On 5 March, with the celebration of Ash Wednesday, the time of Lent, a period of forty days of prayer, fasting and penitence which prepares Christians for Easter, has begun. In Jerusalem too, the start of Lent was marked by community celebrations in the different convents. Lent, a time of grace and conversion At 6.30 in the morning at the Holy Sepulchre, the Franciscan friars celebrated Mass, presided over by the guardian of the convent, Fra Stéphane Milovitch and concelebrated […]
On the morning of 12 February, the altar from the Latin chapel of Calvary returned to the Holy Sepulchre. Last April it had been removed and, together with other works belonging to the Terra Sancta Museum of Jerusalem, it had gone to Florence to be restored and exhibited at the “Marino Marini” Museum . The altar, donated in 1578 by the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Ferdinando de’ Medici, to the Custody of the Holy Land, has been restored to its […]
Dear friends, May the Lord give you His peace! 1. The experience of this last year has been truly difficult for all of us who live in the Holy Land. The war on several fronts has not only brought death and destruction but has sown further hatred between neighbouring and people who have had brotherly relationships. Many families have been left without work and have struggled to send their children to school as well as to pay for medical care […]
Last 1 February, in the church of St Fortunatus’ convent, in Montefalco (Italy),the postulate house of the Custody of the Holy Land, the ostension of the relics of St Severus, joint patron saint of the city. The relics, preserved in a sarcophagus in the church’s chapel, were recovered and displayed for the first time for the veneration of the faithful. The ceremony – presided over by Mons. Renato Boccardo, archbishop of Spoleto-Norcia – was also attended by the Custos of […]
