Monday, December 24th: night falls over Bethlehem. The crowd in the square does not disperse. Pilgrims and tourists hurry, some to visit the Basilica, others to return to their hotels.
Bethlehemites know that the President of the Palestinian Authority will pass by on his way to the traditional dinner hosted by the Franciscans and which plays a part in the protocol. As of last year the dinner is no longer held in the monastery’s refectory, but in the larger Casa Nova dining room.
It is a very simple affair. Seated at the head table are His Beatitude the Patriarch Michel Sabbah; his coadjutor, Msgr. Fuad Twal; auxiliary bishop Msgr. Kamal Bathish; and Msgr. Antonio Franco, the Apostolic Nuncio, next to the Father Guardian of the monastery. Doing the honors is the Custodial Vicar, Brother Artemio Vitores, ofm, who welcomes the illustrious guest on behalf of the Father Custos, celebrating Christmas in Nazareth this year, at the Basilica of the Annunciation. The speech is brief and recalls the common commitment to the poor who live in this town, so important to the Christian faith. Thanking the President for coming, Brother Artemio renewed his vows for the laborious road to peace, with openness to dialog and in truth.
Brother Ibrahim Faltas ofm, responsible for relations with the Palestinian Authority and the Israelis, translates the speech into Arabic for the numerous guests who are part of the presidential entourage, among them the Prime Minister, Salaam Fayyad. The dinner does not last long and as the religious authorities and President Abu Mazen, followed by his guests, leave, the friars hurry to their places.
Saint Catherine’s Church has already been prepared. The pews have been moved and set apart the places for the consuls on one side and the representatives of the Palestinian Authority on the other, all facing the altar.
Shortly after nine o’clock, the first ticket-holding pilgrims begin to enter. The crowd pushes against the convent’s exterior doors, but they have to understand that the church really cannot contain everyone!
Virtually no Bethlehem resident attends this Mass. They will come tomorrow. That will be their Mass: pressed closely together, family after family, touchingly joining in the singing; it is truly moving. Nothing will distract them. That is their Christmas: the children dressed in red like so many Santas, waiting to be able, one by one, to go and greet the Patriarch who will be there just for them. Large and small alike, everyone will kiss the statue of the Baby Jesus, the Child of Bethlehem.
For now, though, people enter slowly; three checkpoints regulate the flow of pilgrims and examine their tickets. More than 150 priests also enter, as many as can be contained in the choir area set up for the occasion. The young friars help them with the priestly vestments and invite them to take their places. There is certainly time, for we must wait for midnight.
In a country that doesn’t wait for Christmas and where only in Bethlehem, stuck behind the Wall, is it Christmas, these two hours of waiting serve as Advent. The subdued buzz quickly stops when a friar approaches the ambo; readings and hymns punctuate the last moments before Mass. Now the assembled faithful, a sea of heads, remains silent, listening or singing, continuing their wait. This recollected atmosphere of waiting can only be experienced here. This is Bethlehem: on this night, in this place at the heart of a suffering town, inhabited by a tiny Christian minority, the whole world comes to bow down before this divine Babe.
The emotions are palpable; the entrance of the choir of the Magnificat Institute, the music institute of the Custody of the Holy Land, does not break the silence. And this year there are so many of them! They place themselves around the organ; the crowd waits. They are intrigued by this large choir in blue robes, by the large number of children dressed in white in the front. The choir is like the Magnificat Institute itself: Christians, Muslims and Jews together. Pupils and teachers of different affiliations; all that counts is the priority given to beauty and to music. This night, here in Bethlehem, they will sing for the first time the Yasmin Mass, dedicated by Brother Armando Pierucci to the Holy Father Benedict XVI.
From the sacristy comes the procession of celebrants in solemn vestments, cross and book of the Gospels held high, all preceded by incense. The Office of Readings begins. The crowd has been standing for nearly two hours, but the very air seems to vibrate with joy at the end of their waiting. They are here together to thank God for becoming a little Baby. At the first notes of the Gloria, the veil that covers the statue of the Baby Jesus is raised; the choir sings the Gloria and we seem to be hearing the very first Gloria sung by the angels.
The voices in the choir bear our hearts aloft, and the gathered faithful join the song.
Who knows how long Midnight Mass lasts in Bethlehem? Nobody shows signs of fatigue, and everyone’s attention now turns to the procession of concelebrating priests who accompany the Patriarch carrying the Babe to the Grotto of the Nativity, where he will place it in the manger. It will remain there until Epiphany Day, resting in a cradle on a silken sheet that the Patriarch had painted, in accordance with tradition, by the nuns of Beit Jamal.
As the procession returns, the pilgrims have almost emptied the church and the last verse of the Te Deum introduces the final blessing. Two hours have gone by: that’s Christmas in Bethlehem.
In the grotto, at the Manger Altar, and in the grottos under the Basilica, Masses will follow one upon the other without interruption until the afternoon of the 25th. The first is celebrated by the pastor of the parish, Brother Samuel F. Fahim, ofm, as midnight strikes. It will be served by the youngest friars of the Custody.
Meanwhile, the pews have been put back in place. It was a little noisy, yes, but that is because here in Saint Catherine’s Church, the Masses will start up again for large groups.
In the Shepherds’ Field, at the Milk Grotto, everywhere where there is an altar here in Bethlehem this night brings together the most varied and different people to give thanks to God for the eternal newness of Christmas.
IB