Jerusalem 2013

0n 25 January 2013, Maggie and the kids dropped me off at the local airport after lunch. I was getting on a rather long flight to Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv and taking a short pilgrimage. I would return the 29th in the evening (Tueday following my Thursday departure)

We created 2 web galleries here. The photos are the same in both galleries however, one is pure HTML for those that cannot view flash and the other is a flash gallery.

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My flight took me from New Hampshire to Washington, DC, then on to Vienna in Austria finally arriving on Friday in the early afternoon in Israel. Austrian Air receives my compliments for a very comfortable flight!

After arriving, I took a private cab in the interest of time to drive me to the Jaffa Gate of Jerusalem in the old city and my hotel.

The cab fare if I remember correctly, was 250 Shekels.

After checking into the hotel, I explored the walled city a bit.

I headed down to the Christian Quarter-the markets reminded me immediately of Qatar, Oman and the Emirates and the years we lived there. I went into St Johns Church and then checked out the Mosque of Omar. After some quick sightseing, I headed back to the Jaffa gate and Tower of David area as it was getting dark and took some pictures. After exploring the immediate area, I grabbed a tourist map and plunged into the Christian and Moslem Quarters and after a short time, found myself at the doors to the Church of the Holy Sepluchre of Jerusalem.

Seeing pilgrims from so many Christian faiths was the first thing that struck me as unique

Starting as early as I could wake up on Saturday the 26th, I took some photos at sunrise of the Jaffa Gate area-very early in the morning.

After pictures, I headed down towards the intersection of the Armenian, Christian, Jewish and Moslem quarters. Along the way I entered a small hallway up into a building on St Mark street which according to my map should have been blocking a view of the pools of Hezekiah.

I entered a small hotel area in the building and was able to get views and a few pictures of the Pools of Hezekiah (not posted as I got better pictures later). I took part in Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. My intentions for the Mass were for my Cathedral Parish in New Hampshire and for sick family members.

I entered the tomb of our Lord Jesus today thanks to an Armenian Priest setting up for an installation.
The new Armenian Patriarche was being installed on this day. I took pictures and walked around the Tower of David. I visited St. Saviours which is located within the compound of the Custody during a Mass celebration so I will have to return and take a closer look another visit.  I received my pilgrim medal of Pius XIII from the Custody office along with a certificate.

While at the Custody I discussed future volunteer work with a Sister of the Custody Secretariat. I will follow up with letter to Secretariat cc'ing her per her recommendation when the time comes to return. She was great to talk with.

I managed to get into the upstairs of a shop over the pools and get more photos from their balcony positioned in the center of the pool area along King David road.

Traveled from St Saviours along St Francis st. to Souq Khan Ez-Zeit to the Damascus Gate.  Back along El-Wad to Via Delorosa

and out to the Lions Gate.

A lot of artifact shops here. Before going out gate saw Church of the Flagellation, Church of the Condemnation, Birthplace of Mary maybe
Through Lions gate, visited St Stephans Church, Church of All Nations,

Gardens at Gethsemane,

Tomb of the Virgin Mary.

From base of Mt of Olives, climbed... and climbed. Visited Church of Mary Magdalene (Russian Orthodox),

Dominus Flevit,

Paternoster,

then being Saturday, everything closed (noon). Fireworks in distance were due to the new Armenian Patriarche.

Went to Tower of David

along the way, then down through Armenian quarter to the Zion Gate. From there, I visited the Dormition Abbey, Coenaculum where the Last Supper was (built by the Crusaders though so while it might be the site, it is NOT the same room/building),

and King Davids tomb where, after putting on a hat (yarmulke???) I was allowed inside to view the tomb.
Came back another way after re-entering through the Zion gate and went up Habab street in the Jewish Quarter. Stopped at Syriac Church-Church of St Marks (oldest) then went up to the roof tops for a view then back down and on to King David street, hooking West and back to the hotel after grabbing water and supplies for Sunday.
Overall, Saturday was an AWESOME day!
Bought Maggie a rather nice Silver and Eilat stone bracelet.

One thing I noticed at this point was that there appeared to be very few MALE Christian/Catholic Pilgrims in Jerusalem compared to females.

Sunday the 27th started bright and early with High Mass (Latin) at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. After a quick breakfast I headed to the Church of St Anne and the Pools of Bethany.

After looking around St Annes Church, I headed out Lions Gate for an earl(ier) start on Mt Olives. My previous climb and visit was cut short as it midday many places closed. I visited the Dome of Ascension, then headed down towards the Pater Noster site then took the road on the side opposite Jerusalem and walked down into Bathphage which is about a 15 minute walk down the hill. Mass was being celebrated inside a walled compound at the Church. I later learned that the Church was within the Christian Compound at Bethphage (St Francis Village). As Mass ended I met with some members of the local Parish including the Deacon who was conducting religion lessons with soon-to-be 1st Communion recipients. Although they were speaking Arabic, I told the Deacon I recognized the lessons as Caden is going through the same at home and is preparing for his First Communion as well.

I met some really wonderful and friendly Catholic people especially a certain family who will remain unnamed here. I was invited by them to their home and from there was able to overlook the West Bank Wall, several Israeli Settlements

Settlement (the large "city" in the center)

and one of the checkpoints that is larger and used for goods transport back and forth. There are 69 families as of the time of my visit, that reside within the compound, which has seen physical attack by local Muslim Arabs. There is little protection in the compound (professionally speaking).

I cannot stress how strong the faith was of my hosts in Bethphage. The woman of the house is a WONDERFUL baker (she should open a specialty shop!!!) and the husband and sons are talented musicians as is the daughter... (I later ran across the person who got the head of the household interested in music along a small street in the old city-it is indeed a small world!)

