeming.

The visit to Poland and World Youth Day are dedicated to Divine Mercy. Visiting this wailing place is a melancholy reminder that God can use suffering as art of the sanctification of the world.  

A Different Approach to Come My Way

Fr. Austin Litke, O.P. singing "Come My Way" at NYC Grand Central Station 

Pope Francis in Rio, 2013

During the 2013 World Youth Day celebrations in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Pope Francis exhorted the youthful pilgrims to “I want you to take to the streets. I want the Church to take to the streets.”  BlackFriar Films, a project of the Dominican Friars based in New York City, interpreted this call to the New Evangelization by taking a different approach to the Christian patrimony and take it to the streets.

In the "Come My Way, My Truth, My Life" video, Fr. Austin Dominic Litke, O.P. sings the traditional Anglican hymn on the streets of Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge while donned in his medieval Dominican habit.





The initial juxtaposition of ethereal beauty with the backdrop of the frenetic city which seemingly never sleeps underlines the timeless message which the George Herbert poem (1633) is based.

George Herbert (1595-1633)

Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life:
Such a way as gives us breath;
Such a truth as ends all strife,
Such a life as killeth death.

Such a way as gives us breath;Such a truth as ends all strife,Such a life as killeth death.

Come, my Light, my Feast, my Strength:
Such a light as shows a feast,
Such a feast as mends in length,
Such a strength as makes his guest.

Come, my Joy, my Love, my Heart:Such a joy as none can move,Such a love as none can part,Such a heart as joys in love.

By exposing youth to the beauty and truth to Christian tradition, Dominicans have experienced a boom in vocations.  Moreover, breathing life into tradition by taking it to the streets makes it contemporary and contemplative.