Relic of St Francis brought to Holy Land to invoke peace

Source: Fides/Custos of the Holy Land

A relic of St Francis of Assisi was brought to the Holy Land today for the beginning of a pilgrimage to pray for peace.

St Francis and his companion Illuminatus made the long journey to Egypt during the Fifth Crusade in 1219. They were welcomed by the Sultan Al-Malik al-Kamil, the Muslim leader of Palestine, Syria and Egypt. Francis was shocked by the treatment of Muslims and Jews during the Crusades. The Sultan allowed him to preach to the Muslims. The Franciscans have maintained a presence in the Holy Land since that time, safeguarding Christian sites and supporting local people.

Brother Matteo Brena, Commissioner of the Holy Land of the Friars Minor of Tuscany said: "After 800 years, we bring Saint Francis back to the Holy Land to try to be, like him, able to cross borders in a wounded place, just as, eight centuries ago, the Poverello went on a pilgrimage to the holy places in an equally difficult time, marked by the Crusades, with the desire to build bridges and not walls."

Brother Matteo, who is also coordinator of the Committee for the 800th anniversary of the stigmata of St Francis, is on a pilgrimage to the desperately troubled Holy Land, from September 30 to October 5, together with 10 other people, brothers and lay people. They are carrying the bloodstained habit of St Francis of Assisi.

Br Matteo said: "We set out with a great desire in our hearts: to be that "little remnant" that knows how to be the bearer, in this new dramatic situation for the Middle East, of a sign of consolation and a word of hope. From the wounds, a new life" was the motto of the eighth centenary of the stigmata of St Francis; and we, by bringing to Jerusalem and Bethlehem the relic of his blood, which flowed from the signs of the passion on his body, try to tell those brothers and sisters that it is possible to inhabit the wounds with hope and with a desire for the future."

The delegation, made up of four brothers and six lay people, including representatives of the Franciscan Youth and the Secular Franciscan Order, will travel between Jerusalem and Bethlehem to bring the relic to the Christian communities of the area, meeting the local population and visiting some of the symbolic places of the commitment of Christians to pacify the land where Jesus lived.

One of the highlights of the trip will take place on October 2: the twinning between the Basilica of Gethsemane, a place that preserves the memory of the dramatic hours of Christ's passion, and the Sanctuary of La Verna will be sanctioned. The twinning will also sanction the link between the two hermitages. The ceremony will take place in the presence of Fra' Francesco Patton, Custos of the Holy Land, and Fra' Livio Crisci, Provincial Minister of the Friars Minor of Tuscany.

Brother Matteo said: "the Basilica of Gethsemane is one hundred years old since its construction in 1924, together with the Basilica of the Transfiguration, by the Italian architect Antonio Barluzzi, who died in 1960 in Rome in the convent of the Delegation of the Holy Land. We will therefore also participate in the initiatives of this centenary."

"United in prayer, let us accompany our brothers on the pilgrimage between Jerusalem and Bethlehem," say the Franciscan Fraternities throughout Italy.

800 years ago, in September 1224, Francis of Assisi received the Stigmata on the mountain of La Verna, near Arezzo. On that occasion, the brother conformed to the crucified Christ and a part of his habit, soaked in the blood of his side, became an important relic, a perpetual testimony of that event, preserved by the Friars Minor.

LINK

Custos of the Holy Land: www.custodia.org/en