Fragment of Jesus' manger arrives in birthplace of Bethlehem

BETHLEHEM - A wooden fragment believed to be from the manger of Jesus arrived in His birthplace of Bethlehem on Saturday amid great ceremony after more than 1,300 years in Europe.

A Palestinian scout band playing bagpipes, drums and saxophones accompanied the relic as it arrived in Manger Square, an AFP reporter said.

Housed in Rome since the seventh century, the relic had been presented to the Franciscan custodians of the Holy Land as a gift from the Vatican.

Worshippers thronged the square as the chief custodian for the Holy Land, Francesco Patton, carried the ornate reliquary housing the relic into the Saint Catherine Church next to the Church of the Nativity, where he led Mass.

On Friday Patton told AFP that the seventh-century Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Sophronius, had sent the relic to Rome in around 640 as a gift to Pope Theodore I.

Now the item, about a centimeter wide by 2.5 centimeters (an inch) long, is to be installed "forever" in Bethlehem, he said.

"We venerate the relic because (it) reminds us of the mystery of incarnation, to the fact that the son of God was born of Mary in Bethlehem more than 2,000 years ago," Patton said.

Bethlehem has planned celebrations stretching until Christmas for the homecoming.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas had asked Pope Francis to repatriate the crib fragment during his visit to the Vatican for Middle East peace talks in December 2018, said Palestinian envoy to the Holy See, Issa Kassissieh.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Relic of Jesus Christ's crown of thorns saved from Notre Dame fire

The fire that destroyed two-thirds of the roof of the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris on Monday did more than damage a beloved historic landmark: It also endangered the vast collection of Christian relics and artwork housed both within the building and on its grounds.

One of the cathedral’s most precious treasures — a relic of the crown of thorns believed to have been worn by Jesus Christ at the time of his crucifixion — was saved from the flames, according to the rector of the cathedral, Monsignor Patrick Chauvet.

But the condition of many of its other treasures — including sculptures, paintings, stained glass windows and liturgical art and relics — remained unclear, Chauvet said. He said the main threats to the artwork were fire, smoke damage and falling material like melted lead.

Bernard Fonquernie, who worked in cathedral administration from 1978 to 2001, said water used to fight the fire could also damage its stonework and whatever wood survived the blaze.

Here are some of the treasures about which scholars and the religious faithful are most concerned.

— The crown of thorns

Among the most prized relics at Notre Dame is a relic of the crown of thorns believed to have been worn by Jesus Christ during the crucifixion. Stephen Murray, a professor emeritus of Gothic architecture and medieval art at Columbia University, said the crown at Notre Dame purportedly contains fragments of the original artifact.

The cathedral also contains a piece of wood believed to be a piece of the cross and a nail believed to have been used in the crucifixion.

“Most of these great cathedrals become destination points through the treasury, what they hold that you can come and worship or that you can come and see,” said Nora Heimann, a professor of art history at the Catholic University of America.

Chauvet said Monday that the crown of thorns was in safe hands. He said the tunic of Saint Louis, a religious relic, and a collection of chalices held in the cathedral’s treasury had also been saved.

It was unclear what happened to the piece of wood and the nail some believe to have been used in the crucifixion.

— The rose windows

The cathedral is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, from whom the church takes its name, which means “Our Lady of Paris,” Heimann said.

The cathedral contains three rose windows whose stained-glass panes, shaped like flower petals, each tell a religious story, including scenes from the Old and New Testaments, stories from the lives of the Twelve Apostles, and the resurrection of Christ.

“When you’re facing the cathedral, there is a big window devoted to the Virgin Mary, the rose window, and she is in the center of it, enthroned,” Heimann said.

The status of the three windows was unclear Monday, but the prognosis seemed troubling. Benoist de Sinety, a bishop of the Archdiocese of Paris, said high heat had damaged the windows, melting the lead that held their panes in place.

— Relics of the patron saints of Paris

The spire of the cathedral, which collapsed Monday, contained the relics of St. Denis and St. Genevieve, the patron saints of Paris. Laurent Ferri, a curator in the Rare and Manuscript Collections at Cornell University, said an archbishop placed them there in 1935 to protect the building.

