Patriarch Twal visits Our Lady Woman of Valor on feast day

Although the feast falls on May 10, it is celebrated each year on the Saturday closest to this date, this year May 7. The Patriarch was due to celebrate the festive mass however due to his getting lost in Tel Aviv, Father David, Patriarchal Vicar, celebrated the mass in his stead. Hundreds of faithful packed the church and overflowed into the courtyard outside. In his homily, Father David pointed to Our Lady as the model of how to follow Christ. She is here in south Tel Aviv and with her habitual discretion and quiet courage she points to her son and follows him always.

The mass was a joyful celebration with the participation from all the migrant communities – the Filipinos, the Ge’ez rite Catholics, the Sri Lankans, the Konkani, Malayalam and Gujarati speaking Indians, the Sudanese and many others. Present also were representatives of the various benefactors including the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, the German Association of the Holy Land and Pontifical Mission. The Filipino Ambassador Mr. Neale Imperiale and his team including the Consul General, Vice Consul and Cultural attaché were also present. The mass was accompanied by magnificent music, songs sung by the Divine Mercy Filipino Choir as well as choirs from the Sri Lankan, Ge’ez rite and Konkani speaking communities. Benedetto, seminarian from the Hebrew speaking community, sang the Magnificat in Hebrew. The prayers of the faithful were read in Malyalam, Tagalog, Sinhala, Arabic, English and German.

The Patriarch finally arrived as communion was being distributed and so he addressed the assembly briefly at the end of the mass. He expressed the appreciation of the Church of the Holy Land for the work going on in south Tel Aviv.

At the end of mass, the assembly went in procession to Saint Joseph’s House next door. There the Patriarch blessed the new premises and prayed for the intercession of Saint Joseph.

The splendid celebration ended with a shared lunch. Four tables laden with food awaited the faithful – Filipino, Indian, Sri Lankan and Eritrean delicacies were in abundance and people lingered to greet one another and give thanks for the diversity of the Church in the Holy Land and the beauty of her diversity.