The Basilica of St Anne, in Jerusalem, is shown by the apocryphal sources and traditions as the place where the house of St Joachim and St Anne stood and where the Virgin Mary was born. As every year, on 8 September the friars of the Custody of the Holy Land make a peregrination here, on the liturgical feast-day of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The particularities include the veneration of the birth place of the Virgin Mary, in the crypt, where the celebrants go down in procession to the singing of the litanies of the saints, before the final blessing. Today St Anne’s Basilica is entrusted to the care of the Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers).
A Mass for France
On this day, the Custody offers a Mass for France as well, to which it is linked by a long story of collaboration and protection of the Holy Places. The basilica itself is the property of the French Republic: in 1856 the Sultan Abdul Majid gave it to Napoleon III for military support in the Crimean War. This is why, the Deputy Consul-General of France, Quentin Lopinot, was present at the Mass and a hymn to ask God to save the French Republic was sung at the end of the Mass.
Return to the origins
The Mass, in French, was presided over by Fra Michael Muhindo, who in his homily invited us to rediscover our identity. “The Nativity of Mary suggests to us that every child that is conceived and that is to be born is always known by God. God destinies every child to be made in the image of Christ. This is why the life of every child must be preserved. The life of every child is sacred. Fra Michael then exhorted those present to defend life and be witnesses of peace.
Following in tradition
Pilgrims have visited this place since the 5th century. The tradition that places Mary’s birth place here is inspired by the protogospel of James (2nd century) which tells the story of Mary’s childhood and places her parents’ home “not far from the Temple.” The veneration spread above all after the dedication of a small church in the 4th century. Following the gospel accounts and the archaeological excavations, tradition places here the pool of Bethesda (Bethzatha or probatic), the place where the paralytic was healed.
The Franciscan tradition
The present-day church is from Crusader times and under the reign of Salah-ad-din was transformed into a Koranic school, which allowed its preservation. Even during the Muslim domination, the Franciscans of the Custody tried to gain access to the basilica to celebrate. Often they would lower themselves from a window into the crypt. In the 15th century, a firman (a decree of the Ottoman sovereign) gave the Custody permission to celebrate the Nativity of the Virgin Mary here on 8 September and the Immaculate Conception on 8 December. This tradition continues up to the present day.
Marinella Bandini
