“I don’t give up,” says Mary, a Bethlehem resident who is going back and forth across Manger Square, desperately trying to find a way through the row of barriers in order to see the patriarch go by. “I come every year, and every year there is a holiday miracle.” “What I like the best? That the whole town is celebrating and for at least one day a year, with all these people from all over the world, we forget our day-to-day concerns.”
For Michelle and Alexis, who came from France on foot, hoping to arrive in time, the emotions are so strong that they can barely contain their tears. “We go from emotion to emotion. After the shock of the wall of separation we find all this joy. We find people going out into the street to feel the joy of Christmas, something we never see at home.” Alexis: “Muslims and Christians coming together here to celebrate the birth of a prophet; it’s a very strong image.”
It’s the twenty-fourth of December and, following tradition, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem is making his Solemn Entrance into the City of David.
While awaiting the procession that started in Jerusalem, the festivities are in full swing with the Scouts’ parade.
Fra Jason came to spend nine months in the service of the Custody, and is filled with joy at being here. On Saturday he’ll go back home to Singapore. “My provincial superior wanted me to come back before Christmas, but I asked to be able to stay because I really wanted to experience that last grace of the Holy Land.”
Finally Patriarch Fouad Twal’s procession arrives, a little late due to the particularly large crowds that accompanied him this year—so large that the cars had to stop frequently, both for the sake of prudence and so that the patriarch could shake a few of hands that were reaching out to him.
Back at Manger Square, the jostling crowd calms, and as the Brother Guardian, Ricardo Bustos, restores a bit of order, the prayer begins.
Upon entering Saint Catherine Church to the sound of the Te Deum, the crowds entered into the mystery of the Nativity, a prayer that continues through sung Vespers with the patriarch presiding.
After Vespers, the Franciscans and the seminarians from the Latin Patriarchate formed the solemn procession to the grotto, led by Fra Ricardo. The joy increases while becoming more interior at the same time, here in the very place where Jesus was born.
It is only a few hours before the nighttime liturgical celebration begins.
But first, as soon as the procession is over the Franciscans are busy preparing the church for some 1600 worshippers. Before the pilgrims from all over the world, the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, and his entourage are seated, as are Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, on a private visit, along with the Consuls General of the Latin Nations (Spain, France, Belgium and Italy), the protectors of the Christian communities of the Holy Land.
Meanwhile, a number of Franciscans are waiting in the wings to provide service during the night, some to serve the Masses that will be celebrated one after the other all night long, and others to help the hundred or so priests and bishops who will concelebrate Midnight Mass with their albs and chasubles. In Shepherds Field at Beit Sahour, they are fewer: only seventy Masses in different languages are scheduled during the night.
In the basement of the Basilica of the Nativity, the Franciscan Media Center, working to broadcast numbers of images of Bethlehem followed by rebroadcast of the Mass by a variety of Catholic television networks, knows a moment of panic when the Internet connection falls. To encourage the crew, the patriarch makes a surprise visit.
It is eleven o’clock and the Christmas Vigil service begins. At twelve, Midnight Mass begins. But at the same time, Fra Nerwan and Fra Badie, assisted by several other friars, prepare for a privileged experience. They are going to celebrate two masses in the grotto, on the altar of the manger. “I never thought, didn’t even dream, that I would come to the Holy Land,” says Fra Nerwan, who is Iraqi, “and here I am, pastor of the Bethlehem parish, and presiding over the first mass in the grotto. It is an indescribable feeling.” At the beginning of the celebration in the parishioner-filled grotto, he asks the worshippers to be silent for a time and to be aware of the grace that is theirs by the fact of experiencing this moment in the very place where Jesus was born.
Going back to the grotto at 1:20 in the morning, the patriarch pronounces the final benediction of the mass before leaving in procession with all the concelebrants to the grotto where, first on the Nativity star and then in the manger, the newborn Babe will be placed.
