Pope Francis preaching [Wikipedia]
That all who suffer loneliness may experience the closeness of God and the support of others.
Statue of St Columbanus in Luxeuil, France
Yesterday morning, 12 October, Cardinal Seán Brady, retired archbishop of Armagh, Ireland, was the Principal Celebrant at Mass at the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome, at the opening of the Jubilee Year to mark the 1400th anniversary of the death of Saint Columbanus. The Irish missionary saint, also known as ‘Columban’, died in Bobbio in northern Italy, on 23 November 1615. He is the patron saint of the Missionary Society of St Columban, formally established in 1918.
Cardinal Seán Brady [Wikipedia]
Pope Francis greeted the pilgrim group marking the centenary at the end of his address today after praying the Angelus.
Interior of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome [Wikipedia]
Here is the homily of Cardinal Brady, published in Zenit.
I am very pleased to see you all here in Rome, in this beautiful Church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva. We are here to celebrate the opening of the Jubilee Year of Saint Columbanus. The Jubilee Year commemorates the 1400th anniversary of the death of that great monk and missionary, who died in Bobbio in AD615.
The Jubilee Year was opened yesterday in the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, after the arrival and solemn reception of the relics of the saint from Bobbio, followed by a Mass, celebrated by Cardinal Vallini, Vicar General of Pope Francis for the Diocese of Rome.
Monastery ruins at Annegray, France [Wikipedia]
In a sense, the ceremony brought closure finally to the earthly pilgrimage of Columbanus who ardently desired to reach Rome, but failed to do so since he died at Bobbio – a diocese and a city which not only preserves his mortal remains, but admirably keeps alive his memory, example and spirit to this day.
In fact, we Irish are profoundly touched by the fact that so many parishes in Italy and elsewhere, so reverently keep alive the memory of Columbanus – an outstanding monk and missionary and saint.
Basilica of San Colombano, Bobbio, Italy [Wikipedia]
I remember the first time I visited Bobbio – some 50 years ago and the warm welcome we received – simply because we were Irish. I remember the bunch of fresh flowers placed on his tomb – clear proof that someone, with a grateful heart, after all the centuries, had remembered the poor abbot – come from a distance to announce the Good News.
But what has Columbanus to say to us – citizens of the third millennium – after fourteen centuries? Sure, Columbanus is far distant from us in time and space, but the relevance of his thought and spirituality is extraordinary. This was underlined by Saint John Paul II in a message to the people of Luxeuil in 1990 to commemorate the foundation of the monastery there by Columbanus fourteen hundred years earlier when the Holy Father wrote:
You are recalling a past that is still alive and recognising the gift, given by God, to the Church, in the person of great pioneers like Saint Columbanus. For the Lord has marvellously combined in Saint Columbanus, love of evangelisation, devotion to monastic life and the fullness of human dignity.
Abbatial Palace, Luxeuil, France [Wikipedia]
In this Mass of Thanksgiving, we too express our gratitude to God for the gift of the faith and for the goodness of all those who played any part in handing onto to us the Good News.
To help us to do so better, we recall the example of Columbanus. During the long years of being a monk in the monastery of Bangor and earlier in Cleenish – it obviously became clear to him that, in every age, the Church is called to make all its members disciples and missionaries of Christ – Christ who is the way – the truth and the life. So he sought the permission of his Abbot – the renowned Comgal – to leave the Monastery of Bangor and to set out as a pilgrim for Christ. Abbot Comgall eventually agreed and so it was that Columbanus set out, on his missionary journey, accompanied by twelve brothers from the community. So there began the long journey which would take them first to present-day France, then Germany, Switzerland, Austria and finally to Bobbio in Italy. It was the summer of 592 – Columbanus would have been fifty years of age and rather old for such an adventure in conditions of those days.
St Columbanus, stained glass window, Bobbio Abbey crypt [Wikipedia]
Over the next twenty years he founded a number of monasteries: Annagray and Luxeuil, in France; Bregenz in Austria and Bobbio here in Italy.
