This year again, on the morning of Good Friday, the Franciscan friars of the Custody of the Holy Land went down the streets of Jerusalem following in the footsteps of the Lord, in the traditional Via Crucis along the Via Dolorosa. The moment of prayer was led by the Custos of the Holy Land, Fra Francesco Patton. The procession started from the school opposite the Shrine of the Flagellation and followed the stations of the Passion of Jesus Christ from […]
“It is very important that music reaches as many people as possible in Jerusalem, and that it can be a fundamental part in the life of our local Christian community.” With these words, Jamil Freij, a teacher at the Magnificat Institute in Jerusalem, that he tells of his passion for music. He was born and grew up in the Christian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem and is one of the many “Living Stones”: people who are, for one […]
The procession of the palms in Jerusalem is one of the most picturesque moments which brings together the whole Christian community of the Holy Land. On Sunday 13 April, a long winding procession of palms raised to the sky came down from the Mount of Olives, following the same steps as Jesus when he entered Jerusalem. After having gathered around the Patriarch, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, for the celebration of Palm Sunday at the Holy Sepulchre, the Christians of the Holy […]
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 […]