According to legend, St. Denis, a third-century Christian martyr, was decapitated and died later while carrying his own head. St. Genevieve is often credited with saving Paris by using the power of group prayer to divert Attila, king of the Huns, away from the city in 451.

Gregory Bryda, an assistant professor of Western medieval art and architecture at Barnard, said the relics included bones, teeth or hair from both saints.

— The Gallery of the Kings

The cathedral houses an important collection of statues, including the imposing stone figures of Old Testament kings that stand above the entrance. It is called the Gallery of the Kings.

The status of those statues was unclear Monday night. But they have been through hard times before.

During the French Revolution, forces hostile to the monarchy mistook the statues for kings of France, not Ancient Judea. Driven by revolutionary zeal, they dragged the statues into Cathedral Square and beheaded them using a guillotine in 1793.

Twenty‐one of those heads, which were sculpted in the 13th century, were discovered in 1977 inside a wall in another neighborhood of Paris, according to a report at the time in The New York Times.

— The cathedral itself

But a sacred space is more than the sum of its parts. Heimann said “the church itself is its own treasure because it is a place of so much history.”

The grounds were once the site of an Ancient Roman temple that became a church after the Roman Empire embraced Christianity. Construction on the cathedral began in 1163 and was completed in 1345.

“It is a place that single-handedly tells us the story of Paris and of France itself and its evolution,” Heimann said. “I don’t think there is any one thing inside of it that is more valuable than the thing as a whole. And I say that as an art historian that weeps for that lost art.”

Besides the paintings, architecture and statues, scholars also pointed to the cathedral’s musical instruments as an endangered artwork. That includes the church bells — the largest of which date to 1681 — which had been rung at important moments in French history, including the French Revolution and both world wars.

Murray said one of the greatest treasures in the cathedral was a pipe organ known as the Great Organ.

“It was a magnificent instrument,” he said. “I doubt if it survived.”

It was unclear what happened to the bells or the organ Monday. But de Sinety said the fire had badly damaged the organ, too.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Christ's 'crown of thorns' tree may help in climate change fight: researchers

NEOT KEDUMIM, Israel - As the sun beats down on the barren slopes around Jerusalem, a tree of the kind believed to have provided the crown of thorns in Biblical accounts of Jesus Christ's crucifixion stands unaffected, its fruits ample and foliage green.

While pilgrims prepare to converge on the city at Easter to commemorate the events of Christian tradition, Israeli scientists researching climate change are at work in the surrounding hills studying the Ziziphus Spina-Christi, commonly known as Christ's Thorn Jujube.

They believe it is a "pioneer species" in the fight against desertification because its hardiness makes it resilient to rising temperatures and aridity. It can draw water from deep underground, and it retains the ability to photosynthesise even when exposed to high temperatures and solar radiation.

"It's one of the few species that we can plant on these slopes that have nothing on them," said Shabtai Cohen of Israel's Volcani Agricultural Research Center, who has been working with France's National Institute for Agricultural Research and researchers at Israel's Hebrew University.

"We only know maybe one or two other species that can do that."

Various plants have been proposed as the source of the crown of thorns the New Testament says was placed on Christ's head in the lead-up to the crucifixion, and no-one knows for certain. But the consensus among Christian scholars tends towards Ziziphus Spina-Christi.

Just as that crown is associated with suffering and death followed by resurrection, the researchers hope the tree, which provides sustenance to bees and insects, can help support life in areas threatened by deadly heat.

"Studying its attributes and its traits is going to help us to breed species that we want in the future," said Cohen.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Catholic devotees told: Medals, scapulars not magic

MANILA - A priest in Jaro, Iloilo has issued a reminder to Catholic devotees that scapulars and medals have nothing to do with magic.

"One has to understand their use. Just getting hold of the promise without understanding its content and demands can easily lead them to be treated as amulets and bodily decorations," a CBCPNews report quoted Monsignor Alejandro P. Esperancilla as saying.

