Israel – Day Six – Jerusalem

 

Our first visit was to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is said to be sited over both Golgotha (the Hill of Calvary) where Jesus was crucified, and also over the place where He was buried, the Sepulchre. This is probably the most important and significant religious site in the world for Christians, and has been since the fourth century.

It also seems to be the most-visited site in Jerusalem with thousands of pilgrims pouring through the entry door each day, tour guides trying to marshal them, everyone tripping over everyone else with endless queues for each site. It is so crowded that the best staged photo ends up with strangers appearing in it as they dash by.

And, if that wasn’t enough, the Church isn’t one but five separate churches, ,merging together in higgledy-piggledy fashion and run separately by the Armenian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Abyssinian Coptic denominations. Then, there is the fact that much of the church(es) are in semi-darkness, lit by occasional candles and lamps, making photography a nightmare.

So, this has been a difficult visit to write about, and to illustrate – but it has also been a sublime joy, a privilege and an immense emotional and spiritual impact.

Let’s begin with the red limestone slab near the entrance, flanked by ornate candle stands with eight devotional lamps hanging above. This is where the body of Jesus was laid out after crucifixion, in preparation for wrapping Him in a burial shroud.

Then there is the Tomb of Jesus Christ (provided by Joseph of Arimathea). There is always a large queue for entry, which is restricted by the Orthodox priest in charge to a handful of people at a time and then for only a minute or so. The outer chapel uses a piece of the stone that was rolled away from the entrance to the tomb as an altar, the inner chapel, a very small room has space for only three pilgrims at a time. It is lit only by flickering candles, and contains the actual rock tomb, with a marble slab covering the place where Jesus’ body rested. Such is the speed of the pilgrim turnaround that the enormity of the experience only dawns on you some time after you have emerged from the tomb.

Up a steep flight of steps are two more chapels. The Roman Catholic one, which has a vaulted ceiling and arches covered in mosaics, commemorates when Jesus was stripped of his garments, The Greek Orthodox one is ablaze with lamps, candles, embossed silver panels and life-size silver icons.

 

Under its altar is a small hole where the pilgrim can touch the very rock of Golgotha on which Jesus was crucified. The original rock can also be seen through two glass panels – which also show the rock was split apart by the earthquake that occurred when Jesus died.

 

Our own miracle of the day, the Holy Mass, was held in the Crusader chapel and, as usual, co-celebrated by Fathers Mark and Ephraim. Incidentally, I believe that Father Mark is a Knight of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, a religious and charitable order.

 

Afterwards, wandering through the complex we saw various religious ceremonies and I was particularly struck by the powerful rhythmic chanting of the Oxthodox priests.

Then we walked for 20 minutes or so in the warm sunshine to the other wide of the walled Old City to visit St. Anne’s Church, which is just inside the Muslim Quarter.

 

St. Anne was the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Ruins of a Byzantine church of the fifth century have been unearthed and legend has it that the church was built over Joachim and Ann’s house. The present church was built in the twelfth century by the Crusaders and is the best-preserved Crusader church in Jerusalem. It is simple and modestly decorated but famous for its acoustics; when I visited a group of pilgrims was singing ‘Amazing Grace’ and the sound seemed to fill the church.   

 

Below, in the crypt is the supposed remains of Joachim and Anne’s house where Mary was born and contains a rather fetching painting of her.

 

Outside, excavations have unearthed what is believed to be the Pools of Bethesda where Christ healed a sick man (John 5:2-9).

Around midday we began the Stations of the Cross, starting from just inside the Lions Gate and following the route along the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The Via Dolorosa, which is a narrow street anyway, was particularly crowded, and often we had to queue at a particular Station until the tour group in front of us completed that Station. Occasionally the shop owners in the street became frustrated with the crowded, slow-moving groups, and urged us to get a move on. It seemed every nationality under the sun was praying and progressing in Jerusalem today – particularly the Russians!   

Our afternoon was free time so we headed for the Western Wall (also known as the ‘Wailing Wall’ although that it is not a particularly polite or charitable description of the prayers offered by the faithful commemorating the destruction of the Holy City).

 

Security was effective but not obsessive or intrusive. Entry was through a checkpoint staffed by security guards who scanned our bags and then waved us through. I collected a free skullcap and joined the people praying at the Wall. Immediately next to the wall were many Orthodox-looking Jews, some wearing tefillin, and there were some Israeli soldiers there too, unarmed, praying earnestly. There were also hordes of tourists, Africans and Asians particularly, clutching their skullcaps and taking photographs. I noticed one African priest, in Roman collar and wearing alarge gilt cross, walk right up to the Wall and thrust his phone in people’s faces, taking close-up photographs. I don’t know what impressed me more: the many devout petitioners and the fervour of their prayers, or the incredible forbearance that they showed in the face of intrusive and insensitive tourists.

Men and women had segregated areas and the women’s area was as busy as the men’s, sometimes busier.

Dome and top of Western Wall

I was surprised by how close the Moslem Dome of the Rock (and the El Aksa Mosque) was to the Western Wall. In fact I was tempted to visit the Dome until I heard it closed at midday, so we returned to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Walking through the Jewish Quarter we saw much archaeological excavations, including a section of city wall built at the time of the First Temple (from 1,000BC). We passed another ancient building which was occupied by Israeli women soldiers undertaking training.

 

 Enough for today...