Catholic Masses are celebrated by the Franciscans in the first hours after opening. In summer: Masses at Calvary from 6:00 to 8:00 a.m. about every 30 minutes in varying languages, Mass at the Tomb at 6:00 a.m. with very limited capacity, and the sung High Mass at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday and 7:30 a.m. on weekdays except Friday. In winter everything moves an hour earlier (Calvary 5:00–7:00 a.m., Tomb 5:00 a.m., High Mass 5:30 a.m. Sunday and 6:30 a.m. weekdays). The CIC adds a blunt rule: “If there is no group booking, there is no Mass.” The Franciscan daily procession is at 5:00 p.m. in summer and 4:00 p.m. in winter.
Groups book Mass at Calvary, the Tomb or other Custody shrines through the Franciscan Pilgrims’ Office at the Jaffa Gate (Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m., fpo@cicts.org, +972-2-6272697); groups with an agency book through the agency, and priests may book directly. Confession times are not published on the CIC pages, so ask the Franciscan sacristy on arrival. In the CIC’s Holy Week pattern, the Easter Vigil is celebrated on Holy Saturday morning at 7:30 and Easter Mass at 8:00 a.m.
Before booking any Holy Land pilgrimage, read the U.S. State Department advisory: Israel was at Level 3 (Reconsider Travel) when reissued on August 26, 2026, with Level 4 zones near Gaza, the Egyptian border and north of Route 85, and separate sections for the West Bank and Gaza.