I said "You are gods, sons of the Most High,
but you shall die like men and fall like princes."
OF GODS AND MEN
Lord, open my lips...
And my mouth will proclaim your praise...
Aspirin...
And cough syrup.
There's hot tea.
Help me, Papa.
- Brother Luc. - Nouredine, la bes?
And you?
Saturday is Jamel's khtana.
Will there be a party?
Yes. You're all invited.
- Will you come? - I'd love to.
See you later. Take care.
Yes, you too.
Little brat! You're here?
Not at school today?
Good.
It's almost dry.
Stop with the bandages.
Be sure to keep her out of the sun.
That would be dangerous. Forbidden.
Otherwise, all's well.
Little kiss.
What else?
I see.
It's serious.
Be right back.
Asleep, brother?
Here.
Guide us in the straight path
the path of those whom Thou hast blessed
not those against whom Thou art wrathful
nor those who are astray.
Amen.
The Messenger believes in what was sent down to him
from his Lord, and the believers:
each one believes in God, His angels...
His Books and His Messengers.
We make no division between any one of His Messengers.
They say: "We hear and obey.
"Lord, grant us Thy forgiveness.
"Unto Thee is the homecoming."
God charges no soul save to its capacity.
It will be rewarded for good it has done...
and punished for evil it has done.
Lord, take us not to task if we forget or make mistake.
Lord, charge us not with load...
such as Thou didst lay upon those before us.
Lord, do not burden us beyond what we have strength to bear.
And pardon us, and forgive us...
and have mercy on us.
Thou art our Protector.
And help us against people of the unbelievers.
(Honey of Atlas.)
How do you know when you're in love?
There's...
something inside you that comes alive.
The presence of someone.
It's irrepressible and makes your heart beat faster, usually.
It's an attraction, a desire...
It's very beautiful.
No use asking too many questions.
It just happens.
Things are as usual, then suddenly...
happiness arrives, or the hope of it.
It's lots of things.
But you're in turmoil.
Great turmoil.
Especially the first time.
Your father spoke to me about Khalid.
My father speaks to much.
I don't want that.
I feel none of the things you mentioned when I see Khalid.
That means it's not very serious.
My father wants it, not me.
That's another problem.
Ever been in love?
Several times, yes.
And then I encountered another love, even greater.
And I answered that love.
It's been a while now.
Over 60 years.
Here, you have to put your son's address.
He's no longer at home?
He lives far away now.
Here.
Abdullah...
Taroudi.
13th Etretat Street.
Le Havre.
And here they ask for two photos.
Do you have photos?
Listen, Tuesday we're going to the market.
We can take you along.
And have photos taken.
Okay?
My cousin from Mostaganem...
They killed her granddaughter.
This afternoon.
She's 18. Samira.
They stabbed her on the bus.
Right in the heart.
Those dogs.
They threw her out like a dog.
And for veil!
She didn't wear the hijab.
What's the problem with these people? It's beyond me.
Is that normal?
God says in the Koran:
You kill your brother, you go to hell.
They say they're religious. They've never read the Koran.
In the Koran, its written down.
Does it make sense to you?
Look at what's happening in France.
Schoolgirls make an uproar...
about wearing a veil.
The world's gone mad, Christian.
True.
They're killing imams too.
Yesterday they killed an imam in the street.
Where are we going?
I don't know who these people are. Only God knows.
This is new. No one understands.
Who's killing who?
We'll pray for Samira and her family.
May she go to Heaven.
It's not mine.
Whose then?
The hajji’s.
Get lost!
Kill him!
Beat it!
Are you stupid?
Christian!
- They killed the Croatians! - What?
Our friends, the Croat workers.
Throats slashed, all of them.
You need military protection.
That is not an option.
How can you say that? Those men were killed nearby!
The atrocities will continue.
The Wali's offer deserves to be discussed.
There are families here. Think of them.
I made my decision. I refuse.
Let's speak inside, all right?
We'll lock the gate at 7:30 and take no night calls.
Why do you think that's enough?
You don't know them.
Try to make him see reason.
Is your phone working?
Yes, we can't complain.
Call us before it's too late.
Because He is with us in this time of violence...
let us not dream that He is everywhere...
other than where we die.