Esperancilla, who serves as special assistant for liturgical affairs of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Candles in Jaro, said wearing medals and scapulars means one wants to place himself under the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

"This will necessarily include the desire to imitate her life of being totally in the service of God," he said.

He explained that the scapular evolved from the religious vestment of the Carmelite Order, whose members were largely responsible for popularizing the devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel, their patroness, through this sacramental.

Therefore, a wearer of the scapular has the obligation to live according to the values of that community: "simplicity in dress, behavior and life, penance and mortification, prayer, hospitality and charity to the less fortunate."

Esperancilla also stressed that devotees should focus on the spirit behind these sacramentals, which is to become "imitators of our Blessed Mother in her life of service to her Son, Jesus Christ," and not on the promises attached to them.

"Only then can the promises be fulfilled," he said, adding that serious effort should be made to use them correctly.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

NCRPO ready for Black Nazarene procession

MANILA -- National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Director Carmelo Valmoria on Wednesday declared all systems go for the Feast of the Black Nazarene tomorrow where millions of devotees are expected to join.

According to Valmoria, they have already completed their security preparations for tomorrow's procession of the image of the Black Nazarene.

Valmoria declined to announce the number of police officers deployed for tomorrow's event, but assured the public that they have enough to ensure peace and order.

He also said that there is no need to jam cellphone signals like last year since there are no security threats to the procession.

Some 12 million devotees are expected to join the procession of the image of the Black Nazarene towards the Basilica Minore in Quiapo tomorrow.

The procession will begin right after the mass presided by Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle at 6 a.m.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

PH marks Good Friday with bloody mock crucifixions

SAN FERNANDO, Philippines - Catholic zealots in the Philippines re-enacted the last hours of Jesus Christ on Good Friday, whipping their backs and nailing themselves to crosses in a grisly Easter ritual that persists despite Church disapproval.


Foreign and local tourists flocked to the outskirts of the city of San Fernando, a 90-minute drive from Manila, to see the annual spectacle where a Christian "passion play" is taken to its blood-soaked extreme.

In a vacant plot of land beneath the burning sun in the San Juan district, long nails were driven through the hands and feet of four men who took turns hanging on a cross as attendants prayed for them.

Elsewhere in the city, hooded men lashed their bloody backs with cloth and bamboo whips, doing penance for their sins while spraying onlookers with flecks of blood.

Devotees commit to undergo the mock crucifixion in exchange for a gift from God such as the healing of a sick loved one.

"I am used to it already," said Alex Laranang, 58, who was nailed up for the 14th time.

Laranang, a short, sunburnt man who sells baked buns to bus passengers, said: "It is just like a needle going through my hand. After two days, I am ready to go back to work again."

So far, he told AFP, his suffering has been rewarded as his wife and children enjoy good health and he continues to make a good living.

"I am doing this for my family, so that no one will get sick and that my livelihood will continue. I am just a poor man. But I don't ask God to make me rich," he said.

He and the three other men grimaced as the nails were pounded into their hands, but they fixed their eyes on the sky and appeared to be in a trance as they each hung on the cross for up to 10 minutes.

After they were taken down, the men hobbled off to a medical tent as Western tourists snapped pictures.

Men in other districts of San Fernando were scheduled to go through the ordeal later Friday in a demonstration of the deep religious fervour in the Philippines, which has Asia's largest Roman Catholic population.

Norwegian Charlotte Johanssen, 26, a Manila resident who was among the crowd of onlookers, said some of her visiting friends had found the sight too much to take.

"I have friends who felt sick to their stomachs and who got nauseated," said Johanssen, who works for an aid group in the Philippine capital.

"There are those who get amazed. You can't imagine how anyone can subject themselves to this kind of pain," she said.

The mock crucifixions have been going on for decades despite official disapproval from the Philippines' Catholic bishops.

"The bishops have been saying for a long time they disapprove of this. But people make such vows. They sacrifice themselves for others," said Father Francis Lucas, executive director of the Philippine bishops' media office.

