Our blurry eyed little band of pilgrims got up at 4 AM and made its way into the Old City. It was rainy, and it was cold and windy, but we were ready to do The Stations of the Cross on the walk Jesus had to make to Golgotha to be brutally executed.
As they are prayed today, The Stations of the Cross is a Catholic prayer tradition that goes back over three hundred years. But the history that brought The Stations to its current form began in the 12th Century after Jerusalem fell to Saladin. You can Wiki The Stations of the Cross and read the complete history, but the essential point is that the Stations are meant to imitate the walk that pilgrims from all over the world have been taking on the streets of Jerusalem for centuries. Of course the streets today are not exactly as they were back in the time of Jesus, but we know the exact spot where Jesus was condemned to death by a reluctant Pilot, and the exact spot where Jesus was crucified, so today’s Via Delorosa evokes all of the emotions one might expect and then some.
Speaking of pilgrims, back to our little soggy group. The early hour was to allow for doing this walk before the streets of the Old City took on their daily crowded chaos. Even so, by the time we got to The Church of the Holy Sepulcher, it was both crowded and chaotic.
The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is erected over both the spot where Jesus was crucified and the site of his tomb, which surprisingly, are not that far apart. Both are now inside The Old City, but back in the time of Jesus they were outside the city walls.
Our group was able to have a private Mass right on Golgotha. Even with the distractions of chanting going on elsewhere in the church, and people walking around, I will not forget how amazing that felt.
There is an altar that sits over the spot where Jesus was buried. This Chapel covers the altar. It’s a lot smaller than it looks in this picture, and it has a door on two opposite sides to accommodate the ever present territorial squabbles of different denominations. We were not able to go inside. While we were there, the Franciscans were on one side and the Coptics were on the other, each trying to make the loudest “joyful noise unto the Lord”. Ironically, with all that going on, there are still “guards” walking around saying, shush, no talking. Go figure. 🙂
The tomb itself was destroyed by the Romans, but other tombs just like it are right there because it was a cemetery. Gospel readers will remember that Joseph of Arimathea, a follower of Jesus, had tombs nearby, and gave one to Mary, John, and the others present, so they could bury Jesus. The last Stations depict Jesus being taken down from The Cross and his body being prepared and placed in The Tomb. Remembering that these people were all Jews, this all had to be done with some haste, because it was Friday and the start of the Sabbath was fast approaching.
The dark, the cold and rain, the tricky walking on the wet streets, and of course the emotions, all made it seem like we had lived a whole day by the time we made our way back to our hotel to get dry and have breakfast. And it was barely past eight in the morning. Later, we would make our way back into the Old City, in the daylight this time. More on that coming up.
We are nearing the end of our pilgrimage. In a couple of more days we will be back in the cold and snow. But until then, I am well and hope you all are too. The Peace of Christ to you all.