As every year, according to a tradition deeply rooted in the life of the Church of Jerusalem, the Custody of the Holy Land experienced the day of Monday within the Octave of Easter in the small Palestinian village of Emmaus Qubeibeh, a few kilometers from Jerusalem, a place that tradition identifies with the Emmaus of the Gospel (cf. Lk 24:13-35). It is here, in the sanctuary kept by the Franciscan friars, that the Christian community usually gathers to celebrate the […]
There is an image that I cannot forget. I was on retreat at the hermitage of Gethsemane - right there at the foot of the Mount of Olives, where Jesus sweated blood on the night of his betrayal - when I saw a Franciscan friar doing a very simple thing: during Mass he recorded his homily. Not for himself, but to send it via message to his contacts, so that that Word would not remain closed within the stone walls […]
On the morning of Wednesday, April 15, one of the most significant traditions of the Easter season was renewed in the Old City of Jerusalem: the exchange of greetings between the Custody of the Holy Land and the Patriarchates of the Orthodox Churches. An ancient appointment, sealed by the Status Quo, which every year bears witness to the fraternity between the different Christian communities who are guardians of the Holy Places. A simple but eloquent gesture, which acquires an even […]
The international Franciscan studentate of Jerusalem welcomes friars in formation from various Franciscan provinces around the world in addition to the friars of the Custody of the Holy Land. In the Studentate of Saint Saviour there are 41 friars coming from entities other than the Order: Angola, Congo, Brazil, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Mexico, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Panama, Peru, Syria, East Timor, Togo. In the houses of formation in Jerusalem and Ain Karem there are a total of […]
