Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter in Tiberias

It was a splendid day of sunshine after the rain, the perfect day for the celebration of the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter in Tiberias. The parish faithful, faithful from Galilee (including a large group from Nazareth), priests, seminarians, religious sisters and brothers and some special guests from abroad, gathered around the Bishop, Msgr. Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo and the parish priest Father Giuseppe De Nardi to celebrate this ancient feast dedicated to the first Vicar of Christ, St. Peter.

From early morning the faithful began to arrive and the Church was filled to overflowing. The celebration was joyful and represented those present as the parishioners are speakers of many languages: English, Hebrew, Arabic, Tagalog, Tamil, Russian, Spanish, French. The songs were led by the members of the Koinonia John the Baptist with the welcome help of Lena and Luda from Haifa. The Mass ended with a suggestive moment of prayer around the statue of St. Peter for the Pope and voices united to sing “Christus vincit”, proclamation of the Lordship of Christ and of our desire to follow Jesus as Peter did.

The Eucaristic celebration was followed by an abundant and rich table, lovingly prepared by the Koinonia community and the Nimer family from the parish. There was time to chatter and mingle and spend some time in sharing after an intense time of prayer and recollection.