Calvary? Why the name? We have been asked a couple of times why we have such a boring name. After all, we are a community of young people yearning for the fullness of life and happiness. So why have such a dull name? Good question! We never chose our community name. It came about on its own, and just happened to stick. We first started meeting at the open worship and praise at the church at Calvary (run by the Dominicans), after the Redemptorists ended their missions there. People wanted to continue this open worship and praise in some way after experiencing it in missions they had attended—they were excited about it, and wanted to express their excitement in a way best suited to the prayers of praise and worship. After a year of praise and worship, we moved from "Calvary hill" down to the "valley" of the Redemptorists. The Redemptorists share with the Dominicans charisma of proclaiming the Gospel. The Redemptorists announce it mainly to the hungry and the lost. It was only later that we learned that the people who knew us were saying they were going to Calvary (in daily speech - to "Kalvárka") for prayers of worship, even though the gatherings were already being held in a different place: in a small, nondescript, chapel-like church on Puškinova Street. So this is how it came about that we did not choose our name. We believe there is nonetheless something prophetic in it, something that God hid within us, that we are merely revealing, as though the group were gradually getting to know its true identity. The English name we officially use is simpler. We also serve abroad, so it's better to present ourselves in English - without the foreign letters. In The Way of Salvation, a book by St. Alphonsus, the founder of the Redemptorist congregation, there are wonderful things written about Calvary: St. Francis of Assisi called Calvary hill the hill of those who love. Everyone who is a friend of Jesus Christ spends time on this hill, from which the breeze of God's love blows. We cannot help but burn with a sincere love for God when we reflect on Jesus Christ, who dies for us out of love. "Christ loved us and handed himself over for us" (Ephesians 5:2). From his heart fly such sharp arrows that they pierce even the stoniest of hearts. Blessed is he who dwells on Calvary forever! Oh, blessed hill, a place of love! Oh, precious hill, who could ever forsake you? Oh, hill, you bring forth flames and set on fire the souls that reside there!
