The feast of Our Lady of Palestine

Patroness of the Order, Our Lady of Palestine is honoured throughout the world each year, generally on the last Sunday closest to the 25th of October, which is the date of the liturgical feast

Polonia_NSP Among other testimonies received from the Lieutenancies on the feast of Our Lady of Palestine, a beautiful photo that speaks for itself illustrates the experience of Poland.

The members of the Croatian Magistral Delegation and the Slovenian Lieutenancy came together to celebrate this feast in the Baroque Church of Our Lady of Jerusalem in Tr‰ki Vrh, a village near Krapina, a town in northern Croatia, near the Slovenian border. In the 18th century church, a miraculous statue of Our Lady of Jerusalem, brought back from the Holy Land in the 17th century, is venerated. Also present at the celebration were Croatian candidates preparing to become Knights and Dames of the Holy Sepulchre.

Among Italian Lieutenancies, the Southern Adriatic Lieutenancy celebrated this solemnity on the Sunday dedicated to “World Mission Day”, in the Church of San Giovanni Battista di Fasano. Lieutenant Ferdinando Parente concluded the meeting with a brief reflection on the historical and spiritual significance of this official feast of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

Sud Africa_NSP Members of the Magistral Delegation for Southern Africa also held a dignified celebration of the Order’s Patroness.

The Knights and Dames of the Magistral Delegation for Southern Africa celebrated the feast of the Patroness of the Order with the Grand Prior, Archbishop of Cape Town. The celebration took the form of a mass in the chancellery chapel of the archdiocese, during which the Grand Prior stressed the need to pray for people who live in the Holy Land. Lunch was an opportunity to relax together. With the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa at the beginning of 2020 and the announcement of the lockdown, the restrictions had made it impossible to organise such reunions. Thanks to the easing of restrictions at the beginning of 2021, a morning of Lenten recollection could also take place.

In New Zealand, members were unable to meet as an Order to celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Palestine, due to the restrictions associated with the pandemic. They followed the live broadcast of Masses in Rome and Deir Rafat in Palestine. At the beginning of the mass in Deir Rafat, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Pierbattista Pizzaballa, welcomed all the members connected to the online celebration, so that they felt active participants in this important annual mass.

Filippine_NSP Our Lady of Palestine was also celebrated in the Philippines, thanks to the technical means of telecommunication, which were greatly developed during the pandemic.

In the Philippines, in May 2021, Dames and Knights held a virtual Marian pilgrimage to Antipolo Cathedral, Antipolo Diocese, during which Our Lady of Palestine was invoked. Pope Francis had chosen this place to participate in the global Rosary Marathon, praying for the end of the pandemic. On 7th May, Vatican media broadcast the event live at midnight Philippine time, the day just before the Knights and Dames pilgrimage. Filipinos love the Virgin Mary. She is the patron saint of their country, honoured under the name Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. The Order’s virtual pilgrimage, which took place in the midst of the pandemic, was most uplifting and spiritually enriching and a few members were invited to share personal experiences of their faith. It was very touching and meaningful to see married couples, Dame and Knight, praying with great fervour and piety.

(March 2022)