Christ is here!

I had on many occasions written about Father Michele Piccirillo who passed away four years ago. Memories of him are still very vivid, as this collection of studies dedicated to him attests, as also the many initiatives undertaken in his memory.In this volume, in addition to presenting essential biographical information and without repeating what was written in the commemorative volume and in Liber Annuus (58 [2008] 479-500) – the annual journal of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, it suffices to summarize the cultural interests and projects which he nourished and carried out with determination and passion.By going through discreetly his final personal notes, we add a mention of the thoughts and feelings that Michele Piccirillo, while suffering from a grave disease and in a brief time reduced to inactivity, carried with him to his death. They reveal his deep feelings as a man and a Christian in an exceptional and unique moment in his life.The bibliography of Michele Piccirillo, if the notes that appeared in the magazines of the day and in the newspapers are also included, is immense. In this volume we will point out only the contributions of a scientific character.This book is a response to the desire of the Custody of the Holy Land, the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum and a host of friends, mostly archaeologists from different international institutions, who wished to render homage to this archaeologist. We believe that the contributions published, worthily honor his name and the history of the biblical lands on this side and beyond the river Jordan, which Michele Piccirillo loved and served his whole life.(from the Preface by G. Claudio Bottini, ofm, Emeritus Dean of the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Jerusalem)