Lent has started in the Holy Land, as in the whole of the Church and we are getting ready to live this time of grace that precedes Easter. This year, the liturgical calendars of the different Christianities allow us all to celebrate Easter at the same time and this climate of Lent which is common to all the Churches can be felt very strongly amongst the local faithful.
On Wednesday at 6.30 am the first As Wednesday Mass in front of the edicule of the Holy Sepulchre with friars, pilgrims and some local faithful marked the start of the celebrations in exactly the place where Christ arose. The celebrations for the school groups then began at eight in the morning in the parish church of St. Saviour.
Two celebrations were necessary to welcome all the young faithful: the first presided by Father Ibrahim Faltas ofm and a second one at 9.30 am, presided by the parish priest of St. Saviour, Father Feras Hejazin ofm. The parish priest invited the young faithful to take the period of Lent as an opportunity to think about our salvation, our conversion and our relationship with God who lets us love our neighbour including through fasting, prayer and charity for those in need.
The celebrations came to an end at 7.00 pm with the Eucharist and the imposition of the ashes for the friars of the Convent of St. Saviour, presided by the Guardian, Father Artemio Vitores who reminded his brothers how Lent is a time of conversion and that converting means turning towards Christ and his Gospel through the Lenten practices of fasting, alms and prayer.
This intense day of celebrations started a liturgical period that for the Church of Jerusalem has very deep roots which are lost in the early years of the Franciscan presence in the Holy Land: it is a liturgy that here takes on the face of the Holy Places which saw the Paschal Mystery take place.
Article and photographs by Marco Gavasso
On Wednesday at 6.30 am the first As Wednesday Mass in front of the edicule of the Holy Sepulchre with friars, pilgrims and some local faithful marked the start of the celebrations in exactly the place where Christ arose. The celebrations for the school groups then began at eight in the morning in the parish church of St. Saviour.
Two celebrations were necessary to welcome all the young faithful: the first presided by Father Ibrahim Faltas ofm and a second one at 9.30 am, presided by the parish priest of St. Saviour, Father Feras Hejazin ofm. The parish priest invited the young faithful to take the period of Lent as an opportunity to think about our salvation, our conversion and our relationship with God who lets us love our neighbour including through fasting, prayer and charity for those in need.
The celebrations came to an end at 7.00 pm with the Eucharist and the imposition of the ashes for the friars of the Convent of St. Saviour, presided by the Guardian, Father Artemio Vitores who reminded his brothers how Lent is a time of conversion and that converting means turning towards Christ and his Gospel through the Lenten practices of fasting, alms and prayer.
This intense day of celebrations started a liturgical period that for the Church of Jerusalem has very deep roots which are lost in the early years of the Franciscan presence in the Holy Land: it is a liturgy that here takes on the face of the Holy Places which saw the Paschal Mystery take place.
Article and photographs by Marco Gavasso