We then walked to the Franciscan Family Centre and met Sr Maria Grech who has been in Bethlehem for many years and who has worked with many Palestinian Christian families and through her work has managed to provide education, training and work for many young Palestinian men so that they can support their families. As we listened to her story I was so impressed by her incredible sense of hope which pervaded everything she spoke of - there seemed to be nothing that might stop her (and God) in getting solutions to some significant issues.
The icon on the wall of the Franciscan Family Centre
From the Convent we walked back to Manger Square and then entered the Church of the Nativity. The first space we entered was the Greek Orthodox Church and it is there that the entrance to the Cave in which Christ is reputed to have been born. Our guide today, Elias Ghareeb, told us that 'the stable' which I've always believed was the place where Jesus was born was most likely a cave and the 'inn' was most likely to have been the upper room that would have been built above the cave as a family's status improved. Also the cave would have now been where the animals were housed and so would have also provided the place where Mary might have been able to stay during the time awaiting her purification. Unfortunately we weren't able to get into the cave today as there were large groups of tourists from the Ukraine who are here for the weekend and seeing everything they can get to.
From there we moved to the Armenian section of the Church and were able to see into the middle of the cave and then we moved to the Catholic part which is where St Jerome lived whilst he prepared the Vulgate translation of the Scriptures. We were able to see the space in which he lived as well as died.
Painting on the wall of St Jerome's Room
After Mass we went to a co-op shop and many people purchased items to send home as mementos of their visit to Bethlehem - I purchased 4 postcards which I will send tomorrow - I'm leaving the purchase of other items until later in the time we are here so that I have had a good look and know what I want.
Then lunch at a restaurant called the Grotto and we had food which just kept coming. A slightly larger group around the table and it was good to be able to chat to a few more people at one time.
After lunch we headed to the Bethlehem University where we met Demitiri who showed us round the University and who introduced us to some of the Palestinian students, young Christians who encouraged us by talking about the fact that mostly they don't ask what religious background their classmates come from - they are all Palestinians and that is all that matters.
After leaving there we headed back to the bus and from there managed to pass through the control point without any issues and then it was back to the House.
We were due to go to the West Wall but we are joining the Sion Community and the Chemin Neuf Community to pray for peace in Palestine - a day before the day that Pope Francis has asked people to take time to pray for peace.
Tonight will be an early night
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