Ain Karem

So, the school year was inaugurated last Friday with a Mass at the Church of St Saviour. There were a number of priests and religious students present for the Mass which was presided by the Custodian of the Holy Land, Fra Gianbattista Pizzaballa OFM. During the homily he made a distinction between scientia and sapientia: scientia is a way how to dissect things in order to understand them better, and this is needed so as to understand the distinction between different aspects and entities, while sapientia is the gift to see everything through God’s eyes, that is a gift of harmony and providence.

I would like to quote here from the Itinerarium of St Bonaventure: “First, therefore, I invite the reader to the groans of prayer through Christ crucified, through whose blood we are cleansed from the filth of vice – so that he not believe that reading is sufficient without unction, speculation without devotion, investigation without wonder, observation without joy, work without piety, knowledge without love, understanding without humility, endeavor without grace, reflection as a mirror (speculatio) without divinely inspired wisdom” (Bonaventure.  The Soul’s Journey into God. The Tree of Life. The Life of St. Francis, Translation and introduction by Ewert Cousins, Preface by Ignatius Brady, Paulist Press, New Jersey 1978, 55-56).

The Itinerarium is certainly a work of great philosophical speculation, but at the same time Bonaventure is conscious that he had to face a mystery which one cannot penetrate except with the power of the sapientia crucis of Francis (see Noel Muscat, “Francis of Assisi and Bonaventure’s Theology of the Cross” online: http://www.franciscan-sfo.org/hland/ Cross_in_Bonaven.pdf).

On Saturday morning then I began lectures at the Studium Biblicum Francescanum. I will be doing four courses here: two courses are related to excursions on different biblical sites: in one of the courses we will be visiting sites here in Jerusalem while in the other course we will be visiting sites in Samaria, Galilee and the Neghev. The other two courses are: The journey of Moses in search of his own identity according to some texts of Exodus (we will specifically be studying some texts related to the calling of Moses and to the manifestation of God to Moses (theophany); Ecclesiology of 1 Peter: Selected Texts (1 Pet 2,1-10; 11-17).

This afternoon (Sunday) I went together with two other Franciscan confreres to Ain Karem. The original plan really was to go and visit Yad Vashem (the memorial of the Holocaust of the Jews during the Second World War by the Nazis). However, tomorrow the Jews are celebrating another feast which comes at the end of the Sukkot: the Shemini Atzeret. Literally, it means “the assembly of the eighth (day).” Rabbinic literature explains the holiday this way: our Creator is like a host, who invites us as visitors for a limited time, but when the time comes for us to leave, He has enjoyed himself so much that He asks us to stay another day. Because of this holiday everything is closed from the afternoon of the day before (since in the Hebrew tradition the day begins at sunset, as we celebrate the Sunday from Saturday evening). So we could not visit Yad Vashem. Since Ain Karem is close by (some 2 kilometers away down the valley), we decided to go there. We did not think before that nothing works when it is a Jewish holiday here, which would mean no transport to come back to Jerusalem! So, coming back we had to take a taxi!

Birthplace of St John the Baptist -- Ain Karem

Ain Karem is considered to be the village where Zachary and Elizabeth resided and, thus, where John the Baptist was born and lived the first years of his life. There are two Churches here: one dedicated to St John the Baptist and another one dedicated to the Visitation of Our Lady to Elizabeth. In the Church of St John there is a grotto where a tradition coming from the sixth century onwards says that John the Baptist, the Precursor (the one coming before) of the Lord, was born. 

In this courtyard of this Church there are a number of panels with the Canticle of Zachary (the Benedictus) inscribed on them (Luke 1,5-25.57-80). There is also the Maltese version. Here I prayed to the Baptist to give me the grace that, like him, I might have the strength to stand for truth and justice.

The Benedictus in Maltese

On the other side of the beautiful valley, which is adorned with Lebanese cedars and native pine trees, there is the Church of the Visitation, which again a late tradition has it as the place where Mary met Elizabeth and where Mary sung her praises to the Lord, the Magnificat (Luke 1,39-49). Again this canticle is found in different languages on the walls of the courtyard. The Maltese version is a very old translation which includes some words which we no longer use. This Church is made up of two levels: the lower level Church has a very ancient well. The upper Church is beautifully decorated with paintings which depict the different Marian doctrines. Here, together with my two friends we recited the Rosary. It was here in fact that the first part of the Hail Mary originated: Elizabeth saying to Mary she was “blessed among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb”, Jesus (see Luke 1,42).  And it came to be very providential as today, October 7, the Church celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. I offered this Rosary for a number of intentions, particularly the Synod of the Bishops beginning in Rome today on the New Evangelization, the Year of the Faith which will begin on Thursday, October 11, and for Mgr Charles J. Scicluna, who yesterday was appointed by the Holy Father as Auxiliary Bishop of our Archdiocese in Malta.

The Church of the Visitation in Ain Karem

The Maltese version of the Magnificat -- very archaic Maltese

The inside of the Church of the Visitation -- splendid paintings

The Valley which from the outskirts of Jerusalem leads to Ain Karem