Martyred in Jerusalem this day in 1391:
Nicholas was born in 1340 to a wealthy and noble family in Croatia. He joined the Franciscans and was sent with Deodat of Rodez to preach in Bosnia. In 1384 they volunteered for the Holy Land missions and were sent there. They looked after the holy places, cared for the Christian pilgrims and studied Arabic.
In 1391 Nicholas, Deodat, Peter of Narbonne and Stephen of Cuneo decided to take a direct approach to converting the Muslims. On November 11, 1391, they went to the huge Mosque of Omar in Jerusalem and asked to see the Qadi (Muslim official). Reading from a prepared statement, they said that all people must accept the gospel of Jesus. When they were ordered to retract their statement, they refused. After beatings and imprisonment, they were beheaded before a large crowd.
Nicholas and his companions were canonized in 1970. They are the only Franciscans martyred in the Holy Land to be canonized.
From AmericanCatholic.org
4 comments:
Hi...I just wanted to stop by and say that I love your blog. I have been a lurker for many a month now and enjoy your posts very much. Very inciteful and educational.
I see below that blogger has finally allowed one to tag a comment thread for email notification so maybe that will encourage me to comment more.
Thank you Southern Canuck. I am assured by several people that this blog is in fact read by some people. Every now and then we get posts that lead to several comments, but not often.
Abu Daoud & Co. are working on it!
-In 1391 Nicholas, Deodat, Peter of Narbonne and Stephen of Cuneo decided to take a direct approach to converting the Muslims. On November 11, 1391, they went to the huge Mosque of Omar in Jerusalem and asked to see the Qadi (Muslim official). Reading from a prepared statement, they said that all people must accept the gospel of Jesus. When they were ordered to retract their statement, they refused. After beatings and imprisonment, they were beheaded before a large crowd.-
That's one way to get a first-class ticket to Heaven!
The two ways of witnessing to Muslims outlined in the Rule of Francis (through works of kindness and through direct preaching and admonition) really show that there is a great variety in terms of how we should and can witness to Muslims.
This variety perdures even today among people who wish to see Muslims enter the Kingdom of God. Some use the Quran, some don't. Some avoid language like Trinity and Son of God (at least at first), and some just jump right into it. Some are very gentle, some are very confrontational while hopefully being respectful as well.
I personally would like to see more Franciscans engaging in preaching to the Muslims these days.
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