 Newsletter #1 - Jan-Feb 2006
I. Introduction In order to allow those who wish to stay in touch with the latin parish of Taybeh, the www.taybeh.info website now edits a newsletter. In it, you will find news of Taybeh and of the Holy Land, of the life here as well as information concerning the ongoing projects of the parish, and the future projects. We hope this newsletter will satisfy your curiosity and will allow you to keep close to Taybeh or discover it. We welcome all comments on this newsletter, so that it can fully answer your wishes. We thank you for your interest in Taybeh and for your support to the village. In the name of all the latin parish I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Guillaume Piganeau II. "In Taybeh one is happy" by sister M. Dominique On Ocober 10th 2005, father Raed Abushalia, parish priest of Taybeh, came to pick up 2 pensioners from the "Home Notre Dame des Douleurs" in Jérusalem, Saleh and Azieh who will go back to their village and thus be the first two residents of the newly built home for seniors in Taybeh, Beit Afram, inaugurated on July 3rd. Sr Angèle, Sr Odile and Sr Anne-Marie are there to welcome them. A true moment of joy for our sisters who had been waiting for this moment for long. This long wait allowed them to get used to the new location and to meet the village and its welcoming inhabitants. The sisters shared their time between 3 activities: getting Beit Afram ready for the pensioners, welcoming visitors and visiting the Taybeh people.Presently, they are 8 residents including a priest from the Latin Patriachate recovering from illness and who celebrates mass for the home. Today, the first Advent sunday, we took the time to share what Sr Angèle calls "a new life" : "This reminds me of the time when we used to visit families and collect money for charity. This makes me feel younger, body and soul ; I thank the Lord every day for living here. Sunday mass in the village's church is a feast for us! At home we feel how much the old people need us ; we have more time to give them, and it is great. We walk together in the middle of the olive trees praying the rosary. As the residents are not so many, we have time to learn to know them better and we really feel that we are one family." "The people are thankful, tells us Sr Anne-Marie. They are happy at us being here, it gives us courage". "You are not foreigners, you are family", the Taybeh people often tell them. "When one sister is missing, people immediately ask about her" adds Sr Odile. "Here, it is the master of the house who is available all day and provides for all the needs." as for Fr. Raed as well as for the members of the direction committee, nothing should miss. His name is Raymond. He does the accountancy, the shopping, he repairs what is broken and sometimes bring back the lost resident who went a little too far away. With such beautiful landscape, it is immediately the vision of the shepherd looking after his flock. Raymond is preparing to obtain a minibus driving license. Once bought, the minibus will allow Taybeh seniors to come to Beit Afram and eat lunch there. The Home is visited not only by Taybeh People but also by local groups coming from Jerusalem such as Sabeel, ecumenical mouvement, from Birzeit and other places. Groups of pilgrims from France, Italy and other European countries also come to visit the house. Taybeh is beginning to be well knowned by the agencies and it is a chance for the village. Those who left the country come back with real pleasure during their holidays. Old houses are been restored and new construction sites appear. Even if the village has known darkhours two months ago, (the facts have been explained in the press) its inhabitants have kept a great sense of welcoming the other and this allows them to go through the difficulties with courage and dignity. Our sisters have been the witnesses of it. It is truly a great experience to go to Taybeh and remain there for a few hours not only to admire the desert but also to measure all the happiness of residents now able to stay in their village. Sr M Dominique,fndd
Translated from French by G. Piganeau III. Christmas in Taybeh The village prepares for Christmas. Little by little, during december, the Taybeh people prepared for Christmas. The decorations started to appear in the streets, inside and outside the homes, as well as the christmas trees. These decoration are quite simple but are important so that people can feel christmas is close, in this mostly muslim area. Thanks to the good relations between the three parishes of Taybeh, the three christian communities of the village, greek orthodox, greek catholic and latin, all celebrated christmas on December 25th despite the difference between the latin and the greek calendar. The village was thus united in prayer for Christmas. At the latin parish, there is a truly inspired tradition during Advent. In order for the village to prepare Christmas in a lively manner, the parish priest, accompanied by the sisters, visits families just after mass. There they all say a prayer together. Priority is given to ederly people and ill people who cannot attend mass at the church. Thus, for this people too, the spiritual preparation for christmas takes all its meaning. "Build bridges, not walls." Every year on December 23rd, is the children's christmas mass. This year, Abuna Raed, latin parish priest of Taybeh and Abuna Jack, greek orthodox parish priest, celebrated mass under a bridge!! Specialy built for the occasion, this 2.5 meters high wooden bridge, that went over the alter, symbolized the fact that it is bridges men ought to build between themselves rather than walls. A message that the children particularly appreciated.
