This post and the next one are going to be a little difficult, since I am beginning them two and a half days later than I should have. Because of the US playing in the World Cup beginning at 1 am followed by a 630 am mass, my timing for writing these posts has been totally off. It is only because I forego doing anything during our free time on the last day, that I figure that I have the time to complete writing something about the last two days and begin writing about today. That what happens when the World Cup and the pilgrimage compete.
We started our day by heading to Mount Zion. It is the highest of the many mountains/hills of Jerusalem, being the first that you see when approaching. Multiple things are located there, including the house of the Sanhedrin, the Cenacle (Upper Room), and the well of St John the Evangelist and so the spot where Mary was assumed into heaven. Tony was part of the three archaeologists excavating the cenacle and the "House of Caiaphas", so we got a lot of inside information that other pilgrims/tourists would not have received. There were three separate ones, because by having on Christian, one Jew, and one Muslim working together there is no chance of apparent conflicts of interest instating something that did not necessarily happen.
Visiting the cenacle was an interesting experience. It hasn't always been possible to enter, as the site is purportedly over where King David is buried, even though Tony pointed out that there is no evidence at all for that. The cenacle is also where Pope Francis celebrated mass only a couple of weeks ago, something that had not been allowed for many years. Since the latest finds point to the site being definitively the site of the Upper Room, Tony shared that part of the negotiations during the Pope's visit where to get the site back into control of the Church.
There was one spot in particular that Tony shared that none of other other groups even seemed to notice. There was a column on one side of the room that survived the destruction by the Muslims, who turned the place into a mosque during their control. The capital of the column is four sided and on each side, there are three birds. The bird in the middle is pulling out its own flesh to feed to the others. For us Christians the symbolism is obvious. For the muslims and those visiting as mere tourists, it is just another column.
We had mass at the chapel of the cenacle which was nearby, but our last few minutes at the site brought out some of the ugly side of what should be some of the holiest places on the Dave of the earth. Father asked us to kneel down and sing a hymn. There is nothing prohibited about doing so at the site, but a Russian speaking guide, yelled at us over his megaphone that "this is not a church, no singing." It was clearly posted that no megaphones were permitted. Tony asked me when we came out to point out which tour guide it was since they all have to be certified and somethings, like yelling at other groups, is not permitted.
We next to the Abbey of the dormition, where our Blessed Mother was assumed into heaven. It was in the middle of a very busy location. Around the corner from us, there were some bar mitzvah, so we heard the celebratory Jewish music. At the abbey, which is attached to the Benedictine Monastery, there was a funeral. I didn't mind having to wait at all, as we got to listen to the monks chant and watch as they processed out of the abbey. It was quite moving to be at the spot where Mary fell asleep. The statues, artwork, and more were very moving.
We headed from there to St Peter Gallicantu, which means cock crows, since it was the site of the house of Caiaphas and where St. Peter denied our Lord three times before hearing the cock crow. It is also where Father Mark spent eight weeks working during his time in the seminary. Our tour of the site was especially moving as Tony was again part of the archeologists excavating the site, so he was able to point out things that others would have missed.
He shared that Caiaphas had ruled the Sanhedrin longer than anyone else, 36 years. They had in place a system of power and justice based on money. The Jews preparing to offer sacrifice at the temple could bring their own animals, but they had to be spotless. The inspectors who were employed by the Sanhedrin would always find something wrong do that the penitent would have to purchase from them to obtain their justice via the sacrifice. That is why the Essenes referred to them as the "Sons of Darkness." Jesus came preaching a message of equality, something that cannot happen if power is based on economic status. He was a big threat, since his teachings reached all and were being spread rapidly.
There are a set of stairs that leads from the bottom of the valley all of the way up to the spot of the Temple and the House of Caiaphas. Up to a couple of years ago, people could walk up the stairs (many including Father who had been there before had climbed them). Now the research including the fact that no coins after 70 AD have ever been excavated has confirm them as being the spot where Jesus had been taken by the Temple guards to be tortured. Since they were identified as such, people had started removing pieces. Since then, it is now sealed away from the public. We could see them, but not touch them.
