Jerusalem, Jerusalem!
DAY 10: THURSDAY 14 FEBRUARY - JERUSALEM Theme: The Passion of Jesus. Begin our Jerusalem pilgrimage as we proceed up to the Mt of Olives to visit the ‘Pater Noster’ Church where Jesus taught His disciples the Lord’s Prayer (Mt 6:7–15). Enjoy a panoramic view and photographic opportunity over the city.
Again, throughout this blog, all in italics (as above) is from the travel brochure from the pilgrimage company we used. Here are our first real views of the old city (1) taken from the top of the Mount of Olives. From the Mount of Olives, we can look across the Kidron Valley and see the Muslim Dome of the Rock (the gold domed edifice in the middle) where once stood the Temple of Jerusalem. In the foreground is a Jewish cemetery (2) full of rich Jewish people who wanted to be buried nearest the Holy City, from where would begin the resurrection of the dead. It feels magical to look out and see what Jesus would have seen (with the exception of the Dome of the Rock replacing the Temple), as he journeyed down with his disciples on the same route we would travel. This photo (5) is of an ancient Jerusalem gate, now sealed; it is prophesied that the Messiah would enter the Holy City through this gate. And here, a selfie of me with the city (6).
View also the Ascension Dome believed to mark the place where Our Lord ascended into heaven. The small round building contains a stone imprinted with what is said to be the footprint of Jesus.
At the top of the Mount of Olives, we first visited the Chapel of the Ascension (then the Pater Noster Church). Crusaders built this chapel on the traditional spot from which our Lord ascended into heaven. Originally, the chapel was open to the sky. (Makes sense, right?) As Muslims now use it for prayer, they covered it with a dome for prayers on rainy day (ugh). Within you can see the very stone from which Jesus ascended. Supposedly, he left his foot print on the rock pictured here within the square, as he ascended (4). The footprint is in the lower left of the square in a rock formation shaped like a foot. It's his left foot that made the mark, with the heel in the corner; a crack running across the stone separates the part of the foot where the toes are from the heel. (I'm a bit skeptical as to Jesus leaving a footprint as he took off; I have a hard time even seeing it and I know what I'm looking for—what about you?)
Below are photos of the "Pater Noster" Church, which we visited next, supposedly built over the spot where our Lord taught his disciples to pray the "Our Father." or "Pater Noster" in Latin. It's a lovely garden run by French nuns. However, let's be honest, no one really knows exactly where this event took place. It would have been somewhere like the caves here, over which this church was built. As many pilgrims come to visit over the centuries, it still should be revered.
All around the gardens are printed the words of the Our Father in multiple languages. This photo (3) shows the prayer in Aramaic (the dialect that Jesus spoke), on the left, and Hebrew, on the right. (In those languages, one read from right to left.)
Walk down the Palm Sunday Road as pilgrims to the Dominus Flevit Church for Mass, built on the site where Jesus wept over Jerusalem (Lk 19:41–44). I love this church best of all. It was designed by the Italian architect Antonio Barluzzi in the 1950's--and so well done! Dominus Flevit means "God Wept" in Latin. The Church is built in the shape of a tearn drop (2). It marks the spot where Jesus looked to Jerusalem and cried over the impending doom that would fall the city as it's revolt is crushed by the Romans in 64-67 AD (Luke 19:37-42). Instead of colorful stained glass, the main window is clear so that pilgrims can see what Jesus saw as he cried (4). I love this chapel and loved even more that we celebrated Mass here. At the base of the alatr is a magnifcent mosaic of a mother hen in all her glory(5)! It's a reference to God that Jesus made: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing." (Luke 13:34)
We then come down to the Garden of Gethsemane, where we will enter the Church of the Agony containing the rock upon which Jesus is said to have prayed before his arrest. Prepare then for a memorable pilgrim highlight as we move to the private garden for a secluded time of prayer and reflection surrounded by ancient olive trees.
The Church of Agony is also called the Church of All Nations. It is built over the ruins of two other churches, one destroyed in 746 AD and a Byzantine church abandoned in 1345. It sits at the very bottom of the Mount of Olives and marks the spot where Jesus prayed with his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. First the Church: this version was built in 1920's through the donations of tweleve nations (including the United States). Outside is a magnificent mosaic of Jesus in prayer. Satues of the four Evangelists guard the entrance (4-5). Within are twelve domes before the sanctuary, each with a symbol of one of the nations who contributed to its construction (6-7). Above the sanctuary is this lovely dome (8); under it is the very stone where Jesus suffered and prayed before being arrested. The white stone is surrounded by a rail designed with a crown of throns motif to keep pilgrims from damaging the rock (9). In the past, apparently, before cameras, pilgrims would take a piece of the rock with them! I guess the stone was bigger?
I love the feel within this church. they purposefully kept the church dark to remind us of the darkness of the betrayal that took place here. Even the stained glass windows let in very little light (10-11). Outside, you can see 2,000 year old olive trees that were around at the time of Christ! (Again, these are kept fenced off so that pilgrims, in their fervor, don't kill the poor trees taking bark and twigs home for souvenirs!
Nearby we ascend Mt Zion to the house of the High Priest Caiaphas and into the Church of St Peter in Gallicantu commemorating Peter’s triple denial of Jesus. On its roof rises a golden rooster atop a black cross recalling Christ’s prophecy that Peter would deny him three times ‘before the cock crows’.
Here we visit the place where Jesus spent his last night on earth. Caiphus kept Jesus chained here in the darkness of this room where we said some prayers as a group (10). Best of all, I love the statue of Peter's denial; it shows St. Peter seated with the three people who approached him and asked is he was with Jesus (11-12). Thrice he denied even knowing the Lord, and then the cock crowed! Look at the weather vain atop the high dome with a design of a rooster (13). Outside the church are steps archeologists unearthed from the time of Christ (14). Here is Fr. Gerard and myself enjoying a coffee break (15).
Here on Mt Zion, described by the psalmist as ‘holy mountain, beautiful in elevation, the joy of all the earth’ (Ps 48), we also enter the Cenacle room of the Last Supper (Upper Room) where we commemorate the institution of the Eucharist and the later descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
Perhaps the greatest disappointment for me is the Chapel of the Last Supper. You imagine entering and seeing the actual room where the Last Supper took place. Instead we have a crusader chapel built over the site. Ugh!
After time here to sit and reflect we will continue to the Church of the Dormition identified as the place where the Virgin Mary died or ‘fell asleep’ as the name suggests. Last of all we visited the Dormition Church, the site where Mary assumed into heaven. Unfortunately, we could not visit the actual spot under the main area as it was under construction. I've included some photos from my first pilgrimage here of the site for you to enjoy (photos 6-8). Mary is pictured asleep (6) with a small dome over the image. A mosaic icon of Christ is at the center of the dome, looking down, surrounded by famous women of the Old Testament (7). This is a lovely mosaic from a side chapel (8).
The next day we awoke early for a 4.30 departure to walk the Way of the Cross. But that is for next sunday!
