Holy Mass in the Franciscan monastery church Ad Coenaculum, which - as its name suggests - is located next to the hall of the Last Supper, on the memorial day of St. Nikola Tavelić was led by OFM Sandro Tomašević, vicar in Bethlehem and discreet of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land.

Concelebrated by five priests, including the director of Croatian Caritas and a Bible guide in the Holy Land, OFM Tomislav Glavnik, and permanent deacon OFM Siniša Srebrenović, guardian of the monastery in Gethsemani, served.

At the beginning of the Holy Mass, the host, the guardian of the Franciscan monastery in Zion, OFM Jakab Varnai, greeted those present, wishing everyone to be inspired by the faithful example of St. Nikola Tavelić, who, together with his comrades, is the first martyr of the Custody.

OFM Sandro, introducing the Holy Mass celebration, conveyed the greetings of the curator of the Holy Land and guardian of the monastery in Zion, OFM Francesco Patton, in whose name he later unveiled the saint's statue.

Missionaries and authentic witnesses

The joy of fellowship around the Lord's table and witnessing the Christian faith was also his guiding thought in the appropriate sermon, which he began by recalling the martyrdom of St. Nikola and his three fellow Franciscans in 1391, who were canonized by Paul VI. in 1970.

OFM Sandro then pointed out the importance of witnessing of the Christ in the world, which is “not popular”. Quoting St. Francis of Assisi that one should preach, “and if necessary sometimes using words”, he pointed out that St. Nikola recognized that it is necessary to “burn completely for Christ”. He noted that this saint, a native of Šibenik, lived in a monastery in Zion and prepared for missionary work there. He pointed out that in fact all Christians are missionaries and encouraged the pilgrims who saw the holy places to be missionaries in their everyday life. “When we live our limited life, the duration of which is nothing compared to eternity, we had better live it properly. And in that St. Nikola is an example”, said OFM Sandro, urging the faithful to be grateful to God for the first canonized Croatian saint and to live authentically, keeping in mind that holiness is still achievable today.

Looking back at Jesus' words, “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake will save it” (Lk 9:24), he emphasized: “Today's believers must lose their lives every day; one must give their life for others - because we are directed to each other. This means being a missionary and a witness”, Tomašević concluded and encouraged the pilgrims to renew themselves spiritually in the Holy Land and be Christ's witnesses in the world.

Zion gave birth to him for heaven

After the Holy Mass in the garden of the monastery, the faithful gathered next to the statue of St. Nikola Tavelić, which is the work of academic sculptor Vid Vučak. There, the initiator of this project, OFM Tomislav Glavnik, thanked the Franciscans in the Holy Land, and especially the Croats: OFM Siniša and OFM Sandro, that this project was done, and OFM Miljenko Mika Stojić and the Association Sv. Zemlja (Holy land), which are logistical support and the “dynamo” of all positive events on that front.

He addressed the words of thanks to the monastic community headed by the guardian OFM Jakab, pointing out that the presence of the Franciscans in the Holy land is a great sign for “those of us who live our faith in our homeland”. He mentioned that Croats are proud of St. Nikola Tavelić and explained: “Croatian land gave birth to him for earth, and Zion gave birth to him for heaven”.

In response, the guardian thanked those present for coming and noted that the Franciscans at the current moment of living in this place are looking for “paths of true testimony”.

Those present then sang the anthem of the Croatian nation and a few other church songs, thus expressing their joy over this solemn act, which will surely be written in golden letters in the annals of the visible presence of Croats in the Holy Land.

Let us also mention that the chasuble worn by the leader of the Eucharistic celebration was made for this occasion and donated to the Franciscan monastery by Mrs. Milka Drvenkar.

By the way, the statue of St. Nikola Tavelić was made as part of the celebration of the 50^th anniversary of his canonization (June 21^st, 1970), and if it had not been for the coronavirus pandemic, it would have been delivered and unveiled in the same place in 2020.