Let us make no haste
Let us draw patience from him.
Let us turn to the Man of Sorrows.
Who beckons us from the cross...
Because he is with us as on Easter morn...
Let us not forgot...
the blood he shed.
Let us break the bread...
Let us drink from the chalice of passage...
Let us greet the one who sacrificed himself
by loving us until the end
Through him, with him and in him...
you shall receive, Almighty Father...
in the unity of the Holy Spirit...
all glory and honour, forever and ever.
How could you decide this without consulting us?
All our lives are at stake.
What would you have done?
I'd have let everyone speak and listened to each position.
To answer what, in the end?
The answer doesn't matter.
The very principle of community is compromised by your attitude.
All right, then, who wants the army present in the monastery?
You refuse to understand what we're saying.
I do understand very well!
None of us chose to live here...
to be protected by a corrupt government.
Christian...
we didn't elect you to decide on your own.
And if they come to monastery?
We lie down and die?
It's a risk.
We were called to live here.
In this country, with these people...
who are also afraid.
We will live with this unknown, yes.
I didn't come here to commit collective suicide.
Maybe we can try to figure out...
what each of us could do if they came here.
What's there to do?
Look at the Croatians.
Play hide-and-seek.
Cough.
Once more.
You'll outlive us all.
Hello, hajji.
Still got your head?
I don't care. They can have my head.
May I?
Sure. Be my guest.
The roads are blocked.
I won't go to Meznir today.
Not after what happened.
We don't need anything. I'll let you know.
Christmas is in a week.
You know it's important for us to be here together.
Thanks again.
Talk to you soon.
Accepting our powerlessness and our extreme poverty...
is an invitation, an urgent appeal to create with others...
relationships not based on power.
Recognizing my weaknesses, I accept those of others.
I can bear them, make them mine...
in imitation of Christ.
Such an attitude transform us for our mission.
Weakness in itself is not a virtue..
But the expression of a fundamental reality...
which must constantly be refashioned by faith...
hope and love.
The apostle's weakness is like Christ's...
rooted in the mystery of Easter...
and the strength of the spirit.
It is neither passivity
nor resignation.
It requires great courage...
and incites one to defend justice and truth...
and to denounce the temptation...
of force and power.
End of article.
New article.
By Carlo Carretto...
"The God Who is Coming."
Often throughout my life...
I've wondered how God could act so strangely.
Why does he stay silent to long?
Why is faith so bitter?
And nothing exists except love...
Except love which now begins...
By separating sand from water...
God has prepared earth like cradle...
For his coming from above...
This is the night...
Happy night in Palestine...
And nothing exists except Child...
Except the Child of life divine...
What do you want?
- Are you the Pope? - No.
Where's the Pope?
There's no Pope here.
Your leader, what's his name?
His name!
Brother Christian.
Christian!
Who are you? Christian?
Come on.
Here he is.
This is Christian.
What do you want?
This is a house of peace.
Are you Christian?
Yes.
No weapons allowed here.
If you wish to speak, you must leave them outside monastery.
Please.
I never part with mine.
Then follow me. We'll talk outside.
I need the doc.
He has to come with us.
Impossible.
I have 3 men wounded an hour away.
He can't leave here. He's sick. He's old and asthmatic.
Brother Luc sees patients at the clinic.
He tends to everyone who needs his help.
Their identity is not an issue and never will be.
That's all.
So you can give us medicine.
We're short on supplies.
We see 100 villagers a day.
Enough!
You have no choice!
Yes.
I do.
We can't give what we don't have.
Ask your brothers in the village. We live modestly.
With products we grow.
You know Koran?
"Those nearest in love to the believers...
"...are those who say 'We are Christians'...
"Among them are priests and monks."
Priests and monks...
and they wax not proud.
That's why we're close to our neighbours.
Come on, let's go.
Tonight is different from other nights.
Why?
It's Christmas.
We celebrate the birth of the Prince of peace.
The Prince of peace?
Sidna Aissa.
Jesus.
I'm sorry, then.
I didn't know.
Christophe?
Michel?
Come out now.
They're gone.
We're fine.
We made it.
Hold this down gently.
You can let go.
You'll be fine. Don't worry.
This is the night...
The immense night of origins...
