Saint Rachel Center in Jerusalem

The center, which began its activities at the beginning of September 2016, is on the property of the Capuchin Monastery in Jerusalem. The premises were completely renovated by the Saint James Vicariate, thanks to the assistance of a number of donors including the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher, Pontifical Mission, World Vision and the Dear Foundation. A spacious one floor building is situated on a much larger lot with two playgrounds, one for the toddlers and one for the older children. Two large rooms serve as the nursery and sleeping quarters of the babies. Another large room serves as a meeting place for the children who come after school. Other rooms serve as offices, study and meeting rooms and there is also a small apartment for the volunteers.

The new center is dedicated to Rachel the Matriarch, one of the Bible’s great women and a mother whose love for her children is immortalized in the words of Jeremiah: “Thus says the Lord: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are not” (Jeremiah 31:15). This verse is quoted in the New Testament relating to the slaughter of the innocents, initiated by King Herod in his search to destroy Jesus. Rachel, the Matriarch, is the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, struggled to have children and died giving birth to her younger son. The icon of the matriarchs of Israel, which includes Rachel, was written by the monastic community of the Little Family of the Visitation.

Twenty-five babies and toddlers under the age of three from the migrant worker and asylum seeker communities are welcomed each day in the Center. They begin to arrive, dropped off by their parents, at 7.30 in the morning and must be picked up at 17.30. Between fifteen and forty children arrive from 13.30 onwards for an afterschool program and can stay until 18.00. On the weekends, the center is often the meeting place for the youth of the Vicariate.

We ask the Lord to bless and protect the children in the center and we ask our mother Rachel to pray for us.