1TLIG PILGRIMAGE TO THE HOLY LAND

AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 2, 2013

”For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the

body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were

all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we

were all made to drink of one Spirit.“ St. Paul to Corinthians 12:12-13

Israel…land of the Bible…land of Faith…the Holy Land, is revered throughout recorded

history as the cradle of monotheistic religion. In this narrow strip of land, amongst the

barren hills and fertile plains, man’s spirit learned to soar and from here a new message

went out to all the world: “…and many peoples shall come and say, “Come, let us go to

the mountain of the Lord, the house of the God of Jacob; that He may teach us His ways

and that we may walk in His paths”. For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word

of the Lord from Jerusalem.” Isaiah 2:3-4

5,000 years of Holy Land history bear witness to the fact that this was never a quiet,

peaceful region. Straddling the divide between Africa and Asia, wave after wave of

conquerors poured into it, anxious to control the strategic trade routes linking the cities of

the ancient world as well as its religious centres. With almost predictable regularity,

control swung from one victorious power to the next. During the time of Roman rule in the

Middle East, about 2,000 years ago, a momentous event took place. It was to shape

history forever - the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Amongst the people of Galilee and Jerusalem, in three short years, Jesus gained

recognition as a teacher, prophet and performer of miracles. Through His death and

resurrection, Christianity was born. His life and teachings spread to the ends of the earth,

affecting millions of people. For the last 2,000 years, Christian pilgrims have visited the

Holy Land. Bible in hand, they have sought out the places where Jesus walked and

taught and prayed. From century to century, Christian shrines were often ravaged or

destroyed in times of war, persecution and natural disaster. On our journey, we shall

1

bear witness to the strength of faith which brought ruins back to life time after time for the

love of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour - and for His most holy Mother whose magnificent

“yes” brought hope to all humanity.

Ein Karem

In Luke 1, it is written that Mary visited her

cousin Elizabeth and stayed for three months

(Luke 1:56). Upon Mary's arrival, the unborn

John the Baptist recognized the unborn Jesus

and "leaped with joy" in Elizabeth's womb

(Luke 1:44). Elizabeth exclaimed, "Blessed is

she who has believed that what the Lord has

said to her will be accomplished!" and Mary sang a hymn of thanksgiving known as

the Magnificat. This event is the "Visitation" commemorated by the present church, which

is believed to stand over the site where the event took place.

Church of the Visitation

According to tradition, Elizabeth and Zacharias had a summer house in Ein Karem. The

present Church of the Visitation incorporates a natural grotto that once contained a small

spring and a rock where traditionally the infant John the Baptist was concealed during the

Massacre of the Innocents. The grotto became a place of worship in the Byzantine

period, and the Crusaders built a large, two-storey church over it. The church collapsed

"My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for He has been

mindful of the humble state of His servant. From now on all generations will call me

blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me - holy is His name. His

mercy extends to those who fear Him, from generation to generation. He has

performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their

inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the

humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his

descendants forever, even as He said to our fathers." (Luke 1:46-55)

Sources for this booklet: atlastours.net; bibleplaces.com; biblewalks.com; christiananswers.et;

goisrael.com; Israel Ministry of Tourism; newadvent.org; sacred-destinations.com;

seetheholyland.net; Wikipedia.org

after the Crusaders left. In 1679, the site was bought by the Franciscans. After two

centuries, they finally got permission from the Ottoman authorities to restore it. The Lower

Church was restored in 1862 and the Upper Church was completed in 1955. Designed

by Antonio Barluzzi, the upper church has a Tuscan-style painted ceiling and large murals

depicting the titles with which Mary has been endowed — Mother of God, Refuge of

Sinners, Dispenser of All Grace, Help of Christians — and the Immaculate Conception.

The lower church is decorated with large frescoes of other Hebrew women of the Bible

known for their "hymns and canticles." In the church courtyard, one wall is covered with

ceramic tiles bearing the words of the Magnificat in 42 languages.

Bethlehem

The old Hebrew name bêth lehem, meaning "house of bread", has survived till the

present day. Two cities of the name are known from Sacred Scripture: Bethlehem near

Nazareth and Bethlehem of Judea which is near Jerusalem and is usually celebrated both

as the birthplace of David, and above all, of Our Lord. It is situated five miles south

of Jerusalem at a very short distance from the high road.

Bethlehem was also associated in

biblical history with Rachel (Genesis

35:16-19 and 48:7); in Judges, as

the home of the young Levite who

went to Michas and of the

young woman whose

death caused the expedition against

the tribe of Benjamin. In the New

Testament, as well as John 7:42

when the crowd questions whether

the Messiah comes from Galilee,

there are references to Bethlehem in

the Matthew 2 and Luke 2 narratives of the birth of the Saviour in the city of David. As to

the Saviour's birth having taken place in a cave near the village of Bethlehem, such cave

stables were not rare in Palestine at that time. Origen wrote about a century later:

"In Bethlehem the cave is pointed out where He was born, and the manger in the cave

where He was wrapped in swaddling clothes, and the rumour is in those places and

among foreigners of the Faith that, indeed, Jesus was born in this cave".

The roads descending to the east of Bethlehem lead through the mostly Christian village

of Beit Sahour, which includes the fields identified since ancient times with the shepherds:

“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks

at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around

them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you

good news of great joy that will be for all the people." (Luke 2:8-10)

Church of St. Catherine of Alexandria

The Church of St. Catherine is a Catholic church and Franciscan monastery. It is said to be

built on the site of Christ's appearance to St. Catherine of Alexandria and his prediction

of her martyrdom (c. AD 310). She is buried on Mt. Sinai. The church is first recorded in

the 15th century and may incorporate the chapter house of the 12th-century Crusader

Augustinian monastery that stood on the site. Traces of a 5th-century monastery

associated with St. Jerome also exist here. St. Catherine's Church was enlarged in 1881

with funds from the Emperor of Austria. The modern basilica has three aisles. To the north

and west is the active Franciscan monastery. Outside the west door of the church is a

pleasant cloister, restored in 1948 by A. Barluzzi using columns and capitals of the 12th-

century monastery. The cloister includes a modern statue of St. Jerome; the church facade

is topped with a statue of St. Catherine.

Chapel of St. Joseph and

Chapel of Innocents

Just to the right upon entering the Church of St. Catherine, steps descend into a complex

of caves and rock-cut chambers, which contain a number of chapels located beneath the

Basilica of the Nativity. Here rock cuttings and ancient tombs with some modern additions

commemorate various people and traditions:

Chapel of the Innocents – the tomb of infants slain by Herod the Great (Matt.2:16)

Chapel of St. Joseph - dedicated to the husband of Mary

Tombs of St. Paula and her daughter Eustochium, who made a pilgrimage withSt. Jerome and later settled in Bethlehem

Tomb of St. Jerome who translated the Scriptures from Hebrew and Greek into

Latin (the Vulgate)

Study of St. Jerome, where Jerome is said to have written and worked on histranslation

Tomb of Eusebius - Jerome's successor as head of the monastery

Milk Grotto Church

A short distance south of the Basilica of the Nativity

is a shrine called the Milk Grotto, on a street of the

same name. An irregular grotto hollowed out of soft

white rock, the site is sacred to Christian and Muslim

pilgrims alike. It is especially frequented by new

mothers and women who are trying to conceive. By

mixing the soft white chalk with their food and

praying to Our Lady of the Milk, they believe it will

increase the quantity of their milk or enable them to

conceive. Rows of framed letters and baby pictures

sent from around the world to the Milk Grotto testify to the effectiveness of the “milk

powder” and prayer. (The powder is available only to personal visitors at the shrine.)

Milk Grotto church (Seetheholyland.net)

According to tradition, while Mary and Joseph were fleeing Herod’s soldiers on their way

to Egypt, they stopped in this cave while Mary nursed the baby Jesus. A drop of Mary’s

milk fell upon the stone and it turned white. The grotto has been a site of veneration since

the 4th century, the first structure being built over it around AD 385. From as early as the

7th century, fragments from the cave were sent to churches in Europe. The site was

recognised by a proclamation of Pope Gregory XI in 1375. The Franciscans erected a

church around the Milk Grotto in 1872. The people of Bethlehem and local artisans

expressed their love for the site by decorating the shrine with mother-of-pearl carvings.

In 2007 a modern chapel dedicated to the Mother of God was opened. It is connected

to the Milk Grotto Church by a tunnel, enabling the addition of a further chapel in the

basement.

