On 22 November, an exhibition entitled ‘Light of Grace’ opened at the Edward & Helen Mardigian Museum in the Armenian Patriarchate in Jerusalem. A collection of original paintings created for the new edition of the missal in Arabic, for the Roman Rite churches of the Latin Patriarchate in the Holy Land. Present were His Beatitude Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Patriarch of Jerusalem of the Latins, and His Beatitude Archbishop Nourhan Manougian, Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem. The guests were also treated to a concert of classical music and opera singing, and immediately afterwards Maria Ruiz shared her experience of the work realised. Br ARSHAK GHAZARIAN Exhibition Curator - Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem The idea of organising an exhibition here came about when Mary came to our library to see the ancient manuscripts. And then she told us that she was illustrating the new Missal for the Latin Patriarchate. So we discussed with the Latin Patriarchate and Mary to organise this exhibition in our museum. The Missal is a work with at least two years of work and commitment behind it. It contains twenty-two illustrated works, each of which took about a month to complete. For the Cardinal, it was very necessary to produce this second edition, because the first had been done a few years after the Second Vatican Council, in the 1970s. HB Card PIERBATTISTA PIZZABALLA Patriarch of Jerusalem of the Latins In the meantime, the Holy See published new editions of the Missal, so ours also needed updating, also because there were no more copies. So we wanted to do something new, original and linked to the Jerusalem tradition. The next step, the Patriarch tells us, will be the Evangeliary in Arabic, also embellished with modern images but still linked to tradition. HB Card PIERBATTISTA PIZZABALLA Patriarch of Jerusalem of the Latins The idea is then that the original remains in the Patriarchate, then there will be a couple for each parish. We want every Sunday, when celebrating in the parishes and communities, to celebrate with the Gospel of Jerusalem prepared for them and which is theirs. Born in Spain, artist Maria Ruiz discovered her passion for Byzantine art in a monastic context. She followed a course of studies in several countries between Spain, France and Italy, following in the footsteps of the great Russian iconographic masters. Among the magnificent icons, Mary tells us about the Feast of All Saints from the Last Judgement and the Armenian Toros Roslin manuscripts. MARIA RUIZ Iconographer - Consecrated Ordo Virginum - Diocese of Jerusalem In this image there is Christ on the throne and the upper part where the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist are in intercession, with the whole angelic choir. There are the books of which the Apocalypse speaks where the names of the elect are inscribed. In the centre is the Cross of Christ, which is the source of holiness, and on one side and the other are the apostles who passed on the Gospel to us, and then people of all kinds. And then, in the lower layer, there is a door with a cherubim and with the flame, the sword of fire, so this depicted is very well known in the Byzantine tradition and also in Armenia and the first to be received among the elect is the good thief. For Father Arshak Ghazarian, Mary's works show that the art of manuscripts did not remain in the past, but is something ‘unique that in the 21st century, now, in Jerusalem, is still present.’