“Who is John?” Today, June 24, the day the Solemnity of his birth is celebrated – this is the question that echoes through the Basilica dedicated to the Nativity of John the Baptist.
This morning in Ain Karem, the Mass was presided by the Custodial Vicar. “John is a real man,” Father Artemio Vitores explained in his homily, “a man who is convinced and certain, who is not afraid of the truth and can speak openly and without fear. John is the precursor of Christ and is totally dedicated to His service.”
The present-day Basilica of St. John was designed by the architect Antonio Barluzzi (who also worked on the Sanctuary of the Visitation in Ain Karem) and is the place where, according to tradition, the son of Elizabeth and Zechariah was born. A Church was already there from the times of the Crusaders, which the Custody restored in the 17th century.
At the end of Mass, the Franciscans went in procession to the crypt of the Nativity of the “Precursor Domini”, where the Gospel according to Luke was read, commemorating the moment when Elizabeth gave birth and her husband Zechariah his canticle of thanks to the Lord.
The singing of the “Te deum” concluded the morning of celebration, which as usual was anticipated on the eve of the Solemnity, June 23. The friars of the Custody chanted vespers and went in procession, again led by the Vicar, Father Vitores, at the Sanctuary of St. John in the Desert, which, with those of the Visitation and of the Nativity of John the Baptist make up the three Holy Places in Ain Karem. According to tradition, this commemorates the spot where the Precursor of Christ was hidden and saved from the Massacre of the Innocents, escaping death when still a child.
This year marks the centenary of when the Franciscans bought this site, where they also have a convent.
By Serena Picariello
Photos by Andres Bergamini, Adelmo Vasquez and Marco Gavasso
This morning in Ain Karem, the Mass was presided by the Custodial Vicar. “John is a real man,” Father Artemio Vitores explained in his homily, “a man who is convinced and certain, who is not afraid of the truth and can speak openly and without fear. John is the precursor of Christ and is totally dedicated to His service.”
The present-day Basilica of St. John was designed by the architect Antonio Barluzzi (who also worked on the Sanctuary of the Visitation in Ain Karem) and is the place where, according to tradition, the son of Elizabeth and Zechariah was born. A Church was already there from the times of the Crusaders, which the Custody restored in the 17th century.
At the end of Mass, the Franciscans went in procession to the crypt of the Nativity of the “Precursor Domini”, where the Gospel according to Luke was read, commemorating the moment when Elizabeth gave birth and her husband Zechariah his canticle of thanks to the Lord.
The singing of the “Te deum” concluded the morning of celebration, which as usual was anticipated on the eve of the Solemnity, June 23. The friars of the Custody chanted vespers and went in procession, again led by the Vicar, Father Vitores, at the Sanctuary of St. John in the Desert, which, with those of the Visitation and of the Nativity of John the Baptist make up the three Holy Places in Ain Karem. According to tradition, this commemorates the spot where the Precursor of Christ was hidden and saved from the Massacre of the Innocents, escaping death when still a child.
This year marks the centenary of when the Franciscans bought this site, where they also have a convent.
By Serena Picariello
Photos by Andres Bergamini, Adelmo Vasquez and Marco Gavasso