No Picture
News Briefs

The Magi reach Bethlehem, finding smaller crowd of faithful amid ongoing war

January 7, 2024 Catholic News Agency 0
On the afternoon of Jan. 6, three Franciscan friars portrayed the Magi in Bethlehem. After the Second Vespers of the Epiphany, they descended in the Grotto of the Nativity, in Bethlehem, where they brought their gifts to the places of Jesus’ manifestation. / Credit: Marinella Bandini

Bethlehem, West Bank, Jan 7, 2024 / 11:00 am (CNA).

The Magi arrived in Bethlehem this year bearing their gifts, as the faithful held out their hands for grains of incense and drops of myrrh in the annual reenactment of the Epiphany by the Franciscan friars of the Custody of the Holy Land.

On the afternoon of Jan. 6, after the Second Vespers of the Epiphany and the adoration of the Baby Jesus in the Grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem, three Franciscan friars of the Custody of the Holy Land portraying the Magi, distributed gifts (only incense and myrrh) to the gathered faithful in the church and the cloister of St. Catherine church in Bethlehem. Credit: Marinella Bandini
On the afternoon of Jan. 6, after the Second Vespers of the Epiphany and the adoration of the Baby Jesus in the Grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem, three Franciscan friars of the Custody of the Holy Land portraying the Magi, distributed gifts (only incense and myrrh) to the gathered faithful in the church and the cloister of St. Catherine church in Bethlehem. Credit: Marinella Bandini

The afternoon celebration on Jan. 6 brought together a small crowd of believers, young and old, in the Latin Church of Saint Catherine, part of the complex of the Basilica of the Nativity.

The Magi made their appearance for the recitation of the Second Vespers of the Epiphany, marking the conclusion of the solemnity and also the end of the Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem.

After the prayer, the friars, the Magi, and the Custos of the Holy Land, Father Francesco Patton, who presided over the prayer, descended into the Grotto of the Nativity, bringing gold, incense, and myrrh to the sacred place of Jesus’ manifestation.

The gold was in the form of the rose donated by Paul VI to the Basilica of the Nativity, carried as a tradition by the guardian of the Franciscan convent in Bethlehem, currently Father Luis Enrique Segovia. The Secretary of the Custody of the Holy Land, Father Alberto Pari, and the priest responsible for the friars’ infirmary, Father Jad Sara, carried the gifts of incense and myrrh, which they then distributed to the gathered faithful in the church and the cloister.

The three gifts of the Magi — gold, incense, and myrrh — were placed on the altar of the Church of Santa Caterina in Bethlehem during the celebration of the Second Vespers of the Epiphany, on the afternoon of Jan. 6. Credit: Marinella Bandini
The three gifts of the Magi — gold, incense, and myrrh — were placed on the altar of the Church of Santa Caterina in Bethlehem during the celebration of the Second Vespers of the Epiphany, on the afternoon of Jan. 6. Credit: Marinella Bandini

This usually crowded event has been affected by the absence of pilgrims, as was the solemn entrance that took place on the morning of Jan. 5. For the second time in a month, the Custos of the Holy Land found himself walking through deserted streets. Local Christians had completely boycotted the “street” events commemorating the feast amid the Israel-Hamas war.

The Custos of the Holy Land, Father Francesco Patton walked through empty Bethlehem streets during the solemn entrance to the Basilica of the Nativity. Credit: Marinella Bandini
The Custos of the Holy Land, Father Francesco Patton walked through empty Bethlehem streets during the solemn entrance to the Basilica of the Nativity. Credit: Marinella Bandini

The Custos acknowledged the absence of pilgrims and said the time was ripe for their return.

“Seeing that the Magi, that is, the pilgrims in Bethlehem, are missing, I invite all those who wish to come on pilgrimage to make an effort and come anyway. The holy places are open for visits! People need the encounter with pilgrims! We pray, hope, and insist that pilgrims return, so that there may be peace!” he said in an interview with the Christian Media Center.

Peace is the word that has marked not only the past months but especially the day of the Epiphany, exactly 60 years after Paul VI’s visit to the Holy Land and the celebration in the Grotto of the Nativity. The Custos of the Holy Land, who presided over the solemn Mass in the morning, wore the same chasuble as Paul VI, and used the same chalice: a sign of continuity with the message of that pope and his appeal for peace, addressed to heads of state and political and religious leaders.

“We feel the urgent duty to renew … our urgent appeal for world peace. May those in power hear this cry from our hearts and continue generously their efforts to ensure humanity the peace it so ardently aspires to; so that the world can at all costs avoid the anguish and torments of a new world war, the consequences of which would be incalculable,” Father Patton said.

[…]

No Picture
News Briefs

Pope Francis: The Epiphany invites us to adore the Lord and help the poor

January 6, 2024 Catholic News Agency 2
Pope Francis delivers his homily during the Mass for the Solemnity of the Epiphany in St. Peter’s Basilica on Jan. 7, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, Jan 6, 2024 / 09:50 am (CNA).

Drawing on account of the Magi on the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, Pope Francis on Saturday urged the faithful to “find God in flesh and bone, in the faces of those we meet each day, and especially in the poor.” 

“The Magi teach us that an encounter with God opens us up to a greater reality, which makes us change our way of life and transform our world,” the pope said during his homily at a Mass Jan. 6 in St. Peter’s Basilica attended by nearly 6,000 people.

In the Latin rite of the Catholic Church, Epiphany (from the Greek word meaning “manifestation”) celebrates the revelation that Jesus was the Son of God. It focuses primarily on this revelation to the three Magi, or wise men, but it also focuses on the manifestation of Jesus’ divinity at his baptism in the Jordan River and in his first public miracle at the wedding at Cana.

The 87-year-old pontiff emphasized that the wise men’s journey was one of adoration and love, but he noted that “they do not pass their lives staring at their feet, self-absorbed, confined by earthly horizons, plodding ahead in resignation or lamentation.” 

Instead, the pope continued, “they lift their heads high and await the light that can illuminate the meaning of their lives, the salvation that dawns from on high.”

For the Magi “the star shining in the heavens” was a call to both lift “their eyes on high” and “lower them to this world.” In this way, the pope continued, they were able to recognize that God is not an abstract concept, but instead is humbly manifest “in man, in a little child lying in a manger.”

Pope Francis greets guests attending the Mass for the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord at St. Peter's Basilica on Jan. 6, 2024. Credit: Elizabeth Alva/CNA
Pope Francis greets guests attending the Mass for the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord at St. Peter’s Basilica on Jan. 6, 2024. Credit: Elizabeth Alva/CNA

The adoration of the Christ child is a moment that “illuminates our life,” Francis noted.

“The Lord Jesus was given to us not to warm our nights, but to let rays of light break through the dark shadows that envelop so many situations in our societies,” he said.

“We find the God who comes down to visit us, not by basking in some elegant religious theory, but by setting out on a journey, seeking the signs of his presence in everyday life, and above all in encountering and touching the flesh of our brothers and sisters.” 

The Holy Father called on the faithful to remain in God’s presence and stay faithful to the Church.

“We need this on our journey through life, we need to let ourselves walk in friendship with the Lord, we need his love to sustain us, and the light of his word to guide us, like a star in the night,” Pope Francis said.

At the same time, he continued, “we need to set out on this journey so that our faith will not be reduced to an assemblage of religious devotions or mere outward appearance, but will instead become a fire burning within us, making us passionate seekers of the Lord’s face and witnesses to his Gospel.”

Pope Francis added: “We need this in the Church, where, instead of splitting into groups based on our own ideas, we are called to put God back at the center.” 

[…]