“We are the lucky ones. We can celebrate the mysteries of our salvation here, in the grotto where Jesus was born, in the manger where Baby Jesus was laid, in the very place where these events took place. Let us take full advantage of this opportunity, praying intensely for peace, especially in the Holy Land and in Bethlehem.” The parish priest of Bethlehem, Father Marwan Di’des, introduced Midnight Mass in the Grotto of Bethlehem with these words.
Perhaps not everyone knows that whilst the solemn Midnight Mass, presided by the Latin Patriarch and concelebrated by dozens of priests, is celebrated in the Franciscan church of St. Catherine, in the presence of the diplomatic authorities and with a solemn liturgy and music, another Midnight Mass is celebrated at the very same time in the Holy Grotto. There are practical and historical reasons for this: the Grotto can hold only a few dozen people in its thirty square metres, therefore the liturgy is celebrated “upstairs”: it is only at the end that the Patriarch goes down into the Grotto holding the statue of the Child and then returns to the large church for the conclusion, after having placed it first on the star that marks the exact spot of the birth and then in the manger, where it will remain for a few days, protected by a glass case.
This takes place at half past one in the morning; the Grotto could remain empty and silent from midnight for an hour and a half, waiting for the Child, but we are in Bethlehem here, in the Holy Land, where rules and traditions have been approved and fine tuned over the centuries, whilst rights have to be claimed and asserted every day at the risk of losing them (the famous Status Quo of the holy places); and so in those ninety minutes, the “Latins” can celebrate up to three Masses (two were celebrated this Christmas).
Whilst Father Marwan and the deputy parish priest Father Haitham were getting ready in the sacristy, a doubt suddenly arose: can the singing be accompanied by a guitar in the grotto? The Status Quo does not go into these details and so the best decision has to be taken wisely and based on experience. Has it already happened? Yes, in previous years, but the sacristans did not know. When it was done, none of those who could have complained, i.e. the Greeks and the Armenians the “joint owners of the Grotto”, did, and this is a point in favour. If the right is for a sung Mass, the others cannot interfere on how it is performed, that is, on the liturgical details of another rite. Has it ever happened at the Holy Sepulchre? Perhaps with the neo-catechumenates but in the internal chapel of the Crusaders. The problem therefore becomes an “internal” one: is it allowed and opportune to use the guitar, especially in the absence of the organ?
All this reasoning, where liturgy, law and history are entwined, had to be done and was done in about fifty seconds, as the time had come and the choir in the church had already started the Glory the Midnight Mass starts with. Father Marwan took the decision: all right for the guitars. As he crosses the church he exchanges glances with the Guardian of Bethlehem, Father Stéphane Milovitch, who is also responsible for the Status Quo: “We have guitars, it’s not a problem, is it?”. Father Stéphane smiles and nods in consent. Conclusion of the matter: everybody arrives in the grotto but there are no guitars and the singing is unaccompanied. The Mass is attended by the parish of Bethlehem and so is completely in Arabic. All the singing, including the carols, is also in Arabic. The Gospel, sung with the melismas and modalities of this musical culture, is particularly moving, also because Father Marwan sings very well. Above the altar of the star, the Greeks have placed their large icon, which was not there in the afternoon during the procession.
The Mass was celebrated in the manger, on the altar erected in the place where the Magi were in adoration of Baby Jesus: this is the only place where the Latins can celebrate. There is a climate of great devotion and intimacy. When the Mass is over, the celebrants and part of the assembly leave, whilst some Italians enter the grotto with the priests who will be celebrating in the last half-hour, the deputy parish priest Father Rami Asakrieh and Father Jerzy Kraj, who until last year was the Guardian of the Convent of Bethlehem. Father Rami starts the Mass in Arabic but then, seeing the assembly, continues in Italian. The Mass is without singing, as it can only last half an hour, but at the end someone begins to sing “You come down from the stars” as the priests return to the sacristy. Now everybody has to leave because the Grotto has to be prepared again for the solemn moment presided by the Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal. It is Christmas again in Bethlehem.
Brother Riccardo Ceriani
Perhaps not everyone knows that whilst the solemn Midnight Mass, presided by the Latin Patriarch and concelebrated by dozens of priests, is celebrated in the Franciscan church of St. Catherine, in the presence of the diplomatic authorities and with a solemn liturgy and music, another Midnight Mass is celebrated at the very same time in the Holy Grotto. There are practical and historical reasons for this: the Grotto can hold only a few dozen people in its thirty square metres, therefore the liturgy is celebrated “upstairs”: it is only at the end that the Patriarch goes down into the Grotto holding the statue of the Child and then returns to the large church for the conclusion, after having placed it first on the star that marks the exact spot of the birth and then in the manger, where it will remain for a few days, protected by a glass case.
This takes place at half past one in the morning; the Grotto could remain empty and silent from midnight for an hour and a half, waiting for the Child, but we are in Bethlehem here, in the Holy Land, where rules and traditions have been approved and fine tuned over the centuries, whilst rights have to be claimed and asserted every day at the risk of losing them (the famous Status Quo of the holy places); and so in those ninety minutes, the “Latins” can celebrate up to three Masses (two were celebrated this Christmas).
Whilst Father Marwan and the deputy parish priest Father Haitham were getting ready in the sacristy, a doubt suddenly arose: can the singing be accompanied by a guitar in the grotto? The Status Quo does not go into these details and so the best decision has to be taken wisely and based on experience. Has it already happened? Yes, in previous years, but the sacristans did not know. When it was done, none of those who could have complained, i.e. the Greeks and the Armenians the “joint owners of the Grotto”, did, and this is a point in favour. If the right is for a sung Mass, the others cannot interfere on how it is performed, that is, on the liturgical details of another rite. Has it ever happened at the Holy Sepulchre? Perhaps with the neo-catechumenates but in the internal chapel of the Crusaders. The problem therefore becomes an “internal” one: is it allowed and opportune to use the guitar, especially in the absence of the organ?
All this reasoning, where liturgy, law and history are entwined, had to be done and was done in about fifty seconds, as the time had come and the choir in the church had already started the Glory the Midnight Mass starts with. Father Marwan took the decision: all right for the guitars. As he crosses the church he exchanges glances with the Guardian of Bethlehem, Father Stéphane Milovitch, who is also responsible for the Status Quo: “We have guitars, it’s not a problem, is it?”. Father Stéphane smiles and nods in consent. Conclusion of the matter: everybody arrives in the grotto but there are no guitars and the singing is unaccompanied. The Mass is attended by the parish of Bethlehem and so is completely in Arabic. All the singing, including the carols, is also in Arabic. The Gospel, sung with the melismas and modalities of this musical culture, is particularly moving, also because Father Marwan sings very well. Above the altar of the star, the Greeks have placed their large icon, which was not there in the afternoon during the procession.
The Mass was celebrated in the manger, on the altar erected in the place where the Magi were in adoration of Baby Jesus: this is the only place where the Latins can celebrate. There is a climate of great devotion and intimacy. When the Mass is over, the celebrants and part of the assembly leave, whilst some Italians enter the grotto with the priests who will be celebrating in the last half-hour, the deputy parish priest Father Rami Asakrieh and Father Jerzy Kraj, who until last year was the Guardian of the Convent of Bethlehem. Father Rami starts the Mass in Arabic but then, seeing the assembly, continues in Italian. The Mass is without singing, as it can only last half an hour, but at the end someone begins to sing “You come down from the stars” as the priests return to the sacristy. Now everybody has to leave because the Grotto has to be prepared again for the solemn moment presided by the Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal. It is Christmas again in Bethlehem.
Brother Riccardo Ceriani