An 800-year history... since the arrival of the first friars in St. John d'Acre to this day: for eight centuries, as guardians of the Holy Places of Redemption. Today, the friars look after 70 sanctuaries and they are present in 50 shrines. And they remained [in the Holy Land] primarily to praise God in the liturgy. The Custos of the Holy Land, Fr. Francesco Patton, believes that the eight-century Franciscan presence in the Holy Land is strongly correlated with the places of remembrance: the shrines of the Incarnation and of the Redemption. Fr. FRANCESCO PATTON, ofm Custos of the Holy Land "We must stay in the shrines first and foremost to praise God and that is why we stay there, even when the pilgrims are not present, for the first motive is to recognize what God has accomplished. We must remember what God accomplished in Nazareth where He filled the distance that separated Him from humanity, or what He did in Bethlehem, where He manifested Himself to us with the face of a child, or what He did in the different sanctuaries that are 'guardians' here, in Jerusalem. The Cenacle, Gethsemane, the Calvary, the Edicule of the Holy Sepulcher: these are all places where God accomplished something that has changed our history.” In order to preserve the holy places and in virtue of the love for the word of God, the friars had also become archaeologists ... they touched the stones that testify to the memory of an event of salvation, a place of worship which witnessed the prayers of the generations that preceded us. Mount Nebo - Memorial of Moses, God's Friend - which was reopened last year after a closure period for restoration, is one of the main sanctuaries of the Redemption. Fr. Eugenio Alliata, ofm Studium Biblicum Franciscanum "The first task of the Franciscans was to continue to exercise prayer and to worship in the holy places. The history of archaeological research is certainly more modern because archaeology is a modern science. The Franciscans participated in this cultural experience of archaeological research in the Holy Land, trying to use the same methods used by other professional archaeologists visiting the holy places, so they attended universities, conducted extensive studies and received Archaeology degrees to be able to carry out this professional, systematic and serious research. " Among the many archaeologists who, over the centuries, dedicated their lives to bring to light the places we can visit today, [we remember]: Father Bellarmino Bagatti, Father Virgilio Corbo, Father Michele Piccirillo, Father Pietro Kaswalder and Father Stanislao Loffreda who, together with Father Corbo, worked in Capernaum, both becoming eyewitnesses of one of the most beautiful discoveries in the city of Jesus. Fr. STANISLAO LOFFREDA, ofm Studium Biblicum Fransicanum "There, I felt just like an archaeologist, I must confess ... I was also somewhat moved when I realized that what we learned from the literary sources corresponds with the fact that Peter's house was transformed into a church ... (in the past) ... in fact, you cannot see his home, but it was (also) written that the house looks just like it did in the past.” Liturgical animation in the Holy Sepulcher and in the Basilica of the Nativity. Fr. BRUNO VARRIANO, ofm Guardian Rector - Basilica of the Annunciation - Nazareth "Christians from Nazareth have a great love for the place of the Incarnation and for the Basilica of the Annunciation. Pilgrims from all over the world come here not only to visit [the Holy Land], but also to experience God in the very place of the Annunciation, [in the holy site] of the Incarnation, in the house of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We have parochial programs for local Christians, including mass every morning, the recitation of the Angelus at noon, the torchlight procession on Saturday and worship on Thursday. On Tuesdays, we recite the Rosary of the Holy Family. All of these celebrations are broadcast on different Catholic television stations around the world and on the Christian Media Center website.” We retrace the places of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ every day. At 4 pm, the small Franciscan community of the Holy Sepulcher join the many pilgrims coming to the Basilica to recall the importance of the devotion to the cross. Fr. ZACHEUSZ DRAŻEK, ofm President - Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher "For many centuries, the friars have celebrated this procession ... whose pattern has indeed undergone a slight change overtime, but we have always prayed thinking about what Jesus Christ did here: His death and resurrection, His encounter with Mary Magdalene, His meeting with His mother always have been in the friars' hearts during prayer.” A procession that begins and ends in the same place, the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament, tracing the 14 stations of the Via Crucis. An important event in the life of the Basilica community. Even at Gethsemane, pilgrims can take part in the Holy Hour [of Prayer] in the Basilica of the Agony of Jesus, if they make their reservation to attend. Every Friday at 3 pm during the winter and at 4 pm during the summer, the Franciscan friars join the faithful of Jerusalem as well as the pilgrims to remember the journey made by Jesus. The Way of the Cross, in its true meaning, dates back to the Middle Ages. The climate of piety towards the mystery of the Passion is reinforced by the proliferation of pilgrimages that began in the XII century and by the steady presence of the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor in the 'holy places'. The path of the Via Dolorosa, the way that witnessed Jesus carrying the cross to the Calvary, runs through the streets of Jerusalem. Nine stations meet in the path leading to the Holy Sepulcher, which is the site that houses the last five stations. In the next episode: pastoral activities, schools, social works, the presence of the Poor Clares in Jerusalem and the celebration of the 800 years of Franciscan presence in the Holy Land.