The Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land launched, as every year, its liturgical calendar for 2025, which highlights the dates of the pilgrimages to the holy places.
According to the website of the Franciscans—who “have been called by God from all corners of the world for the special mission of caring for His house”—the liturgical year in the Holy Land will begin on the eve of the first Sunday of Advent, as in the entire Catholic Church , but in the holy places “with the entry of the Custos of the Holy Land in Bethlehem on November 30.”
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Fray Enrique Bermejo, the Spanish Franciscan who is a liturgist and calendarist of the Custody of the Holy Land, explained that the calendar “is composed of the general Roman Calendar, that of the Order of the Friars Minor and that of the Custody. The celebrations of the diocese of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem also stand out.”
The calendarpublished in Latin, Italian, English and Spanish, follows the liturgical cycle of Year C and contains the indications for the Liturgy of the Hours and for the Mass of the day, including the color of the liturgical vestments and the readings, as well as the saints for every day.
“This year, green is the color chosen for particular indications linked to the festivities but also to the anniversaries of the Custody, such as pilgrimages to the Holy Places,” indicates the website of the Franciscans of the Holy Land.
Fray Enrique has been in charge of the calendar of the Franciscan Custody since 1991. He introduced the first images in 1998 to mark the pilgrimages; and since 2004 the calendar has been printed in color.
This year the calendar images are taken from the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC (United States).
“These images – Friar Enrique emphasizes – are a great wealth and represent a visual and pastoral aid to illustrate the liturgical festivals.”
“We must help those who use the calendar to see the correct, theologically complete image to illustrate a mystery of salvation: let it be an illustrated mystery,” adds the Spanish friar.
You can download the liturgical calendar in Spanishin this link.
Walter Sánchez Silva
I have been a husband since 2008. My wife and I have three children here and one who went to heaven in 2023, before he was born. Since I joined ACI Prensa in 2005, I have had the opportunity to cover various events of the Catholic Church. Among them, the World Youth Days in Cologne, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro and the apostolic trips of Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico and of Pope Francis to South Korea. I have been sent to the Vatican to cover the Family synods, in 2015; of the Amazon, in 2019 and that of Synodality, in 2023. I closely follow the situation of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, which suffers persecution from the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, as well as current ecclesiastical events in the region.