The solemn celebrations of the vigil and of the first Sunday in Lent in the Holy Sepulchre, came to an end through a number of peculiar and unique rites and liturgies that mark the time of preparation for Easter in this special place. As established by the Status Quo, in the night between Saturday and Sunday of Lent, the Franciscan friars of the Custody of the Holy Land animate the first solemn entrance of the Latin Patriarch into the Basilica, […]
The month of September is important for the Franciscans in formation. In this period two significant events take place: the ceremony of vestition to enter the novitiate and the first profession of the vows which brings the so-called “trial year,” the novitiate, to an end. These are two of the decisive steps to enter the status of religious in the canonical sense. There are two dates this year: Saturday 4 September, the day of the first profession of eight novices […]
On 1st June, at St Saviour’s church in Jerusalem, the Custos of the Holy Land Fra Francesco Patton presided over the Holy Mass during which the Ministries of Acolyte and Reader were conferred on twenty-six friars from different parts of the world. “These ministries,” the Custos said in his homily (you can find the full text here) addressing the friars, “are linked to a vocational path (the one you are following as friars minor) and to a call to service […]
