JERUSALEM
THE UNDERWHELMING CHURCH OF THE HOLY
SEPULCHER
Omar and I, with Joe, a member of the Christian
Peacemaker Team, took a bus from Hebron to Jerusalem. As
we turned toward the Damascus, Joe told me to look up. In
front of me, over the walls of the city, loomed the Dome
of the Rock, resplendent with its gold dome.
We left Joe at a nearby hostel and proceeded through the
Damascus Gate. The streets were crowded with Palestinians
buying and selling, everything from fruit, vegetables,
meats, to clothing. A few shops with olive wood and other
religious items were empty, due to the small number of
pilgrims or tourists.
After a short walk, we turned off the main street and
soon found ourselves on the street leading to the Holy
Sepulcher. A group of Orthodox pilgrims was having its
picture taken in the courtyard.
We entered the church, climbed the stairs to Calvary on
the right, and prayed at the site of the Lord’s
crucifixion. Descending the stairs, we stopped to pray at
the stone of the anointing.
Then we passed around the corner to the Holy Sepulcher
where we entered, waited a little in the antechamber, and
then prayed at the tomb.
Later other we visited the chapels in the church –
including a Catholic chapel and an Armenian chapel down
below the level of the church.
I was glad to be there – but for some reason I was
not moved as I thought I might. The church is such a
mélange of shrines, chapels, and alcoves, with no
apparent unity. I was, as I later explained,
under-whelmed. I would have to wait till the next Monday,
when I took a day for a silent retreat in the Holy City.
THE ICON
SHOP
Icons are windows on the Holy, giving us a glimpse of
God. The icon shop was a window on the reality of
Palestinians in Jerusalem.
After visiting the Western Wall of the Temple, the
wailing wall, Omar and I walked around the old city. We
came upon a shop with icons on the Via Dolorosa. I was
intrigued and entered. I wondered if there might be a
real icon I might be able to purchase.
The owner of the store proceeded to show me some of the
hundreds of old icons he had as well as some newer icons.
As we talked, I noticed a small icon of an angel on the
shelf behind him. I looked at it and asked him how much
he wanted. He said, “Make me an offer.” I
knew that I did not have enough money and tried to tell
him that. But he would not let me go.
In the course of the discussion he told me that his
family had been living in Jerusalem for about 1400 years
and that they had the shop since the early nineteenth
century.
He also told us how he had been offered millions for the
shop by Israelis who also wanted his house. Parts of the
old city have been taken over or bought by Israelis who
seek to establish a foothold here so that the Old City,
part of East Jerusalem, can be “annexed” to
the state of Israel.
But this man resisted the offer and would continue to try
to sell what he could, despite the lack of customers. We
were also the first people who had entered his shop.
I did not buy the icon – but I did buy some
rosaries to bring back to friends and students in Iowa.
I left sad, but grateful to have met a persistent
salesman who seeks to keep the Palestinian presence in
Jerusalem.
JERUSALEM
– THE MOUNT OF OLIVES
The
next day Omar and I returned to Jerusalem. We stopped at
the office of B’tselem, an Israeli group that
opposes the Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza and then
went to a liturgy at Sabeel, the Ecumenical Palestinian
Liberation Theology Center. That day i got a glimpse of
the many efforts of Israelis and Palestinians to forge a
new Holy Land — where justice and peace flourish
and where terror and oppression are condemned.
We entered the Old City through Herod’s Gate and
walked through the Muslim Quarter, much less hectic and
crowded with shops than the area by the Damascus Gate. We
stopped at St. Anne’s and then proceeded through
Saint Stephen’s (or the Lions) Gate and gazed upon
the Mount of Olives. The gold domes of the Russian
Orthodox Church of Saint Mary Magdalene gleamed in the
sun.
We made our way down toward the Church of the Agony.
THE TOMB OF
THE VIRGIN
Before reaching the site of the Garden of Gethsemane,
Omar pointed out a nearby shrine, the Tomb of the Virgin,
where Mary was buried.
The Catholics have another church on the other side of
the Old City to commemorate the “Dormition of
Mary,” her falling asleep and assumption into
heaven. But I prefer this dark and dingy shrine.
All that is left of an ancient church is the crypt. We
walked down forty-four steep steps to the tomb, which is
at the bottom on the right. The tomb looks like a
miniature of the Holy Sepulcher, but much simpler and
without an antechamber.
We entered the tomb, knelt and prayed. I noted the small
seat at the right which a guidebook told me was a mihrab,
a prayer niche for Muslims who also honor Mary
Of course, there is no body here. The Orthodox, as well
as Catholics, believe that Mary was taken body and soul
into heaven after her death.
What struck me about this shrine was the descent into the
bowels of the earth to encounter an empty tomb. The place
is dark, but the good news of being raised by Christ with
his mother brings hope.
OLIVE TREES
IN THE GARDEN
Nearby is the Church of the Agony, also called the Church
of All Nations. Just outside the church is an enclosed
garden of ancient olive trees, some of which may have
been witnesses to Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of
Gethsemane.
Throughout Palestine we encountered thousands of olive
trees. They are a source of olives and of the precious
oil which is used for eating, cooking, and healing. For
Catholics and Orthodox, this oil is also used in worship,
especially in the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation
(or Chrismation, as the Orthodox call it.)
Olives are a gift of God and are one of the trees that
grow in this arid land. Therefore, a poignant sign of the
great suffering in this land is the number of olive trees
that have been cut down. In Manger Square in Bethlehem
there is a tree in a large container. An inscription
reads:
“I am a 500 year old tree and I was uprooted
without my permission from my original site…in
Beit Jala along with thousands of trees all over
Palestine to build the apartheid wall…..
“I am still alive.”
What suffering the trees in Israel and Palestine have
witnessed; but they still produce live-giving olives and
oil. So too do the people here who suffer and struggle
for peace with justice bear fruits of life and hope.
The Olive
Tree in Nativity Square
DOMINUS
FLEVIT: THE LORD WEPT
Two thirds of the way up the Mount of Olives is a
teardrop-shaped church “Dominus Flevit”
– “The Lord wept.”
The view from the church grounds is awe-inspiring. Right
across the Kidron valley are the walls of the old city of
Jerusalem – with the Dome of the Rock, the site of
the Temple Mount, in the foreground. The little church is
oriented toward the city; when you are praying in the
church you can gaze across the altar, through a grated
arch, and see the city.
Here, according to tradition, Jesus stopped and wept over
the city. I read the Latin inscription of the words of
Jesus from Luke, 19:41: “Would that you knew the
things that make for peace, but they are hidden from your
eyes.” Again I was close to tears as I prayed for
peace for Jerusalem and for all of Palestine and Israel.
There is a traditional gift of tears that is given to
some as they contemplate their sinfulness in the light of
God’s great love and mercy.
There is also, I believe, a gift of the tears of
compassion. Many times in the Gospels we find Jesus
filled with compassion for the crowd. He also wept at the
tomb of his friend Lazarus. And so, throughout my time in
Palestine and Israel, I found myself near tears.
The second week of my pilgrimage coincided with the first
week of Advent, the period of preparation for the
celebration of Christmas. As I read the daily readings, I
was stuck by the frequent passages in Isaiah where God
promises to wipe away the people’s tears and
restore them in his kingdom of justice and righteousness.
In the face of suffering, we are called to weep with
those who weep and in so doing share with them the hope
for God’s justice.
Jerusalem
from the Church"Dominus Flevit"
on the Mount of Olives
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