Saint John Paul II often called for a new evangelisation of Europe after the decline in faith of recent decades. Saint Columbanus could be seen as a model and a patron of this new evangelisation. His missionary work could also be described as a second, and new, announcing of the Good News after the damage inflicted by the invasions from abroad and by the fall of the Roman Empire in the West. Columbanus and his monks brought the light of faith to people who, themselves, in turn became evangelisers until Europe became, once more, a Christian continent.
Everywhere he went, Columbanus remained devoted to the monastic way of life. He founded monasteries; he wrote his own Monastic Rule. It can be truly said that the ways opened up through Europe, and the monasteries founded by him, were often the places where, later on, the Benedictine rule would flourish. With Saint Benedict, he helped to lay the basis for the European Monasticism of the Middle Ages.
The rule of Columbanus recommended that the monks should confess privately, and often, to one particular confessor. It was an effort to address the crisis that flowed from having only public confessions which were rarely celebrated more than once in a lifetime. Perhaps he has something to say to all of us today on that topic.
Columbanus loved the monastic life of prayer and contemplation; the silence and the solitude; the fasts and the penance. He would have seen them not alone as the golden way to a closer union with God but also as the indispensable pre-requisite of successful conversion and the winning of hearts and minds to the following of Christ.
It is the same spirituality that saw Saint Thérèse become the Patroness of the Missions because of her prayers and sacrifices on behalf of the missions. There can be no renewal of faith that is not preceded by a renewal of prayer because to evangelise is to transmit life and is the fruit of holiness.
Bregenz, Austria [Wikipedia]
In Saint Peter’s Basilica there is a mosaic dedicated to Saint Columbanus. It bears the inscription – If you take away freedom you take away dignity. The phrase is taken from one of the letters of Columbanus. Indeed it is something that could have been written, not only by a seventh century missionary, but also by a citizen of today’s world, where so many people live in terrible conditions of slavery, fear and oppression. In addition to the ancient forms of oppression such as war, poverty, loneliness, violence and exile, the modern world has new forms of slavery such as drug and alcohol addition, which are particularly destructive of human dignity.
The glory of God is the human person – fully alive. Columbanus succeeded in uniting faith with human dignity and freedom. These are the values on which, for centuries, the identity of Europe was founded and without which the Europe of today risks failing to have a future. May the jubilee year of Saint Columbanus, as well as his life and his writings, inspire all of us to strive for the defence of basic human rights for all.
We make our own the prayer of Saint John Paul II who, writing to the people of Luxeuil, expressed the hope that all who would commemorate the great founder of their famous abbey would be spurred to even greater fidelity to Christ and enthusiasm for His Kingdom.
My hope and prayer is: that by participating in this pilgrimage and Jubilee celebrations, and through the intercession of Saint Columbanus, we may all draw closer to Christ – the way, the truth and the life.
AMEN
The Missionary Sisters of St Columbans, better known as the Columban Sisters, have just celebrated the 90th Anniversary of their foundation in Ireland 90 years ago. As we thank God for their service to the Church may we contine to pray for the Sisters and the people they serve in many countries.
Find out more about the Columban Sisters on their website: www.columbansisters.org
[Thanks to Sr Anne Carbon SSC .]
To ignore the Muslim voice is a sin of omission
This article appeared in the 21 September printed issue of Sunday Examiner, the English-language newspaper of the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong. The editor is Australian Columban Fr James Mulroney.
HONG KONG (SE): While the Islamic State continues its rampage of violence and death in Syria and Iraq the voices of Christians and secular authorities have been loud in their condemnation, but where are the Muslim voices?
The Vatican Insider reflects that this may have more to do with a reluctance on the part of the world to listen to their words than their silence. It quotes the Jesus magazine as calling this a sin of omission.
There are Muslims who have paid with their lives in protecting their Christian neighbours and, while these are often referred to as moderates in the western media, it is too weak a term to describe heroes who are martyrs for what they believe in.