Saint Jerome was born Eusebius Hieronymous Sophronius in AD 347 at Strido,

Dalmatia (on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea). He came from a wealthy,

Christian family. His father sent Jerome to Rome to study and he became a

proficient translator of Greek into Latin. As a young man leaving the confines of

family life for the relative freedom he experienced in Rome, Jerome fell into a

“fast” life. After several years of study he left Rome and travelled abroad to Asia

Minor. He eventually arrived in Antioch. In 365 he was fully converted to

Christianity. At this time he began his study of theology and the Hebrew

language. Saint Jerome then lived for many years as a hermit in the Syrian desert

where he continued his studies. He returned to Rome in 382 where he remained

for three years attracting wealthy noble students including Marcella and Paula

and their daughters, Blaesilla and Eustochium. He returned to the east where he

died on 30th September 420 and was buried under the Church of the Nativity in

Bethlehem.

Basilica of the Nativity – Manger Grotto

The first evidence of a cave in Bethlehem being venerated as Christ's birthplace is in the

writings of Justin Martyr around AD 160. The tradition is also attested by Origen and

Eusebius in the 3rd century. In 326, the Roman Emperor Constantine and his mother St.

Helena commissioned a church to be built over the cave.

This first church, dedicated on May 31, 339, had an octagonal floor plan and was placed

directly above the cave. In the centre, a 4-metre-

wide hole surrounded by a railing provided a view of

the cave. Portions of the floor mosaic survive from this

period. The Constantinian church was destroyed

by Justinian in 530, who built the much larger church

that remains today. The Persians spared it during their

invasion in 614 because, according to legend, they

were impressed by a representation of the Magi that

decorated the building. This was quoted at a 9th-century synod in Jerusalem to show the

utility of religious images. The Nativity chapel, running in the same general direction as

the church (east to west), is situated under the choir; at the eastern end is a silver star with

the inscription: Hic de Virgine Maria Jesus Christus natus est.

Muslims in 1009 prevented the application of Hakim's decree ordering the destruction of

Christian monuments because, since the time of Omar (639), they had been permitted to

use the south transept for worship. The Crusaders took Jerusalem on 6 June 1009. Kings

Baldwin I and II were crowned there and, in an impressive display of tolerance, the

Franks and Byzantines cooperated in fully redecorating the interior (1165-69). A Greek

inscription in the north transept records this event. The Church of the Nativity was much

neglected in the Mamluk and Ottoman periods but not destroyed. Much of the church's

marble was looted by the Ottomans and now adorns the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. An

earthquake in 1834 and a fire in 1869 destroyed the furnishings of the cave but the church

again survived. In 1847, the theft of the silver star marking the exact site of the Nativity

was an ostensible factor in the international crisis over the Holy Places that ultimately led

to the Crimean War (1854–56).

In 1852, shared custody of the church was granted to the Roman Catholic, Armenian and

Greek Orthodox churches. The Greeks care for the Grotto of the Nativity.

Jericho

Jericho was a fenced city in the plain of the River Jordan, near where that river was

crossed by the Israelites (Joshua 3:16). It was the most important city in the Jordan valley

(Numbers 22:1; 34:15), and the strongest fortress in all the land of Canaan. It was taken

in a very remarkable manner by the Israelites who made its walls tumble down, as

detailed in Joshua 6. In New Testament times, Jericho stood some distance to the

southeast of the ancient one and near the opening of the valley of Achor. It was a rich

and flourishing town and celebrated for the palm trees which adorned the plain all

around. It was visited by Our Lord on his last journey to Jerusalem. Here he gave sight to

two blind men (Matt. 20:29-34; Mark 10:46-52), and brought salvation to the house

of Zacchaeus the publican (Luke 19:2-10).

The only surviving written history of Jericho is that recorded in the Bible. Excavations have

yielded extraordinary finds that verify the biblical record is an eyewitness account of

events that transpired there many thousands of years ago.

The Mount of Temptation, with a gravity-defying monastery clinging to its sheer face, istraditionally regarded as the mountain on which Christ was tempted by the devil during

his 40-day fast. The summit of the mount, about 360 metres above sea level, offers a

spectacular panoramic view of the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea and the mountains of

Moab and Gilead. Access to the summit is by a 30-minute trek up a steep path —

passing through the cliff-hanging monastery on the way — or by a 5-minute cable car

ride from Tel Jericho.

As recorded in the Gospels of Matthew (4:1-11) and Luke (4:1-13) — and fleetingly in Mark

(1:12-13) — the Holy Spirit led Jesus into

the desert. While he fasted, the devil

tempted him three times to prove his

divinity by demonstrating his

supernatural powers. Each time, Jesus

rebuffed the tempter with a quotation

from the Book of Deuteronomy. Then the

devil left and angels brought food to

Jesus. Tradition dating from the 12th

century places two of the devil’s

temptings on the Mount of Temptation.

The temptation to turn a stone into bread is commemorated in a grotto halfway up the

mountain. The place where Jesus was offered all the kingdoms of the world in return for

worshipping the devil is located at the summit.

Monastery of the Temptation

Monks and hermits have inhabited the

mountain since the early centuries of

Christianity. They lived in natural caves,

which they turned into cells, chapels and

storage rooms. A sophisticated system of

conduits brought rainwater from a large

catchment area into five caves used as

reservoirs. A 4th-century Byzantine

monastery was built on the ruins of a

Hasmonean-Herodian fortress. The

monks abandoned the site after the

Persian invasion of 614. The present Monastery of the Temptation, reconstructed at the

end of the 19th century, seems to grow out of the mountain. The northern half is cut into

the almost sheer cliff, while the southern half is cantilevered into space.

A medieval cave-church, on two levels, is built of masonry in front of a cave. In the

monastery is a stone on which, according to tradition, Jesus sat during one of his

temptations. In the valley of this mountain, Jewish priests and Levites travelled the

winding road from Jericho to Jerusalem when it was their turn to minister in the Temple. In

the time of Jesus, about 12,000 priests and Levites lived in Jericho.

Qumran

In 1947, young Bedouin shepherds, searching for a stray goat in the Judean Desert,

entered a long-untouched cave and found jars filled with ancient scrolls. That initial

discovery by the Bedouins yielded seven scrolls and began a search that lasted nearly a

decade and eventually produced thousands of scroll fragments from eleven caves. During

those same years, archaeologists searching for a habitation close to the caves that might

help identify the people who deposited the scrolls, excavated the Qumran ruin, a

complex of structures located on a barren terrace between the cliffs where the caves are

found and the Dead Sea. Within a fairly short time after their discovery, historical,

paleographic and linguistic evidence, as well as carbon-14 dating, established that the

scrolls and the Qumran ruin dated from the 3rd century BC to AD 68. They were indeed

ancient! Coming from the late Second Temple Period, the time when Jesus of Nazareth

lived, they are older than any other surviving biblical manuscripts by almost one thousand

years.

One of the longer texts to be found at Qumran was a manuscript found in 1956 in Cave

11 and unrolled in 1961. Its surface is the thickest of any of the scrolls - it may be of calfskin

rather than sheepskin, which was the more common writing material at Qumran. The

script is on the grain side of the skin. The scroll contains twenty-eight incomplete columns

of text. Each of the preserved columns contains fourteen to seventeen lines; it is clear that

six to seven lines are lacking at the bottom of each column. The scroll's script is of fine

quality, with the letters carefully drawn in the Jewish book-hand style of the Herodian

period. The Tetragrammaton (the four-letter divine name), however, is written in the

paleo-Hebrew script.

The Qumran Community

Like the scrolls themselves, the nature of the Qumran settlement has aroused much debate

and differing opinions. Located on a barren terrace between the limestone cliffs of the

Judean desert and the maritime bed along the Dead Sea, the Qumran site was

excavated by Pere Roland de Vaux, a French Dominican, as part of his effort to find the

habitation of those who deposited the scrolls in the nearby caves. The excavations

uncovered a complex of structures, 262 by 328 feet, which de Vaux suggested were

communal in nature. In de Vaux's view, the site was the wilderness retreat of the Essenes,

a separatist Jewish sect of the Second Temple Period, a portion of whom had formed an

ascetic monastic community. According to de Vaux, the sectarians inhabited neighboring

locations, most likely caves, tents and solid structures, but depended on the centre for

communal facilities such as stores of food and water.

