“Father Lino died suddenly, in our midst, just after arriving from the Flagellation to listen to the inaugural address of another academic year. He was now an Emeritus Professor, but he was an even greater teacher as he never ceased teaching with the example of his life, even before the vast extent and depth of his erudition. He died in the middle of the City, after having gone up, for the last time, a path of which he knew every stone, every step, every impression.
He knew the people of this City, without making any distinction between them: he would always be greeted by the ordinary people and by shopkeepers, he was revered by the religious of every denomination and by ministers of all the different Christian Churches. For all of them, Father Lino was the ‘friar of the cord’ who fully belonged to this Jerusalem and who is now in the celestial Jerusalem.”
The Custos of the Holy Land, Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa commemorated with these and other words Father Lino Cignelli, friar minor, who taught Biblical Greek and patristics for many years at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, priest and highly sought after spiritual director, at the beginning of the Eucharist celebration and the funeral that was held on Wednesday 10th November in the Church of St. Saviour in Jerusalem.
Minute and modest as the figure of the small Franciscan friar was, his life given completely to the service of God, the Church, his brothers and the Holy Land left a great mark. Evidence of this was the very large participation of the faithful at his funeral, as well as 118 concelebrating priests, friars minor, religious, both men and women, of every order from the convents of Israel, Palestine and abroad; his sister Giacinta and nieces Fabiana and Maria Luisa came, amongst others, from Italy.
The Holy Mass was presided by the Custos of the Holy Land, Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and assisted by Mons. Antonio Franco, nonce and apostolic delegate and by Mons. Kamal Bathish, auxiliary bishop and emeritus vicar general of Jerusalem; the principal concelebrants were Father Artemio Vitores, Custodial vicar and guardian of St. Saviour, Father Bruno Ottavi, Provincial minister of Assisi, Father Claudio Bottini, dean of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum and Father Ibrahim Najib, guardian of the convent of the Flagellation, the fraternity where Father Lino lived.
In his homily, Father Bottini addressed Father Lino directly, whose body was still exposed in an open coffin in front of the altar, relating the friar’s last hours, which were ordinary yet emblematic moments of his existence: “Monday morning found you “at work” like the blessed disciple of the Gospel, intent on your usual life (cf. Luke 12,43). After our Eucharistic concelebration at the Flagellation, with your small rosary between your fingers, you too went up to St. Saviour, but first going to take your ‘charity’ to the poor, because it was very important for you to unite the table of the Eucharist with that of the needy. It was not a mania of yours, but coherence with the Gospel which proclaims ‘blessed are the merciful’, blessed are those who do works of mercy. When you were asked why you were so anxious always to take something from our certainly not very poor table, slipping it into your wide sleeve, you answered with the language of your beloved Fathers of the Church that was the “morsel of Christ” for the poor, especially for those who are most hidden away.”
A spiritually very intense moment of the celebration was the prayer of the faithful taken from the Canticle of All Creatures by St. Francis, to which were united corresponding invocations which recalled the person and mission of Father Lino: “All praise be yours, my Lord, through Brother Sun. Friar Lino, in his life was a spiritual guide for many.
May they continue to walk in the path that, through Friar Lino, You, have enlightened for them.” Before the funeral, the Provincial Minister of Umbria – the religious province Father Lino came from, as he was born in Lanciano in Abruzzo in 1931 - and his sister, spoke. Father Bruno Ottavi thanked the Lord “for the gift of a friar who with simplicity and wisdom was able to conjugate and transmit the love of God”; Giacinta wanted to offer “a special memory for a special brother. His words always exuded great peace: we thank him for have passed on to us Christian values and the true faith.”
At the end of the celebration, a very long procession wound through the Old City to reach the Franciscans’ Cemetery on Mount Sion, passing through Jaffa Gate beyond the David’s Gate, along the edge of the Armenian Quarter. The incense and the cross preceded a host of friars who accompanied their late brother, intoning Gregorian chants, arousing the curiosity of tourists and the amazement of residents.
FRC
He knew the people of this City, without making any distinction between them: he would always be greeted by the ordinary people and by shopkeepers, he was revered by the religious of every denomination and by ministers of all the different Christian Churches. For all of them, Father Lino was the ‘friar of the cord’ who fully belonged to this Jerusalem and who is now in the celestial Jerusalem.”
The Custos of the Holy Land, Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa commemorated with these and other words Father Lino Cignelli, friar minor, who taught Biblical Greek and patristics for many years at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, priest and highly sought after spiritual director, at the beginning of the Eucharist celebration and the funeral that was held on Wednesday 10th November in the Church of St. Saviour in Jerusalem.
Minute and modest as the figure of the small Franciscan friar was, his life given completely to the service of God, the Church, his brothers and the Holy Land left a great mark. Evidence of this was the very large participation of the faithful at his funeral, as well as 118 concelebrating priests, friars minor, religious, both men and women, of every order from the convents of Israel, Palestine and abroad; his sister Giacinta and nieces Fabiana and Maria Luisa came, amongst others, from Italy.
The Holy Mass was presided by the Custos of the Holy Land, Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and assisted by Mons. Antonio Franco, nonce and apostolic delegate and by Mons. Kamal Bathish, auxiliary bishop and emeritus vicar general of Jerusalem; the principal concelebrants were Father Artemio Vitores, Custodial vicar and guardian of St. Saviour, Father Bruno Ottavi, Provincial minister of Assisi, Father Claudio Bottini, dean of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum and Father Ibrahim Najib, guardian of the convent of the Flagellation, the fraternity where Father Lino lived.
In his homily, Father Bottini addressed Father Lino directly, whose body was still exposed in an open coffin in front of the altar, relating the friar’s last hours, which were ordinary yet emblematic moments of his existence: “Monday morning found you “at work” like the blessed disciple of the Gospel, intent on your usual life (cf. Luke 12,43). After our Eucharistic concelebration at the Flagellation, with your small rosary between your fingers, you too went up to St. Saviour, but first going to take your ‘charity’ to the poor, because it was very important for you to unite the table of the Eucharist with that of the needy. It was not a mania of yours, but coherence with the Gospel which proclaims ‘blessed are the merciful’, blessed are those who do works of mercy. When you were asked why you were so anxious always to take something from our certainly not very poor table, slipping it into your wide sleeve, you answered with the language of your beloved Fathers of the Church that was the “morsel of Christ” for the poor, especially for those who are most hidden away.”
A spiritually very intense moment of the celebration was the prayer of the faithful taken from the Canticle of All Creatures by St. Francis, to which were united corresponding invocations which recalled the person and mission of Father Lino: “All praise be yours, my Lord, through Brother Sun. Friar Lino, in his life was a spiritual guide for many.
May they continue to walk in the path that, through Friar Lino, You, have enlightened for them.” Before the funeral, the Provincial Minister of Umbria – the religious province Father Lino came from, as he was born in Lanciano in Abruzzo in 1931 - and his sister, spoke. Father Bruno Ottavi thanked the Lord “for the gift of a friar who with simplicity and wisdom was able to conjugate and transmit the love of God”; Giacinta wanted to offer “a special memory for a special brother. His words always exuded great peace: we thank him for have passed on to us Christian values and the true faith.”
At the end of the celebration, a very long procession wound through the Old City to reach the Franciscans’ Cemetery on Mount Sion, passing through Jaffa Gate beyond the David’s Gate, along the edge of the Armenian Quarter. The incense and the cross preceded a host of friars who accompanied their late brother, intoning Gregorian chants, arousing the curiosity of tourists and the amazement of residents.
FRC