"We have so many crosses to bear in life. We don't need to bear a real one," he told AFP.

The Philippines, a former Spanish colony, is home to more than 80 million Catholics and the Church wields strong influence, ensuring that divorce and abortion remain illegal.

Some Filipinos were disappointed that Manila-born Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle missed out this month when Argentina's Jorge Mario Bergoglio was chosen at a Vatican papal conclave to succeed Benedict XVI, becoming Pope Francis.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Catholics in PH join Palm Sunday celebration

MANILA - Catholic devotees in the Philippines flocked to churches on Palm Sunday (March 24), bringing palm leaves to be blessed by priests.

Thousands of worshipers in Manila attended the morning mass service at the Santo Domingo Church and waved their palm fronds in front of the Catholic priest as he blessed them with holy water.

The blessing rite recalls the story of Jesus Christ's entrance to Jerusalem before his passion and crucifixion. He was welcomed by the people with cheers while strewing his path with small branches of trees.

In Catholic belief, the waving of palms is a symbol of discipleship.

"We value this tradition passed down to us from our elders as we can show our love to God through this act," said churchgoer Maria Apron.

Some devotees attribute the waving of palm fronds as a sign of the faithful's desire to be with Christ through his suffering.

"We celebrate Palm Sunday because we are happy to serve our Lord," said another Catholic Julio Tolentino.

Palm Sunday is fraught with significance in predominantly Catholic Philippines.

After the mass, devotees usually return home and hang their blessed palm fronds on their front doors or windows as a sign of welcoming Christ in their homes.

Filipino Catholics believe that hanging the palms can also ward off evil.

Palm Sunday marks the start of Holy Week, and the eight days leading to Easter Sunday where Catholics remember the last stretch of Christ's earthly life as recorded in the Bible. These are the most intense days in the Roman Catholic Church's liturgical calendar.

Over 80 percent of the 94 million population in the Philippines are practising Catholics.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

Crowds of Filipinos pray to statue for health, blessings

MANILA - Hundreds of thousands of barefoot Filipinos crowded around a black statue of Jesus Christ believed to bring miracles to the faithful, seeking the answer to prayers in a day-long procession through old Manila on Wednesday.



Roman Catholic devotees flocked around the carriage with the wooden, life-sized statue known as the "Black Nazarene" as it crawled through the city, praying that a slight touch would bless them, healing their illnesses and those of their relatives.

Others participated to give thanks for answered prayers, such as a new job, a baby and even winning lotteries.

"Everything we prayed for, He granted," said Girlie Tan, a mother of four, as she squeezed through crowds to get closer to the statue. "My children -- they used to study in a public school, now they're all in private schools."

Onlookers threw white towels and handkerchiefs to those on the carriage for them to wipe on the statue, which depicts Jesus kneeling with a heavy cross, in the hope of carrying away some of its healing powers.

The procession has been celebrated in the capital of the Philippines, nearly 90 percent of whose population is Roman Catholic, for more than 200 years. The Black Nazarene is also paraded through the city streets on Good Friday.

It is not known why the statue, which was carved in Mexico, turned black. There are myths that the original statue donated by Spanish priests was burned as a fire erupted on the ship that carried it to the Philippines in the early 17th century.

Police estimated that around 500,000 people gathered for an early morning Mass, and about half of them walked behind the statue at the start of the parade. Crowds were expected to swell to an estimated 10 million as devotees from all over the country flock to the annual festival.

Cornelio Cajampit has joined the procession every year for the last 15 years, ever since surviving colon cancer.

"Even if its' s a struggle, I pray that my life be prolonged," he said, adding that his health had improved since he began praying to the statue. "As long as I'm still capable, I will come to this feast."

 source: abs-cbnnews.com

Pope celebrates Good Friday in troubled times

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI led the world's Catholics in marking Good Friday amid a sense of growing concern over rebellion against the Church's dogmas and the fate of Christians in the Middle East.

The pope is set to preside over a sung ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica later on Friday that will commemorate the last hours of Christ's life.