Following de Vaux's interpretation and citing ancient historians as well as the nature of

some scroll texts for substantiation, many scholars believe the Essene community wrote,

copied, or collected the scrolls at Qumran and deposited them in the caves of the

adjacent hills. Others dispute this interpretation, claiming either that the scroll sect was

Sadducean in nature; that the site was no monastery but rather a Roman fortress or a

winter villa; that the Qumran site has little if anything to do with the scrolls; or that the

evidence available does not support a single definitive answer.

Whatever the nature of the habitation, archaeological and historical evidence indicates

that the excavated settlement was founded in the second half of the 2nd century BC,

during the time of the Maccabees, a priestly Jewish family which ruled Judea in the

second and first centuries BC. A hiatus

in the occupation of the site is linked to

evidence of a huge earthquake.

Qumran was abandoned about the

time of the Roman incursion of AD 68,

two years before the collapse of Jewish

self-government in Judea and the

destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem

in AD 70.

The Dead Sea

The Dead Sea is located in Israel and Jordan, about 15 miles east of Jerusalem. It is

extremely deep (averaging about 1,000 feet/305metres), salty (some parts containing

Matt 23:13 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up

the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you

allow those who are entering to go in."

The Late Second Temple Period: 200 BC – AD 70

In 168 BC, the Maccabees (or Hasmoneans), led by Judah Maccabee, wrested Judahfrom the rule of the Seleucids - Syrian rulers who supported the spread of Greekreligion and culture. The Jewish holiday of hanukkah commemorates the recapture ofJerusalem by the Maccabees and the consecration of the Temple in 164 BC. TheMaccabees ruled Judea until Herod took power in 37 BC.

Contemporary historian Flavius Josephus divided Judeans into three main groups:

SadduceesThe Sadducees were priestly and aristocratic families who interpreted thelaw more literally than the Pharisees. They dominated the Temple worshipand its rites, including the sacrificial cult. The Sadducees only recognizedprecepts derived directly from the immortality of the soul, the resurrection ofthe body, and the existence of angels. The Sadducees were unpopular withthe common people.

PhariseesThe Pharisees, unlike the Sadducees, maintained the validity of the oral aswell as the written law. They were flexible in their interpretations andwilling to adapt the law to changing circumstances. They believed in anafterlife and in the resurrection of the dead. By the first century AD, thePharisees came to represent the beliefs and practices of the majority ofPalestinian Jewry.

EssenesThe Essenes were a separatist group, some of whom formed an asceticmonastic community and retreated to the wilderness of Judea. They sharedmaterial possessions and occupied themselves with disciplined study,worship and work. They practised ritual immersion and ate their mealscommunally. One branch did not marry.

In AD 6, Rome formed Judea, Samaria, and Idumea into one province governed by

procurators. A Judean revolt against Rome in Ad 66 was quickly put down. Qumran

fell to the Roman legions in ca. AD 68, the Temple in AD 70, and Masada in AD 73.

the highest amount of salts possible), and the lowest body of water in the world. The

Dead Sea is supplied by a number of smaller streams and springs and the Jordan River.

Because of its low elevation and its position in a deep basin, the climate of the Dead Sea

area is unusual. Its very high evaporation produces a haze yet its atmospheric humidity is

low. Adjacent areas to it are very arid and favorable for the preservation of materials like

the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Bible's description, in Genesis 19, of a destructive earthquake

near the Dead Sea area during the time of Abraham is borne out by archaeological and

historic investigation. While no evidence remains of the five cities of the plain (Zeboim,

Admah, Bela or Zoar, Sodom, and Gomorrah), their sites are believed to be beneath the

waters at the southern end of the sea.

Bethany

Bethany was the home of Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead (John 11:38-44), and

his sisters Mary and Martha. Jesus often stayed in their home. It is also the setting for a

number of other New Testament events. Jesus was anointed at the home of Simon the

Leper in Bethany (Mark 14:3) and returned to Bethany after his triumphal entry into

Jerusalem (Mark 11:11). According to Luke 24:50, Jesus ascended into heaven near

Bethany, commemorated at the nearby Chapel of the Ascension.

In 1952-55, a modern Franciscan church dedicated to St. Lazarus was built over the

Byzantine church of St. Lazarus and the Crusader east church of Sts. Mary and Martha.

The forecourt of the Franciscan Church of St. Lazarus stands over the west end of the

older churches, from which parts of the original mosaic floor are preserved. The west wall

of the forecourt contains the west facade of the 6th- century basilica, with three

doorways. The cruciform-plan church stands over the east end of the older churches.

Trapdoors in the floor just inside reveal parts of the apse of the 4th-century church (the

Lazarium), which was shorter than the 6th century church. The modern church bears a

mosaic on its facade depicting Mary, Martha and Lazarus. The interior is decorated with

polished stone and mosaics.

The Tomb of St. Lazarus has long been venerated by Christians and Muslims alike, and a

modern church dedicated to the resurrected saint stands on the site of much older ones.

The modern entrance to the tomb is accessed by 24 very uneven stone steps. This

probably was a rock-cut tomb, but very little of its original form remains. The rock

probably collapsed under the weight of the large Crusader church built above it. The

original blocked entrance can be seen in the east wall of the antechamber; this alignment

suggests the tomb predates the Byzantine churches and may well be from the time of

Lazarus. In 1965, a Greek church was built just west of the tomb and incorporates a wall

of the Crusader church built over the tomb. Nearby are substantial ruins that belong to the

Orthodox Patriarchate and are traditionally identified as the House of Simon the

Leper (where Jesus was anointed) or the House of Lazarus. The remains of a tower belong

to the Crusader monastery (c.1144).

There is no record of a church in Bethany in the 4th century, although both Eusebius the

historian and the Bordeaux pilgrim (333) mention the tomb of Lazarus in a vault or crypt.

Around AD 490, St. Jerome recorded visiting the Tomb of Lazarus as the guest room of

Mary and Martha, which is the Lazarium mentioned by the pilgrim Egeria in her account

During the Crusades, King Fulk and Queen Melisande purchased the village of

Bethany from the Patriarch of the Holy Sepulchre in 1143 in exchange for land near

Hebron. Melisande built a large Benedictine convent dedicated to Mary and

Martha, extensively repaired the old church of Lazarus and rededicated it to Mary

and Martha. She also built a new west church to St. Lazarus over his tomb; fortified

the monastic complex with a tower; and endowed it with the estates of the village

of Jericho. The convent of Sts. Mary and Martha became one of the richest

convents in the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Melisande's sister Joveta was elected

abbess at the age of 24. After the fall of the Crusader kingdom in 1187, the nuns

went into exile. The new west church was probably destroyed at this time, with only

the tomb and barrel vaulting surviving; the 6th-century church and tower were

heavily damaged but remained standing. The village seems to have been

abandoned thereafter, but a visitor in 1347 mentioned Greek monks attending the

tomb chapel. By 1384, a mosque had been built on the site. In the 16th century,

the Mosque of al-Uzair (Ezra) was built in the Crusader vault, which initially made

Christian access to the tomb more difficult. However, the Franciscans were

permitted to cut a new entrance on the north side of the tomb and at some point the

original entrance from the mosque was blocked.

of the liturgy. This structure was destroyed in an earthquake and was replaced by a

larger Church of St. Lazarus in the 6th century. The church was mentioned by Theodosius

before 518 and by Arculf around 680, and survived intact until Crusader times.

Jerusalem

The magnificent walls of Jerusalem's Old City were built by the Ottoman Empire under the

direct supervision of Sultan Suleiman in 1542. The walls stretch for approximately 4.5

kilometres (2.8 miles) and rise to a height of 5–15 metres (16–49 feet), with a thickness of

3 metres (10 feet). Altogether, the Old City walls contain 43 surveillance towers and 11

gates, seven of which are presently open.

St. Steven’s (Lion’s) Gate, also known as the Sheep Gate, is located in the east wall. The

entrance marks the beginning of the traditional Christian observance of the last walk

of Jesus from prison to crucifixion, the Via Dolorosa. Near the gate’s crest are four figures

of panthers, often mistaken for lions, two on the left and two on the right. They were

placed there by Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent to celebrate the Ottoman defeat of

the Mamluks in 1517. Legend has it that Suleiman's predecessor, Selim I, dreamed of lions

that were going to eat him because of his plans to level the city. He was spared only after

promising to protect the city by building a wall around it. This led to the lion becoming the

heraldic symbol of Jerusalem. However, Jerusalem already had been, from Biblical

times, the capital of the Kingdom of Judah, whose emblem was a lion (Genesis 49:9).

