Les communautés Religieuses du Mont des Oliviers prient pour la paix…

“May the Lord bless you and keep you!

May the Lord make his face shine upon you,

and be gracious to you!

May the Lord turn his face toward you,

and give you peace!” (Num. 6:22, 27)

This is the wish that the Church offers us at the beginning of each year with the first reading of today's liturgy! It is also what we wish for one another at the beginning of this New Year!

On this new day of this new year, while war and hostilities continue as yesterday, in our country, in the afternoon, our religious communities present on the Mount of Olives gathered to pray for peace in our Carmelite monastery.

Already throughout the morning, our community (of Carmel) remained at the feet of Jesus in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament for peace in our world, since the end of the Solemn Mass of the Mother of God, at the usual time of our Eucharist.

 In the afternoon, starting at 3:30 p.m., our guests began to arrive: Father Luciano and his community from the Silent Work of the Cross, the Comboni Sisters, the Sisters of Our Lady of Sorrows from Abu Dis, a few volunteers, and the Benedictine Sisters of Calvary, our neighbors, along with other religious sisters and volunteers.

It all began at 4:00 p.m. with the Rosary for Peace, followed by other prayers, and at the end we said Vespers of the Mother of God together, led by our Benedictine Sisters.

Christ is our Peace.

Everything comes from Him!

Our Patriarch, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, encourages us to persevere in prayer in his Christmas and New Year's message: “Pain and suffering are inevitable in this life; but hope remains... for our God is the God of hope (Romans 15:13); He is the God of the impossible (Mt 19:26); so let us unite in prayer and faith...!”