“Many Sunni Muslims have raised their voices against the Islamic State, even though this is not always mentioned in the media,” the Jesuit international monthly, Populi, writes in its September issue.
“This is not just the case in the west, but also in more conservative Muslim countries,” it continues.
It quotes the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdul Aziz ibn Abdullah Al-Sheikh, as calling both the Islamic State and Al Qaeda the number one enemies of Islam on August 19.
The grand mufti added that they do not share the common faith of all Muslims.
Populi also points out that the Wahhabi movement, which backs the Saudi Arabian regime, does share some of the doctrines subscribed to by the Islamic State, but has made it clear that it does not support its violent approach and the destabilising threat it poses.
The Italian Jesuit monthly also lists the Grand Mufti of Al-Azhar, from Egypt; and Shawqi Allam, as denouncing the Islamic State as a threat to Islam.
It then quotes the head of Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate, Mehmet Görmez, as saying, “The statement made against Christians is truly awful. Islamic scholars need to focus on this, (because it is) an inability to peacefully sustain other faiths and cultures and heralds the collapse of a civilisation.”
Missione Oggi, a magazine published by the Saverian missionaries of Brescia in Italy, adds, “Iraq’s Muslims are not all Islamic State extremists. Many are Muslims who want peace. Some have even died to defend Christians in Mosul.”
It goes on to tell the story of Mahmoud al ‘Asali, a professor of law who lectured on pedagogy at the University of Mosul
.
“He was killed, because he had the courage to tell Islamic State militants that is not the kind of Islam he believed in. He was fully aware of the risk he was running in stating this publicly. He refused to become an accomplice to violence and paid for this with his life.”
The Jesus magazine, in a column in its September issue, East East East, calls the poor media coverage of Al ‘Asali’s murder a sin of omission.
A monthly magazine published by Edizioni San Paolo explains, “His story shows that there are Muslims who are on the side of persecuted Christians. They are often referred to as moderates, but this is too weak an adjective when one considers the incredibly high price such people often pay.”
The latest Muslim voices to the condemnation of the Islamic State come out of France. CWNews describes what is dubbed the Paris Appeal issued on September 9 at the Grand Mosque in Paris as “unambiguously denouncing those terrorist acts, which are crimes against humanity and solemnly declaring that these groups, their supporters and their recruits cannot lay claim to Islam.”
The statement condemns what are referred to as barbarians for brutality, saying, “Their rash calls for Jihad and their campaigns to indoctrinate young people are not faithful to the teachings and values of Islam.”
The Paris Appeal is signed by Dalil Boubakeur, the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris and president of the French Council of the Muslim Faith; Anouar Kbibech, the president of the Assembly of French Muslims; Abderrahmane Dahmane, the president of the Council of French Muslims; and several others.
St Teresa of Ávila, Filippo della Valle, 1754
St Peter’s Basilica, Vatican [Web Gallery of Art]
St Teresa of Ávila, who lived from 1515 to 1582 in Spain, could never have imagined the internet, though if she were around today I’m certain that she’d be involved in this digital continent, as Pope Benedict calls it, and as a woman who travelled considerably, despite being a contemplative nun, she would certain journey along the digital highways – las ‘calles’ digitales – of Pope Francis.
Eighty-three followers of St Teresa, Discalced Carmelite nuns from 24 countries, recently created a virtual choir to sing and record the saint’s poem Nada te turbe – Let nothing disturb you. Sr Claire Sokol of the Carmelites in Reno, Nevada, wrote the music.
by St Teresa of Ávila
Nada te turbe,
nada te espante,
todo se pasa,
Dios no se muda;
la pacienciatodo lo alcanza;
quien a Dios tiene
nada le falta:
Sólo Dios basta.
Let nothing disturb you,
let nothing frighten you,
everything passes,
but God stays.
Patience reaches it all;
he who has God
nothing lacks:
God alone suffices.
Eleva tu pensamiento,
al cielo sube,
por nada te acongojes,
nada te turbe.
