“Brethren pray for your priests”… The Patriarch, Mons. Fouad Twal, who presided the Mass at the Holy Sepulchre this Holy Thursday, 1st April 2010. pronounced these words after having invited the priests present to renew their priestly promises.
There are about two hundred of them today in the Basilica of the Resurrection, from all continents, of all styles and all the currents of the Church, from many different religious communities, old or more recent. For them it is a day of celebration, their celebration, because the institution of the Eucharist is celebrated, although in the past few months the spirit of celebration has been felt less, due to the many scandals that have broken out and which have affected them all.
“Brethren pray for your priests”… I met one of them in the streets of the Old City the night before. He urged me to write an article inviting readers to pray for the priests: “They are spat on, insulted, attacked, not understood by their faithful and slaughtered…”. In 2009, thirty priests were murdered in the world.
After the Patriarch blessed the holy oils and after the celebration of the Eucharist, all the priests accompanied the procession of the Very Holy Sacrament, which will be adored for the whole of the afternoon and all night in its repository, the Empty Tomb.
The procession goes round the shrine three times, the worshippers present watch all these priests file past, envying them for a moment, “Brethren pray for your priests.”…
On Holy Thursday everything recalls the figure of the priest and his role. Today the Patriarch kneeled to wash the feet of the Franciscan seminarians and those of the Patriarchate. The Custos did the same thing, at two different times: first in the Cenacle before children and then in the parish where he presided Mass. The day comes to an end with the meeting of Jesus in Gethsemane, where he prayed to the Father so that he would take away that cup from him… “But not what I will but what you will.”
“How frightening it is to be a priest!” exclaimed one day the Curé d’Ars, made patron saint of all the priests in the world by Pope Benedict XVI. Even Jesus was afraid. “Brethren pray for your priests”…
In the night, at St. Peter in Gallicantu, the subject of meditation is the betrayal of Peter, our betrayals, the betrayals we have all made, with no exceptions… The Holy Land is a fifth Gospel and all the Gospels come to an end with the Resurrection…
Mab
Holy Thursday 2010 - Homily of Patriarch Fouad
There are about two hundred of them today in the Basilica of the Resurrection, from all continents, of all styles and all the currents of the Church, from many different religious communities, old or more recent. For them it is a day of celebration, their celebration, because the institution of the Eucharist is celebrated, although in the past few months the spirit of celebration has been felt less, due to the many scandals that have broken out and which have affected them all.
“Brethren pray for your priests”… I met one of them in the streets of the Old City the night before. He urged me to write an article inviting readers to pray for the priests: “They are spat on, insulted, attacked, not understood by their faithful and slaughtered…”. In 2009, thirty priests were murdered in the world.
After the Patriarch blessed the holy oils and after the celebration of the Eucharist, all the priests accompanied the procession of the Very Holy Sacrament, which will be adored for the whole of the afternoon and all night in its repository, the Empty Tomb.
The procession goes round the shrine three times, the worshippers present watch all these priests file past, envying them for a moment, “Brethren pray for your priests.”…
On Holy Thursday everything recalls the figure of the priest and his role. Today the Patriarch kneeled to wash the feet of the Franciscan seminarians and those of the Patriarchate. The Custos did the same thing, at two different times: first in the Cenacle before children and then in the parish where he presided Mass. The day comes to an end with the meeting of Jesus in Gethsemane, where he prayed to the Father so that he would take away that cup from him… “But not what I will but what you will.”
“How frightening it is to be a priest!” exclaimed one day the Curé d’Ars, made patron saint of all the priests in the world by Pope Benedict XVI. Even Jesus was afraid. “Brethren pray for your priests”…
In the night, at St. Peter in Gallicantu, the subject of meditation is the betrayal of Peter, our betrayals, the betrayals we have all made, with no exceptions… The Holy Land is a fifth Gospel and all the Gospels come to an end with the Resurrection…
Mab
Holy Thursday 2010 - Homily of Patriarch Fouad