November 22nd

Well, it was a very interesting day.  Not in the way of the Chinese curse "interesting" (i.e. "May you live in interesting times.") but interesting in a nuanced yet raw manner.

The day started just before 6 am for Bill as he'd been primed the day before by visiting the rooftop balcony at the hotel the evening before, and Father John's statement that dawn over the city of Jerusalem from the balcony was something worthwhile to see.  He was thwarted in an attempt to go on the rooftop as the entrance was locked.  So, he was able to go to an eastern window on the floor below to look out at the skyline.  Unfortunately, it was partly cloudy so dawn was obscured but it did make for some interesting hues in the pre-dawn sky.

The pre-dawn sky over Jerusalem.  If you zoom in at the far left you'll see a lighted spire.  This is the Lutheran church near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  The Dome of the Rock should be behind the large apartment building at the left.

We began our day relatively early getting on our tour bus at 7:45 am.  We had a short drive (a little longer than the length of time to say a Rosary on the bus).  On the way there we skirted the walls of the old city.  Security in Jerusalem was evident with the noticeable presence of Israeli security forces around the walls.  In this photograph you see the old walls of the city behind the date palms as well as the Israeli police vehicles in the foreground.  Notice the heavy metal mesh over the front and rear windows of the vehicles.

The walls of old Jerusalem in the background against a foreground of Israeli police vehicles.

The Damascus Gate into the Old City.

The walls of the Old City were rebuilt when the Ottomans conquered Jerusalem.  The area enclosed by the walls was smaller than the original Roman walls.  The smaller size was chosen due to the Ottoman fear of another Crusade against Jerusalem.  A smaller length of wall can be built faster and requires fewer resources.  Here's a picture of some of the wall built on top of rock.

A section of the wall built on top of exposed rock.

We entered the Old City via the Lions' Gate, adjacent to the Muslim cemetery.  An interesting sidelight is that the Golden Gate, that is sealed, is a little ways further south of the Lions' gate.  The Muslim cemetery was built in front of the eastern wall and the Golden Gate to prevent "a false precursor to the Anointed One, Elijah, from passing through the gate."  Some also believe it was to prevent Jesus Christ from entering through the gate at the end of time, since Jews don't cross Muslim cemeteries.

The Golden Gate (picture taken November 23rd)

Inside the Lions' Gate found much of the Muslim shops closed since today, Friday, is the Muslim day of worship during the week.  We went first to Church of St. Anne which is administered by an order of priests known as the White Fathers (who incidentally where white robes), a missionary order to Africa.  This Christian holy site is actually in the Muslim quarter due to French support of the Ottomans in the 19th century.  The site is where St. Anne and St. Joaquin, parents of Mary the mother of Jesus, made their home.  It is also the site of the pools of Bethesda where Jesus cured the lame man on the Sabbath.

The front of the Church of St. Anne

Next we embarked on the Stations of the Cross, or the Via Dolorosa (or sorrowful way in English).  We began the Stations at the Church of the Condemnation, another church designed by the Italian architect Antonio Barluzzi.  He designed a number of the churches that we've seen so far during our pilgrimage to the Holy Land.  We proceeded through the old streets of Jerusalem lined by shops selling souvenirs, restaurants and the odd pharmacy to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  There Fr. John celebrated Mass in a grotto that was a chapel for the Crusaders.

Fr. John celebrating Mass in a grotto beneath the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre contains Golgatha, the location where Jesus was crucified, the Stone of the Annointing where Jesus' body was anointed before burial, the tomb of Jesus, and the tomb of Jesus.  It also contains the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea.  The link to the Wikipedia article on the church discusses the somewhat strained relationship between various Christian denominations - Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian Apostolic, and to a lesser degree the Coptic Orthodox, Syriac Orthodox and Ethiopian Orthodox.  Much more can be said about our experience but suffice it to say it was a long wait to see the tomb of Jesus, and a much lesser wait to see the site of Golgotha.  It was a long day for all of us but we came to know more about the virtue of patience.  Someone mentioned that it's too bad that some of the lessons Disney has learned about queuing people in lines could really be used here, as well as many other shrines in the Holy Land.  As a group, we have gelled or bonded to the degree where were actively trying to make sure everyone in the group was present and accounted for, and kept together.

Waiting amongst the throng of pilgrims in a line (somewhat loosely applied) to see the tomb of Jesus.  While we were waiting, we also saw the Tomb of Joseph of Arimethea that was adjacent to the line snaking around the tomb of Jesus.

The Aedicule ('small building') surrounding and enclosing the tomb of Jesus.  We benefited from recent renovations to the Aedicule that removed an iron structure around the building that had been preventing its collapse.

The rear of the Aedicule (or small building) surrounding the tomb of Jesus.

Entrance to the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea

Interior of the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea

Entrance to the tomb of Jesus.

We were not permitted to take pictures inside the tomb but you can see what the interior looks like from these two National Geographic links - link_one and link_two.  The wait in line was about 3 hours but now that we've made the pilgrimage to this most sacred site, the wait was worth it.

Following this we went for lunch at a nearby restaurant that had a commanding view of the area in the vicinity of the Holy Sepulchre as well as the Dome of the Rock.

View of the Old City with the dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on the far left, the tower of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer to the left of centre, and the golden Dome of the Rock further in the background to the right of centre

We returned to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre after lunch to view the site of Golgatha.

The site of Golgatha is seen just beyond the arch near the centre of the picture.

The myriad of lights suspended from the ceiling over the altar.

The altar above the site of the foot of the cross and the silver screen behind it.

Picture of Fr. John saying a brief prayer underneath the altar (from the opposite side).

A mosaic on the wall in the vicinity of Golgatha

Pilgrims venerating the Stone of Anointing, where Jesus' body was anointed before burial.

We returned to our bus via the Jaffa Gate and made it back to the hotel around 4 pm.  It had been a long, but spiritually rewarding day.  Why was it rewarding?  For Bill, it was the sense that we were walking in the footsteps of Jesus but also in the footsteps of millions of pilgrims from long ago to the present.  Going up and down the streets of the Old City also gave a slight glimmer of what it must have been like for Jesus to have carried his cross through Jerusalem.  Finally, it also amply demonstrated that Jesus as the Good Shepherd is completely appropriate when viewing the faithful flocking to the Christian holy sites.  

Well, goodnight from Jerusalem and one of those bleating sheep.  God bless.