Spirituality Page
The Atlas Martyrs
On March 27th, 1996, about twenty armed members of the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) arrived at the Trappist Monastery of Tibhirine and kidnapped seven monks. Previously, on Christmas Eve, 1993, the GIA had forcibly entered the monastery but had been persuaded to leave.
Tibhirine Monastery in Algeria
On May 23rd, 1996, a communiqué from the GIA reported that they had executed the monks on May 21st and the Algerian government announced that their heads had been discovered on May 31st although the exact circumstances of their deaths remain uncertain and their bodies have never been discovered. On December 8th, 2018, they were beatified in the basilica of Santa Cruz in Oran.
In his spiritual will, written three years before the massacre, Fr Christian de Chergé, the prior, wrote:
When the time comes, I would like to be able to have an instant of lucidity that would allow me to ask for the pardon of God and that of men, my brothers, while forgiving with all my heart those who may have hit me….I cannot see how I could, in fact, rejoice in that this people I love could be accused of my assassination.
In his diary one of the monks Christophe, wrote for October 30th, 1994:
Listen, Church: I am
Listen, I in you, as the Father is in me, Him in me and I in Him,
we are ONE
Listen: I am in you the Resurrection: the Life.
Through you (in you, with you) I have passed the wall. My sin stands before me – this lack of love given to my brothers – through you, not for long am I – frightened, desperate … I have passed through death.
When, at last, my fraternal existence will be lived on that side
because you desire to see us come together to this eternal Life.
Today you say to me: stand up, go towards yourself, towards your paschal lamb.
On December 28th, 1993, Father Christian wrote to Sayah Attiya, head of the group of armed men who came to the door of the monastery on Christmas Eve:
My Brother, allow me to address you in this way; man to man, believer to believer, (…) In the present conflict in which the country is living, it is impossible for us to take sides. As foreigners we are forbidden to do so. Being monks (ruhban) we are bound to the choice God has made for us, that of prayer and a simple life, of manual work, of welcoming and sharing with everyone above all with the poor (…) These principles of life are freely accepted by each of us. They bind us until death. I do not think God wills that this death should come through you (…) If, one day, the Algerians see that we are too many, then we will respect their desire to see us leave. With deep regret. I know that we will continue to love them, ALL of them, including you. When and how this message will reach you? It is of little importance! But today I need to write to you. Forgive me for doing so in my mother tongue. You will understand. And may the Only One of all life, lead us!
The story of the Atlas Martyrs was told in the film Of Gods and Men, 2010, dir. Xavier Beauvais. The film won the Grand Prix at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.
Anne and John Duddington