AN ENLIGHTENING TRIP TO ISRAEL (Part 6)

By Rene Calalang
Scarborough-Canada



DAY- 5 was going to the centre of Jerusalem, the climax of the tour, visiting probably, if you are a Christian, the holiest place on earth.


Rock (inside the Church of the Ascencion) with a footprint, believed to be that of Jesus before he ascended into heaven.

Jerusalem, because of the events that happened here, was probably the most attacked, the most conquered, the most destroyed city in history. One power would conquer it and destroyed what his predecessor had built. Excavations would indicate that in many historical sites, three or four churches had been built.

We started by visiting the Church of St. Peter of Galicantu (Galicantu means the crowing of the cock), the church dedicated to Saint Peter’s three times denial that he knew Jesus, where on the third time the rooster crowed, and Peter remembered that Jesus told him “Before the rooster crowed, you will say three times that you don’t know me.”

This church has also underground rooms, where it was believed, for one night, Jesus was kept prisoner before he was taken to Pontius Pilate for sentencing.

We then proceeded to the Crusader Church of Saint Anne, believed to be the birthplace of Virgin Mary, built in 1140 over the remains of an old Byzantine Church.

In the courtyard of the church is the Pool of Bethesda, which was discovered in 1871, and believed to be used as a rain catchment during the time of King Herod.

Next step was tracing the footsteps of Jesus through Via Dolorosa (Way to the Cross or Way of Sorrow), known to the world as the Christian’s holiest route - for in this short distance, Jesus, while carrying a cross on his shoulder, would trek a path from the judgement court, the Praetorium, where he was sentenced to die by Pontius Pilate, to the hill of Golgotha, for his crucifixion.

Along the way, HE would pass by nine stations, where on each station, a chapel or a church was built for meditation and prayer.

Here, we joined the group of people simulating the events that happened up to the 9^th station. Upon the urging of my wife, and with little resistance, I helped carry the cross between two stations.

We arrived at the compound Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where at the area prior to building the church, the last five stations happened.

Soon we were inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the church maintained by three denominations, namely: The Roman Catholics, The Greek Orthodox and the Armenians. Incorporated inside are many chapels like The Chapel of Adam, The Chapel of St. Helena, The Chapel of the Finding of the Cross and The Chapel of the Angel.

Here, Jesus would be stripped of his garments at the 10^th station and nailed to the cross at the 11^th.

On the 12^th, Jesus died on the cross, and a chapel was built by the Greek Orthodox to remember the site.

At the 13^th station, Jesus was taken down from the cross and an altar was built to mark the place where Mary received the body. His body was then placed at the now Stone of Unction, where it was anointed with myrrh, aloe and oil.

Stone of Unction -believed to be where Jesus' body was laid after the crucifixion where it was anointed with myrrh, aloe and oil.

His body was then placed in a tomb, originally hewn in a rock, but now is a marble tomb and housed by the first room in the church known as the Chapel of the Angel.

Here, according to history, Mary Magdalene visited the grave on the first Sunday after the crucifixion, only to find out that the body was gone and an angel sitting on the stone altar.

WE THEN proceeded to the Mount of Olives; where, as the name implies, was once covered with olive trees But the Romans cut them to make ramparts which would be used for the siege of Jerusalem during the Jewish revolt. Among Christians, no mountain is more important than Mount of Olives.

Here, we visited the Church of the Ascension, built to commemorate the spot where Jesus ascended into heaven. It was built in 380 AD, was partially destroyed by the Persians, but was reconstructed by the Crusaders into a small domed octagonal building. It was here, according to the Holy Book, Jesus, after rising from the dead would spend the next forty days with His Disciples before departing. Inside is a stone, believed to be the impression of Jesus’ footstep ascending into heaven?

Also located in the slopes of Mount of Olives is the Church of Pater Naster, originally built in the fourth century by Empress Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, to remember the place where Jesus taught His disciples the Lord’s Prayer.

Tagalog version of the Lord's prayer at the Church of Pater Naster

On the walls of the covered walks of the courtyard are hung ceramic plaques of the Lord’s Prayer, translated in sixty languages.

Always curious if there is a Tagalog translation of the prayer, I immediately went looking for it. Again, as was in the Church of Annunciation, it did not take me long to find it.

But something came into my mind upon seeing the Lord’s Prayer translated into our national language – that we are quick to participate in things/projects like this, but slow to practice what we are praying for.

Worse, many of our people, especially our political leaders, attend mass on Sundays and some even help in the service as deacons and ecumenical ministers. But many, once they leave the place of worship, are back to their normal selves.

I can honestly say that being Christian on Sundays only is one of the main causes of our present difficult and pitiful situation.

Also, many belong to many other religious or prayer groups as if it’s only through prayers we can cure our ills. Let me say that we cannot overcome poverty by prayers only, but rather with prayers and actions.

My mind traveled even further, that we take pride of being the only Christian country in Asia, and yet we are one of the poorest and the most corrupt.

You may ask, “What’s being poor got to do with being a Christian?” There is: If we only practice the Doctrine of Christianity, we, as a nation won’t be corrupt, and the nation, as a whole, won’t be poor.

In short, praying but doing the opposite, being Christians on Sundays only, and praying without action are not forms of Christianity, it is HIPOCRISY.

We descended the Mount of Olives via the Palm Sunday Road, the same route where Jesus, riding on a donkey, came down on Passover to meet His waiting followers.

Reaching the lower slope of the mountain, we proceeded to the Church of Domenis Flevit, the tear shaped church built by the Franciscans in 1956 over the ruins of an old Byzantine church to immortalize the place where Jesus wept after prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem.

We continued to the Basilica of the Agony or the Church of all Nations as this house of worship was sponsored by several countries.

Inside and in front of the main altar is the Rock of the Agony, believed to be where Jesus prayed and sweated blood prior to his arrest.

We then moved on the Garden of Gethsemane. Here, according to the Bible, Jesus, betrayed by Judas, was arrested by the Roman soldiers and taken away to the Praetorium, for indictment and trial.

This was the end of Day 5.

TO BE CONTINUED