On Friday, March 22 in the Holy Sepulcher, the Chapel of the Crucifixion was filled with as many people as it could hold. Beginning the Holy Week schedule, the Feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary was solemnly celebrated by the Custody of the Holy Land with Custodial Vicar Fra Artemio Vitores presiding.
The Friars of the Franciscan seminary, some twenty priests, and several dozen religious and lay faithful were present on this eve of Holy Week to learn at the school of the Virgin Mary, and to live, after her example, the mysteries of the Passion and the Resurrection of Jesus.
There, where the mother of believers stood at the foot of her Son's cross, they were able,as Fra Artemio's homily invited, to watch her live in faith that which had been announced by the prophets.
Quoting Pope Paul VI, who saw in Mary "the most perfect disciple of Christ", the Council, and the Catechism of the Church, Fra Artemio proposed turning toward she whose life was crossed with sorrow yet who nevertheless was always able to live in the hope and confidence of faith.
In this Year of Faith, the assembly was able to contemplate the Virgin Mary's immovable faith, similar to the faith of Abraham, even when the Lord did not stop his hand at the moment of sacrificing his son. But, like Abraham, in faith she knew that everything is possible for God.
The spirit of today's feast is contained in the first prayer of the Mass: "You desired, Lord, that the Mother of your Son, standing at the foot of the Cross, would be associated with suffering; let your Church, too, unite itself with Christ's Passion, so as to have a part in his Resurrection."
The Custody of the Holy Land wishes you a beautiful Holy Week.
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On this page you will find the Holy Week schedule in your language by downloading the attached PDF.
Click on the red PDF icon to open it on your computer.
On the Christian information Center site (click here) you'll find the schedules for other churches in and outside of Jerusalem. (See left column.)
The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
•Simeon's prophecy over the Infant Jesus (Luke 2:34-35)
•The Holy Family's flight to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-21)
•The disappearance of Jesus for three days in the Temple (Luke 2:41 51)
•Mary meets Jesus on the Way of the Cross (Luke 23:27-31)
•Mary contemplates the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross (John 19:25-27).
•Mary receives her dead son in her arms at the Descent from the Cross (Matthew 27:57-59)
•Mary leaves the body of her son in the tomb (John 19:40-42)
The Friars of the Franciscan seminary, some twenty priests, and several dozen religious and lay faithful were present on this eve of Holy Week to learn at the school of the Virgin Mary, and to live, after her example, the mysteries of the Passion and the Resurrection of Jesus.
There, where the mother of believers stood at the foot of her Son's cross, they were able,as Fra Artemio's homily invited, to watch her live in faith that which had been announced by the prophets.
Quoting Pope Paul VI, who saw in Mary "the most perfect disciple of Christ", the Council, and the Catechism of the Church, Fra Artemio proposed turning toward she whose life was crossed with sorrow yet who nevertheless was always able to live in the hope and confidence of faith.
In this Year of Faith, the assembly was able to contemplate the Virgin Mary's immovable faith, similar to the faith of Abraham, even when the Lord did not stop his hand at the moment of sacrificing his son. But, like Abraham, in faith she knew that everything is possible for God.
The spirit of today's feast is contained in the first prayer of the Mass: "You desired, Lord, that the Mother of your Son, standing at the foot of the Cross, would be associated with suffering; let your Church, too, unite itself with Christ's Passion, so as to have a part in his Resurrection."
The Custody of the Holy Land wishes you a beautiful Holy Week.
– – –
On this page you will find the Holy Week schedule in your language by downloading the attached PDF.
Click on the red PDF icon to open it on your computer.
On the Christian information Center site (click here) you'll find the schedules for other churches in and outside of Jerusalem. (See left column.)
The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
•Simeon's prophecy over the Infant Jesus (Luke 2:34-35)
•The Holy Family's flight to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-21)
•The disappearance of Jesus for three days in the Temple (Luke 2:41 51)
•Mary meets Jesus on the Way of the Cross (Luke 23:27-31)
•Mary contemplates the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross (John 19:25-27).
•Mary receives her dead son in her arms at the Descent from the Cross (Matthew 27:57-59)
•Mary leaves the body of her son in the tomb (John 19:40-42)