Since 1920, every June 13, the Custody of the Holy Land has celebrated the feast of its patron saint, St. Anthony. Devotion to the saint is strong in the parishes entrusted to the care of the friars. The solemnity began with First Vespers on Monday 12 and ended, as per tradition, with the distribution of St. Anthony's bread. A very significant gesture, Brother Francesco Patton, Custos of the Holy Land, calls it. The reference goes to one of the images with which the Saint is presented in the act of giving a bread to a poor person. "Bread," continued the Custos, which is a word that recurs no less than 200 times in the "Sermons." The day of June 13 began with the blessing of the children. For the occasion the little ones came dressed in the Franciscan habit to ask for the Saint's protection. LETICIA SAUTHIER MEDEIROS It is a way to thank God for the miracle of Anthony's life. As is the tradition here in the Holy Land, the children wear the robe...so he also came dressed as St. Anthony to celebrate this great feast. The Eucharistic celebration, presided over by Brother Francesco Patton, was attended by H.B. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Patriarch of Jerusalem of the Latins, representatives of different churches of the Holy Land and also civil authorities. "Seekers of True Wisdom" was the theme of the homily by the Custos of the Holy Land. Br FRANCESCO PATTON, ofm Custos of the Holy Land I simply tried to develop what God's word was proposing to us. The first passage was just this prayer contained in the book of Wisdom. And we know how Anthony was a seeker of wisdom. Wisdom is not knowing many things, but wisdom is finding the meaning of life in the light of God's word. And Anthony did this all his life. So I have tried a little bit to highlight these 2 aspects: finding the meaning of life by living in the light of God's word and putting yourself totally at the service of the Church, even to the point of giving your own life, as he did. The Custody of the Holy Land increases its activity in the world with the help of the Commissaries, friars of the Minor Order committed to being "bridges between the Holy Land and Christians around the world." Currently, the Commissariats of the Holy Land are distributed in 60 nations with a total of 67 Commissariats. Br SERGIO GALDI D’ARAGONA, ofm Custody of the Holy Land -Jerusalem General Commissariat of the Holy Land - Naples For the Custody, the Commissariats of the Holy Land are very important as they all but highlight the internationalist dimension of the Custody of the Holy Land. They are spread all over the world and in the territories where they are called to operate, they are called to promote the Custody of the Holy Land. They raise awareness of the issues of the Holy Land and then collect resources to support the mission of the Franciscans in the Holy Land. And this highlights the universalist dimension of Jerusalem, of the Church of Jerusalem which is the Mother Church and also the international dimension of the Custody which was born as an international Franciscan province. From June 1 to 4, on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the founding of the Commissariat of the Holy Land in Colombia, Brother Francesco Patton visited the country. He himself tells us about this important trip. Br FRANCESCO PATTON, ofm Custos of the Holy Land It was a very important and very positive trip: the first part of the trip was to Bogota and the occasion was the 400th anniversary of the Commissariat of the Holy Land in Bogota. 400 years means that the presence of the Custody of the Holy Land in Colombia is now a multi-century presence and it means that there is a relationship between the Custody of the Holy Land, the church and the faithful who are in Colombia. I was able to see this in person, also by participating in various meetings. There was also the opportunity to meet with a group of students from the university pastoral, to participate in some broadcasts and also in meetings with the local church. The Archbishop of Bogota came to preside over the Eucharistic Celebration on the occasion of the 400th anniversary and he expressed a really significant and beautiful closeness to the Custody of the Holy Land. Of course, I also saw the commitment of the Holy Land commissariat both on making the Custody known and on organizing pilgrimages. Br FRANCESCO PATTON, ofm Custos of the Holy Land The second stop was then in Buenos Aires, and there we also have a community that is of the Custody of the Holy Land and we have a commissariat of the Holy Land that also is constantly involved in organizing pilgrimages; we have friars who lead groups of pilgrims and then we have a social work that of the Custody of the Holy Land. And it is a school of the holy land that went through a very difficult period during the pandemic and now it is slowly recovering it still needs to take a few more steps but we are now on the right track to see it recover as well. Read More