The solemnity of the Nativity of St John the Baptist began at the shrine of St. John in the Desert with the First Vespers on 23 June, celebrated every year in the places of the saint’s life, a few kilometres from Jerusalem. The third of the shrines of Ain Karem, after that of the Visitation and of the birth of St John the Baptist, in the hermitage of St. John in the Desert commemorates the place of the Baptist’s childhood […]
On the morning of 26 May, the Custos of the Holy Land, fra Francesco Patton, took part in one of the most eagerly awaited sessions of the last day of the Festival of the Economy in Trento (Italy), now in its 19th year. “Quo Vadis? The dilemmas of our time” was the subject this year: with the spotlight on wars, the climate crisis, the ecological transition and the impact of Artificial Intelligence on the future of people, work, communities and […]
The feast day of Our Lady of the Pillar and the Spanish national holiday, linked to the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus and the consequent influence of the Spanish language and culture on the American continent, are celebrated on 12 October. Every year, around this date, the Custody of the Holy Land organizes a Eucharistic celebration to underscore its close historical and spiritual bond with Spain. It is a tribute by the Custody to the four nations that have […]
On 18 and 19 August, Fr. Francesco Patton OFM, Custos of the Holy Land, took part in the celebrations in honour of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, known as the Polish Jerusalem. He presided the solemn Eucharist for the Franciscan missions on Thursday 18 August and gave the homily during the vespers that opened the Procession of the Dormition of the Mother of God on Friday, 19 August. In his homily, he recalled attention to […]
