The Holy Mass was led by the Bishop of Dubrovnik, Msgr. Roko Glasnović, with the concelebration of the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Vrhbosna, Msgr. Slađan Ćosić, the director of the Catholic School Centre in Sarajevo, Rev. Mario Ćosić, the rector of this monastery church, Rev. Darko Endrich, and 11 priests.

At the beginning of the Holy Mass, Rev. Endrich greeted those present, among whom were numerous nuns, especially the Daughters of God's Love, in whose monastery church the Holy Mass was celebrated, and which is the place of veneration of the Blessed Drina Martyrs.

He encouraged the community to use this celebration to renew faith, love and hope in God in everyone, and "may the intercession of the blessed martyrs help us, like them, to be witnesses of Christ's love in this world."

Proof of love

In his sermon on the occasion, Monsignor Glasnović spoke about love, saying that man cannot live without it. "Man remains an incomprehensible being in himself, his life is devoid of meaning if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not experience it and if he does not make it his own", explained Bishop Roko.

He then explained of why the Church celebrates martyrs, saying that they are a sign of the greatest love, witnesses who follow Christ even to the point of giving their own lives.

"A martyr does not die for himself, but before those who persecute him, he wants to testify to his faith in the Risen One as the ultimate truth in the sense of existence, therefore, Christians have been called from the beginning and will always be called to give this greatest testimony before persecutors. Martyrdom, by which a martyr conforms himself to Christ the Teacher, is considered by the Church to be an exceptional gift and supreme proof of love. Martyrdom is the only true criterion of the sincerity of faith”, said Msgr. Glasnović.

We Need Jesus

He then spoke about persecution, saying that the Catholic Church is the most persecuted group in the world today. That is, there are more than 340 million persecuted Christians, that is, every eighth Christian has experienced persecution or discrimination, and “it seems that this number is increasing.”

“There are many persecuted, many tired. Perhaps we too are tired of suffering and the cross. Some of each other, some of ourselves. Tired of the news, of blackness and yellowness. Tired of gossip and slander, prejudice and condemnation, of lack of culture. Tired of sin. We are also tired of a God who does not look the way we would like, does not act the way we would like. He turns his face, speaks of the cross (…) We need the Lord, we need Jesus. We need Jesus in order to use our freedom properly, to be in solidarity, as the sisters were. We cannot be well if our neighbour is not well”, emphasized Bishop Roko, calling on the faithful to follow the example of the Drina martyrs, who “saw Christ in everyone, in word and deed”, to come out of themselves because that is a calling, “and if we love, then the motto of every disciple is: But not my will, but yours be done.”

At the end of the Holy Mass, the priests present in the procession headed to the image of the Blessed Ones, where they prayed for their canonization.

The Holy Mass celebration was animated by the choir of theologians from the Vrhbosna Theological Seminary Stjepan Hadrović under the direction of Rev. Ivan Rako.

Let us mention that the celebration was preceded by a three-day period with Holy Masses and appropriate sermons led in the evening hours by: Rev. Bojan Ivešić, Rev. Željko Marić and Rev. Branko Jurić.

Before each Holy Mass, the rosary and litany of the Blessed Drina Martyrs were prayed.

Let us recall that on December 15^th, 1941, five martyred sisters, members of the Congregation of the Daughters of God's Love from the monastery in Pale near Sarajevo, were kidnapped by Chetniks and taken to Goražde. The sisters were killed between December 15^th and 23^rd "out of hatred for the faith" in the territory of eastern Bosnia.

Word of their martyrdom spread quickly. The archdiocesan procedure for their beatification was opened in Sarajevo in December 1999, and in January 2011, Pope Benedict XVI approved their beatification. The solemn act of beatification took place on September 24^th, 2011 in Sarajevo, when the Holy Mass in the Zetra Hall was celebrated by the then Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Angelo Amato.