As tradition has it for the Holy Land, the celebration of the solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows on Calvary introduces the Holy Week in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre. Thanks to the Status Quo, the tradition of the Custody of the Holy Land continues to place this solemnity on the Friday before Palm Sunday. Fixed on this day by Benedict XIII in 1727 and then moved to 15th September during the Second Vatican Council, […]
"It’s the first time that I have seen the Basilica of the Nativity so empty: I arrived at the same time as the number of pilgrims increased, immediately after the last intifada, so I had never seen the Basilica like that". It is Fr. Ananiasz Jaskólski, the first sacristan of the Basilica of the Nativity and deputy appointee for the Status Quo for Bethlehem who is speaking, telling us what happens in the Basilica after the total closure of 84 […]
