Relic of the Holy Crib returned to the Holy Land

A small piece of the precious Relic of the Holy Crib of the Child Jesus arrived in Jerusalem on Friday, November 29, 2019, a gift from the Holy Father Pope Francis to the Custody of the Holy Land.

The Relic, donated by St Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem to Pope Theodore I (642-649), was displayed in Rome, in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. It has contributed for centuries to marking the religiousness of the faithful in Rome and from elsewhere: every day a very large number of pilgrims from all over the world would go to the papal Liberian Basilica in the capital to contemplate and venerate it.

A number of celebrations were held in Jerusalem for the historic date of November 29th. It was His Excellence the Very Reverend Mons. Leopoldo Girelli, Apostolic Nuncio in Israel and Cyprus, Apostolic Delegate in Jerusalem and Palestine who started them with the celebration of Holy Mass, at 9.00 a.m., in the Chapel named after Our Lady of Peace in the Notre Dame Center. As soon as this first celebration came to an end, the faithful were able to venerate the Relic.

On November 30th, in the morning, the Relic was transferred to Bethlehem coinciding with the start of the celebrations of the Advent, so that the faithful and pilgrims can worship the crib that received the beginnings of our Redemption in the Franciscan church of St Catherine, next to the Basilica of the Nativity.

Adapted from Custodia