HOLY FAMILY - A JESUIT & A MARTYR

VENERABLE PETAR BARBARIC  born in 1874 was a Herzegovinian Roman Catholic novice who was in the midst of his studies for the priesthood before he died of tuberculosis. He made his solemn profession as a Jesuit prior to his death upon the realization of his condition. Venerable Petar was known for his devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ and for his charismatic nature among his peers.

He had eight brothers; one of whom was a Franciscan. Mate (religious name Marko) Barbarić-Lesko (1865-1945)** who was killed and whose cause for sainthood has begun. Venerable Petar spent his childhood on the farm with the sheep and was known for being an avid reader of religious texts. While in the fields he had his staff in one hand and recited rosaries in the other.

In school he studied  Italian French and German as he believed that it would help him in the future for hearing confessions. He was appointed as the prefect of his class and he encouraged his peers to receive the Eucharist at the end of the first week of each month on the date of the Lord's Passion. In 1896 he made the decision not to become a diocesan priest but rather a Jesuit.

He demonstrated initial signs of influenza after he returned from an out-of-town trip with his friends on 7 April 1896. It was less than a week after Easter when the group spent their vacation on a picnic and were caught in a storm. However this transcended into tuberculosis unbeknownst to specialists who prescribed him to summer's rest at his home. Venerable Petar spent a serene summer at home but was unaware of his condition which grew worse when he returned for his studies. He didn't know he had contracted tuberculosis until he was re-examined once he returned to resume his studies. He had difficulties walking and had to use a cane to move about a room and was forced to drop his studies in order to recuperate.

 On 11 March 1897 he said to his confessor: "I did a novena to St Francis Xavier to ask for healing and tomorrow we'll start a novena to St Joseph asking for a good death". He received the Anointing of the Sick on the following 10 April. A special dispensation was given for him to make his solemn profession as a Jesuit.  He professed his solemn vows on the evening of 13 April 1897 at 9:00 pm and  died on 15 April 1897  on the feast of the Last Supper. He could not speak much at this point and could not eat. In the first hours of the afternoon he asked for a crucifix in which he kissed it and said: "Jesus".

On 18 March 2015 the title of Venerable was conferred upon him once Pope Francis had signed a decree that recognized the fact that he had lived a model Christian life of heroic virtue.


** FRIAR MARKO BARBARIC was 80 when he was murdered.  Devoted to Our Lady, he had a reputation for sanctity among the students and seminarians, who witnessed that while walking in the park, he often spoke with the birds. As soon as they saw him, they hastened to greet him, perching on the hand he extended to them. He had lost his memory and was unaware of the war. On  February 7, 1945 he was in his cell, sick with typhus. The Communist officials ordered that he be brought out with his brothers, and so he was carried outside on a blanket. Then he was killed and thrown in the fire with the others.

The THIRTY FRANCISCAN MARTYRS of SIROKI BRIJEG is a well known site where thousands of pilgrims visit the Franciscan Monastery every year. It is about one hour distant from Međugorje.  On 7th February 1945, Communist soldiers arrived and said “God is dead, there is no God, there is no Pope, there is no Church, there is no need of you, you also go out in the world and work.” The communists forgot that the Franciscans were working, teaching in the adjoining school. Some of the Franciscans were famous professors and had written books. The Communists asked them to remove their habits. The Franciscans refused. One angry soldier took the Crucifix and threw it on the floor. He said, “you can now choose either life or death.” Each of the Franciscans knelt down, embraced the Crucifix and said, “You are my God and my All.” The thirty Franciscans were taken out and slaughtered and their bodies burned in a nearby cave where their remains lay for many years. Today they are buried inside the Franciscan church.

One of the soldiers in the firing squad at Široki Brijeg later said, “Since I was a child, in my family, I had always heard from my mother that God exists. To the contrary, Stalin, Lenin, Tito had always asserted and taught each one of us: there is no God. God does not exist! But when I stood in front of the martyrs of Široki Brijeg and I saw how those friars faced death, praying and blessing their persecutors, asking God forgive the faults of their executioners, it was then that I recalled to my mind the words of my mother and I thought that my mother was right: God exists!” That soldier converted and now he has a son who is a priest and a daughter a nun.