On Tuesday 6 August, the day of the Solemnity of the Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Franciscans of the Custody of the Holy Land gathered in the place which commemorates this event: Mount Tabor . Standing on an upland of 580 metres above sea level, which rises alone in the Jezreel Valley, this is the place where tradition, from St Cyril of Jerusalem in the 4th century, places the event of the Transfiguration of Jesus: “up a […]
30 September 2023: in Jerusalem it is 11:55 a.m. when the Patriarch of the Latins Pierbattista Pizzaballa kneels before the Supreme Pontiff to receive the cardinal’s insignia. In St Peter’s Square, in front of a huge crowd of faithful and pilgrims, the Ordinary Consistory presided over by Pope Francis is taking place, during which twenty-one cardinals have been created. Italian, born in the province of Bergamo, Pizzaballa entered the service of the Custody of the Holy Land in 1999, holding the […]
On the evening of 26 October, the Franciscan church of St Saviour in Jerusalem, hosted the celebration of the Vespers in the Maronite rite, as thanks for the canonization of the “Martyrs of Damascus,” eight Franciscan friars and three Maronite laymen. Common prayer The celebration was presided over by the Archbishop of Haifa and the Holy Land of the Maronites, Moussa Hage, and was animated by the Maronite choir who came especially from Haifa. “Praying together is a very significant experience […]
Since the middle of March, life for the friars and student priests living at the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in Washington, D.C., has undergone two major shifts, as measures to contain the pandemic have drastically changed life around the world, as well as inthis Franciscan friary. Keeping safe First, observing the “stay-at-home” orders of Mayor Muriel Bowser of Washington, D.C., the friars’ ministry and other travel outside the house has been largely curtailed—travel only for essential reasons. […]
