On 3 and 4 October, the Franciscans of the Custody of the Holy Land – together with a large number of faithful - celebrated the feast-day of St. Francis of Assisi, their founder. The friars responded to the trails of light of the missiles in the Jerusalem sky with an intense climate of prayer, both during the Triduum of preparation and on the days of the celebration. 

The dream of fraternity and peace

In his homily , during the First Vespers of the feast-day, the Custos of the Holy Land, Fra Francesco Patton, summarized very well the attitude with which the friars are living through these times: “We are trying to live to the full the spirituality of trust and fraternity that St Francis drew on from familiarity with Jesus. We are insignificant, a small sign. Yet, through us, the Lord is still offering our time and the land where he called us the chance to catch a glimpse of his dream, the dream of fraternity and of peace.”

The children’s celebration 

The celebrations at St. Savior’s, in Jerusalem, opened with the Mass for the children and the youngsters of the Terra Sancta School. “I reminded them of the importance of education for their future as men of peace,” said Fra Ibrahim Faltas, head of the school and Custodial Vicar. “It has been a year of war, fear and tensions; I asked the children to recite together, as they do every day at school, the simple prayer of St Francis: ‘Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.’” The day at school was dedicated to the celebrations of the saint. “I asked the children to be witnesses of peace, living in respect, in forgiveness and in love.”

Like pilgrims

On 3 October, during the First Vespers, 30 friars (of whom 16 of the Custody) renewed their vows for one year. They are the friars who have made the simple profession but not yet the perpetual one. The Custos addressed them in his homily: “Ask for the grace to be able to appreciate the gift that has been given to you to be called to live life as pilgrims and strangers in fraternity. This awareness will help all of us to live even in these difficult times with trust.” Seven other friars of the Custody who are away from Jerusalem renewed their vows in the locations where they are.

The “Transit of St Francis,” the passage of the Franciscan sources that narrates his passage from earthly to eternal life, in the night between 3 and 4 October 1226, was read at the same celebration. The lights went out at the time when the death of the saint and the rise to heaven of his soul were remembered, to go on again a few minutes later, to the singing of the “Canticle of creatures.” 

The Solemn Mass

On 4 October, the feast-day, a Solemn Mass is celebrated in St Saviour’s church in Jerusalem. Before the start of the Mass, little Edwardo put on St Francis’s habit, as a sign of consecration to the saint, according to a local tradition. The liturgy was presided over by a Dominican father, the prior of St Stephen’s convent in Jerusalem, Father Martin Staszak. The same takes place with the roles inverted for the feast-day of St Dominic.

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Franciscan, and the Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Giacinto Boulos Marcuzzo; Mons. Natale Albino, chargé d’affaires of the Apostolic Delegation for Jerusalem and Father Antoine Duwaihi of the Maronite Church were present at the celebration.  The consul-generals Wilfried Pfeffer (Belgium), Domenico Bellato (Italy), Nicolas Kassianides (France), Javier Gutiérrez (Spain) and Dimitrios Angelosopoulos (Greece) were also present.

The homily was given by the Dominican father Olivier Poquillon, director of the École Biblique of Jerusalem, who emphasized the fraternal bond between the two religious orders. Commenting on the readings, he exhorted the faithful to “have faith in God” who gives “hope in the darkness” and invited us to “stand up and follow him.” “If we want to see the light, we must go out. We are not alone, Jesus came to share with us the burden of every day,” he said. In the afternoon, the Second Vespers concluded the celebrations.