And nothing exists except love...
Except love which now begins...
By separating sand from water...
God has prepared the earth like a cradle...
For his coming from above...
This is the night...
The happy night of Palestine...
And nothing exists except the Child...
Except the Child of life divine...
By taking flesh of our flesh...
God our desert did refresh...
And made a land of boundless spring...
This is the night...
The long night in which we grope...
And nothing exists except this place...
Except this place of ruined hope...
By stopping in our abode...
God, as with the bush, did forebode...
The world on which fire would fall...
Why...
why not give them medicine?
We have enough.
If you have medicine, I'd like to know about it.
We can't start negotiating.
Every day they'll ask for more.
I agree with Luc.
Don't forget, I was held at gunpoint.
If we stay, our lives would be at risk every day.
I became a monk to live.
Not to sit back and have my throat slit.
You're right, Célestin.
We shouldn't be seeking martyrdom.
Maybe we should leave.
Or at least take refuge in a safer place.
I think that Célestin...
is asking a good question.
They've come once. They'll be back sooner than we think.
The fact that you refused all their demands...
could be taken as a declaration of war.
Look what they did to Croatians.
If they'd wanted to kill us, we'd be dead already.
Maybe Fayattia isn't the only one who decides.
Maybe others will come back tomorrow.
There's another solution.
Leave for good.
We should each decide according to his own conscience.
Go back to France...
or to another, safer monastery in Africa.
To leave is to run away.
And to leave village to the terrorists.
We'd do it gradually...
so the villagers won't worry.
That won't change a thing.
The Good Shepherd doesn't abandon his flock to the wolves.
We should each express our opinion about leaving.
Jean-Pierre?
We stay.
Since when do we yield to arms?
Paul?
I think we should leave.
Gradually.
Célestin?
I'm ill. I want to leave.
Luc?
To leave is to die.
I'm staying.
Michel?
I have no one else, anywhere.
I'll stay.
Amédée?
I don't know yet.
We need to think...
and pray together.
I think we should leave.
And you, Christian?
I agree with Amédée. It's too early to decide.
Help will come from the Lord.
Who made heaven and earth.
We do not know your mystery...
Infinite Love...
But you do have a heart...
For you seek the prodigal son...
And hold against your breast...
This troublesome child...
Which is the world of mortals...
We do not see your face...
Infinite Love...
But you do have eyes...
For you weep through the oppressed...
And look upon us...
With a shining gaze...
That reveals your forgiveness...
I fear for the fate of this country.
Yesterday two women teachers were found murdered.
For telling teenagers falling in love is normal...
that they're allowed to.
It's a 15-year-old girl who tipped off the extremists.
We're as sad as you are.
What do you know?
This here is my country.
Besides being sad, I'm tired of not seeing it grow up.
And despite what you think, I blame French colonization.
That organized plundering.
This is for you.
Ministry of the Interior
They mean business.
They're giving you orders.
No one other than ourselves...
can decide that we must leave.
I'd have been surprised.
Really surprised.
Your stubbornness is getting dangerous.
Look at all these people.
They're at home here.
They're terrorized. They all wish they could leave.
But they have no choice, no money.
It's not cowardly to want to leave.
It's about being free.
Terror strikes Djelfa.
Sooner or later, it'll be you.
No one can control what's going on these days.
You'll end up becoming just another pawn.
Your sacrifice will eventually be exploited.
I've known you for years.
I have respect for you.
And for what your community has done.
But I would ask you to go back to France.
- Did your car break down? - Yes, it broke down.
Is any of you mechanic?
If you know how to fix it, be my guest.
Should I try?
- Should I try? - Is it in neutral?
You're in neutral? Go on, try.
All right, it's good. It's good.
Will the village need the army to protect it?
Because... they'll be back someday.
Forget the army!
It's a disaster.
The army won't come.
The protection is you.
This village grew up with the monastery.
What was the name of that priest, before?
A while back, before the war.
Brother Bernard?
No, no, no. Another one. Old.
Brother Daniel.
That's him.
Brother Daniel.
He told my mother not to stay here.
To move to a city. There was no more work here.
She made him swear to say nothing to my father.
Because my mother, she feels good living here.
Comfortable.
We may be leaving.
