Christmas in June?!

Today began with the powerful experience of celebrating Mass in the study of St. Jerome in Bethlehem. Many of the Holy Places have special votive Masses to be said when visiting them; the one for St. Jerome's study is the Mass from Christmas. So in the middle of June, the six of us celebrated a "little" Christmas. This a photo of the altar in the study. It was quite moving; Fr. Gregory preached a great homily on the Incarnation: Christ embraced all of the messiness and seedy underside of our life and save us in and through the mess. St. Jerome was a good example since he was quite the curmudgeon, yet became a great saint! We continued our morning by praying at the main sanctuary (Greek Orthodox) of the Church of the Nativity, waiting to get into the grotto of the birthplace of Christ. When we were finally allowed in, there was a small group celebrating Mass in Italian; we prayed with them before praying before and venerating the spot.

From there, we visited a Latin Palestinian friend of the Ecole who does wood-working in olive wood grown right there. Fr. Gregory was hurrying us to get out, but we gently reminded him that he had strongly encouraged us to buy in Bethlehem. Despite the near desperate situation (his was one of the few shops that was actually open; there is little to no economy to speak of because of the state of Israel's persecution of the Palestinians), our host was most good natured and welcoming. After getting our first round of goodies, we briefly visiting the Franciscan Missionary Sisters, for whom we had be given a donation by the group from Westmont College we met yesterday.

From there, we went into the Milk Grotto, when the Holy Family stopped journeying to Jerusalem, so the Blessed Mother could feed the Christ Child. Besides this association, there is the tradition that some of the Blessed Mother's milk feel on the stone which turned milky white. Drinking some of this powdered stone, mixed with water, helps women who are having trouble conceiving to conceive. What struck me about this image, which is by no means a "main" one in the complex, is that it depicts Our Lady as the (beautiful) Palestinian woman she was.

From there we went up to Bethlehem University, the only Catholic university in the Holy Land. Our host, Br. Jack, FSC (I knew I was "home" when we entered the building and there looking out was St. John Baptist De La Salle!) gave us a nice tour of the University. During the last war, the University was occupied by the Israeli army (the university is on the highest peak for miles). At one point, 4 missiles hit the University. One went into the library, on a floor with an exhibit of local Palestinian culture. They simply glassed over the hole and added documentation of how it got to be there and has been part of the exhibit!

I am running out of time (I have to change rooms before Vespers), so I'll come back and finish later...