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...