Back in the church, the crowd begins to disperse, but not without wishing one another a joyous Christmas, sharing embraces, and exchanging impressions. There are no words; the feelings are too strong, you can hardly believe that the dream has become reality: you have celebrated Christmas in Bethlehem.
For Michelle and Alexis, who came from France on foot, hoping to arrive in time, the emotions are so strong that they can barely contain their tears. “We go from emotion to emotion. After the shock of the wall of separation we find all this joy. We find people going out into the street to feel the joy of Christmas, something we never see at home.” Alexis: “Muslims and Christians coming together here to celebrate the birth of a prophet; it’s a very strong image.”
It’s the twenty-fourth of December and, following tradition, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem is making his Solemn Entrance into the City of David.
While awaiting the procession that started in Jerusalem, the festivities are in full swing with the Scouts’ parade.
Fra Jason came to spend nine months in the service of the Custody, and is filled with joy at being here. On Saturday he’ll go back home to Singapore. “My provincial superior wanted me to come back before Christmas, but I asked to be able to stay because I really wanted to experience that last grace of the Holy Land.”
Finally Patriarch Fouad Twal’s procession arrives, a little late due to the particularly large crowds that accompanied him this year—so large that the cars had to stop frequently, both for the sake of prudence and so that the patriarch could shake a few of hands that were reaching out to him.
Back at Manger Square, the jostling crowd calms, and as the Brother Guardian, Ricardo Bustos, restores a bit of order, the prayer begins.
Upon entering Saint Catherine Church to the sound of the Te Deum, the crowds entered into the mystery of the Nativity, a prayer that continues through sung Vespers with the patriarch presiding.
After Vespers, the Franciscans and the seminarians from the Latin Patriarchate formed the solemn procession to the grotto, led by Fra Ricardo. The joy increases while becoming more interior at the same time, here in the very place where Jesus was born.
It is only a few hours before the nighttime liturgical celebration begins.
But first, as soon as the procession is over the Franciscans are busy preparing the church for some 1600 worshippers. Before the pilgrims from all over the world, the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, and his entourage are seated, as are Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, on a private visit, along with the Consuls General of the Latin Nations (Spain, France, Belgium and Italy), the protectors of the Christian communities of the Holy Land.
Meanwhile, a number of Franciscans are waiting in the wings to provide service during the night, some to serve the Masses that will be celebrated one after the other all night long, and others to help the hundred or so priests and bishops who will concelebrate Midnight Mass with their albs and chasubles. In Shepherds Field at Beit Sahour, they are fewer: only seventy Masses in different languages are scheduled during the night.
In the basement of the Basilica of the Nativity, the Franciscan Media Center, working to broadcast numbers of images of Bethlehem followed by rebroadcast of the Mass by a variety of Catholic television networks, knows a moment of panic when the Internet connection falls. To encourage the crew, the patriarch makes a surprise visit.
It is eleven o’clock and the Christmas Vigil service begins. At twelve, Midnight Mass begins. But at the same time, Fra Nerwan and Fra Badie, assisted by several other friars, prepare for a privileged experience. They are going to celebrate two masses in the grotto, on the altar of the manger. “I never thought, didn’t even dream, that I would come to the Holy Land,” says Fra Nerwan, who is Iraqi, “and here I am, pastor of the Bethlehem parish, and presiding over the first mass in the grotto. It is an indescribable feeling.” At the beginning of the celebration in the parishioner-filled grotto, he asks the worshippers to be silent for a time and to be aware of the grace that is theirs by the fact of experiencing this moment in the very place where Jesus was born.
Going back to the grotto at 1:20 in the morning, the patriarch pronounces the final benediction of the mass before leaving in procession with all the concelebrants to the grotto where, first on the Nativity star and then in the manger, the newborn Babe will be placed.
Back in the church, the crowd begins to disperse, but not without wishing one another a joyous Christmas, sharing embraces, and exchanging impressions. There are no words; the feelings are too strong, you can hardly believe that the dream has become reality: you have celebrated Christmas in Bethlehem.