Leader              Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice!  The Lord is near.   SONG                Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus   LEADER   The deserts exult and burst into flower.  The hills ring with joyful song.  The feeble grow strong; the frightened take courage.  The Lord comes.

OLGA’S STORY:  

Olga winced as she drew back the bandage on her right breast, revealing an infected puncture wound that hadn’t healed since a man bit her in a fit of sexual rage.  But the wound, for which the 19-year-old Moldovan lacked even basic medicine, is only a small part of Olga’s daily agony.  For more than a year she has been held as a sex slave in this town in western Macedonia, where human trafficking flourishes and young girls are forced to endure the sexual whims of thousands of men.

Sitting in a brothel bedroom in Velesta, a town synonymous with forced prostitution that police and experts consider one of the most dangerous places in Europe, Olga said that her “owner” would kill her for telling a reporter about her state of captivity.  But the cruel conditions under which she is held, and her deteriorating mental and physical health, compelled her to speak out. 

Her head hung in shame, Olga’s dark brown eyes welled with tears.  She brushed back her long black hair, revealing a fair complexion flushed with anger at her fate.  “There is only one word for this,” she said.  “Slavery.”

Olga was virtually kidnapped when she played hooky from school in rural Moldova.  Initially, she was drawn to the prospect of a new life in Italy—far away from her alcoholic mother and abusive brother.  But the next thing she knew, a Serb smuggler called “Dragon” was pulling her out of a car trunk in the Romanian town of Timisoara, on the border of Yugoslavia.  Dragon and his Romanian pals loaded 10 girls on a boat to cross the Danube.  After a few days in a basement near Belgrade, Olga was led across the Serbian frontier and brought to Velesta.  “There were clients on the very first night,” she said.

With no passport and little idea where she was, Olga was raped, beaten into submission and humiliated until she no longer had the will to challenge her horrible fate.

For Olga, tending to her sore breast in captivity, anything sounds better than Velesta.  “What kind of animal can do this to me?” she demanded, tears streaming down her face.  “All of Macedonia is filled with girls like me and we are all crying.”

SILENT REFLECTION

RESPONSE        Strengthen the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are weak.

                    -Lord, come and save us.

                     Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not!

                    -Lord, come and save us.

SLOWLY READ AND PRAY PSALM 145     ... as if you were Olga

PSALM 145

You, Lord, are just in all your ways,                           You, Lord, watch over all who love

     Faithful in all your works.                                         you,

You, Lord, are near to all who call                                 but the wicked you destroy.

    you, to all who call upon you                              My mouth will speak your praises,

    in truth.                                                                          Lord,

You satisfy the desire of those who fear                         all flesh will bless your holy

     you; you hear their cry and save them.                       name forever.

SILENT REFLECTION

FAITH SHARING    As Olga, share what thoughts and feelings you are experiencing.

SLOWLY REREAD PSALM 145,     ... this time as yourself.

SILENT REFLECTION

FAITH SHARING      What thoughts and feelings are you experiencing?

SLOWLY REREAD PSALM 145,         ... this time with Olga.

SILENT REFLECTION

FAITH SHARING    What thoughts and feelings are you experiencing?  Has there been any movement or                              change?

INTERCESSIONS

    RESPONSE  The deserts exult and burst into flower.

        O God, you bind up the wounds of your people and heal the bruises of injustice, come to those who await you in hope….

        Christ Jesus, you are the Rising Sun that never sets, come and shine on those who dwell in darkness….

        Holy Spirit, you dwell within our hearts to give us courage and strength, come and be near to those who seek you without knowing it….

        Your prayers…

SONG OF HANNAH    1 Samuel 2: 1-2, 5, 7-9

ANTIPHON              Shadow me with your wings until all danger passes

                        Extend to me, O God, your love that never fails.

    My heart exults in the Lord,

    my strength is exalted in my God.

    My mouth derides my enemies,

    because I rejoice in my victory.

    There is no Holy One like the Lord,

    no one besides you;

    there is no Rock like our God.

    Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,

    but those who were hungry are fat with spoil.

    The barren has borne seven,

    but she who has many children is forlorn.

    The Lord makes poor and makes rich;

    God brings low but also exalts.

    The Most High raises up the poor from the dust,

    lifts the needy from the ash heap,

    to make them sit with princes

    and inherit a seat of honor.

    For the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s

    and on them God has set the world.

    The Most High will guard the feet of the faithful ones,

    but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness;

    for not by might does one prevail.

CLOSING PRAYER

        O God of Compassion,

        you promise a day of abundance,

        when all people shall walk in your way.

        Open our ears to your guidance and our

        hearts to your teaching.

        May we turn neither to the left nor to the right

        but walk always in the path of salvation

        and so finally reach your holy mountain

        where Christ lives and reigns for ever and ever.

            Amen.