The head of the household walked me out to the gate to leave the compound and as we were saying goodbyes, a family was leaving. They offered to drive me down off Mt Olives and drop me at the Damascus Gate where Salah ah Din street meets the ancient walls. After saying goodby, I found myself back on schedule. It was around 3pm and I was very hungry-I headed for the hotel. I never made it (a habit when in Jerusalem) and ended up at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre again.

I went to attend and take part in the 4pm "Procession" that a Sister at the Franciscan Compound recommended to me-it occurs daily at 4pm and demonstrates custody of certain holy areas within the church. So there I stood at teh entrance to the sacristy as the Sister had recommended. I was lost and looking clueless when I recognized a priest staying in my hotel... I nodded. He took one look at me (pity perhaps?) then grabbed a handout in 4 languages and quickly came over explaining what we would do and how the procession works. It is timed down to the seconds and all singing is in latin. I URGE all readers to take a look here: http://www.holysepulchre.custodia.org/default.asp?id=4149 and familiarize themselves with the procedures and the actual procession. You can also download a pdf of the procession, which is in multiple languages and if you go to Jerusalem, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND you download this in advance and familiarize yourself quite well with it-then take part in the procession. Get some of the small thin candles before hand and learn to hold your guide AND the candle while moving rapidly and protecting the flame so you have light and can read/sing along... it takes practice, trust me (but I had Fr Christopher to show me the trick)

To say the procession is beautiful and leaves one feeling different is a gross understatement. It IS timed and does not deviate however so it is fast paced, in spite of any piligrims that wander into the way of the procession. There are several YouTube videos of it-none really capture the feeling in my opinion but this one sets the stage pretty well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRIBuIUf3zs

Father Christopher and I stayed together after meeting at the Holy Sepulchre until the end of my visit with the exception of when I went to the Patriarchate and receieved my Pilgrim Shell from Bishop Shomaly. Father Christopher has extensive knowledge of the Holy Land having travelled there so often (somewhere over 30 times I believe) and is a teacher as well - his knowledge of languages etc. really lent itself to helping me understand more about my faith-much more than one can imagine and his assistance was invaluable to me-changing my pilgrimage mid-stride so to speak.

The morning of the 28th, bright and early, Father and I had Mass at the Holy Sepulchre inside the Crusaders Chapel which is in an area not open to the public normally (It was the Feast of St Thomas Aquinas and held special significance). I was able to view the Sword and Spurs of Godfrey de Bouillon, founder of our order , Ordo Equestris Sancti Sepulcri Hierosolymitani (The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem) which is located inside the Sacristy.

Following Mass, Fr Christopher went to an appointment as did I. I received the Pilgrim Shell from Bishop Shomaly (Auxilliary Bishop of the Patriarchate) who is a wonderful man and had some discussions concerning volunteer work I wish to carry out on my next visit to Jerusalem.

Following my meeting with the Bishop and a priest on the staff, I did a bit of shopping at the compound of the Custody and then went to the Franciscan Book Store (fixed prices!) to pickup THE BEST GUIDE to Jerusalem and some biblical learning aids for our home schooling, then I met back with Father Christopher.

Father Christopher and I headed straight off for Mount Sion and he filled in the blanks of what I did not see as well as explaining much of what I did see the previous days. Our route took us through the Armenian Quarter and he was familiar with shops there and their owners... some amazing art work!

The main purpose of our visit to Mount Sion was St. Peters in Gallicantu. A church/site that was in disrepair some years previous and was repaired/restored/etc. by a priest from Massachussetts! An Assumptionist whom I will hopefully be meeting within a few days of writing this. St. Peters is beautiful of course and please view the other pictures in the gallery above. This is a significant site in the Holy Land and one needs at least 2 hours to spend here looking and contemplating the site where Jesus was taken and held following his betrayal in the valley below.

By the time we had visited St Peters it was getting late so we rushed back to the hotel to clean up and then headed to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for the 4pm Procession. This time I was able to follow along much better and keep up with the prayer. I need to learn the basic prayers in Latin. During the procession this time around I reflected back on just how unprepared I was only a few short days before and typically "touristy" I was on arrival. My knowledge of early Christian History as well as the bible were (and are) both far more lacking than I had imagined.

Following the procession, Father Christopher assisted me in placing all the gifts I was bringing home inside the tomb and for later blessing. I had wished the gifts all were blessed and had been placed on the tomb for those that would receive them and Father Christopher helped me greatly to that end.

After Father Christopher showed me some additional areas including the roof of the Holy Sepulchre, we went to the hotel via some other sites including a hotel and shops that were owned by Catholics so that I would know which were Catholic owned etc... Unfortunately, it was a VERY SHORT travel as there are only a couple shops that are Catholic owned.

IMPORTANT NOTE

If you go to the Holy Land, PLEASE frequent shops owned by Christians and show them your business. The same holds for tour guides, drivers, hotels, etc. The Christian population has dropped in the Holy Land catastrophically over the past several years and is at dangerously low levels. Christians are leaving for "greener" pastures - the result is lack of a permanent Christian presence in the holy land... Show these people your business if you travel there and speak with them-you will wonder at their faith and question your own.

I was due to leave the hotel around 1 am so Father Christopher and I had supper and then talked, for hours. I laid down for an hour or two then got up, in the middle of a storm, and departed via a collective bus, for Ben Gurion Airport and the long flight home via Istanbul.

If you have questions about any of the photos etc. or want recommendations of where to stay during your visit, specific shops to get your gifts at, please drop me an email and I will be more than happy to oblige. There are also tour operators that can assist in ensuring your business goes to those in need.

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