Over the course of time, the Franciscans in the Holy Land province of the Franciscan Order took the name “Custody of the Holy Land”.
Saint Francis and the Franciscans always had at heart the love of the Incarnation of Jesus, and that is why they have loved the Holy Land since the beginning. For there is no Incarnation without a place. For us, loving this land means to love Jesus. And we cannot think of Jesus without loving His land. Because of the Franciscans’ special attachment to the Gospel of Jesus and to his Incarnation, our Catholic Church entrusted to us the mission of preserving the places of our salvation.
There are concrete ways of watching over the holy places: animating the holy places for the pilgrims and the local Churches by means of the liturgy, welcoming the pilgrims who come from every part of the world in order to pray and to become recollected, and preserving the structures of these places.
Local Christian communities live alongside the holy places. The local communities are made up of parishes of different Catholic rites and traditions (Western and Eastern). We Franciscans have the responsibility for various parishes whose heart and whose seat are in the holy places.
Loving the stones that preserve the memory of Jesus also pushes us to love the living stones, the Christian communities who, throughout the centuries, live here. The Custody has many formative and social activities, which aim at supporting the Christian presence in the Holy Land: running schools, constructing housing, helping people who suffer from various forms of poverty.
A spiritual guide and guesthouses are available for the Christian pilgrims who come from every part of the world, as well as the guarantee and the grace of being able to celebrate the mysteries of salvation in the holy places.
To conclude: We are a fraternity of the Order of Friars Minor living in the Holy Land, who preserve, study and render the places where the Christian faith originated welcoming and proclaim the marvels of the love
Give your support to the people and holy places, dear to the whole of Christianity and the Christian communities in the Holy Land!
- By your “prayers” for the Land where Jesus lived; to support the work of the Franciscans of the Holy Land
- By taking a “pilgrimage” to the Holy Land to discover the places that gave rise to our faith and where we have our roots
- By “volunteering” your time and efforts to help create awareness and raise funds locally
- By “contributing” online, or by sending in a check to support the efforts of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land
Please consider one or more of the following opportunities to give of yourself. Below are a number of volunteer activities and awareness programs in which you can participate at any level.
Individual:
- Pilgrimage promotion
- Refer us to others who might have an interest in the Foundation
- Distribution of materials: brochures, newsletters, etc.
- Area meetings
Parish/Community:
- Invitation for Fr. Peter Vasko, OFM to speak about the Foundation
- Promote religious education programs in your parish incorporating the work of the Foundation
- Parish bulletin inserts
Local Community:
- Contact secular/religious newspapers, periodicals, magazines, etc.
- Promote various videos/DVDs/You Tube with friends and relatives
- Fundraising dinners
- Walk-a-thons, golf tournaments, etc.