"I vow to god the father, holy and almighty, to live all the days of my life in obedience, without anything of my own, and in chastity. I promise to observe faithfully the life and rule of the Friars Minor."
With these words, kneeling one after the other before the Custos of the Holy Land, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, on Sunday, October 14th, five friars of the Custody made their solemn profession in the Franciscan Order in Jerusalem.
The church was filled with a prayerful assembly. Some sixty priests, numerous religious brothers and sisters and also many parishioners embraced with their prayer these friars whom they know through their pastoral engagements in the Custody.
It should be noted that four of the five friars speak Arabic fluently. If it is the mother tongue of Brother Nerwan, an Iraqi, it is a language that Brothers Sylvio, Marcello (both Argentinean) and Aquilino (a Spaniard) went to Cairo to study for one year.
A linguistic year has been instituted by the Custos since his election in 2004. Thus, in addition to Italian, which is the official language of the Custody, the young friars now spend one year learning one of the languages that are necessary in the Custody’s territory: Arabic, Greek or Hebrew. Arab friars most frequently spent the year improving their English, if necessary.
Learning languages allows them to invest themselves more intensively in accompanying the Christians they serve, having chosen to be a friar minor in the Custody. This engagement is so intense that one of them even renounced his mother tongue to make his vows in Arabic so that all of his friends who were in attendance, mostly the young people of this Old City parish, could hear and understand.
Some of the parish young people held a prayer and sharing vigil with the future professed friars in preparation for the daytime feast.
In his homily, the Custos of the Holy Land addressed himself to the friars, commenting on the readings and inviting them to hold firm to their engagement by nourishing themselves with the Word of God and the Eucharist. Father Zaher Abboud, in turn, spoke a few words in Arabic to the parish faithful, attesting to the desire for service to which the young professed friars were going to commit themselves.
After the Litany of the Saints and the moving moment of the profession itself, the celebration continued with the Eucharist. Then everyone met in the large Immaculata Hall to congratulate the new solemnly professed friars.
The friars, those of their families who were able to make the voyage, and a few friends then gathered in Saint Saviour’s refectory to share a festive meal.
”Therefore, O Lord, look upon these our brothers whom in your providence you have called to follow the poor, humble Francis, the lover of the cross. Pour into them the fullness of the sevenfold Spirit so that what they have promised today with joy and gladness through your giving, they may with the divine assistance observe faithfully to the end.” (Final blessing of the celebration)
MAB
With these words, kneeling one after the other before the Custos of the Holy Land, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, on Sunday, October 14th, five friars of the Custody made their solemn profession in the Franciscan Order in Jerusalem.
The church was filled with a prayerful assembly. Some sixty priests, numerous religious brothers and sisters and also many parishioners embraced with their prayer these friars whom they know through their pastoral engagements in the Custody.
It should be noted that four of the five friars speak Arabic fluently. If it is the mother tongue of Brother Nerwan, an Iraqi, it is a language that Brothers Sylvio, Marcello (both Argentinean) and Aquilino (a Spaniard) went to Cairo to study for one year.
A linguistic year has been instituted by the Custos since his election in 2004. Thus, in addition to Italian, which is the official language of the Custody, the young friars now spend one year learning one of the languages that are necessary in the Custody’s territory: Arabic, Greek or Hebrew. Arab friars most frequently spent the year improving their English, if necessary.
Learning languages allows them to invest themselves more intensively in accompanying the Christians they serve, having chosen to be a friar minor in the Custody. This engagement is so intense that one of them even renounced his mother tongue to make his vows in Arabic so that all of his friends who were in attendance, mostly the young people of this Old City parish, could hear and understand.
Some of the parish young people held a prayer and sharing vigil with the future professed friars in preparation for the daytime feast.
In his homily, the Custos of the Holy Land addressed himself to the friars, commenting on the readings and inviting them to hold firm to their engagement by nourishing themselves with the Word of God and the Eucharist. Father Zaher Abboud, in turn, spoke a few words in Arabic to the parish faithful, attesting to the desire for service to which the young professed friars were going to commit themselves.
After the Litany of the Saints and the moving moment of the profession itself, the celebration continued with the Eucharist. Then everyone met in the large Immaculata Hall to congratulate the new solemnly professed friars.
The friars, those of their families who were able to make the voyage, and a few friends then gathered in Saint Saviour’s refectory to share a festive meal.
”Therefore, O Lord, look upon these our brothers whom in your providence you have called to follow the poor, humble Francis, the lover of the cross. Pour into them the fullness of the sevenfold Spirit so that what they have promised today with joy and gladness through your giving, they may with the divine assistance observe faithfully to the end.” (Final blessing of the celebration)
MAB