(ANS – Cairo) – The Zeitun Oratory is a little piece of paradise in the chaos of Cairo. Its courtyard is small compared to the Salesian oratories in Italy, but it is able to welcome everyone who passes through. From June 30 to July 20, several young Italian volunteers spent three weeks there, sharing the spaces of the Salesian community and providing leadership with Egyptian and Sudanese young leaders. Following is the testimony of Martina and Annaclaudia, two young people who took part in this initiative.
“The first sensation we felt was one of familiarity, and it was never disproved: there was not a moment when we did not feel at home, between a dish ready in the kitchen, a smile in the courtyard, a hug, a glance, a hand held out to pray the Lord’s Prayer together.
We feared from the start that language would be a wall between us and the others, but instead we were amazed at how far the glances and a few words in Arabic or English carried us. It only took one dance for us to get to know each other and be an integral part of the two “Estate Ragazzi” we experienced.
The days at Zeitun seemed endless, with only a few hours of sleep and so many things planned, but they allowed us to experience the oratories at all hours, to participate in every activity without ever feeling like we were in the way, to get to know stories, ways of doing, and thinking different from our own. Always remaining active and available has gradually made us more flexible and more welcoming, more ready to get involved, even if only to prepare a snack or sing a song together. The proportions of our hearts have gradually changed….
A moment that disconcerted us, and fascinated us at the same time, was praying with the boys: we breathed a visceral joy, a joy that exploded in singing, applause, dancing, without ever losing the profound sense of the encounter with God. This prayer, so full of life, made us question our faith: how often, in our communities, do we experience prayer as a habitual, almost formal gesture? There, instead, we saw what it means to pray with one’s whole self, with head, heart, and body, and we wondered whether we too know how to let ourselves be overwhelmed by such true joy before the Lord.
We discovered that we sometimes call “sobriety” what is actually timidity; that we confuse recollection with emotional distance; that the dignity of the liturgy does not demand coldness, but a whole heart. At Zeitun, we saw that joy can kneel without losing flavor, and that celebration can become liturgy when the community entrusts itself. From there, a desire was born: to return to our oratories and understand how to make our prayer more incarnate, more grateful, more missionary.
In the babel of languages and gestures, a few words were enough to remind us who we are and why we were there: “Don Bosco” and “Jesus Christ.” In a courtyard “all life, all motion…”, we became increasingly aware that we are children of Don Bosco and that, thanks to him and his charism, we experience God at every moment of the day. The simple and profound joy we experienced while dancing, singing, and praying reminded us that the recipe for holiness really consists in “being very happy” and that we cannot afford a lukewarm faith, because what we have received as a gift is too great.
The courtyard at Zeitun, the stories entrusted to us, the gazes of children and leaders, the lives of our fellow travellers were holy ground on which we must necessarily take off our sandals and enter gently, because God’s voice is clearly heard. They are the holy ground where Christ passes and dwells, where he makes us holy in our humanity and in our wounds.
We recognized this same voice, in an even different way, when we visited Mother Teresa’s sisters in Mokattam. In that place marked by extreme poverty, the face of Christ became present in silence, in the tired bodies and loving hands that heal them every day. While at Zeitun, Christ spoke to us in the joy of the courtyard, there he spoke to us in the pain welcomed, in the dignity restored, in the charity that makes no noise but transforms everything.
Feeling so welcomed and so appreciated in the few days we were in Zeitun made us experience the gratuitousness of this Love and become aware of how much we are instruments in His hands.
We have recently returned to Italy, but our heads and hearts are still there in Egypt, where the Lord has spoken a Word of Life to each one of us that is resonating and digging into our hearts. We take this Word with us to the oratories that have seen us grow, so that it can be shared and nourished together.
And, from now on, we want that every time we pray we may hear – even at home – that echo of visceral joy learned in the Egyptian courtyard, which taught us to believe, with all our body, with all our voice and with all our heart.”