{"id":19921,"date":"2021-02-13T12:41:41","date_gmt":"2021-02-13T17:41:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/franciscans-mark-600-years-as-guardians-of-christendoms-most-sacred-sites\/"},"modified":"2021-02-13T12:41:41","modified_gmt":"2021-02-13T17:41:41","slug":"franciscans-mark-600-years-as-guardians-of-christendoms-most-sacred-sites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.worldcatholicnews.com\/franciscans-mark-600-years-as-guardians-of-christendoms-most-sacred-sites\/","title":{"rendered":"Franciscans mark 600 years as guardians of Christendom’s most sacred sites"},"content":{"rendered":"
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WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2014 Before he became guardian and commissary of the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in Washington in 2013, Franciscan Father Larry Dunham made his first trip to the Holy Land, where his order has cared for the most sacred shrines of Christendom for centuries.<\/p>\n

The trip brought out the first fervor he felt when he became a priest, he told Catholic News Service<\/em> Feb. 11. The Franciscans are the custodians of \u201cthe patrimony of our church\u201d and it was \u201cdeeply moving\u201d to see firsthand \u201chow incredible this work is,\u201d said the 73-year-old friar.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere Jesus was born, where Jesus walked, lived, did his ministry, suffered and died \u2014 this is the center of our faith and grounds us in our faith, the very foundations of our faith,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Thinking about the people in the Holy Land as descendants of the first ones to have heard the word of God preached to them on the first Pentecost \u201cgives me goose bumps,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The work of the friars also \u201cgives these people hope,\u201d he said. The friars have never left them \u2014 despite violent clashes and political unrest that have plagued the region for time immemorial \u2014 and they continue to pour their lives out for them\u201d with many good works.<\/p>\n

As one of the three monolithic religions that call the Holy Land home, the Franciscans are also bridge-builders in a land of conflict.<\/p>\n

The Franciscans trace their presence in the Holy Land to 1217 when St. Francis of Assisi founded the Province of the Holy Land, a custodian priory of the order he founded in 1209 \u2014 formally called the Order of Friars Minor.<\/p>\n

On Feb. 14, the order will celebrate the 600th anniversary of Pope Martin V instituting the Commissaries of the Holy Land Feb. 14, 1421.<\/p>\n

Vatican News<\/em> reported Feb. 12 that in a message to mark the anniversary, Pope Francis said, \u201cThe mission of the commissaries is still relevant: to support, promote and enhance the mission of the Custody of the Holy Land by making a network of ecclesial, spiritual and charitable relationships that have as their focal point the land where Jesus lived.\u201d<\/p>\n

He expressed his support for their \u201cprecious service\u201d and extended his blessing.<\/p>\n

In a joint letter sent to Father Dunham and the order\u2019s other commissaries, Franciscan Father Francesco Patton, who is custos, or custodian, of the Holy Land, and Franciscan Father Marco Carrara, secretary of the Holy Land, thanked \u201cDivine Providence, which throughout these centuries has made use of your diligent and creative industriousness as commissary friars of the faithful and devoted generosity of benefactors to allow the Custody of the Holy Land to carry on the mission entrusted to us by the church.\u201d<\/p>\n

Patton planned to celebrate a morning Mass of thanksgiving Feb. 15 in Jerusalem. He also designated Feb. 15 as an annual day of prayer for benefactors.<\/p>\n

Since 1899, the Franciscan Monastery in the Brookland neighborhood of Washington has been a popular place to get a glimpse of the Holy Land. It houses replicas of several holy places in the Middle East and helps Catholics and other visitors who can\u2019t journey to the Holy Land make a connection with the holy sites.<\/p>\n

Now during the pandemic, the Monastery Church has remained closed \u2014 it\u2019s a protective measure because the monastery is the friars\u2019 home. But the gardens remain open during the day \u2014 and they have been a welcome respite for many these last months.<\/p>\n

The monastery\u2019s friars also lead pilgrimages to the Holy Land for the faithful \u2014 though amid the pandemic, now almost a year old, there have been no pilgrimages. The year prior to the pandemic saw 20 pilgrimages.<\/p>\n

Not having them is \u201cquite a loss to us,\u201d Dunham told CNS<\/em>. The pilgrimages help support the work of the Franciscans in the Holy Land and at the monastery \u2014 but the groups of pilgrims also \u201creally support the people of the Holy Land, he said.<\/p>\n

He noted pilgrims are generous with donations to local churches, patronize businesses and take part in side tours, too, which is another source of income for people there.<\/p>\n

Beyond the monetary loss is the spiritual loss for people who would like to make a pilgrimage. People come back changed from such a trip, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is nothing like a pilgrimage to have a St. Paul conversion (experience), it\u2019s like our going off to Damascus \u2014 people never come back the same,\u201d Dunham said. \u201cIt deepens their faith. They can never hear Scripture the same again. They fall in absolute love with the Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the duties of the commissary is to promote pilgrimages but also promote an understanding of the Holy Land, he said, and Catholics are always encouraged to make a spiritual pilgrimage, by for example saying the Stations of the Cross.<\/p>\n

The \u201cgreat devotion of the Stations of the Cross all came out of the mission of promoting Holy Land,\u201d Dunham said.<\/p>\n

One way Catholics the world over can help support the work of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land is to contribute to the traditional pontifical Good Friday collection for the Holy Land. Taken up at the request of the pope, the funds support projects in the Holy Land, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Turkey, Iran and Iraq.<\/p>\n

The collection is administered by the Franciscan Custody and the Congregation for Eastern Churches.<\/p>\n

Last year, with Holy Week celebrations closed to the public amid the pandemic, Pope Francis postponed the collection to September. No announcement has been made yet this year if that will happen again. This year, Good Friday is April 2.<\/p>\n

The pandemic has been rough on everyone and the people of the Holy Land and their livelihoods are no exception.<\/p>\n

But as Dunham said, this is only the latest \u201cscourge\u201d to hit the region.<\/p>\n

In Jesus time, there were Roman occupiers, he said, and Jesus \u201chad to live in occupied territory and all that goes with a country being occupied.\u201d<\/p>\n

But \u201cthe grace of God is still present and has never left that place \u2026 despite all the difficulties,\u201d he said, and that is nothing short of \u201cmiraculous.\u201d<\/p>\n

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