Rector of St. John’s Cathedral, Father Ugo de Rosa, Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Izmir, Father Alessandro Amprino, and Father Pascal Robert from the Church of the Holy Name of Mary in Bornova, accompanied the magnificent ceremony led by the Latin Catholic Archbishop of Izmir, Monsignor Martin Kmetec.
Archbishop Martin and the incoming priests went in a procession to the nursery at the back of the church, first to say a special prayer and then to bless the expected Jesus Christ. Then the Archbishop took the child in his arms and placed it so majestically before the altar.
After the Proclamation of the Nativity of Jesus Christ was read by the conductor of the Divine choir, the Mass continued as usual. Father Ugo read Words from the Gospel of Jesus Christ Written by St. Luke.
In his sermon on this special night, the Archbishop spoke of three aspects of the coming of the Messiah:
“1-Humility: There was no place to stay in the inn, he came into the world in a secret and surprising way. Humility is the first sign of incarnation.
2- The second feature of God’s coming is the poverty he chose to be with us. Jesus is born an ordinary child, a poor person.
3- Love… God’s love, compassion and mercy are reflected in this defenseless child. When Eckhart talks about the incarnation of the Son of God, he uses the depiction of a husband who removes one of his eyes to be equal to his wife who has lost one of her eyes. In order to show his love for us and save us, God renounced His eternal glory and became one of us.” he said.
On the morning of Saturday, December 25th, St. John’s Cathedral was packed with people of all ages. Valerio Giorgio, Consul of Italy in Izmir, and priests from different churches in Izmir accompanied this celebration.
At the end of the ceremony, the service offered in the garden of the Cathedral was shared with the members of the Catholic community and a few guests who attended the ceremony.
The Cathedral’s Choir directed by Ozan Karagöz and Serkan Şahin, who plays the organ, brought joy to these two magnificent Rites in Latin, Turkish and English languages. (SAT-7 TURK/İZMİR-Nathalie Ritzmann)
