Date: 4.7.2005
Source: Custody of the Holy Land

On Sunday 3 July 2005, at 9.00 a.m. in the Basilica of Gethsemani the Custos of the Holy Land, Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa, presided over a solemn concelebrated Mass on the occasion of the feast of the Most Precious Blood of the Lord. Gethsemani marks the holy spot where Jesus shed drops of blood during his agony in the Garden of Olives, on the night of Holy Thursday.

In his homily the Father Custos underlined the paschal aspect of the readings which were proclaimed during the Eucharist (Ex 12,21-28; Ps 115,12-18; Apoc 7,9-14; Mk 15,15-20), and also explained the significance of blood in the Old Testament tradition. It was the blood of the paschal lamb which freed the Isralities from the bondage of Egypt, and it was the blood of the new lamb of Easter, Jesus, which washed the robes of the saved in the Book of Revelation. The blood is therefore a symbol of the Lamb Jesus, symbolized in the Exodus account and really present in the Passion of the Lord here in Jerusalem. It is the blood of the new and everlasting covenant.

The Mass was followed by refreshments in the friary of Gethsemani. All the participants were invited, although being the beginning of summer holidays, the friars and faithful were not numerous.

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