György Hiba SJ spent his third probation - the school of the heart - in Lebanon from September 2023 to May of this year, which is called Tertianship. He dedicated this period to Nicolas Kluiters. The Dutch Jesuit - who came to Lebanon in the 1970s - was kidnapped and killed by Muslim extremists in 1985. Tertianship takes place at the end of the Jesuit formation, through which Jesuits must grow into the apostolic body of the Society. In other words, the focus of this period is apostolate, but at least as important is reconciliation, which helps to get from one person to another. During the tertianship, the spiritual training takes place under the guidance of a tertianship master. At such times, Jesuits are thrown out of his usual patterns and confronts himself: he prepares for his Jesuit vocation in a foreign environment, with previously unknown companions. György SJ Hiba participated in the probation with thirteen fellow Jesuits from different countries. As he said, they quickly got over the differences due to their nationality. They helped and supported each other. During the tertianship, problems that seemed to have been resolved resurfaced.

György Hiba then spoke a few words about Lebanon. In the Lebanese flag, white is a symbol of peace, while red is a reminder of the blood of the martyrs. In the middle of the flag is the cedar, of which we can see a lot in the country, some specimens can live up to a thousand years.

There is no social welfare system in the country. György Hiba met Elias in Beirut, who with his companion visits the elderly, rich and poor alike. One day he also accompanied Elias, blessing the extremely open and kind people. The windows of an elderly aunt's apartment were broken in the 2020 explosion, causing serious wounds, the consequences of which she is still suffering. Beirut, which used to be a bustling, rich city, has no tourists these days. György Hiba visited the Jesuit monastery here and in Bikfaiya. Lebanon's popular saint Saint Charbel, whose tomb was also visited in Annaya. György Hiba told us that the pilgrims came and went during the Mass, some of them put the altar cross on their heads.

After the terrorist attack on Israel, Lebanon was also targeted because the airport is under the control of Hezbollah. This is also why György Hiba had to go to Armenia with the Missionaries of Charity (Sisters of Mother Teresa). Finally, after a detour in Rome - where he helped the local sisters - he managed to get to Armenia, closer to Spitak. The sisters came here after a severe earthquake, they wanted to help physically and mentally injured people. Recently, refugees from Karabakh came to the small houses built here. György Hiba held religious classes and catechesis here, even for children. Later, he also served in Yerevan, where the sisters work with orphans who were abandoned by their parents because they were born with a disability. Together with volunteers, the nurses care for them: they give them love and human dignity. György Hiba said: the experience of this period was that the distinction (to know what comes from God and what does not ) - which is perhaps already clear to the soul - must also appear in thinking. The Jesuit priest also reached Georgia. A handful of Catholic minorities live there, and the attitude of Russian-influenced Orthodoxy is not ecumenical, to put it mildly.

At the end of the Tertianship, already back in Lebanon, he had to think about everything he had experienced, he had to reflect on his Jesuit status. György Hiba emphasized that he realized that he should not dwell on the tasks of the coming period, but should recognize what brings him closer to Jesus Christ. In one of the presented images, we see a statue of the Virgin Mary sitting calmly. "Here we encounter a rarely depicted scene: Mary is waiting for her Son. We, Christians, must realize that it is waiting for us too." György Hiba also emphasized that all our thoughts should start from the cross of Christ, as we see in the Armenian depictions. On these, the cross is more like a tree, from whose branches sprout the buds of spiritual life.

 Photos: Merényi Zita

Baranyai Béla/Magyar Kurír