Another intriguing spot is the cistern where prisoners, including Jesus were hung by their armpits over night. Tony pointed out two high openings in the walls of what were supposedly stables and not places to torture. There was no reason for the high holes for Jews to tie their houses as they were short people. Tony and others had gone to Rome to see if there was something similar. He came across a rare form of torture in which a man is tied to high holes and stretched so that the skin is taut. When whipped there, the pain would be equal or greater than the later scourging by the Romans. After locating that, he returned to the site, where they were able to find human blood. They could not isolate Jesus blood from all of that at the site, but it did confirm that the Sanhedrin used it to torture.
I got especially moved when we went down into the pit. All around it are Byzantine era crosses marking the spot. They have a spot where psalm 88 is read. I had the privilege of being able to read it. My voice has only cracked twice while doing a reading. The first time was at my brother's funeral, the second was when I read the line about going down into the pit.
We had a free afternoon scheduled but there were quite a few people who REALLY wanted to go to the Dead Sea. "How can we be so close and no go?" I wasn't interested at first, but when I saw the majority were going, I changed my mind. It had nothing spiritual about it, but it did end up being fun. We were able to float on the water (you can't even sit easily in the water as you are pushed up by the buoyancy of the extremely salty water). We were also at the lowest spot of the earth. The bar at the beach was named -418, the Lowest Bar on Earth, since it is 418 meters below sea level.
Our instructions were don't spend more than fifteen minutes in the water, it will be too much. Also don't get water into your eyes or mouth as the salt content will burn. Of course, we all ended up getting some, and one had so much in her eyes that she had to be walked to the shower to rinse out her eyes. Next, we were to cover ourselves with mud. That was the funniest part watching how people went from pale skin to the dark color of the mud. Pictures were taken, but I will have to wait until they are sent to be able to share them. The idea is that you leave on the mud or fifteen minutes (or as long as you can take it) before going back in to rinse it off. My skin did feel different after the rinse: "smooth as a baby's bottom." It is supposed to be healthy taking "30 years off your life", but if didn't look any younger not any of those around me, except for when they were covered in mud. It was fun suffering in the heat and mud with the others, so I am glad I changed my mind.
We drove back to Jerusalem to end our night with a holy hour at the Garden of Gethsemane. Outside of the church there are large olive trees that are ancient. According to those that had been before, you used to be able to walk through the garden, but since people kept taking pieces, the access is now restricted to the caretakers. The trees are descendants of the ones from the time of Christ, with each tree growing for about 800-1000 years. The descendants grow from the hollow inside Of the mother plant.
Inside of the church was very beautiful, with amazing mosaics and great acoustics. The highlight however is the actual rock in which our Lord sweat blood. We thought that it was going to be just us inside the church but we were joined by some German pilgrims. Their addition was great as they, especially the priest, had great singing voices. Being at the spot where our Lord sweat blood doing a holy hour and then being able to lay my hands, head and articles on top of the rock was very moving.
I was looking forward to the US game but it didn't start until 1 am. I tried to convince the cafe who had installed a projector for the earlier games due to the large number of American pilgrims, but he owner shared where the bars ten minutes away where he was planning on going were located. I walked with Father and Maria to scope out the location. We found a nice outdoor bar that I thought would be perfect. Unfortunately, Father thought it too far for that late at night so decided not to go. Maria is not that big of a fan and can't stay up, so she didn't go. Only one other pilgrim and I were brave enough to watch the tortuous 0-0 tie between Iran and Nigeria (neither team seemed to be able to do anything close to scoring). We would have been smarter to nap during that game, as it was boring. We didn't however so left the hotel at 1245 am to walk to the bar for the game half asleep. The walk helped however.
As we rounded the corner, there was bad news: the bar we had scoped out earlier had closed just like the cafe. "No worries, let's look for a different one," I suggested. We found another showing sports on the tv including soccer commercials so we sat down. When the waiter came to take our order, we asked him to change the channel. "No problem," was his response, "but we are going to close before the game ends." So we hit the street again searching for a place to watch. Luckily just down the street we found it. Even the waitress was from Boston. So, we sat down to drink Pepsi (not a common site here as Coke has the monopoly), and watch a great game: USA USA USA USA!!! Actually Ghana probably played better, but the final score is all that counts. We got back to the hotel at about 330 am happy, but knew that we would be leaving the hotel for mass by 6 am (the Latin Catholics can only celebrate mass between 330 and 8 am, so we had a 630 reservation). Sleep is overrated anyway, no?