Lift your thinking,
raise up to heaven,
let nothing anguish you,
let nothing disturb you.
A Jesucristo sigue
con pecho grande,
y, venga lo que venga,
nada te espante.
Follow Jesus Chris
with an open heart,
and, no matter what may come,
let nothing frighten you.
¿Ves la gloria del mundo?
Es gloria vana;
nada tiene de estable,
todo se pasa.
See the glory of the world?
It’s vainglory;
it is not everlasting,
everything passes.
Aspira a lo celeste,
que siempre dura;
fiel y rico en promesas,
Dios no se muda.
Yearn for the celestial
that lasts forever:
faithful and rich in promises,
God doesn’t change.
Ámala cual merece
bondad inmensa;
pero no hay amor fino
sin la paciencia.
Love it the way it deserves
immense kindness;
but there is not fine love
without the patience.
Confianza y fe viva
mantenga el alma,
que quien cree y espera
todo lo alcanza.
Confidence and alive faith
let the soul maintain,
that he who believes and hopes
reaches it all.
Del infierno acosado
aunque se viere,
burlará sus furores
quien a Dios tiene.
Although harassed by hell
one may see himself,
he who has God
will defeat its rage.
Vénganle desamparos,
cruces, desgracias;
siendo Dios tu tesoro
nada te falta.
Come abandonment,
crosses, misfortune;
God being your treasure,
you lack nothing.
Id, pues, bienes del mundo;
id dichas vanas;
aunque todo lo pierda,
sólo Dios basta.
Go, then, wordly goods
go, vain happiness;
even if everything is lost
God alone suffices.
Copy of an original painting by Fray Juan de la Miseria when St Teresa was 61.
My thanks to Sr Mary Carmela OCD of the Carmel of Vilvoorde, Belgium who sent me the link to the video. Sr Carmela belonged to the Carmel of Cebu and has written in MISYONonline.com of how three Filipino nuns left their communities to join that in Vilvoorde, founded in 1469 and the oldest existing community of Carmelite nuns in the world. Another article she wrote for MISYONonline.com, Touches of God, led Sr Marie Paul Thérèse From Iligan to Vilvoorde (via the Carmel in Cebu).
Sr Marie Paul Thérèse on the day of her First Profession
Vilvoorde Community Easter Sunday 2014
Sr Marie Paul Thérèse kneeling on right with Sr Mary Carmela standing behind her
This report by Raymond A. Sebastián was posted on the website of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines yesterday.
DAGUPAN City, Pangasinan, September 8, 2014—In response to the mounting persecution of Christians in many parts of the world, particularly in Iraq and Syria, the head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) declares September 14, 2014—the “Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross”—as National Day of Prayer for Peace, calling on all Church leaders to celebrate Mass for the special intentions of these modern-day martyrs and to raise funds for them.
“We request the Most Reverend Archbishops and Bishops to oblige all priests to celebrate all Masses that day for the special intentions of the persecuted Christians in Syria and Iraq,” says CBCP chief and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates B. Villegas in a letter addressed to his brother-bishops.
Special intentions for peace
At the Permanent Council meeting held September 2, the bishops unanimously chose September 14, Sunday as “National Day of Prayer for Peace in Iraq and Syria”, coinciding with the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross.
“In all our Masses on the feast of the Holy Cross, let us unite ourselves with our suffering brothers and sisters, commending to the God who is our hope their pains, their shattered lives and dreams, their bereavement and their loss,” says Villegas.
He explains, “Helpless and defenseless persons are victims of a brutal imposition of a rigid and unforgiving version of faith. Religion is as much a victim, for those who kill and slaughter, wound and maim, destroy, and burn in the name of God, send the world the awful message that religion divides, that faith is oppressive, that belief can engender so much unkindness!”
The prelate urges the faithful to pray that even as many of the persecuted Christians now “see no way out of the misery that has been visited on them, the God who opens paths through the sea and ways in the desert, may make a way for them to the future that can only be His gift!”
