Commentary for Friday 1-25-13

Friday 1/25

Via Dolorosa (The Way of the Cross), Mass on Calvary, Tour of the Holy Sepulcher Church, Dominus Flevit (Christ weeped), Shroud of Turin exhibit, Holy hour at Basilica of Agony and moonlight walk in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Via Dolorosa, "Way of Sorrow" or "Way of the Cross" is the path followed by Jesus from the judgment court, the praetorium, to Golgotha, the place of His crucifixion. This walk is traditionally done at 3pm on Fridays by most Christian pilgrims. We did this walk at dawn. The quiet empty streets of Jerusalem allowed us time to reflect at each location. There are fourteen stations. The last five are located inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

Mass on Calvary. Because we end at Church of the Holy Sepulcher it only seemed fitting to have Mass on Cavary, Golgotha, the place of Jesus crucifixion. After Mass we all had a chance to venerate the location where His cross stood. There is an area that you can kneel down and put your hand in a small opening and touch the rock. Emotional Mass, certainly makes everything real. After Mass, our guide Jack took us on a tour of this unique church. The crazy thing about this church is that it is maintained by the Roman Catholics, the Greek Orthodox and the Armenians. Everything, and I mean everything that happens in this space has be be agreed upon by all parties. For example a ladder sits ready to have a worker fix a window. Apparently this action was not cleared by all groups. This happened many years ago, the ladder still remains in the same spot and the window has not been fixed. Architecturally is is unique because it has been re-built and added on to it. It has several chapels. Probably the most unique thing about this church is that it contains the site where jesus died, where his body was prepared for burial and the tomb from which He was raised. The church is huge!

Dominus Flevit. This place has one of the most spectacular views of Jerusalem. It was built in 1956 on the ruins of a Byzantine church. Remnants of a 5th century mosaic and a beautiful arch highlighting the view are only a few of the treasures found here. This spot marks where Jesus is said to have wept as he foresaw the doom of Jerusalem. This was on his descent from the mount of Olives riding His way into Jerusalem, better known as a Palm Sunday. This is the reason the church is in the shape of a tear. We received a scripture teaching, and reflected on this journey into the city through the golden gate on the side of judgment. When we entered the church a woman was singing the most haunting and beautiful song of longing and lamenting over Jerusalem.

Basilica of Agony. We were able to get the whole church to ourselves at night for holy hour. We all sat around the rock that Jesus prayed and sweated blood. Chris and I normally do our hour of adoration on Fridays, so we thought we would miss it this week since we are traveling, so what a great treat to be able to do it at this most holy spot. After our holy hour, the monk opened the gates to the garden and we were able to wander in the moonlight among the olive trees in the garden of Gethsemane. They had also trimmed the trees so we could take some branches from these trees which are over 2000 years old. Did I mention it was a full moon?