The Church of St Anne, built in 1140, is the best-preserved Crusader church in Jerusalem.

According to an ancient tradition, it marks the site of the home of Jesus’ maternal

grandparents, Anne and Joachim, and the birthplace of the Virgin Mary. Located just

north of the Temple Mount, about 50 metres inside St. Stephen’s or Lions’ Gate, the

church stands in a courtyard with trees, shrubs and flowers. Its tranquility contrasts sharply

with the bustling streets and alleys of the Muslim Quarter.

The New Testament says nothing about the birthplace of Mary. However, an ancient

tradition, recorded in the apocryphal Gospel of James which dates from around AD 150,

places the house of her parents, Anne and Joachim, in Bethesda close to the

Temple area. An earlier church built around 450 on the site of St Anne’s

was dedicated to “Mary where she was born”.

The Church of St. Anne is renowned for its remarkable acoustics and reverberating

echoes. The voices of even a small choral group can sound like a large congregation in a

vast cathedral. The compound containing the Pools of Bethesda and the Church of St.

Anne is owned by the French government and administered by the White Fathers. It also

contains a museum and a Greek-Catholic (Melkite) seminary.

The location of the Pools of Bethesda — actually a series of reservoirs and

medicinal pools — is in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City, north of

the Temple Mount and about 50 metres inside St. Stephen’s or Lions’ Gate. In

biblical times, the gate was called the Sheep Gate because this was where sheep

were brought to the Temple for sacrifice. In archaeological digs conducted in the

19th century, Conrad Schick (1822–1901), a German architect, archaeologist and

Protestant missionary, discovered a large tank situated about 100 feet north-west

of St. Anne's Church, which he contended was the Pool of Bethesda. Further

archaeological excavation in the area, in 1964, uncovered the remains of the

Byzantine and Crusader churches, Hadrian's Temple of Asclepius and Serapis, the

small healing pools of the Asclaepeion, the other of the two large pools, and the

dam between them. It was discovered that the Byzantine construction was built in

the very heart of Hadrian's construction and contained the healing pools.

These discoveries prove beyond a doubt that the description of this pool in the

Gospel of John was not the creation of the Evangelist. It reflected an accurate and

detailed knowledge of the site. The Gospel speaks of (a) the name of the pool as

Bethesda; (b) its location near the Sheep Gate; (c) the fact that it has five porticos;

with rushing water. All these details are corroborated through literary and

archaeological evidence affirming the historical accuracy of the Johannine

account.

Strong lines and thick walls give St Anne’s

a fortress-like appearance. Its simple dignity

offers a space for prayer and contemplation

without distraction. It is also unusually

asymmetrical in the detail of its design: opposite

columns do not match, windows are all different

sizes and buttresses differ in thickness and height.

The Healing at the Pools of Bethesda

“After these things, there was a feast of the Jews

and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now

in Jerusalem by the sheep gate, there is a pool

which is called in Hebrew "Bethesda," having five

porches. In these lay a great multitude of those

who were sick, blind, lame, or paralyzed, waiting

for the moving of the water; for an angel of

the Lord went down at certain times into the pool,

and stirred up the water. Whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was made

whole of whatever disease he had.

A certain man was there, who had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him

lying there and knew that he had been sick for a long time, He asked him, "Do you want

to be made well?" The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool

when the water is stirred up, but while I'm coming, another steps down before me." Jesus

said to him, "Arise, take up your mat and walk." Immediately, the man was made well

and took up his mat and walked.

Now it was the Sabbath on that day. So the Jews said to him who was cured, "It is

the Sabbath. It is not lawful for you to carry the mat." He answered them, "He who made

me well, the same said to me, 'Take up your mat, and walk.'" Then they asked him, "Who

is the man who said to you, 'Take up your mat, and walk'?" But he who

was healed didn't know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a crowd being in the

place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "Behold, you are made

well. Sin no more, so that nothing worse happens to you." The man went away, and told

the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. “ ( John 5:1-15)

Jerusalem during the time of Jesus had many Gentile inhabitants, foreigners

performing in the great theatre, conducting business in the many marketplaces,

organizing the main events in the hippodrome, and serving in Herod's personal

court as his bodyguard. After Archelaus was exiled in AD 6, the number of

foreigners in the city greatly increased with the presence of the Roman army. As for

the Jews, the variety of people was also immense. Many of them lived in the city as

residents but Jews "from every nation under heaven" would gather for the feasts. If

we were to walk through the streets of ancient Jerusalem, we would note variations

in religious devotion including many who were set in their Hellenistic ways and not

practising the keeping of the Law.

Jerusalem, nevertheless, was a predominantly Jewish city. Its exceptional

character was influenced by the fact that its magnificent Temple actually belonged

to every Jew throughout the world. However, many religious devotions could only

be performed in the Temple at Jerusalem and the great Jerusalem Council, the

"Sanhedrin", was the only central reference point in the entire world for the

interpretation of the Torah. (Note: "Sanhedrin" is simply a rendering of synedrion,

the Greek word for council. )

This central status of Jerusalem for international Jewry had many financial benefits.

Unlike cities in, for example, Syria, it received annual Temple dues from a large

and organized "Dispersion", which created an immense cash flow. It is unlikely that

this cash was held in safekeeping within the Temple vaults. The Temple no doubt

served as a bank and put the cash back into circulation by lending and financing

businesses.

From the historian Josephus, we learn that Pontius Pilate caused a disturbance by

"spending of the sacred fund called Corbonus on a water supply" (Jos: War 2:175).

This action provoked a monstrous demonstration against his authority. It is

interesting that the complaint was not because he had somehow managed to

obtain money given to the Temple authorities, but that he had received money from

the wrong fund. The water supply probably doubled the population within

Jerusalem, from around 35,000 to 70,000, throughout the reign of Herod the

Great. However, an estimated 2 million people worshipped at Jerusalem during

the Passover.

Via Dolorosa: Stations of the Cross 1-9

1 Praetorium of Antonia Fortress where Jesus was condemned –now

courtyard of Al-Omariya School

2 Chapel of Flagellation

Chapel of Condemnation

Convent of Sisters of Zion

-Lithostrotos

-Chapel of Ecce Homo

3 Armenian Catholic Chapel

-where Jesus fell 1st time

4 Armenian Church of Our Lady of Spasms

-where Jesus met His Holy Mother

5 Franciscan Chapel - Simon of Cyrene helps Jesus to carry his cross

6 Church of St. Veronica (Little Sisters

of Jesus) - Veronica wipes the face of

Jesus

7 Interconnected Franciscan Chapels

-where Jesus fell 2nd time

8 Greek monastery of St. Charalambos

-where Jesus consoles the women

9 Coptic Church where

Jesus fell 3rd time"There lived a wise man, if we can call him a man - named Jesus. A wonder worker and a teacher

of those who search after truth, he attracted crowds of both Jews and Gentiles. He was the Christ.

Nevertheless, Pilate, at the urging of our leaders, sentenced him to death on the cross. His disciples

remained faithful, however, and after three days he appeared to them alive. This and many other

marvelous things had been foretold about him by the prophets. The Christian sect, named after him,

still flourishes to this day." Flavius Josephus (1st Century AD.)

The Via Dolorosa (Path of Sorrow or "Way of the Cross") is the route tradition

says Jesus followed, from his condemnation by the Romans to the place where

he was buried after the crucifixion. The path begins near Lions Gate (St.

Stephen's Gate), in the Muslim Quarter, and ends within the Church of the Holy

Sepulchre, in the heart of the Christian Quarter. This route is marked by the 14

Stations of the Cross.

"And as they led Him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming

out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after

Jesus. And there followed Him a great company of people, and of women,

which also bewailed and lamented Him. But Jesus turning unto them said,

Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and for your

children" (Luke 23: 26-28).

The name "Via Dolorosa" (or "Via Crucis") is

relatively recent; it dates from the sixteenth

century, when a name was sought for the

stretch of road, between the fortress Antonia

and Golgotha, along which Jesus walked

bowed under the weight of the Cross. The

present route, however, is somewhat different

from the one Jesus walked. Of the fortress

Antonia, for example, where He was judged before Pilate and where Herod the

Great had his residence, only a few scraps of paving remain. This building,

which stood near the northwest corner of the Temple, was the starting-point for

Jesus' painful walk toward Golgotha (Calvary), which at that time was outside

the walls of the city. Every Friday afternoon the Franciscans lead a pious

procession winding through the streets that witnessed Christ's suffering.