We started our day by heading to Mount Zion. It is the highest of the many mountains/hills of Jerusalem, being the first that you see when approaching. Multiple things are located there, including the house of the Sanhedrin, the Cenacle (Upper Room), and the well of St John the Evangelist and so the spot where Mary was assumed into heaven. Tony was part of the three archaeologists excavating the cenacle and the "House of Caiaphas", so we got a lot of inside information that other pilgrims/tourists would not have received. There were three separate ones, because by having on Christian, one Jew, and one Muslim working together there is no chance of apparent conflicts of interest instating something that did not necessarily happen.
Visiting the cenacle was an interesting experience. It hasn't always been possible to enter, as the site is purportedly over where King David is buried, even though Tony pointed out that there is no evidence at all for that. The cenacle is also where Pope Francis celebrated mass only a couple of weeks ago, something that had not been allowed for many years. Since the latest finds point to the site being definitively the site of the Upper Room, Tony shared that part of the negotiations during the Pope's visit where to get the site back into control of the Church.
There was one spot in particular that Tony shared that none of other other groups even seemed to notice. There was a column on one side of the room that survived the destruction by the Muslims, who turned the place into a mosque during their control. The capital of the column is four sided and on each side, there are three birds. The bird in the middle is pulling out its own flesh to feed to the others. For us Christians the symbolism is obvious. For the muslims and those visiting as mere tourists, it is just another column.
We had mass at the chapel of the cenacle which was nearby, but our last few minutes at the site brought out some of the ugly side of what should be some of the holiest places on the Dave of the earth. Father asked us to kneel down and sing a hymn. There is nothing prohibited about doing so at the site, but a Russian speaking guide, yelled at us over his megaphone that "this is not a church, no singing." It was clearly posted that no megaphones were permitted. Tony asked me when we came out to point out which tour guide it was since they all have to be certified and somethings, like yelling at other groups, is not permitted.
We next to the Abbey of the dormition, where our Blessed Mother was assumed into heaven. It was in the middle of a very busy location. Around the corner from us, there were some bar mitzvah, so we heard the celebratory Jewish music. At the abbey, which is attached to the Benedictine Monastery, there was a funeral. I didn't mind having to wait at all, as we got to listen to the monks chant and watch as they processed out of the abbey. It was quite moving to be at the spot where Mary fell asleep. The statues, artwork, and more were very moving.
We headed from there to St Peter Gallicantu, which means cock crows, since it was the site of the house of Caiaphas and where St. Peter denied our Lord three times before hearing the cock crow. It is also where Father Mark spent eight weeks working during his time in the seminary. Our tour of the site was especially moving as Tony was again part of the archeologists excavating the site, so he was able to point out things that others would have missed.
He shared that Caiaphas had ruled the Sanhedrin longer than anyone else, 36 years. They had in place a system of power and justice based on money. The Jews preparing to offer sacrifice at the temple could bring their own animals, but they had to be spotless. The inspectors who were employed by the Sanhedrin would always find something wrong do that the penitent would have to purchase from them to obtain their justice via the sacrifice. That is why the Essenes referred to them as the "Sons of Darkness." Jesus came preaching a message of equality, something that cannot happen if power is based on economic status. He was a big threat, since his teachings reached all and were being spread rapidly.
There are a set of stairs that leads from the bottom of the valley all of the way up to the spot of the Temple and the House of Caiaphas. Up to a couple of years ago, people could walk up the stairs (many including Father who had been there before had climbed them). Now the research including the fact that no coins after 70 AD have ever been excavated has confirm them as being the spot where Jesus had been taken by the Temple guards to be tortured. Since they were identified as such, people had started removing pieces. Since then, it is now sealed away from the public. We could see them, but not touch them.
