Art: Assumption of the Virgin, Aliprando Caprioli (Italian), After Taddeo Zuccaro (Italian), 1574–99
CV NEWS FEED // The Custos of the Holy Land has issued a plea to Christians to pray for peace on the Solemnity of the Assumption as fatal military operations on behalf of both Israel and Hamas this week threaten to foil ceasefire talks once again.
Despite ongoing aggression between the two parties, Custodian of the Holy Land Francesco Patton expressed belief in an Aug. 12 statement that it may be a “a hopeful sign” the resumption of Israeli-Hamas peace talks are set to take place on Aug. 15, the Solemnity of the Assumption.
“For this reason,” the Custodian continued, “in agreement with the Guardian and the fraternity of Gethsemane, we have decided to dedicate the celebrations of the day of the Assumption to prayer for peace in the Holy Land and throughout the world.”
“We know that when the sign of the Woman who is about to give birth appears in Heaven, the infernal dragon also appears and is unleashed against her children,” Patton wrote, perhaps alluding to the recent military exploits.
He concluded:
May the Virgin Mary obtain today what she has already sung in the Magnificat and that Her divine Son proclaimed in the Beatitudes: ‘the proud may be scattered in the imaginations of their hearts; the mighty may be overthrown from their thrones, and the humble may be exalted; may the hungry be filled with good things, may the peaceful be recognized as children of God and may the meek receive the gift of the earth.’
According to the latest Reuters reports, Hamas attempted to retaliate against Israel on Aug. 13 by firing two rockets at its commercial hub in Tel Aviv. One of the rockets fell into the sea and the other failed to reach the territory, Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) stated in the report.
The attempted aggression comes after an Israeli airstrike on a Gaza City school that had been converted into housing for displaced families. Reports have estimated the death toll to be around 100 people.
IDF forces reportedly verified on Aug. 12 that the brutal airstrike two days prior had resulted in the deaths of 31 Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives, according to The Times of Israel.
Hamas’ military wing announced in a statement that it had launched the rockets, and “bombed the city of Tel Aviv and its suburbs with two M90 missiles in response to the Zionist massacres against civilians and the deliberate displacement of our people.”