Why are you leaving?
We're like birds on a branch.
We don't know if we'll leave.
We're the birds.
You're the branch.
If you go, we lose our footing.
Forgive us our trespasses...
as we forgive those...
who trespass against us...
and lead us not into temptation...
but deliver us from evil. Amen.
Let us bless the Lord...
We render thanks unto Him...
So you want to leave?
I was thinking that.
I wonder what my life would be.
Your family, in France?
They're worried?
I'm not sure they realize what's going on here.
I haven't said anything.
The last time I saw them, it was strange.
What do you mean?
We celebrated my mom's 80th birthday at the restaurant.
I saw everyone.
My sisters were there...
nephews, nieces, my god-daughter.
Everyone was talking, telling stories.
Taking pictures.
They know that's not my thing.
I was there, listening. I was happy.
They put me next to my mom.
And at the same time...
I was totally out of it.
I was thinking...
if I stopped everything, if...
I could move back home.
Get back to work, plumbing.
Town council...
fire department, chorus.
Then I thought: no, that's not possible.
My life's over here.
Here. With you.
Christian's teaching today was interesting.
Don't you think?
Did you understand anything?
Fuck off!
Okay.
Just tired. Not his fault.
"There was a time when French toe-punt was crummy...
"...and its Irish equivalent a mere display of folklore.
"When these damned men didn't know what to do with their ten digits...
"...but were great at bending the rules to piss everyone off."
Is that all?
"Even though we agree with Mr. Briscou...
"...that our amiable guests...
"never closed the game out...
"...we still wonder whether they prefer, deep down...
"...the dervish-like scrums..."
"...and bleak brawls of yesteryear.
"Back when players still cared about not being...
"...naughty old men."
A little more.
Help me, help me.
Don't abandon me.
Don't abandon me. Please.
Help me.
Not very pretty. I got infected.
Tell him I'll be giving him two shots.
An antibiotic and a tetanus shot.
He is in pain. He needs medicine.
I will give him a tranquilizer.
Let's clean this up.
You'll be fine.
Glory be to the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit...
World without end...
Save us, Lord...
Whilst we watch...
Keep us, Lord...
Whilst we sleep...
And we shall watch with Christ...
And we shall rest in peace...
I'm worn out.
Does Amédée help out?
Fortunately. I don't know how I'd manage otherwise.
I've never had so many visits.
I'm up to 150 a day. Can you imagine?
People come from everywhere around.
I'm dealing with new pathologies.
Lots of hypertension. They're stressed.
Some are in state of shock.
Not to mention the effect on the kids.
The villagers may talk about these men we help.
Be careful.
Throughout my career I've met all sorts of different people.
Including Nazis.
And even...
the devil.
I'm not scared of terrorists, even less of the army.
And I'm not scared of death. I'm a free man.
Let the free man through!
My men tied him to a truck...
dragged him through the city.
People jumped for joy.
Lucky for him he was dead.
Why didn't you stop them?
Stop them?
Lots of people in the crowd were victims of his atrocities.
Their families.
Friends who died.
Many innocent people.
Disgraceful. No one should be treated this way.
Want to know his favourite torture?
Fayattia and others like him deserve no compassion.
You're very indulgent with the terrorists.
Overindulgent.
Rumour has it he was shielding the monastery.
Did you ever treat them?
Where did you find him?
Two days ago, the Wali's car was ambushed.
Near Tikrit.
The terrorists got away.
We found a wounded man on the ground.
His friends ditched him like a dog.
He talked about his mother.
Said his name was Fayattia.
My men let him suffer.
He died before we could make him our trophy.
How can you be sure it's him?
Why do you think I asked you here?
So?
It's him.
Get out. Go on.
Outside.
I sleep badly.
The slightest noise wakes me.
I think over my life.
My choices.
As a kid I wanted to be a missionary.
Dying for my faith shouldn't keep me up nights.
Dying here...
here and now...
does it serve a purpose?
I don't know.
I feel like I'm going mad.
It's true that staying here...
is as mad as becoming a monk.
Remember.
You've already given your life.
You gave it by following Christ.
When you decided to leave everything.
Your life...
your family, your country.
The family you could have raised.
I don't know if it's true anymore.
I pray.