According to Villegas, the “Gospel of peace, love and brotherhood is under siege in many parts of the world, especially in Iraq and Syria”.
Villegas notes that the same Gospel of brotherhood and peace invites Filipinos to respond first and foremost through “prayer accompanied by charity and solidarity”.
Chaldean Catholic Church
ܥܕܬܐ ܟܠܕܝܬܐ ܩܬܘܠܝܩܝܬܐ
Ecclesia Chaldaeorum Catholica
Calling on Pinoys’ generosity
The archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan also requests for a charity collection for the Iraqi and Syrian Christians, stressing that it is “Christ in Iraq and Syria” who has been evicted from his home.
He adds, “Places of worship—many of them, thousands of years old—have been razed to the ground by a godless rage with which no genuine religion can ever identify!”
“For many, the food and drink that sustain life are daily issues. They rise from sleep each day to struggle just to keep themselves alive. We must be generous, and the fact that we have our own needs here in the Philippines does not excuse us from the Christian obligation of sharing with our suffering brothers and sisters in Iraq and Syria from our own need.”
The collections, which will be remitted to CBCP Secretariat by September 30, 2014, will then be immediately sent to the charity aid of the Apostolic Nunciatures in Iraq and Syria.
Quoting Matthew 25:40, Villegas shares, “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.
The Crucifixion of St Peter, Caravaggio, 1600-01
Cerasi Chapel, Santa Maria del Populo, Rome [Web Gallery of Art]
Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)
Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)
Gospel Matthew 16:21-27 (New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition: Canada)
From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?
“For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done.”
A Man for All Seasons is a movie made in 1966, written by Robert Bolt and based on his stage play with the same title. It is based on the life of St Thomas More, Lord Chancellor of England during the time of King Henry VIII. His position would be similar to that of Prime Minister today. More refuses to sign a letter asking Pope Clement VII to annul the marriage of the King to Catherine of Aragon who had not borne him a son. Eventually More is found guilty of high treason and sentenced to death.
During his trial Sir Thomas More discovers that Richard Rich, who had given perjured testimony against him, had been made Secretary of Wales as a reward for this. The laws of England were about to be extended to Wales, a country of 20,779 square kilometres in the southwest of the island of Britain which also includes England and Scotland. More says to Rich, Why, Richard, it profits a man nothing to give his soul for the whole world – but for Wales? [2:12 – 2:21 in the video above].
On Sundays in Ordinary Time the First Reading and the Gospel are linked thematically whereas the Second Reading is from on the Letters of St Paul read over the course of a number of Sundays. But this Sunday it is closely related to the other two readings in that it reminds us that as followers of Jesus we are called to be living sacrifices:
I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:1-2).
The Prophet Jeremiah discovers the cost of doing God’s will: I have become a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me . . . For the word of the Lord has become for me a reproach and derision all day long (Jeremiah 20:7,8).
St Peter cannot abide the thought of any such thing happening to Jesus: God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you. He receives an extraordinary rebuke from Jesus: Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.
Pope Francis
Canonizations of Sts John XXIII and John Paul II, 27 April 2014 [Wikipedia]
Pope Francis on his recent visit to Korea touched on some of these things. I quoted from his homilies and addresses there last Sunday and would like to do the same this Sunday. In hisaddress to the delegates at Asian Youth Day on 15 August he said [emphasis added]:
This great gathering of Asian young people also allows us to see something of what the Church herself is meant to be in God’s eternal plan. Together with young people everywhere, you want to help build a world where we all live together in peace and friendship, overcoming barriers, healing divisions, rejecting violence and prejudice. And this is exactly what God wants for us. The Church is meant to be a seed of unity for the whole human family. In Christ, all nations and peoples are called to a unity which does not destroy diversity but acknowledges, reconciles and enriches it.