Station I The First Station is near the Monastery of the Flagellation, where Jesus

was questioned by Pilate and then condemned. "Then Pilate therefore took

Jesus, and scourged him. And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it

on his head, and they put on him a purple robe and said, Hail, King of the Jews!

and they smote him with their hands" (John 21: 1-3). The chapel, built during the

1920s on the site of a previous building erected by the Crusaders, is now run by

the Franciscans, who set out from there each Friday for the traditional

procession. The church possesses admirable stained-glass windows

representing Christ Scourged at the Pillar, Pilate Washing his Hands, and the

Freeing of Barabbas. Above the high altar, under the central dome, is a mosaic

on a golden ground showing the Crown of Thorns Pierced by Stars.

Station II The Second Station is near the remains of an ancient Roman

construction known as the Arch of Ecce Homo, in memory of the words

pronounced by Pilate at that place as he showed Jesus to the crowd. Only part

of this triumphal arch, erected under Hadrian (AD 135) to celebrate the capture

of Jerusalem, is visible nowadays. The left arch, which no longer exists, formed

at one time part of a monastery of Islamic dervishes; while the right arch is still

preserved today inside the Church of the Sisters of Zion. This church was built

during the second half of last century on a site which has yielded the remains of

ancient ruins, such as the already mentioned Roman arch, part of the

fortifications and courtyard of the fortress Antonia and remarkable vestiges of the

Roman-age street paving, the so-called Lithostratus. On some of the stones are

the signs of an ancient dice game, which has given support to the hypothesis

that this was the place where the Roman soldiers gambled for Jesus' clothes.

Mention should be made, finally, of the Struthion Pool, an ancient water

reservoir from the 2nd century BC, later roofed over by the Emperor Hadrian.

Station III The Third Station commemorates Christ's first fall on the Via Dolorosa.

The place is marked by a small chapel belonging to the Armenian Catholic

Patriarchate. It is a 19th-century building renovated and completed by Catholic

soldiers of the Free Polish Army during World War II.

Station IV The meeting between Jesus and his Mother is commemorated by a

small oratory with an exquisite lunette over the entrance, adorned by a bas-

relief carved by the Polish artist Zieliensky.

Station V An inscription on the architrave of one door recalls the encounter

between Jesus and Simon the Cyrenian, who was given Christ's heavy Cross to

carry to Golgotha (Calvary), the place of the Crucifixion. This episode is

confirmed by the Gospels, except that of John.

Station VI A church belonging to the Greek Catholics preserves the memory of

the meeting between Jesus and Veronica, whose tomb may also be seen here.

The holy relic of this meeting, during which, according to tradition, Veronica

wiped Christ's face with a silk veil on which his features remained imprinted, has

been kept, since the 8th century, in the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome.

Station VII The place of Jesus' second fall is marked by a pillar, which rises at the

crossroads between the Via Dolorosa and the picturesque and lively Market

Street.

VIII Station On the outer wall of a Greek Orthodox monastery is carved a small

cross blackened by time. It was at that point that Jesus met the pious women.

Station VIII The third fall of Jesus is commemorated by a column of the Roman

Jesus and the Pharisees

During the start of His ministry the body of Pharisees would have been

interested to hear what Jesus had to say. They were interested to hear

what any teacher in Israel had to say. The problem that they had with

Jesus was His monumental claims and the authority with which He spoke.

No man had ever spoken like this man and no man had ever won the

favour of the masses so quickly and so thoroughly. He even went so far as

to claim that He was the very reason for the Torah and the fulfilment of it.

Their opposition against him grew to the point that they plotted His death.

When Jesus was to be arrested the Pharisees were among those that

came to take Him away:

John 18:2-3 "Then Judas, having received a detachment of troops, and

officers from the chief priests and Pharisees, came there with lanterns,

torches, and weapons"

period at the entrance to the Coptic monastery.

The last five Stations of the Cross are situated inside the Basilica of the Holy

Sepulchre.

Zion GateThe Zion Gate is

located on the

south western

side of the Old

City and is one of

the gates leading

to the Jewish

quarter.

The Coenaculum

The Coenaculum commemorates the traditional location of the

"upper room," where the Last Supper was held. The Last Supper is

one of the most important events in the life of Jesus which took place

in the upper room of a building in Jerusalem on the night before His

capture. The room also brings to mind Jesus’ appearances after His

Resurrection and the Coming of the Holy Spirit.

The current hall of the Last supper is a 12th century Crusader structure, built on the upper

level above the traditional place of the tomb of

King David. Archaeological findings on the

lower floor reveal an Early Roman level,

supporting the possibility that this area was

indeed the location of the room of the Last

Supper. In 1335, 80 years after the collapse

of the Crusader kingdom, the Franciscans,

who had remained at their posts as Custodians

of the Holy Land, bought the site from the

Caliphate. They were involved in an argument

with the Jews over David's tomb in the 15th century, only solved by the Muslims taking

charge and turning all of it into a mosque in 1551. Today Christians and Jews still share

the building

The Church of the Dormition

The hill of Mount Zion, the highest point in ancient Jerusalem, is dominated by the Church

of the Dormition. The location is identified in Christian tradition as the place where the

Virgin Mary died — or “fell asleep”, as the name suggests. The fortress-like building, with

a conical roof and four corner towers, stands south of the Old City’s Zion Gate. Nearby

soars the bell tower of the Hagia Maria Zion Abbey (formerly the Abbey of the

Dormition), a Benedictine monastery. The land was given in 1898 by the Turkish Sultan

Abdul Hamid II to Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, who presented it to the Catholic Church.

Construction was completed in 1910. During the Byzantine period, the Church of Hagia

Zion, one of the three earliest churches in Jerusalem, stood on this site. Built by the

Emperor Constantine, it was regarded as the Mother of all Churches. In AD 614 it was

destroyed by the Persians.

Mary and Jesus mosaic in the Church of the Dormition and life-size statue of Mary in death

Like the Crusader church that preceded it, the current basilica is built on two levels with

the high altar and monastic choir on the upper of these, and the crypt with its Marian

shrine on the lower. Light from several large windows pours into the upper level, and

colorful wall mosaics depict events from Christian and Benedictine history. High above

the main altar is a mosaic of Mary and the infant Jesus. The Latin inscription below it is

from Isaiah 7:14: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name

Emmanuel.” If the upper floor of the Church of the Dormition is luminous, the circular crypt

seems totally shrouded when first entered. In the centre, under a rotunda, is a simple bier

on which rests a life-size statue of Mary, fallen asleep in death. The statue is made of

cherry wood and ivory. The dome above the statue is adorned with mosaic pictures of six

women of the Old Testament: Eve, Miriam, Jael, Judith, Ruth and Esther. The Dormition

Church has a fine organ, which is often used for concerts.

Two cities, Jerusalem and Ephesus (in present-day Turkey), claim to be the place where

the Virgin Mary died. The Ephesus claim rests in part on the Gospel account that Christ on

his cross entrusted the care of Mary to St. John (who later went to Ephesus). But the

earliest traditions all locate the end of Mary’s life in Jerusalem, where the Tomb of Mary is

venerated at the foot of the Mount of Olives.

Church of St. Peter in Gallacantu

One of the most striking churches in Jerusalem

commemorates the Apostle Peter’s triple denial of his

Master, his immediate repentance and his reconciliation

with Christ after the Resurrection. Built on an almost

sheer hillside, the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu

stands on the eastern slope of Mount Zion. On its roof

rises a golden rooster atop a black cross — recalling

Christ’s prophesy that Peter would deny him three times

“before the cock crows”. Galli-cantu means cockcrow

in Latin. Peter’s denial of Christ is recorded in all four

Gospels (most succinctly in Matthew 26:69-75). Three

of the Gospels also record his bitter tears of remorse.

The scene of Peter’s disgrace was the courtyard of the high priest Caiaphas. The

Assumptionist congregation, which built St. Peter in Gallicantu over the ruins of a

Byzantine basilica, believes it stands on the site of the high priest’s house. Under the

church is a dungeon thought to be the cell where Jesus was detained for the night

following his arrest. A Byzantine church was built in AD 457. It was destroyed in 1010 and

rebuilt by the Crusaders in 1102 (who renamed it to the present name). The church was in

ruins again in 1320 and rebuilt in 1931.

