Page 8 - Holyland Magazine - Catholic Edition 2015
P. 8
Spasm and formally consecrated in 1905. The church
relects the Armenian tradition with a typical pointed
dome altar, reminiscent of the volcanic cone of Mt.
Ararat, the birth place of the Armenian people, and an
altar curtain. In contrast, the Latin tradition is echoed
in the new organ, and a big sculpture of St. Anthony
of Padua.
Leaving the Fourth Station, pilgrims begin to climb up
the narrow alleys of the Muslim Quarter, meditating on
the help that was ofered to Jesus by Simon of Cyrene
at the Fifth Station. The Sixth Station is dedicated to
St. Veronica, who stood in front of her doorway and
watched the crowds. When she saw Jesus’ bleeding,
she wiped his face with her scarf – on which his
image miraculously appeared. Today, the sisters who
live at the Sixth Station welcome the pilgrims into St.
Veronica’s house. They are the Little Sisters of Jesus of
Charles de Foucault. As did Simon of Cyrene, the Little
Sisters are ready to share the burdens of life with the
local communities. The Little Sisters came to the Holy
Land in 1949 and have houses in Israel as well as in
the West Bank and Gaza, where they compassionately
care for people in need. This unique community,
following the path marked out by Charles de Foucault
(1958-1916), was established over seventy years ago
by a French woman near a well in the desert of Algeria,
where the nomad women used to come to draw water.
The Little Sisters seek to lead a contemplative life in
the midst of people, inspired by the thirty years Jesus
spent in Nazareth, as they understand Nazareth not as
a particular place, but as the ordinariness of peoples’
lives. They share daily life, living conditions, labor and
dreams, especially of the less privileged and of those
who are on the fringes of society. Since they among
the Arab communities in the Middle East, they have
adopted the Eastern rite – Maronite, Melchite (Greek
Catholic), Syrian Catholic or Coptic Catholic – in order
to integrate better in the local communities. The sisters
at the Sixth Station follow the Byzantine rite, as do the
majority of Catholics in the Holy Land. In the house
of Veronica, they ofer pilgrims a quiet place to pray
and an icon of Veronica – her name indicating she is
carrying the vera icon, the True Image of Christ.
From the house of Veronica, the Via Dolorosa
continues toward the Church of the Holy Sepulcher,
where pilgrims will conclude their journey. Yet for the
Armenian Catholics and the Little Sisters of Jesus, the
same journey is part of their daily route home.
Hana Bendcowsky is the program director of the Jerusalem
Center for Jewish-Christian Relations (www.jcjcr.org), an
organization dedicated to promoting dialog between local
Christians and Jews in the Holy Land.
Pilgrims and crosses on
the Via Dolorosa.
8 Photo: www.goisrael.com
relects the Armenian tradition with a typical pointed
dome altar, reminiscent of the volcanic cone of Mt.
Ararat, the birth place of the Armenian people, and an
altar curtain. In contrast, the Latin tradition is echoed
in the new organ, and a big sculpture of St. Anthony
of Padua.
Leaving the Fourth Station, pilgrims begin to climb up
the narrow alleys of the Muslim Quarter, meditating on
the help that was ofered to Jesus by Simon of Cyrene
at the Fifth Station. The Sixth Station is dedicated to
St. Veronica, who stood in front of her doorway and
watched the crowds. When she saw Jesus’ bleeding,
she wiped his face with her scarf – on which his
image miraculously appeared. Today, the sisters who
live at the Sixth Station welcome the pilgrims into St.
Veronica’s house. They are the Little Sisters of Jesus of
Charles de Foucault. As did Simon of Cyrene, the Little
Sisters are ready to share the burdens of life with the
local communities. The Little Sisters came to the Holy
Land in 1949 and have houses in Israel as well as in
the West Bank and Gaza, where they compassionately
care for people in need. This unique community,
following the path marked out by Charles de Foucault
(1958-1916), was established over seventy years ago
by a French woman near a well in the desert of Algeria,
where the nomad women used to come to draw water.
The Little Sisters seek to lead a contemplative life in
the midst of people, inspired by the thirty years Jesus
spent in Nazareth, as they understand Nazareth not as
a particular place, but as the ordinariness of peoples’
lives. They share daily life, living conditions, labor and
dreams, especially of the less privileged and of those
who are on the fringes of society. Since they among
the Arab communities in the Middle East, they have
adopted the Eastern rite – Maronite, Melchite (Greek
Catholic), Syrian Catholic or Coptic Catholic – in order
to integrate better in the local communities. The sisters
at the Sixth Station follow the Byzantine rite, as do the
majority of Catholics in the Holy Land. In the house
of Veronica, they ofer pilgrims a quiet place to pray
and an icon of Veronica – her name indicating she is
carrying the vera icon, the True Image of Christ.
From the house of Veronica, the Via Dolorosa
continues toward the Church of the Holy Sepulcher,
where pilgrims will conclude their journey. Yet for the
Armenian Catholics and the Little Sisters of Jesus, the
same journey is part of their daily route home.
Hana Bendcowsky is the program director of the Jerusalem
Center for Jewish-Christian Relations (www.jcjcr.org), an
organization dedicated to promoting dialog between local
Christians and Jews in the Holy Land.
Pilgrims and crosses on
the Via Dolorosa.
8 Photo: www.goisrael.com