How distant the spirit of the world seems from that magnificent vision and plan! How often the seeds of goodness and hope which we try to sow seem to be choked by weeds of selfishness, hostility and injustice, not only all around us, but also in our own hearts. We are troubled by the growing gap in our societies between rich and poor. We see signs of an idolatry of wealth, power and pleasure which come at a high cost to human lives. Closer to home, so many of our own friends and contemporaries, even in the midst of immense material prosperity, are suffering from spiritual poverty, loneliness and quiet despair. God seems to be removed from the picture. It is almost as though a spiritual desert is beginning to spread throughout our world. It affects the young too, robbing them of hope and even, in all too many cases, of life itself.
Yet this is the world into which you are called to go forth and bear witness to the Gospel of hope, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the promise of his Kingdom.
Pope Francis is expressing, from a different angle, what Jesus is rebuking Peter about: the basic values by which we live, seeing everything through the eyes of Christ or seeing them through the eyes of others.
6th Asian Youth Day (AYD2014)
In his homily at the closing Mass of AYD2014 Pope Francis once again put before the young people of Asia, and before all of us, the values of the Gospel – and the choices that this may demand:
Returning to the theme of this Day, let us reflect on a second word: ‘Youth’. You and your friends are filled with the optimism, energy and good will which are so characteristic of this period of life. Let Christ turn your natural optimism into Christian hope, your energy into moral virtue, your good will into genuine self-sacrificing love! This is the path you are called to take. This is the path to overcoming all that threatens hope, virtue and love in your lives and in your culture. In this way your youth will be a gift to Jesus and to the world.
As young Christians, whether you are workers or students, whether you have already begun a career or have answered the call to marriage, religious life or the priesthood, you are not only a part of the future of the Church; you are also a necessary and beloved part of the Church’s present! You are Church’s present! Keep close to one another, draw ever closer to God, and with your bishops and priests spend these years in building a holier, more missionary and humble Church, a holier, more missionary and humble Church, a Church which loves and worships God by seeking to serve the poor, the lonely, the infirm and the marginalized.
I was delighted to see Pope Francis reminding the young people that, while they are part of the future of the Church, they are also a necessary and beloved part of the Church’s present. When I was young I used to get irritated at adults telling us that we were ‘the future’ of the Church / the nation / whatever, which we were, but forgetting that we were also part of the present. And among the canonized and beatified martyrs of Korea we find children, adolescents, young adults, middle-aged and older persons, all ready to take up their cross and follow me, just as St Thomas More had done some centuries earlier on the other side of the world and as St Peter did on a cross hung upside-down.
In A Man for All Seasons St Thomas More is shown to be a man of great inner peace and joy, the latter not something superficial but something deep in his soul. Pope Francis speaks of this to the young delegates:
Finally, the third part of this Day’s theme – ‘Wake up!’– This word speaks of a responsibility which the Lord gives you. It is the duty to be vigilant, not to allow the pressures, the temptations and the sins of ourselves or others to dull our sensitivity to the beauty of holiness, to the joy of the Gospel . . . Dear young people of Asia, it is my hope that, in union with Christ and the Church, you will take up this path, which will surely bring you much joy.
Those final words of Pope Francis above echo the beautiful challenge of Pope Benedict to the young in the closing part of his homily at his inaugural Mass on 24 April 2005:
A few days before Pope Francis arrived in Korea on his recent Apostolic Journey, 13-18 August, on the occasion of the 6th Asian Youth Day, the Regional Director of the Columbans in Korea, Fr Donal O’Keeffe, was interviewed on Korea Today, an English-language current affairs program on South Korea’s Arirang TV.
6th Asian Youth Day (AYD2014)
13-17 August 2014, Republic of Korea
Fr O’Keeffe speculated, in the context of the beatification of 124 Korean martyrs on 16 August, that the Pope would emphasise the heritage that the Korean church of today had received from the witness of the martys, and to show similar witness, even if it would not involve having to lay down their lives.
As it turned out, Pope Francis put great emphasis on this. (Emphases added below.)
The Vatican website, www.vatican.va, has a link to all of the Pope’s homilies and addresses here.