Another intriguing spot is the cistern where prisoners, including Jesus were hung by their armpits over night. Tony pointed out two high openings in the walls of what were supposedly stables and not places to torture. There was no reason for the high holes for Jews to tie their houses as they were short people. Tony and others had gone to Rome to see if there was something similar. He came across a rare form of torture in which a man is tied to high holes and stretched so that the skin is taut. When whipped there, the pain would be equal or greater than the later scourging by the Romans. After locating that, he returned to the site, where they were able to find human blood. They could not isolate Jesus blood from all of that at the site, but it did confirm that the Sanhedrin used it to torture.
I got especially moved when we went down into the pit. All around it are Byzantine era crosses marking the spot. They have a spot where psalm 88 is read. I had the privilege of being able to read it. My voice has only cracked twice while doing a reading. The first time was at my brother's funeral, the second was when I read the line about going down into the pit.
We had a free afternoon scheduled but there were quite a few people who REALLY wanted to go to the Dead Sea. "How can we be so close and no go?" I wasn't interested at first, but when I saw the majority were going, I changed my mind. It had nothing spiritual about it, but it did end up being fun. We were able to float on the water (you can't even sit easily in the water as you are pushed up by the buoyancy of the extremely salty water). We were also at the lowest spot of the earth. The bar at the beach was named -418, the Lowest Bar on Earth, since it is 418 meters below sea level.
Our instructions were don't spend more than fifteen minutes in the water, it will be too much. Also don't get water into your eyes or mouth as the salt content will burn. Of course, we all ended up getting some, and one had so much in her eyes that she had to be walked to the shower to rinse out her eyes. Next, we were to cover ourselves with mud. That was the funniest part watching how people went from pale skin to the dark color of the mud. Pictures were taken, but I will have to wait until they are sent to be able to share them. The idea is that you leave on the mud or fifteen minutes (or as long as you can take it) before going back in to rinse it off. My skin did feel different after the rinse: "smooth as a baby's bottom." It is supposed to be healthy taking "30 years off your life", but if didn't look any younger not any of those around me, except for when they were covered in mud. It was fun suffering in the heat and mud with the others, so I am glad I changed my mind.
We drove back to Jerusalem to end our night with a holy hour at the Garden of Gethsemane. Outside of the church there are large olive trees that are ancient. According to those that had been before, you used to be able to walk through the garden, but since people kept taking pieces, the access is now restricted to the caretakers. The trees are descendants of the ones from the time of Christ, with each tree growing for about 800-1000 years. The descendants grow from the hollow inside Of the mother plant.
Inside of the church was very beautiful, with amazing mosaics and great acoustics. The highlight however is the actual rock in which our Lord sweat blood. We thought that it was going to be just us inside the church but we were joined by some German pilgrims. Their addition was great as they, especially the priest, had great singing voices. Being at the spot where our Lord sweat blood doing a holy hour and then being able to lay my hands, head and articles on top of the rock was very moving.
I was looking forward to the US game but it didn't start until 1 am. I tried to convince the cafe who had installed a projector for the earlier games due to the large number of American pilgrims, but he owner shared where the bars ten minutes away where he was planning on going were located. I walked with Father and Maria to scope out the location. We found a nice outdoor bar that I thought would be perfect. Unfortunately, Father thought it too far for that late at night so decided not to go. Maria is not that big of a fan and can't stay up, so she didn't go. Only one other pilgrim and I were brave enough to watch the tortuous 0-0 tie between Iran and Nigeria (neither team seemed to be able to do anything close to scoring). We would have been smarter to nap during that game, as it was boring. We didn't however so left the hotel at 1245 am to walk to the bar for the game half asleep. The walk helped however.
As we rounded the corner, there was bad news: the bar we had scoped out earlier had closed just like the cafe. "No worries, let's look for a different one," I suggested. We found another showing sports on the tv including soccer commercials so we sat down. When the waiter came to take our order, we asked him to change the channel. "No problem," was his response, "but we are going to close before the game ends." So we hit the street again searching for a place to watch. Luckily just down the street we found it. Even the waitress was from Boston. So, we sat down to drink Pepsi (not a common site here as Coke has the monopoly), and watch a great game: USA USA USA USA!!! Actually Ghana probably played better, but the final score is all that counts. We got back to the hotel at about 330 am happy, but knew that we would be leaving the hotel for mass by 6 am (the Latin Catholics can only celebrate mass between 330 and 8 am, so we had a 630 reservation). Sleep is overrated anyway, no?