Ike Manduric – Croatia, the War, and the Future

Simultaneous worldwide prayers by Croats 11 April 2020
Top left: Father Ike Manduric
Photo: Screenshot

The Easter story is the story of hope. Easter Sunday is one of the most festive events among Christians worldwide. It commemorates Jesus Christ’s resurrection. The knowledge and sight of Jesus’ crucifixion more than 2000 years ago initially brought a sudden halt to so much hope and promise in the lives of his living, ardent followers. And the resurrection of Jesus has instilled in his followers, to this day, a story of overcoming darkness and despair, and finding new life and hope.

Easter invites all of us to believe in the transforming power of love.

At a time in our world where fear is a natural response, the Easter season encourages us to look towards love and life. We look for the generous and life-giving response of our health care and community service workers who continue to care for others; who continue to place their own life at risk so that the destruction sowed worldwide by Covid-19 coronavirus may be eradicated. We look at ourselves, we look at our neighbours, we look at our community and we give and expect sacrifice by adhering to strict rules of social isolation and limited movements. We look to the generosity of neighbours, as people help one another with shopping, phone calls and staying in touch. We look to the willingness of our community leaders working together to realise better outcomes for us all. To nourish our souls, we look at our religious institutions and church leaders to provide us and join us in prayer and celebration and the joy of Easter, even if at a distance via video or audio technology.

It is at times of disaster and fear of losing our lives, our loved ones’ lives, that our needs to belong, which are constantly present in all of us as human beings, become highly acute. And while there are multitudes of examples how people have come together despite the Covid-19 restrictions, one that caught my attention, naturally, are the events of simultaneous coming together online in prayer of thousands of Croats living across the world and all the continents. On Saturday 4^th April 2020 Croats across the world gathered together in simultaneous rosary for healing, fighting the Covid-19 pandemic and restoring faith on the youtube channel “For Eternal Glory“, initiated by Father Ike Manduric from Croatia, one of the most prominent Jesuit priests in Croatia well known for his spiritual guidance and deeds of goodness for the people. The Rosary was led by Father Ike Manduric then and also on last Saturday 11 April 2020 and it is to be continued.

This is how Father Manduric announced on 2 April 2020 the worldwide simultaneous prayer of the Rosary:

“Dear emigrated Croatians! Dear Croats in the Homeland, My people – separated!

These days, when even those who live side by side cannot spend time together, all of us Croats yearn for one another. And then, how much is the longing of those who had to part from their homeland, and how much is the Homeland’s longing for those who had to leave it? This is a time of yearning to meet, so our thoughts fly to you.

Where are you, how are your hearts, do you think of us? How is your faith, hope, love, wisdom? Have the seductions and difficulties of the world pressed upon you? Do you think of the Homeland? Do you manage to raise your children, preserve the language and religion, instil in them humanity, the Croatian soul? Are you scared?

And we know that you equally touch in thoughts the land you left behind, or your fathers and grandparents. Separated, but together in the soul… Wherever we are, we are all burdened by same worries, and especially these days we see and feel how fragile we are. In particular, we, as a small nation, must today be comforted by one another, in prayer, with our God, and by the robes of the Virgin Mary, whom we have carried in our hearts across the oceans and continents, with the love and prayers we have learned in the homeland.

The big pandemic is ravaging the world, shaking all the world’s powerful, all systems are tottering, and every human fragility is showing. In addition to this anguish, our main city of all Croats was badly damaged (in earthquakes), churches were badly damaged, the Cathedral damaged, apartments destroyed. With all the anguish and pain that we feel as we remain attached to our Homeland, these present ones must hurl us together to gather around the Mother of Heaven, for, though we are separated, we are one people and we are one. Let’s be together with her, all of us Croats from every continent, priests and people of God. And let us pour out all the crying of our souls. Thanks to the power of grace that dear God has bestowed upon our people, we ask that our people be elevated and thoroughly renewed through this crisis:

for faith, to remain true to God and our Catholic Church
to end the pandemic and rebuild Zagreb
for our diaspora, to preserve its identity and its values
for the future of all Croatian people and their offspring
and for each of us with all our needs.

I invite you, dear Croats from all over the world, all those whom I have met across Canada, America, Australia and Europe, and all those whom I have not, and I equally love you all: Let’s gather together and perhaps for the first time all together and at the same time pray the rosary, all Croats of the world, for God’s grace and salvation, for all the world as well as for all the difficulties that have afflicted our Croatia – from earthquakes to coronavirus and all the current crosses of this generation.”

If you the reader of this post, your family or friends wish to join in this rosary it is organised via Youtube channel “Za vječnu slavu” (For Eternal Glory) every Saturday, 14.00 hrs Zagreb/Croatia time.