‘What should one do when the horrors of terrorism and war render the heart dumb and deaf? Prayer is an inner force that questions oneself, unlocks the possibilities of reason and restores inner freedom. Jacques Mourad, Syrian Catholic Archbishop, bears personal witness to these words: ‘I was a hostage for more than four months in a bathhouse, but it was a moment of grace for me, I lived in symbiosis with God, sustained by the rosary, I felt the Virgin Mary accompany me in my captivity. In moments of despair, the rosary gave me peace in my heart. I did not lose my meekness and smile despite the beatings. I looked into the eyes of the captors with a look of love. They were the prisoners, not me: they were prisoners of hatred. This inner freedom is a grace that God gives us to be faithful to his love. Prayer overcomes evil’. At Mar Mousa with the ‘food’ of prayer and meditation, Jacques Mourad experienced all this and ‘ to believe in this helps young people to experience an inner freedom’.
French Bishop Emmanuel Tois speaks of prayer as a diplomatic force that begins to express itself ‘when man recognises himself as poor before God’. 'When praying, an "inner climate" that combats hatred is created' stated Abu Al-Qasim Al-Dibaji (World Organisation of Pan-Islamic Jurisprudence, Kuwait). In this regard, Angela Kunze-Beiküfner spoke of the strength of the fasting carried out in Berlin for the wall to fall. ‘The more we become men of prayer, the more responsible we feel towards the world,’ said Brother Mathew (Taizé Community): “Nothing is more responsible than praying”. Brother Mathew recalled Olivier Clement's observation on the connection between spiritual life and human solidarity; along with many others, he took part in a 33 km march carrying a stone with the name of a person at war in order to ask for peace: ‘Prayer helps to face complexity without getting lost in despondency’. For Swami Amarananda (Ramakrishna Math and Mission, India) ‘Prayer means that we are missing something and are impatient to get it. Prayer can be an antidote against hatred, because it automatically silences evil'.
