The Franciscan shrine of Màgdala, on the western shore of Lake Tiberias, welcomed the Franciscan community of the Custody of the Holy Land for the second time in honour of the feast-day of St Mary Magdalene, the first to meet the Risen in front of the empty tomb, thus becoming the first witness of the victory of Jesus over death. The liturgical memory of the “Apostle to the Apostles” falls on 22 July, the day that Pope Francis - with a […]
The ribbon was cut for the new classrooms in the Terra Sancta School in Beit Hanina, one of the Arab quarters in the outskirts of Jerusalem on the road that from the city goes towards Ramallah. A renovated school Just a few weeks after the start of the new school year, the Custos of the Holy Land, fra Francesco Patton, visited the school, which was completely renovated over the summer. He was welcomed by the head of the Terra Sancta […]
The eleven “Martyrs of Damascus” are saints. The names of eight Franciscans of the Custody of the Holy Land and of three Maronite laymen ,the Massabki brothers, have been added to the list of saints. Their feast-day is confirmed on 10 July, the day on which they were killed “out of hatred for the faith” in Damascus in 1860. Canonization The canonization ceremony was held on 20 October in St Peter’s Square in Rome. Three other saints, all portrayed in […]
The 2020 Holy Week will be a very atypical one. The rites of the Easter Triduum will be celebrated without the participation of the faithful. For this reason, the Congregation for the Eastern Churches has deemed it appropriate to postpone the Holy Land Collection which is usually offered on Good Friday to Catholics all over the world. Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation, explains that, with the approval of Pope Francis, the Collection has been postponed until Sunday, September […]
