Friday 19 April - Jerusalem

Our only late start in ...

Jerusalem

Visit to the Latin Patriarch (Roman Catholic Church) outside the Old City 

View from within the walls

The Path of Peter Pilgrims and His Beatitude Fouad Twal, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, who spoke to us of the need for inter-church peace in this part of the world.  Peace in the Holy Land is the key to peace in the Middle East. He is  the bishop of Israel, Palestine, Cyprus and Jordan.

After our audience, Mass in the Concathedral Church of the Latin Patriarch.

We then made our way once again into the Old City of Jerusalem. Our guide, Raime, took us to visit his church with its colourful frescoes painted on every wall. The very excited and enthusiastic bishop spoke to us...

Melkite Church 

The Iconostasis

The Dormition of Mary

Holy Sepulchre and tomb of Jesus 

The church lies in the heart of the Christian quarter of the Old City. The church is maintained by the Roman Catholics, Greek Orthodox and Armenians.  

The exterior of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre 

Under a decree called the Status Quo imposed by the Ottoman Turks in 1757, ownership of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is shared between the Greek Orthodox, Catholics (known in the Holy Land as Latins) and Armenian Orthodox. Three minor communities, Coptic, Syriac and Ethiopian Orthodox, have rights to use certain areas. All the churches jealously guard their rights.

One effect of the Status Quo can be seen by looking above the main entrance on leaving the church. 

The wooden ladder leaning against a window ledge has been there since early in the 18th century. Nobody knows why it is there, but because it was in place when the Status Quo began in 1757, it must remain there.

The chapel at Golgotha 

The Church of the Holy  Sepulchre is the location of the last five stations of the Way of the Cross - Jesus is stripped of his garments, Jesus is nailed to the Cross, Jesus dies on the Cross, Jesus is taken down from the Cross and Jesus is placed in the tomb.

A clear history remains that this has been the revered location of the tomb, the holiest site in Christendom; however, there were a number of efforts to destroy the tomb and Christianity. A pagan temple was built over the spot from 140-320AD and Emperor Constantine had it demolished and built a church over the spot. 

Inside of the rotunda

The stone Edicule (small house) encloses the tomb (sepulchre) where Jesus lay buried for three days- and where he rose from the dead on Easter Sunday morning. 

The low door inside leads to the tiny Chapel of the Holy Sepulchre which contains the tomb of Christ - here a marble slab, placed there in 1555, covers the place where the body of Christ was laid. 

Forty-two lamps burn day and night- thirteen each for the Latins, Greek Orthodox and Armenians and four for the Copts. 

Every half an hour, priests from the various Christian faiths come to the Sepulchre, one after another, with a thurible and incense the tomb.

Each person had about five seconds in the tomb before the Greek Orthodox priest hurried you out. To be in this holiest of places- even for such a short period - was overwhelming! 
Inside I lit a candle for the intentions of those I carried in my heart on this pilgrimage. 

The ornateness surrounding each of these sacred sites makes the emotional connection difficult. You have to close your eyes and imagine what it would have been like - I remembered the catacombs and tombs in Malta I had seen a number of years ago. 
I thought about Mary Magdalen, Mary the mother of James and Salome who went to the tomb with the precious spices and their confusion and alarm that the body of Jesus was nowhere to be found. 

                            photo courtesy of creative commons

Church of St Anne

This Crusader church was built in 1140, on the remains of a Byzantine church, to commemorate the traditional birth site of Mary. 

Doorway into the Church of St Anne site(at night)

The church is very simple with magnificent high ceilings and arches that created extraordinary acoustics. The priest suggested we sing in the church and to make sure that we rested between verses to allow for the echo created to come back to us. We sang a beautiful Marion hymn, Immaculate Mary, and then Daniel sang a Latin version of the Ave Maria - it was uplifting to the soul!

Statue of Anne and Mary

Next to the church of St Anne, are the ruins of the 
Byzantine Church 

 and the
Pools of Bethesda

This is believed to be the site where Jesus healed a paralytic.

Jesus spoke to a man at a pool called Bethzatha near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem. Do you want to get well? The sick man answered, "Sir I don't have anyone here to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up: while I am trying to get in, somebody else gets there first."

Jesus said to him,"Get up, pick up your mat and walk." John 5:1-13

 Flagellation Chapel

This site is across the road from the 1st Station

Then Pilate asked the crowd,"Which one of these two do you want me to set free for you?"

"Barabbas!" Matthew 27

When Pilate saw that it was no use going on, but that a riot might break out, he took some water washed his hands in front of the crowd and said,"I am not responsible for the death of this man! This is your doing!" Matthew 27:24

 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him whipped. John 19:1

Chapel of the Condemnation

The present chapel was built on the ruins of a 13th century chapel. The large stone pavement was considered to be part of the Lithostrotos  on which Pilate had set up his judgement seat for the condemnation of Jesus and from which Jesus then took up his cross.

The huge stones of the Roman pavement of the 2nd century Christian era are partially carved with some games of the 

soldiers.