Matthew 26:57-75

Then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes

and the elders had gathered. But Peter followed him at a distance, as far as the

courtyard of the high priest, and going inside he sat with the guards to see the end. Now

the chief priests and the whole council sought false testimony against Jesus that they might

put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At

last two came forward and said, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of

God, and to build it in three days.’” And the high priest stood up and said, “Have you no

answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” But Jesus was silent. And

the high priest said to Him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the

Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, hereafter you will see

the Son of man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

Then the high priest tore his robes, and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. Why do we still

need witnesses? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your judgment?” They

answered, “He deserves death.” Then they spat in His face, and struck Him; and some

slapped Him, saying “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?”

Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard. And a maid came up to him, and said,

“You also were with Jesus the Galilean.” But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do

not know what you mean.” And when he went out to the porch, another maid saw him,

and she said

to the

bystanders,

“This man was

with Jesus of

Nazareth.”

And again he

denied it with

an oath, “I do

not know the

man.” After a

little while the

bystanders

came up and

said to Peter,

“Certainly you

are also one

of them, for

your accent betrays you.” Then he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I

do not know the man.” And immediately the cock crowed. And Peter remembered the

saying of Jesus, “Before the cock crows, you will deny me three times.” And he went out

and wept bitterly. “

Beside the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu, excavations have brought to light a stepped

street which in ancient times would have descended from Mount Zion to the Kidron

Valley. These stone steps were certainly in use at the time of Christ. On the evening of his

arrest, he probably descended them with his disciples on their way from the Last Supper

to Gethsemane. And, even if the House of Caiphas was situated further up Mount Zion

than the present church, it would have been by this route that Jesus was brought under

guard to the high priest’s house.

Ascension Chapel

The Chapel of the Ascension in Jerusalem is a Christian

and Muslim holy site that is believed to mark the place

where Jesus ascended into heaven. The small round

church/mosque contains a stone imprinted with the

very footprints of Jesus.

When He had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany,

He lifted up his hands and blessed them. While He

was blessing them, He left them and was taken up into

heaven. Then they worshipped Him and returned to

Jerusalem with great joy.

Luke 24:50-51

He was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight. They were

looking intently up into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in

white stood beside them. "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking

into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back

in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." Acts 1:9-11

Before the conversion of Constantine (312), early Christians honored the Ascension of

Christ in a cave on the Mount of Olives, probably because of concerns for safety. By the

time the pilgrim Egeria visited Jerusalem in 384, the place of the Ascension was

venerated on the present open site, uphill from the cave. The first church was built here

around 390 by Poimenia, a pious Roman lady. The original church was destroyed in the

Persian attack of 614 but restored by Modestus. In 680, the pilgrim Arculf described the

church as a round building open to the sky, with three porticoes entered from the south.

Eight lamps shone brightly at night through windows facing Jerusalem. Inside was a

central edicule containing the footprints of Christ "plainly and clearly impressed in the

dust" inside a railing. Pilgrims were permitted to take some of the dust home with them. A

9th -century record notes that the church was served by three clergy and presbyters.

When the Crusaders arrived, they rebuilt the Church of the Ascension as a roofed

octagon (c.1150) and fortified the exterior. In 1198, after the fall of the Crusader kingdom,

Salah al-Din gave the church to two of his followers, who added a stone dome and

mihrab. The ascension of Jesus is recognized in Islam, although it is not mentioned in the

Qur'an. The building remained in use as a mosque for over 300 years. The building fell

into ruin by the end of the 15th century and the east section of the octagonal surround-

wall was walled off to form the asymmetrical shrine that stands today. A mosque and

minaret were added next to the chapel in 1620 and the entire site remains in Muslim

possession

Pater Noster Church

At the Church of Pater Noster on the Mount of

Olives, Christians recall Christ’s teaching of the

Lord’s Prayer to his disciples. On walls around

the church and its vaulted cloister, translations of

the Lord’s Prayer in 140 languages are inscribed

on colorful ceramic plaques. A giftshop sells

postcards of each plaque and the associated

Convent of Pater Noster website offers

translations in more than 1440 languages and

dialects.

A long tradition holds that Jesus taught the Lord’s

Prayer or Our Father in the cave that forms the

grotto under the church. When the Crusaders

built a church here in the 12th century, they called it Pater Noster (Latin for Our Father).

Pilgrims of the time reported seeing the words of the prayer inscribed in Hebrew and

Greek on marble plaques. Excavations have uncovered a Latin version.

Palm Sunday Road

Jesus Comes to Jerusalem as King - Mark 11:1-10

As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of

Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, ‘Go to the village ahead of you,

and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie

it and bring it here. If anyone asks you, “Why are you doing this?” say, “The Lord needs

it and will send it back here shortly.” They went and found a colt outside in the street,

tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, ‘What are you

doing, untying that colt?’ They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let

them go. When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it.

Many people

spread their cloaks

on the road, while

others spread

branches they had

cut in the fields.

Those who went

ahead and those

who followed

shouted,

‘Hosanna!’

‘Blessed is he who

comes in the name

of the Lord!’

‘Blessed is the

coming kingdom of our father David!’ ‘Hosanna in the highest heaven!’

Church of All Nations, officially named Basilica of the Agony

The Church of All Nations, officially named the Basilica of the Agony, is located at the

foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem next to the Garden of Gethsemane. The Catholic

church enshrines a section of stone in the Garden of Gethsemane that is believed to be

where Jesus prayed on the night of his arrest.

Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and He said to them,

"Sit here while I go over there and pray." He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee

along with Him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled.

Then He said to them, "My soul is

overwhelmed with sorrow to the point

of death. Stay here and keep watch

with me."

Going a little farther, he fell with his

face to the ground and prayed, "My

Father, if it is possible, may this cup

be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but

as you will." Matthew 26:36-39

The modern church stands on the

foundations of two ancient churches: a 4th-century Byzantine basilica, destroyed by an

earthquake in 746 and a 12th century Crusader chapel, which was abandoned in 1345.

The Basilica of the Agony was built from 1919-24 with funding from 12 different countries,

which gave it its nickname: "the Church of All Nations." The domed roof, thick pillars,

and floor mosaic give the church a Byzantine appearance. The architect of the building

was Antonio Barluzzi, who also designed the nearby Dominus Flevit Church. The front of

the church features a colorful façade supported by a row of pillars. The mosaic above the

entrance depicts Christ as the link between God and humanity. Inside, the symbols of

each country that contributed to the church are incorporated into the inlaid gold ceilings

of each of 12 cupolas. The 12 cupolas rest on six monolithic pillars.

The basilica's three aisles culminate in three apses at the east end, which are decorated

with mosaics depicting biblical events in the Garden of Gethsemane. In the centre, the

high altar overlooks the large slab of rock, which is said to be the very rock on which

Jesus prayed in agony on the night of his betrayal.

The Church of All Nations is run by the Franciscans, but an open altar in the garden is

used by the Anglican community on Maundy Thursday (the day before Good Friday).

Church of the Tomb of the Virgin Mary

The Sacred Tradition of Eastern Christianity teaches that the Virgin Mary died a naturaldeath (the Dormition of the Theotokos, the falling asleep) like any human being; thather soul was received by Christ upon death; and that her body was resurrected on thethird day after her repose, at which time she was taken up, soul and body, into heaven

in anticipation of the general resurrection. Her tomb, according to this teaching, wasfound empty on the third day. Roman Catholic teaching holds that Mary was"assumed" into heaven in bodily form, the Assumption; the question of whether or notMary actually underwent physical death remains open in the Catholic view; however,most theologians believe that she did undergo death before her Assumption.

At the base of the Mount of Olives is a Crusader church said to mark the Tomb of the

Virgin Mary. Centred around a quarried-out tomb that may well date from the first

century, the cave church is festooned with hanging lamps and is highly atmospheric.

Biblical accounts provide no information about the end of Mary's life nor the place of her

burial. Traditions about Mary's burial in this area of Jerusalem may be as old as the 2nd

or 3rd century. Around 455, an ancient tomb here was isolated by quarrying out the

surrounding rock. The process was similar to that carried out around the tomb of Christ

under Emperor Constantine. The first written mention of a church on this site dates from the

6th century. A round church was built above the tomb by Mauritius Tiberius (582-602)

but destroyed by the Persians in 614. The church was rebuilt, and the pilgrim Arculf visited

it in 680. He recorded that the church had two levels, both of which were round. The

upper level had four altars; the lower level had an altar at the east end and the tomb of

Mary on the right. A 9th century church record says that the site was served by 13

presbyters and clergy, 6 monks, and 15 nuns.

