It is 4.00 p.m. and a small crowd is already beginning to form in the square in front of the Basilica of the Annunciation.
The Custos of the Holy Land, Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa is due to arrive at 4.30 pm for the Solemn Mass in honour of St. Joseph, the Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Patron of the Church and Guardian of the Redeemer.
The particularity of this celebration can be seen from the outside: a carpet and a cushion are placed in front of the entrance to the Basilica and awaiting the Custos there is the Guardian of the Sanctuary, Brother Ricardo Bustos ofm. Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa will be dressed here for the Ceremony and will enter the Basilica to preside the Solemn Liturgy and the Supplication in front of the Grotto of the Annunciation in the name of the whole Latin Church by intercession of its patron saint.
The arrival of the Father Custos is welcomed with applause from the festive crowd present at the curious ritual of vestition. A procession leads to the upper level of the Basilica where the first part of the celebration takes place.
There are about one thousand five hundred people present, including local faithful and pilgrims who have come to celebrate the feast-day of the greatly loved Saint. The basilica is festively decorated and the chapel of St. Joseph stands out where a mantle falls down the back of the statue representing him with the baby Jesus in his arms. There is great participation in the Eucharist: young people, children, families and pilgrims. The community of Nazareth is truly very much alive.
The Gospel of Matthew is read which does not tell of the apparition of the angel to Mary, but reveals the work of the Holy Spirit through the story of Joseph, “Mary’s husband”; Joseph, having learned of his betrothed’s pregnancy, “as he was a righteous man”, decided not to accuse her publicly, but to divorce her secretly; an angel, in a dream, reassured him with the well known words, “Do not be afraid, Joseph ...".
The meditation on this Gospel acquaints us with the faith of a simple, but deep, man and the courage and strength to follow a dream and make it come true. The whole Eucharist celebrates the Holy Husband of Mary, but the climax is reached when the Custos of the Holy Land carries the icon of St. Joseph in procession to the lower level of the Basilica, where there is the house of Mary, and places it inside the Grotto of the Annunciation. The groom is going to the house of his bride.
Joseph “said yes” and what happened here, where everything began, more than two thousand years ago, is repeated with an incredibly romantic liturgy.
The Gospel of Luke is now read, which relates the apparition of the Angel Gabriel to Mary. The reassuring words “Do not be afraid Mary, ..." are this time addressed to her and the mystery of the incarnation of the Word which took place here, opens. The words "Hic Verbum Caro Factum Est" resound. The Father Custos, kneeling in front of the Grotto, pronounces the Supplication in the name of the whole Church (see the attached liturgical booklet) and subsequently blesses all the people present with the beloved icon.
It is now 6.30 pm and the people gradually leave to return shortly afterwards, at 8.30 pm when, in a picturesque torchlight procession, this time the Bride, the Virgin Mary, is taken in procession, with the recital of the rosary and the singing of the Hymn of St. Joseph. It is really like celebrating a wedding.
The procession again returns to the Grotto of the Annunciation with the statue of the Virgin Mary where, after a short prayer, there is the ritual kiss of the icon. The two thousand people who took part in the torchlight procession file past the House of Mary and kiss the icon of St. Joseph.
It has been a day marked by a very intense liturgy, but with a very deep and moving significance which repeats the experience of faith of two holy spouses whose yes, spoken more than two thousand years ago, still reverberates and is combined with that "Hic verbum caro factum est" which accompanies every celebration in this Holy Place.
Photos and article by Marco Gavasso
The Custos of the Holy Land, Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa is due to arrive at 4.30 pm for the Solemn Mass in honour of St. Joseph, the Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Patron of the Church and Guardian of the Redeemer.
The particularity of this celebration can be seen from the outside: a carpet and a cushion are placed in front of the entrance to the Basilica and awaiting the Custos there is the Guardian of the Sanctuary, Brother Ricardo Bustos ofm. Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa will be dressed here for the Ceremony and will enter the Basilica to preside the Solemn Liturgy and the Supplication in front of the Grotto of the Annunciation in the name of the whole Latin Church by intercession of its patron saint.
The arrival of the Father Custos is welcomed with applause from the festive crowd present at the curious ritual of vestition. A procession leads to the upper level of the Basilica where the first part of the celebration takes place.
There are about one thousand five hundred people present, including local faithful and pilgrims who have come to celebrate the feast-day of the greatly loved Saint. The basilica is festively decorated and the chapel of St. Joseph stands out where a mantle falls down the back of the statue representing him with the baby Jesus in his arms. There is great participation in the Eucharist: young people, children, families and pilgrims. The community of Nazareth is truly very much alive.
The Gospel of Matthew is read which does not tell of the apparition of the angel to Mary, but reveals the work of the Holy Spirit through the story of Joseph, “Mary’s husband”; Joseph, having learned of his betrothed’s pregnancy, “as he was a righteous man”, decided not to accuse her publicly, but to divorce her secretly; an angel, in a dream, reassured him with the well known words, “Do not be afraid, Joseph ...".
The meditation on this Gospel acquaints us with the faith of a simple, but deep, man and the courage and strength to follow a dream and make it come true. The whole Eucharist celebrates the Holy Husband of Mary, but the climax is reached when the Custos of the Holy Land carries the icon of St. Joseph in procession to the lower level of the Basilica, where there is the house of Mary, and places it inside the Grotto of the Annunciation. The groom is going to the house of his bride.
Joseph “said yes” and what happened here, where everything began, more than two thousand years ago, is repeated with an incredibly romantic liturgy.
The Gospel of Luke is now read, which relates the apparition of the Angel Gabriel to Mary. The reassuring words “Do not be afraid Mary, ..." are this time addressed to her and the mystery of the incarnation of the Word which took place here, opens. The words "Hic Verbum Caro Factum Est" resound. The Father Custos, kneeling in front of the Grotto, pronounces the Supplication in the name of the whole Church (see the attached liturgical booklet) and subsequently blesses all the people present with the beloved icon.
It is now 6.30 pm and the people gradually leave to return shortly afterwards, at 8.30 pm when, in a picturesque torchlight procession, this time the Bride, the Virgin Mary, is taken in procession, with the recital of the rosary and the singing of the Hymn of St. Joseph. It is really like celebrating a wedding.
The procession again returns to the Grotto of the Annunciation with the statue of the Virgin Mary where, after a short prayer, there is the ritual kiss of the icon. The two thousand people who took part in the torchlight procession file past the House of Mary and kiss the icon of St. Joseph.
It has been a day marked by a very intense liturgy, but with a very deep and moving significance which repeats the experience of faith of two holy spouses whose yes, spoken more than two thousand years ago, still reverberates and is combined with that "Hic verbum caro factum est" which accompanies every celebration in this Holy Place.
Photos and article by Marco Gavasso