This will be followed by the Via Crucis (Stations of the Cross) ceremony by the Colosseum, where thousands of Christians were martyred in Roman times.

The 84-year-old German pope, who turns 85 on April 16, has appeared frail and tired after returning from his trip to Mexico and Cuba last month but has taken part in Holy Week prayers with his characteristic spiritual vigour.

Christians mark the crucifixion of Jesus Christ on Friday in a series of ceremonies culminating on Sunday, when they celebrate Christ's resurrection.

Easter ceremonies traditionally stress the suffering of the Catholic Church and the world, an emphasis that is being particularly keenly felt this year.

The pope on Thursday issued a stern rebuke to the faithful, condemning those who questioned the Church over clerical celibacy and the ordination of women.

"Recently, a group of priests in a European country published an appeal for disobedience, giving concrete examples of how to be disobedient," he said.

"As Jean Paul II irrevocably said, the Catholic Church did not receive authorization (to ordain women) from the Lord," he added.

The pope's comments were a rare response to an "appeal to religious disobedience" launched by a group of Austrian priests in 2011.

Benedict said the priests were pushing divisive ideas at a time when the Church finds itself "in an often dramatic situation."

This year's prayers for the Stations of the Cross will also emphasize the sense of crisis for traditional family values -- a subject close to the pope's heart as shown in frequent denunciations of gay marriage and divorce.

The reflections have been written by an Italian couple, Danilo and Anna Maria Zanzucchi, from the Focolari, a lay Catholic movement that is favored by the pope for its strong sense of spirituality inspired by Saint Francis.

"There have been so many blows for our families! So many separations, betrayals! And then divorces, abortions, abandonments!" reads one of the prayers, published by the Vatican's official daily, L'Osservatore Romano.

The spiritual reflection focus on the dangers of encroaching egoism, consumerism and individualism but make no direct mention of clerical abuse scandals or to the suffering brought by conflict and poverty around the world.

This year's Holy Week celebrations take place amid concerns over the fate of Christians in the Middle East in the face of rising Islamism and violent conflict, especially in Syria which has a large Christian minority.

Donations from Thursday's mass were for Syrian war victims and the pope made a personal donation of $100,000 (77,000 euros) to the same cause last weekend.

Senior Church figures have voiced growing concern about Syria in recent days and have called for a rapid enactment of a UN plan to end the fighting.

The religious news agency I.Media said the Vatican is preparing to announce in the coming days that the pope will travel to Lebanon in September where he is expected to make a plea for peace and religious tolerance.

source: interaksyon.com

Archuleta Soap To Air Overseas

MANILA, Philippines — It’s phenomenal, this rise to fame of David Archuleta. After he announced his plan to temporarily leave the music industry and go on a two-year mission service for the Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints, his last stint as an artist has been religiously followed by fans all over the world. Filipinos are as avid as David’s fans worldwide, especially now that David is starring in TV5’s “Nandito Ako” along with two homegrown talents, Jasmine Curtis Smith and Eula Caballero.

And now there’s a clamor for the series to air overseas. They are also excited to hear David’s version of “Nandito Ako” and are requesting to have it on iTunes. Some fans from Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore and other Asian countries are even flying in just to watch Archuleta in action.

Too bad David did not have enough time to record the English version of the song, “Forever With You” which greatly disappointed the composer, US-based Aaron Paul del Rosario (who composed “Nandito Ako” for Ogie Alcasid).

“But I am not losing hope, my publishing company, PolyEast, are helping me look for an international singer to record ‘Forever With You.’ I was so excited when I was told David Archuleta could record it but he simply didn’t have enough time for this,” Aaron told us.

David also promoted his TV5 mini-serye at SM Fairview two Saturdays ago. With a crowd estimate of 3,500, the entire mall was rocked by deafening screams of fans.

Catch the stars of “Nandito Ako” on their future mall shows. Get details and updates from www.followarchuleta.ph and by following @TV5manila on Twitter.

“Nandito Ako” airs on TV5 on Feb. 20.

source: mb.com.ph