The Christians of Aleppo (Syria) are overjoyed on 6 July, Saturday. The reason was the priestly ordination of the Franciscans Johnny and George Jallouf, who are twin brothers.
The ordination took place through a prayer of consecration and the laying on of hands by the Apostolic Vicar of the Latins of Aleppo, Msgr. Hanna Jallouf, in the Church of St. Francis of Assisi in Aleppo, the most populous city in the country. Years earlier, the prelate had been kidnapped by the terrorist group Islamic State but was later released.
The two brothers recounted the most important stages they went through on their path to monastic and priestly vocations.
“I felt the first seeds of a vocation at the age of 15. At that time, my brother and I were regularly going to church and participating in its activities, especially in the Mass service. One day I was listening to a hymn with lyrics by St. Therese of the Child Jesus, and I was drawn to the phrase ‘in the heart of the Church, which is my mother, I will be loved; in this way I will be everything, and my desire will be fulfilled’, because at that time I was like any teenager full of emotions and feelings,” Johnny said.
He also said that he understood that God was calling him to something, but he told himself that he was still young and first wanted to fulfil his dream of studying medicine.
“But after about a year and a half, the idea of the calling came back when I once heard something like the Kingdom of Heaven, which is likened to a man who sold everything he had to acquire the pearl. After contemplating it, I understood that the pearl is none other than our God, whom I need to follow,” he said.
Johnny explained that after the start of the war in Syria, he wondered about the meaning of life and one day, while praying the Lord’s Prayer, he stopped at the phrase: “Thy will be done.” “Here an inner voice shook me, saying: You say: ‘Thy will be done,’ but you do your own thing.”
Moreover, when he once admired an image of the Heart of Jesus and held it in his hands, he wanted to look at what was behind the frame. Then, he read the phrase: “Give me the souls and take the rest.” “Later, I understood God’s wish that I be a doctor of souls and not of bodies. I have taken this phrase as the motto of my priestly service,” he explained.
George, for his part, said that he felt the call between the ages of 13 and 15, but did not take the idea seriously, realizing that he was still too young to enter the monastery, and because of his ambition to study film directing. Nor did it mean for him (until later) a dream in which he saw himself wearing the Franciscan robe and writing a prayer to St. Francis of Assisi near the altar.
“I was accompanied by a phrase from the Psalms: ‘I fear no evil for you are with me,’ so I asked God for strength to always be with Him (through prayer and serving at Mass). One time Johnny told me that he had decided to enter the monastery, and it was not long before I told him that I had the same feeling about this call, and I felt without thinking or planning it beforehand that there was a hand pushing me to make the decision to enter monastic life,” she said.
According to George, the motto he chose for his priestly service is: “For you I dedicate myself.” “It contains many stories and years of reflections and experiences that I lived in the presence of the Lord, especially in my ministry in Aleppo after the earthquake. When we look at this phrase, we may think at first glance that it is about us, but in reality, it is about the entire people and the Church. Furthermore, through this motto, I want to be the hands, feet, mouth and heart of Jesus.”
George explained: “Just as I experienced the hands of Jesus lifting me from my sin and embracing me as evidence of His love for me, so I want to be that instrument that connects God and people through the sacrament of the priesthood.”