Welcoming pilgrims, allowing them to pray in the holy places, is an integral part of the vocation of the Custody of the Holy Land. While this mission can become routine, some groups stand out, like the forty Lithuanians who came on foot from Vilnius or the Italian group that came, not to discover the country, but to spend a week praying for peace before the Blessed Sacrament in Bethlehem.
During the month of March 2007, one particular group stands out in the annals of the Custody. This was the pilgrimage from the Diocese of Milan, come to help celebrate the eightieth birthday of Monsignor Martini, their Cardinal Emeritus, who is in retirement in Jerusalem. The pilgrimage was conducted by Cardinal Tettamanzi, the current Bishop of Milan, who was celebrating fifty years of priesthood. “Accompanying our bishops, being with them on their special days, here in the Land where Jesus called the first apostles, of whom they are the successors – this is a beautiful symbol and it is the deepest meaning of our pilgrimage,” declared Father Norberto Valli. They gave us a beautiful image of the ecclesial family.
A very large family. They counted no less than 1300 people, divided among 33 busses; their arrival lasted three days. The logistics of the pilgrimage were particularly well planned. Each bus group, with spiritual animation by seminarians, experienced its own pilgrimage, while the entire group came together three times. The first time was at Nazareth, for the Eucharist in the Basilica of the Annunciation; the second, for Mass in Bethlehem in Saint Catherine’s Church, adjacent to the Basilica of the Nativity; the final time, in Jerusalem in the Basilica of All Nations at Gethsemane, where they were welcomed by Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, for Office of Vespers with meditations. Three very impressive high points for the pilgrims; impressive, too, for the Franciscans who welcomed them and also a little surprising, because the celebrations followed the Ambrosian Rite of the Diocese of Milan.
Although the Roman Rite is now imposed on almost the entire Latin Church, in the past, Catholics celebrated the liturgy in accordance with their own diverse rites. Thus, the Galician rite was abolished in Gaul by Charlemagne in order to unite his empire under the Roman Rite. Spain knew the Visigoth Rite, also called Mozarabic, abolished by Pope Gregory XIII, subsisting only in one chapel of the cathedral of Toledo. There was also a rite particular to North Africa. The Ambrosian Rite was never abolished and, therefore, continues to exist in its birthplace, the Diocese of Milan. (It is also celebrated in part of the Diocese of Monza.) Nevertheless, it has been adapted to the Vatican II reform. The Ambrosian Rite has many more connections to the Oriental Churches than to the Latin Rite.
In the Holy Sepulcher, the status quo specifies that for the Catholics, only those of the Latin Church may celebrate. However, the Ambrosian Rite is Latin, just not Roman. That is why Cardinal Tettamanzi could be the principal concelebrant one morning for Mass celebrated in the Tomb with a small portion of the pilgrimage, the Basilica of the Resurrection being unable to receive the entire group for technical reasons.
“We thank the friars of the Custody for having allowed us to celebrate in our own rite… Being an Ambrosian in the Holy Land made me realize that we are a ‘particular Church’, not in the Oriental world, but in the world of the Occident. In Jerusalem, where Cardinal Martini now lives, we are henceforth represented, because he celebrates Mass following the Ambrosian Rite and recites the Liturgy of Hours in accordance with it.”
The kyrie eleison litanies, more numerous than in the Latin Rite, did not raise Orthodox eyebrows. For the Franciscan students at Saint Saviour’s, once the pilgrimage had departed it was time to contrast and compare.
MAB
During the month of March 2007, one particular group stands out in the annals of the Custody. This was the pilgrimage from the Diocese of Milan, come to help celebrate the eightieth birthday of Monsignor Martini, their Cardinal Emeritus, who is in retirement in Jerusalem. The pilgrimage was conducted by Cardinal Tettamanzi, the current Bishop of Milan, who was celebrating fifty years of priesthood. “Accompanying our bishops, being with them on their special days, here in the Land where Jesus called the first apostles, of whom they are the successors – this is a beautiful symbol and it is the deepest meaning of our pilgrimage,” declared Father Norberto Valli. They gave us a beautiful image of the ecclesial family.
A very large family. They counted no less than 1300 people, divided among 33 busses; their arrival lasted three days. The logistics of the pilgrimage were particularly well planned. Each bus group, with spiritual animation by seminarians, experienced its own pilgrimage, while the entire group came together three times. The first time was at Nazareth, for the Eucharist in the Basilica of the Annunciation; the second, for Mass in Bethlehem in Saint Catherine’s Church, adjacent to the Basilica of the Nativity; the final time, in Jerusalem in the Basilica of All Nations at Gethsemane, where they were welcomed by Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, for Office of Vespers with meditations. Three very impressive high points for the pilgrims; impressive, too, for the Franciscans who welcomed them and also a little surprising, because the celebrations followed the Ambrosian Rite of the Diocese of Milan.
Although the Roman Rite is now imposed on almost the entire Latin Church, in the past, Catholics celebrated the liturgy in accordance with their own diverse rites. Thus, the Galician rite was abolished in Gaul by Charlemagne in order to unite his empire under the Roman Rite. Spain knew the Visigoth Rite, also called Mozarabic, abolished by Pope Gregory XIII, subsisting only in one chapel of the cathedral of Toledo. There was also a rite particular to North Africa. The Ambrosian Rite was never abolished and, therefore, continues to exist in its birthplace, the Diocese of Milan. (It is also celebrated in part of the Diocese of Monza.) Nevertheless, it has been adapted to the Vatican II reform. The Ambrosian Rite has many more connections to the Oriental Churches than to the Latin Rite.
In the Holy Sepulcher, the status quo specifies that for the Catholics, only those of the Latin Church may celebrate. However, the Ambrosian Rite is Latin, just not Roman. That is why Cardinal Tettamanzi could be the principal concelebrant one morning for Mass celebrated in the Tomb with a small portion of the pilgrimage, the Basilica of the Resurrection being unable to receive the entire group for technical reasons.
“We thank the friars of the Custody for having allowed us to celebrate in our own rite… Being an Ambrosian in the Holy Land made me realize that we are a ‘particular Church’, not in the Oriental world, but in the world of the Occident. In Jerusalem, where Cardinal Martini now lives, we are henceforth represented, because he celebrates Mass following the Ambrosian Rite and recites the Liturgy of Hours in accordance with it.”
The kyrie eleison litanies, more numerous than in the Latin Rite, did not raise Orthodox eyebrows. For the Franciscan students at Saint Saviour’s, once the pilgrimage had departed it was time to contrast and compare.
MAB