Harvesting olives as we do every year, an action and opportunity that is repeated...again this year, despite the circumstances.
An important and festive act held each year in the garden that witnessed Jesus' agony and great sorrow. Where the Friars Minor, with help from volunteers, friends, and families harvest the fruits of these blessed olive trees.
Today the joy of that moment gives way to silence and prayer, even among the hills of Beit Jala.
The olive tree in the Holy Land is a great symbol of peace. A peace that is missing today. But it also symbolizes the history of this land, closely linked to the birth and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
(Video and text Christian Media Center)
Hora Sancta
We are the sons of St. Francis, and we are THE custodians, according to the will of God, of one of the places that Jesus loved the most: the garden called GETHSEMANE. This is a unique place in the world. It is the place where the Lord manifested his Yes forever by being ready to enter where nobody else had ever entered, where he plunged into darkness, in the final battle against death, in which humanity has always ended up being a loser.