Cause a Catholic party don't stop.
It seems like they really know how to throw a Catholic party in the Little Town. Friday, being the first Friday of the month, held special devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Bethlehem's Silesian Church had a special Mass and then a procession.
Here's the church, which is in the old city:
And inside:
Yeah, that's a giant Sacred Heart statue inside.
Because Mass was at 4:30 before the work day ended, or maybe because of the occasion, there were just piles of nuns there, and some monks. I think I counted nuns from 9 or 10 different orders, based on the habits.
A few watched the procession from inside:
So the streets of Old Bethlehem were decked out for the occasion, pretty bold for a Christian minority:
Here's the main procession, complete with priests, scouts, a canopy, about a thousand people, and the Blessed Sacrament. Everyone was singing in Arabic, of course, but I picked out the tunes of Pange Lingua and a few other hymns I know. Crazy.
A pretty beautiful Friday!
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