(terrasanctablog) Our partners at TerraSancta and the FMC have shared with us a beautiful story about the preparations being made by choirs practicing for the Midnight Mass this year in Bethlehem. Directing the combined international choir is our very own Magnificat Institute director, Hania Soudah Sabbara. Magnificat Institute is funded in part by the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land. Emilie Rey writes:
You push open the door a little hesitantly. Laughter slips out from outside, people seem to know one another. It’s Hania Soudah Sabbara, choir director, who runs to greet you with a smile… “Ahlan wasahlan, welcome, where are you from,” and a welcome in Arabic and then in English, the choir’s common language. That’s a relief: there won’t be a language barrier. Hania has been directing the choir since 1999, and she is the first woman to direct it. That should tell you how much she dedicates all of her patience and kindness to the choir.