At the end of the ceremony, Abouna Daoud, the Greek Orthodox parish priest of Taybeh also came to be part of the feast and welcome - as it is the use in Taybeh - Santa Claus who came to give presents to all the children. This year however, Santa Claus was disguised as Saint Nicholas rather than ordinary Father Christmas.
La veillée de Noël du 24 décembre. Mass on December 24th, took place in a full church with a congregation all well dressed for the occasion.
The beautiful hymns that accompanied all the celebration created an atmosphere of prayer up to the final procession. At the end of mass, all the people who attended it went to Abuna Raed's reception room
to wish Merry Christmas to one another exchange wishes. Yet, the rain and the cold was a big incentive for the villagers to soon go back home!
A year after the Peace Lamp initiative was launched, a new dove. On November 16th 2004, Taybeh's Olive Branch Foundation ceramic workshop launched lançait the Peace Lamps. This initiative aims at promoting peace thanks to the symbolism of the lamp, the oil and the light that are combined with a prayer for Peace. This initiative started with this simple fact in mind: In the conflict that harms the Holy Land, israelis and palestinians have tried all possible means of action to put an end to it using both violence and non-violence, but with little success. As our last resort, we address our prayer for peace in the Holy Land to the Lord, involving as many christians and people of faith as possible. The goal is to place "Peace Lamp" in over a 100 000 churches around the world and to thus unite a numerous congregation in a prayer for Peace. A little over 13 months after the initiative was launched, 12 000 lamps have already been sold around the world, giving hope to the christians of the Holy Land. The initiative also provided jobs to 15 Taybeh people. To continue this extraordinary solidarity mouvement with the Church of the Holy Land, a new Peace Lamp model has been made available by Taybeh's ceramic workshop. Its small size and its easy-to-use lighting system makes it an ideal and original lamp for homes. And it wil help remember the sufferings of the Holy Land during prayer.
"Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem" (Psalm 122:6) V. Culture: A baroque concert in Taybeh Christmas becomes baroque with Al Kamandjâti. On December 17th 2005, 17 musicians from 10 different countries come to offer a baroque music concert to the inhabitants of Taybeh. The Al Kamandjâti (the Violonist) musicians played concertos from Manfredini, Bach, Vivaldi and Corelli, during a little more than an hour and a half. For many villagers it was a true discovery of this kind of music. For some it was even the first concert of their lives! The Al Kamandjâti musicians organised a series of 6 concerts, between December 12th and 18th, in order to share the music they love to others . With concerts in Jérusalem, Ramallah, Nazareth, Bethléem, Naplouse and Taybeh, the village can be proud to have been chosen for the tour along side other cities of much greater size. What is Al Kamandjâti? Al Kamandjâti first was a dream born in Angers during October 2002. Ramzi Aburedwan wanted to communicate to others his love of music, and wanted all to have access to it in Palestine. 3 years later, the Al Kamandjâti music center opened in the Old City of Ramallah. Its professors teach how to read music and teach many instruments such as the saxophone, the trompet, the clarinet, the piano, the cello, oriental and occidental percussions. Le dream became reality. Al Kamandjâti also gives concerts in Palestine, in the United States and also organises music lessons and workshops in palestinian refugee camps, villages and towns in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and south Lebanon. The musicians of Al Kamandjâti thus get to meet thousands of people every year to share their passion and maybe create some new! This festival was made possible thanks to the generous contributions of the French Consulate, the SCAC in Jerusalem, the Consulate of the United States of America, the Baranboïm-Said Foundation and the Junta de Andalucia, the Austrian Cultural Forum and the A.M. Qattan Foundation, as well as thanks to the latin parish of Taybeh and the municipality of Taybeh. For more information: Al Kamandjâti VI. Pin-board - The Beit Afram direction committee, presiding the seniors' home in Taybeh, is looking for an association, which would agree to put into place a programme aimed at sponsoring some of Taybeh's seniors. Beit Afram has a vocation of welcoming the people the most in need of attention and medical care. Among them, some do not have the financial capacity to pay the monthly $300 USD. To face this, the idea of a sponsorship programme has been suggested by Fr. Raed.
For more information or to contact the direction committee:
- Jeannette Bessonart in Pau (France) is looking for people in France
interested in supporting the activities of Taybeh's latin parish
through information actions in parishes, associations etc...
You can join her:
Latin Parish Taybeh:
Reservations in the Charles de Foucauld pilgrim's hostel:
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