And I hear nothing.
I don't get it.
Why be martyrs?
For God?
For be a heroes?
To prove we're the best?
We're martyrs out of love, out of fidelity.
If death...
overtake us, despite ourselves...
because up to the end...
up to the end we'll try to avoid it...
our mission here is to be brothers to all.
Remember that love...
is eternal hope.
Love endures everything.
I'm sorry.
Like parched earth...
I stand before you, Lord...
O Lord, hear my prayer...
Listen to my cry for mercy...
In your faithfulness, answer me...
Enter not into judgement with your servant...
For no man living is righteous before You...
The enemy persecutes my soul...
He has smitten my life to the ground...
He has made me dwell in darkness...
With those long dead...
My spirit grows faint within me...
My heart within me, dismayed...
Answer me quickly, O Lord...
My spirit fails...
Do not hide your face from me...
Lest I be like them who fall into pit...
We've received so many letters recently.
People are worried.
I can't answer them all.
There's that French journalist who wants to meet us.
I don't know what to tell her.
We shouldn't expose ourselves further by doing publicity.
Of course, but...
it's a way of making people understand our choices.
To show that...
amid all this drama, for people here...
still there's reason for hope.
You know, hope is not what interests journalists.
It doesn't mobilize them.
Exactly.
Maybe we should mobilize them.
I suggest we take a vote.
To see if we're all of one mind.
Who wants to leave?
I've already told you my position on this matter...
and my calling is to be here, with everyone.
I don't see myself leaving.
Leaving would lead nowhere.
I'm not ready to leave myself.
Last night I thought about leaving.
I'm not comfortable with it.
Not at peace.
Deciding to run of like that makes no sense.
We didn't come here for our own personal interest.
I still think that our mission here is not finished.
I'm staying.
I prayed all morning while I was cooking.
The disciple...
is not above his master.
This is no time for me to stray.
Let God set the table here.
For everyone.
Friends and enemies.
And you, Christian?
Wild flowers don't move to find the sun's rays.
God makes them fecund...
wherever they are.
Who...
prefers to stay?
You.
You envelop me, hold me, surround me.
You embrace me.
And I love you.
- Where do you live? - In town.
- ID. - I don't have on me.
- Where do you live? - Just nearby.
- ID. - I don't have them.
- Where do you live? - The village.
Stop this nonsense!
These women and children are here to be treated.
This is not a police station!
Enough!
Unbelievable.
Sit down.
Follow me.
I recently read this pensée of Pascal's:
"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully...
"...as when they do it from religious conviction."
Here it is mayhem...
and violence.
We are in a high-risk situation...
but we persist in our faith and our confidence in God.
It is through poverty, failure and death...
that we advance towards him.
Heavy devastating downpours...
have put no damper on the spread of violence.
Two opponents, one clutching onto power...
the other out to seize it.
They'll fight to the bitter end.
I don't know when or how it will end.
In the meantime, I do my duty...
Caring for the poor and the sick...
awaiting the day I close my eyes. Dear friend...
pray for me, that my leaving this world...
will pass in peace and joy of Jesus.
O Father...
Of light...
Eternal light...
And source of all light...
You illuminate us, at the threshold of night...
With the radiance of your face...
The shadows, for you...
Are not shadows...
For you, night...
Is as clear as day...
May our prayers before you...
Rise like incense...
And our hands like the evening offering...
Welcome, Bruno.
Célestin.
Christophe.
Hello, Luc.
Jean-Pierre.
Amédée.
- Hosts. - For me.
For us.
For us all.
Medicine.
For Luc.
Lots of medicine.
- You found it? - I found your book.
Is it the right one?
"The Chosen".
- And from me. - Cheese!
Any news of Brother Didier?
Of course he said to say hello.
And I have a letter for you.
Thank you. So how was your trip?
How long was it?
It took a while to come from the diocese.
At least 3 hours. There were 3 checkpoints!
Between the last two checkpoints...
there was a bus burning on the roadside.
Smoke coming out of it.
And we didn't know if the checkpoints...
were real or fake.
On the way here...
as we got closer, there were fewer vehicles.
Many soldiers?
Yes, near the checkpoints.
They were all very tense.
Out of the question to speak to them.
- How do we stand? - However we want.