When the Crusaders arrived, all they found were ruins. They rebuilt the church in 1130 and

included a Benedictine monastery to make it the "Abbey Church of St. Mary of

Jehosaphat." The monastic complex included early Gothic columns, red-on-green

frescoes, and three towers for protection. Queen Melisande was buried in the lower

church in 1161. When the Crusader kingdom fell in 1187, Salah al-Din destroyed most of

the upper church and used the stone to repair the city walls, but the lower church

remained virtually intact. The site was taken over by Franciscans after the Crusaders left,

and has since been shared by Greeks, Armenians, Syrians, Copts, Abyssinians and

Muslims. The Tomb of the Virgin is venerated by Muslims because, during his Night

Journey from Mecca to Jerusalem, the Prophet Muhammad saw a light over Mary's tomb.

In addition, Caliph Umar prayed at Gethsemane in 638.

Steps from the road descend into a square courtyard containing the upper church, which

is little more than a c.1130 portal and pointed arch supported on eight marble columns.

Inside, seven steps down, a wide 12th-century staircase of 47 steps is the tomb of Queen

Melisande, once protected by iron bars; an arch with a lily-bud motif remains. Opposite

her tomb is the vault for the family of her son, King Baldwin II. The walls of the stairs are

12th-century, and include 12th-century windows blocked up to keep out the Kidron

floods. Melisande's body was moved in the 14th century to a place at the foot of the

stairs, and her tomb was subsequently identified with Mary's parents Joachim and Anne.

The tombs of King Baldwin's family were later identified as the tomb of Joseph.

The lower church at the bottom of the stairs is a Byzantine (5th century) crypt, partly hewn

out of rock and featuring original Byzantine masonry. The area is dimly lit and the walls

are blackened with centuries of smoke, giving the place an air of great antiquity. The

room is opulently decorated with icons and a forest of hanging lanterns.

There is a built apse to the west and a longer rock-cut apse to the east, in which Mary's

tomb is marked by a small square chapel. The altar inside the tomb conceals the remains

of a bench tomb that may date from the 1st century. A niche south of the tomb is a mihrab

indicating the direction of Mecca, installed when Muslims had joint rights to the church.

Altars of the Greeks and Armenians also share the east apse; an Ethiopian altar and

cistern occupies the west apse.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is

one of the most Holy sites in the

Christian world, the site of the

death and burial of Jesus. The early

Christian community of Jerusalem

appears to have held liturgical

celebrations at Christ's tomb from

the time of the resurrection until the

city was taken by the Romans in AD

66. Less than a century later, in

135, Emperor Hadrian filled in the

quarry to provide a level

foundation for a temple to Aphrodite. The site remained buried beneath the pagan

temple until Emperor Constantine the Great converted to Christianity in 312. He

commissioned numerous churches to be built throughout the Holy Land, the most

important being the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, begun in 326. Constantine's builders

dug away the hillside to leave the rock-hewn tomb of Christ isolated and with enough

room to build a church around it. According to contemporary Christian historians, the

Rock of Golgotha was found when the temple foundations were cleared. The Church was

formally dedicated in 335 with an oration by Constantine's biographer, Eusebius of

Caesarea. In the course of the excavations, Constantine's mother St. Helena is said to

have discovered the True Cross near the tomb. According to legend she actually

discovered three crosses - those of the two thieves and that of Christ. To discern the one

belonging to Christ, a sick man was brought to touch to each one, and he was

miraculously healed by one of them.

The Constantinian church was much larger than the one that stands today but had a

simpler layout. It consisted of an atrium (which reused part of Hadrian's temenos wall), a

covered basilica, an open courtyard with the stone of Golgotha in the southeast corner

and the tomb of Christ enshrined in a small, circular edifice. The tomb of Christ was not

completed until 384, well after the dedication of the church, because of the immense

labour involved in cutting away the rock cliff in order to isolate the tomb. This building

was severely damaged by fire in 614 when the Persians invaded Jerusalem. They also

captured the True Cross but, in 630, Emperor Heraclius marched triumphantly into

Jerusalem and restored the True Cross to the rebuilt Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The

church was reconstructed under the patriarch Modestus with no major changes to the

original plan. In 638, the Christians were forced to surrender Jerusalem to Muslim control

under caliph Omar. In a remarkable gesture for the time, Omar refused to pray in the

Church of the Holy Sepulchre, saying, "If I had prayed in the church it would have been

lost to you, for the Believers [Muslims] would have taken it saying: Omar prayed here."

This act of generosity would have unfortunate consequences, however.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre continued to function as a Christian church under the

protection of Omar and the early Muslim rulers but this changed on October 18, 1009,

when the "mad" Fatimid caliph Hakim brutally and systematically destroyed the great

church. Ironically, if Omar had turned the church into a mosque, Hakim would have left it

alone. But instead, Hakim had wrecking crews knock over the walls and he attacked the

tomb of Christ with picks and hammers, stopping only when the debris covered the

remains. The east and west walls were completely destroyed but the north and south

walls were likely protected from further damage by the rubble .

The Christian community of Jerusalem could not afford repairs but, in 1048, Emperor

Constantine Monomachos provided money for reconstruction, subject to stringent

conditions imposed by the caliphate. The funds were not adequate to completely repair

the original church, however, and a large part of it had to be abandoned. The atrium and

the basilica were completely lost; only the courtyard and the rotunda remained. The latter

was made into a church by the insertion of a large apse into the facade.

This was the church to which the knights of the First Crusade arrived to sing their Te Deum

after capturing Jerusalem on July 15, 1099. The Crusader chief Godfrey of Bouillon, who

became the first king of Jerusalem, declared himself Advocatus Sancti Sepulchri,

"Defender of the Holy Sepulchre." The Crusaders were slow to renovate the church, only

beginning to make modifications in the Romanesque style in 1112. They first built a

monastery where the Constantinian basilica used to be, having first excavated the Crypt

of St. Helena. In 1119 the shrine of Christ's tomb was replaced. The coronation of Fulk and

Melisende at the church in 1131 necessitated more radical modifications. The

Constantinian courtyard was covered with a Romanesque church (dedicated in 1149),

which was connected to the rotunda by a great arched opening resulting from the

demolition of the 11th-century apse. A bell tower was added in 1170. Subsequent

centuries were not altogether kind to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It suffered from

damage, desecration and neglect, and attempts at repair (a significant renovation was

conducted by the Franciscans in 1555) often did more damage than good. In recent times,

a fire (1808) and an earthquake (1927) did extensive damage.

The three primary custodians of the church, first appointed when Crusaders held

Jerusalem, are the Greek Orthodox, the Armenian Apostolic and Roman Catholic

churches. In the 19th century, the Coptic Orthodox, the Ethiopian Orthodox and the

Syrian Orthodox acquired lesser responsibilities, which include shrines and other

structures within and around the building. An agreement regulates times and places of

worship for each Church.

Stations of the Cross through Jesus’ Death and Resurrection

X Jesus is stripped of His garments - Chapel of Divestiture

XI Jesus is nailed to the Cross – shown on Mosaics

XII Jesus Dies on the Cross - Greek Orthodox Chapel

XIII Jesus is taken down from the Cross - the Stone of Anointing

Altar marks where Mary received Jesus’ Body

XIV Jesus is laid in the tomb - inside the Holy Sepulchre and

the Chapel of the Angel where Mary Magdalene saw the Angel

The west wall of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (to your left as you face the

entrance) contains 11th-century Greek Orthodox chapels built over the site of the

Constantinian baptistery. The east wall has a small domed structure that was

once the 12th-century Crusader entrance to the Church on Calvary. It later

became the Chapel of the Franks. Immediately inside the entrance to the church

is the Stone of Unction, which commemorates the preparation of Jesus' body for

burial. This limestone slab dates from 1808, when the prior 12th-century slab was

destroyed. Behind the Stone, a mosaic depicting Christ's anointing for burial

decorates the outer wall of the Catholicon. A stairway on the right just inside the

entrance leads to Calvary (or Golgotha), the place where Jesus was crucified.

The first chapel is the Catholic (Franciscan) Chapel of the Nailing of the Cross,

which is Station XI on the Via Dolorosa. It features a 12th-century mosaic of Jesus

being nailed to the cross on the vault and a Medici altar from Florence. Through

a window in the south wall the Chapel of the Agony of the Virgin can be seen.

