October 25th is the Feast of Our Lady of Palestine, the Patroness of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem (EOHSJ), an Order protected by the Holy See.

The mission of the Order is to protect and preserve the presence of Christianity in the Holy Land.

It was Patriarch Luigi Barlassina (1920-1947), on the occasion of his solemn entry into the Cathedral Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre on 15 July 1920, and the consecration of the diocese to Mary, who invoked the title of “Queen of Palestine” for the first time.

The special relationship of The Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Palestine with the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre dates back to the pontificate of John Paul II. In 1983, 50 years after the institution of the Feast, Saint John Paul II – addressing the Knights and Dames of the Lieutenancies of Northern and Central Italy – urged them to be witnesses of Christ in everyday life and to continue the work of the Order in the Holy Land under the protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Ten years later, in 1993, the then Grand Master of the Order, Cardinal Giuseppe Caprio, asked Saint John Paul II to declare of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Palestine, Patroness of the Order. The Holy Father replied on 21 January 1994 by a decree granting the request.

PRAYING MARY FOR PEACE IN THE HOLY LAND

Queen of peace,
Chosen daughter of a land once again devastated by wars, hatred, violence.
We, Knights and Dames of the Holy Sepulchre, confidently address our plea to you:
Do not allow that Jesus’ cry at the sight of the Holy City which did not understand the gift of peace,
may, once again, fall into indifference and political calculation.
Look at the afflictions of so many mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, children, victims of destructive forces that are blind and without a future.
Inspire ways of dialogue, a vigorous will in solving problems and a collaboration of certain hope.
Don’t let us ever get used to oppression,
to consider the struggles as ‘inevitable’,
and the victims they produce as ‘collateral’.
Make sure that the logic of aggression does not prevail over good will and the solution of many problems is not considered impossible.
Just like your prayer in the midst of the Disciples on Pentecost, obtain from the Almighty that situations, even if apparently insurmountable in the Holy Land, find ways of happy solution.
AMEN

Fernando Cardinal Filoni, Grand Master

See the links below providing more information on the Marian Shrine at Deir Rafat Monastery, located halfway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, where the Feast day is celebrated each year.

https://www.oessh.va/…/il-santuario-di-deir-rafat.html