After my vacation, back in Jerusalem, I received a message from Nick which, of course, included a query. “At the village, on the 8th, they celebrate another feast for Jesus’ mother. My grandmother says it’s her birthday.”
St. Anne and St. Joachim at St. Anne´s Museum, Jerusalem
I explained to him that, from the early centuries, here in Jerusalem, on September 8 we celebrate the anniversary of Mary’s birth. And in the 4th century, a church was built for her—the Basilica of Saint Anne—over the house where she was born and where she lived as a child with her parents, Joachim and Anne, the grandparents of Jesus.
María Josefa then sent me a separate message: – “You can’t understand how happy Nick has been since he found out that Jesus had grandparents.”
María Josefa’s comment reminded me of the encounter with Nick on the plane. He was in the window seat and turned to me to share the beauty of the light among the clouds. He spoke of his bike rides and walks, in which he let himself be captured—not his words, but his emotion when speaking of what he did—by the charm of nature. It was then that I spoke to him of God, and to my surprise, he said: “God does not exist, and if He ever existed, He died: they killed Him.”
I will never forget the expression on his face when I told him about the Empty Tomb and that God had risen and was alive: it was a joyful moment because it resonated with his immense sensitivity as a child, open to the infinite.
Birthdayplace of Our Lady. St. Anne Church, Jerusalem
On that occasion, when we parted, I encouraged him to enjoy his bike rides through the countryside, but also to stop and “think,” in silence, before the nature that attracted him. Thinking in those circumstances is, above all, pausing to contemplate, and it is also a way of praying. Because contemplation is part of God’s language.
In the Holy Land, contemplation is easy. On the 8th, I went to Saint Anne, and there I let myself be captured once more by the festive atmosphere of a birthday, present and eternal at the same time, shared by thousands, millions of families from all over the world, and I prayed for all the grandparents and grandchildren of all times. And from there, I sent pictures to my contacts so they could learn about the Basilica and also immerse themselves in “the magic of Jerusalem”.
By Carmen Rodríguez Eyré
St. Anne and Mary, St. Anne Church
Birthplace of Our Lady, St. Anne’s Church
Altar, Church of St. Anne