Short ones up front.
Squeeze in closer.
Ready?
Set.
Let's take another.
Smile a little.
I've often thought of that time.
That time...
when Ali Fayattia and his men left.
Once they were gone...
all we had left to do was to live.
And the first thing we did...
was...
two hours later.
We celebrated the Christmas Vigil and Mass.
It's what we had to do.
It's what we did.
And we sang the Mass.
We welcomed that child who was born for us...
absolutely helpless and...
and already so threatened.
Afterwards...
we found salvation in undertaking our daily tasks.
The kitchen...
garden...
the prayers, the bells.
Day after day.
We had to resist the violence.
And day after day, I...
I think each of us...
discovered...
that to which Jesus Christ...
beckons us.
It's...
to be born.
Our identities as men...
go from one birth to another.
And from birth to birth, we'll each end up...
bringing to the world the child of God that we are.
The Incarnation, for us...
is to allow the filial reality of Jesus...
to embody itself in our humanity.
The mystery of Incarnation remains...
what we are going to live.
In this way what we've already lived here takes root...
as well as...
what we're going to live...
in the future.
Whoever tries to save his life shall lose it...
and whoever shall lose it, preserves it.
I tell you...
on that night, two people shall be in one bed.
One shall be taken, the other left.
Two women shall be grinding grain together.
One shall be taken...
the other left.
The disciples asked him:
"Where, Lord?"
He answered:
"Where there is a body...
"...there too the vultures shall gather."
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
The body of Christ.
Lord, blessed art thou for this meal which unites us as brothers...
now and...
World without end.
Hurry up!
Move!
Hurry, faster!
Hurry, get dressed.
I just get here.
I can't.
I said don't push!
Careful with that medicine. It's for children, not you.
It's very precious.
Stop pushing me! That's enough!
Calm down!
I am brother Paul.
A monk at the Monastère de l'Atlas.
And I'm in good health.
I am Brother Célestin.
I'm 63.
A monk at the Monastère de l'Atlas.
I'm in good health.
Your turn, Luc.
My name is Brother Luc.
From the Monastère de l'Atlas.
I heard what they're saying on the news.
I've been taken hostage...
with my colleagues by the Jama...
What's it called?
Islamiyya.
Jama Islamiyya, that's it.
Your turn, Christian.
In the early hours of Friday morning...
the Mujahideen read us the bayan of the Jama Islamiyya Musallaha...
Signed by?
Signed by Abu Abderrahamane Amine.
It says we're being held hostages...
and demands that the French government...
free hostages belonging to their group...
in exchange for our liberation.
This exchange is non-negotiable.
Did you hear?
Should it ever befall me...
and it could happen today...
to be a victim of the terrorism swallowing up all foreigners here...
I would like my community...
my church...
my family...
to remember that my life was given to God and to this country...
That the Unique Master of all life...
was no stranger to this brutal departure.
And that my death is same as so many other violent ones...
consigned to the apathy of oblivion.
I've lived enough to know...
I am complicit in the evil that, alas...
prevails over the world...
and the evil that will smite me blindly.
I could never desire such a death.
I could never feel gladdened that these people I love...
be accused randomly of my murder.
I know the contempt felt for people here...
indiscriminately.
And I know how Islam is distorted by certain Islamism.
This country, and Islam, for me...
are something different.
They're a body and a soul.
My death, of course...
will quickly vindicate those who called me naive...
or idealistic...
but they must know that I will be freed...
of a burning curiosity...
and, God willing, will immerse my gaze in the Father's...
and contemplate with him his children of Islam...
as he sees them.
This thank-you which encompasses my entire life...
includes you, of course...
friends of yesterday and today...
and you too, friend of the last minute...
who knew not what you were doing.
Yes, to you as well...
I address this thank-you...
and this farewell...
wish you envisaged.
May we meet again...
happy thieves in Paradise...
if it pleases God...
the Father of us both.
Amen.
Insha'llah.
Christian, Luc, Christophe, Célestin, Paul, Michel and Bruno...
were killed on May 21, 1996.
The identity of their murderers...
and the circumstances of their deaths...
remain a mystery.
Amédée died on July 27, 2008.
Jean-Pierre is still alive. He is now 86.