Just to the left of the altar is a statue of Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, which is

Station XIII (Jesus' body removed from the cross and given to Mary). Adjacent to

the Catholic chapel is the Greek Orthodox Calvary, which contains the actual

Rock of Calvary (Station XII) around which the church was built. The rock can be

seen under glass on either side of the main altar. Beneath the altar, there is a

hole that allows you to touch the rock itself. The slot cut for the cross is shown in

the east apse along with those of the two thieves.

Walking to the west from the Stone of Unction, pilgrims arrive at the Rotunda or

Anastasis, the area underneath the large dome referred to as the Edicule which is

supported by scaffolding on the outside due to earthquakes. The current structure

was built in 1809-10 after the severe fire of 1808. It replaced one dating from

1555, commissioned by the Franciscan friar Bonifacio da Ragusa. (The original

4th-century shrine constructed under Constantine was destroyed by the sultan

Hakim in 1009.) The Armenians, the Latins and the Greeks serve Liturgy daily

inside the Holy Sepulchre. It is also used for the Holy Saturday ceremony of the

Holy Fire, which is celebrated by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch. Inside, the

shrine contains two small rooms. The first is the Greek Orthodox Chapel of the

Angel, which features an altar containing a piece of the stone rolled away by

angels at the Resurrection. In the wall by the entrance, steps lead to the roof of

the Edicule. A low door on the opposite side leads to the tiny Chapel of the Holy

Sepulchre, which contains the tomb of Christ itself. This is Station XIV of the Cross

and the holiest site in Christendom. Here a marble slab covers the place where

the body of Christ was laid and from which he rose from the dead. A vase with

candles marks the spot where his head rested. The slab was installed here in the

1555 reconstruction and purposely cracked to deter Ottoman looters.

Jacob’s Well

Present day Nablus was earlier known as Roman Neapolis and Shechem and is the site of

Joseph’s tomb. Abraham passed through Shechem coming from Ur (Gen. 12:6); Jacob

bought a “parcel of land” at Jacob’s Well (Gen. 33:19); the Samaritans originated here

(2 Kings 17:24-41); and Jesus talked with the Samaritan woman – John 4:1-24:

Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that He was gaining and baptising more

disciples than John – although in fact it was not Jesus who baptised but His disciples. So

He left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. Now He had to go through Samaria.

So He came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given

to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there and Jesus, tired as He was from the journey, sat

down by the well. It was about noon.

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, ‘Will you give me a

drink?’ (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to

Him, ‘You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?’

(For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of

God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would

have given you living water.’ ‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘you have nothing to draw with and

the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father

Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his

livestock?’ Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again but

whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will

become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’ The woman said to Him,

‘Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw

water.’

He told her, ‘Go, call your husband and come back.’ ‘I have no husband,’ she replied.

Jesus said to her, ‘You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is you have

had five husbands and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just

said is quite true.’ ‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘I can see that you are a prophet. Our

ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must

worship is in Jerusalem.’

‘Woman,’ Jesus replied, ‘believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father

neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know;

we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and

has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth,

for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit and his worshippers

must worship in the Spirit and in truth.’

The Mount of the Precipice – view from the brow of the hill

The Mount of the Precipice (Mount Kedumin) stands out in the landscape, with its southern

slope forming a vertical cliff above the Kesulot Valley and the Jezreel Valley. Following

Christ’s sermon at the synagogue in Nazareth in which he interpreted the laws of the

book of Isaiah, he was removed from the city with the intention of casting him off a high

rock. The Mount of the Precipice is believed to be the place though Jesus escaped his

persecutors - Luke 4:14-28:

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through

the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised Him.

He went to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day He went

into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read and the scroll of the prophet

Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it is written: ‘The Spirit

of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He

has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to

set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’ Then He rolled up the

scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the

synagogue were fastened on Him. He began by saying to them, ‘Today this scripture is

fulfilled in your hearing.’ All spoke well of Him and were amazed at the gracious words

that came from his lips. ‘Isn’t this Joseph’s son?’ they asked.

Jesus said to them, ‘Surely you will quote this proverb to me: “Physician, heal yourself!”

And you will tell me, “Do here in your home town what we have heard that you did in

Capernaum.” ‘Truly I tell you,’ he continued, ‘no prophet is accepted in his home town. I

assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut

for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah

was not sent to any of them but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And

there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of

them was cleansed – only Naaman the Syrian.’

All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove

Him out of the town, and took Him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in

order to throw him off the cliff. But He walked right through the crowd and went on his

way.

Nazareth

Church of St. Gabriel – Mary’s Well

The Church of St. Gabriel is built over "Mary's Spring," a natural spring that feeds the

nearby ancient well known as Mary's Well. At ground level, at the edge of the hallway,

there is a gentle flow of water. This spring is believed by the Greek Orthodox to be the

site of the Annunciation.. A 3rd-century church built over the spring was later destroyed

by the Arab conquest of the 7th century and rebuilt by the Crusaders in the 12th century.

From the 14th century, the church fell into increasingly bad repair, but there was always

access to the chapel containing the sacred spring. The site was owned by the Franciscans

and Greek Catholics for some time but, in 1741, the Greek Orthodox community gained

permission from Dahir al-Umar to take over the site. In 1750, the Orthodox community

built the present church on the south side of the chapel with the spring. The wooden

iconostasis was added in 1767. The Crusader's stones around the spring were left intact.

The spring is located in the crypt of the church.

Basilica of the Annunciation

The towering cupola of the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth stands over the cave

that tradition holds to be the home of the Virgin Mary. Here, according to the Catholic

Church, the archangel Gabriel told the young Mary, aged about 14, that she would

become the mother of the Son of God. And here Mary uttered her consent: “Let it be

done to me according to your word.” The outcome of Mary’s consent is carved in Latin

across the façade over the triple-doorway entrance: “The Word was made flesh, and

dwelt among us” (John 1:14). The massive two-storey basilica, in strikingly modern

architectural style and colorfully decorated, became the largest Christian church in the

Middle East when it was completed in 1969. It contains two churches, the upper one

being the parish church for Nazareth’s Catholic community. The cupola, which

dominates modern-day Nazareth, is surmounted by a lantern symbolising the Light of the

World.

The lower level of the Church of the Annunciation enshrines a sunken grotto that contains

the traditional cave-home of the Virgin Mary. The cave is flanked by remnants of earlier

churches on the site. Its entrance is sometimes

closed by a protective grille. Inside the cave stands

an altar with the Latin inscription “Here the Word

was made flesh”. The plan of two churches, one

above the other and interconnected, was

conceived by the Italian architect Giovanni Muzio.

As well as preserving the remains of previous

churches on the lower level, he allowed for the risk

of earthquake by constructing the building in three

separate sections of reinforced concrete.

The soaring cupola represents an inverted lily

opening its petals to the shrine below. The

symbolism combines the lily, as an image of Mary’s

purity, with one of the Semitic meanings of the

name Nazareth, a flower. A spiral stairway at the

main entrance leads to the large and spacious

upper church - the parish church for the Catholic community of Nazareth which is why the

inscriptions on the ceramic Stations of the Cross are in Arabic. The main entrance of the

upper church is on the northern side, leading off a large elevated square overlooking the

valley of Nazareth.

Around the walls of the upper church are colorful representations of the Virgin Mary in a

variety of materials, presented by many countries. Behind the main altar is a huge

mosaic, one of the biggest in the world, depicting the “one, holy, catholic and apostolic

church”. The first church on the site venerated as Mary’s home was built around 427. The

Crusaders built a huge basilica on its ruins but this too was destroyed when the Crusader

kingdom fell in 1187. In 1620, the Franciscans managed to purchase the site from the

local Arab ruler but it was a further 120 years before they were allowed to build a new

church. When that church was demolished to prepare for the modern basilica, extensive

excavations took place. These revealed the remains of the ancient village of Nazareth

with its silos, cisterns and other cave-dwellings. The most sensational discovery was of a

shrine or synagogue-church dating back to before the first church was built. Scratched on

the base of a column appeared the Greek characters XE MAPIA, translated as “Hail

Mary” — the archangel Gabriel’s greeting to Mary.

In December 2009 the Israel Antiquities Authority announced the discovery of a house

from the time of Christ, on a property next to the Church of the Annunciation. The

authority described it as “the very first” residential building found from the old Jewish

village. Small and modest, the house consisted of

two rooms and a courtyard with a cistern to collect

rainwater. The remains of the house were found

during a