There have certainly not been so many people at the Sanctuary of Emmaus for a long time. With four groups of Spaniards and a group of Argentineans, there are already 550 people sitting in the church. They are joined, on this Easter Monday, by about forty Franciscans, many other religious and some parishioners from Jerusalem and the Territories. In the end over 800 blessed loaves will have been distributed by the Custos of the Holy Land, Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, one by one, according to tradition, at the end of the celebration of the Eucharist.
The fine weather, the satisfaction that the Easter holidays have ended well in Jerusalem, but above all, the joy for the Resurrection have made this annual pilgrimage a beautiful moment to be shared.
The songs of the Mass were performed by the choir of the Custody of the Holy Land, accompanied by some German choir members, belonging to the two choirs of Gregorian music Exulta Sion (the women’s choir) and Schola Gregoriana (the men’s choir) conducted by Christoph Hönerlage. We had already benefited from the support of these choirs in the prayer throughout the Easter Triduum at the Holy Sepulchre.
Fr. Augustin, who is Mexican, sings the Gospel in Arabic. Fr. Najib, from Lebanon, also pronounces the sermon in this language as well. In his homily, which has as its underlying theme the oneness of the Alliance, Fr. Najib insisted on the fact that there was no rift between the Old and the New Testaments, but that Jesus came to accomplish the scriptures and it was his coming that the prophets had announced. He then spoke of the continuity of breaking the bread in the Eucharist: in the priest’s hands, this gesture perpetuates what Jesus himself had done again at Emmaus, especially after having done it in the Cenacle on the evening of his last Passover.
At the end of the celebration, whilst the groups of Spanish pilgrims and some worshippers had brought a picnic, many pilgrims were the guests of the convent for lunch. Before saying Vespers, some Franciscan friars accompanies the choir of the Custody and their German guests to the hospice run by the Salvatorian Sisters for the elderly and the handicapped. Another group of Franciscans, with guitars, performed, whilst many pilgrims enjoyed the cool shade under the trees in the garden.
With the sung vespers and the moment of adoration of the Very Holy Sacrament, the pilgrimage comes to an end, but not completely: setting off on their way back, along the road the faithful meet the courageous group of pilgrims who have come on foot from Jerusalem, led by Fr. Gregor, as though to keep the Lord in Emmaus for the evening.
Mab
The fine weather, the satisfaction that the Easter holidays have ended well in Jerusalem, but above all, the joy for the Resurrection have made this annual pilgrimage a beautiful moment to be shared.
The songs of the Mass were performed by the choir of the Custody of the Holy Land, accompanied by some German choir members, belonging to the two choirs of Gregorian music Exulta Sion (the women’s choir) and Schola Gregoriana (the men’s choir) conducted by Christoph Hönerlage. We had already benefited from the support of these choirs in the prayer throughout the Easter Triduum at the Holy Sepulchre.
Fr. Augustin, who is Mexican, sings the Gospel in Arabic. Fr. Najib, from Lebanon, also pronounces the sermon in this language as well. In his homily, which has as its underlying theme the oneness of the Alliance, Fr. Najib insisted on the fact that there was no rift between the Old and the New Testaments, but that Jesus came to accomplish the scriptures and it was his coming that the prophets had announced. He then spoke of the continuity of breaking the bread in the Eucharist: in the priest’s hands, this gesture perpetuates what Jesus himself had done again at Emmaus, especially after having done it in the Cenacle on the evening of his last Passover.
At the end of the celebration, whilst the groups of Spanish pilgrims and some worshippers had brought a picnic, many pilgrims were the guests of the convent for lunch. Before saying Vespers, some Franciscan friars accompanies the choir of the Custody and their German guests to the hospice run by the Salvatorian Sisters for the elderly and the handicapped. Another group of Franciscans, with guitars, performed, whilst many pilgrims enjoyed the cool shade under the trees in the garden.
With the sung vespers and the moment of adoration of the Very Holy Sacrament, the pilgrimage comes to an end, but not completely: setting off on their way back, along the road the faithful meet the courageous group of pilgrims who have come on foot from Jerusalem, led by Fr. Gregor, as though to keep the Lord in Emmaus for the evening.
Mab