(ANS – Harissa) – On Monday last, 9 September, the pilgrimage of the relic of Don Bosco to Lebanon ended. “We could not have had a better conclusion,” says Fr Karmi Samaan, Rector of the Salesian Community at El Houssoun. “Don Bosco came as a pilgrim of peace and hope on 1 September, at the peak of the Syrian crisis, and he has left us with a gleam of light.”

In the Land of the Cedars, where the influx of refugees from Syria was increasing, just at the time when the relic came, the whole population heaved a sigh of relief. Many groups of friends of Don Bosco chose to overlook the danger and came even from Syria to venerate his remains.

The pilgrimage of the relic aroused great interest in the local media. There were celebrations of popular devotion, especially in some of the mountain villages of Mount Lebanon and in the North. These were accompanied by the throwing of rice and rose-petals, and by lanterns and torches. There were also solemn liturgical rites, like that of Saturday 7 September, presided over by the Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Béchara Rai, in the Basilica of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa.

Earlier that same day, in the same Basilica, there was a typically Salesian celebration for the young people. Later that evening there was a prayer vigil coinciding with the vigil for Peace with Pope Francis in St Peter’s Square in Rome.

The final act of the pilgrimage took place in the Shrine of St Charbel, a monk and  hermit and Lebanon’s most popular saint. Thus two saints met, one of them completely dedicated to prayer and contemplation, the other to an active life at the service of young people.

The entire Salesian community in the country expressed great satisfaction at the success of the pilgrimage. The organization of some of the artistic displays was the work, not only of members of the Salesian Family, but also of many other groups who, through their participation, got to know Don Bosco, the Saint and educator.

Published 12/09/2013