A faith lift
As we are in the holiest of seasons in Christendom, let me take you on a trip to Jerusalem. It isn’t a game, but it will make you a winner.
To most of us, “Trip to Jerusalem” is a parlor game also known as “musical chairs.” In the game, players compete for a limited number of chairs by circling them, and after the music stops playing, the one who gets the last chair is the winner. Who would have thought that the namesake of a childhood game could be such an adult blessing?
I was invited by Catholic Travel Inc. twice to join a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to retrace the footsteps of Christ in the only land he walked on. The first time was in the year 2000, and the second time, last year. Both trips were like pebbles thrown in a pond — they continue to create ripples in my soul.
In a real trip to Jerusalem, the music never stops playing for those who truly believe. Here are some places to visit, “chairs” to stop for, in a true trip to Jerusalem.
1. Garden of Gethsemane and the Church of All Nations (also known as the Basilica of the Agony) — I have been to this garden and its adjacent church twice and each time, I have witnessed the fervor of prayer in my fellow pilgrims. The first time I visited in 2000, a fellow pilgrim was so moved that for the first time in decades, he went to confession inside the church and received Holy Communion. During my pilgrimage last February, this was the place where I saw our pilgrimage chaplain bow till his face was touching the ground, which was actually a huge rock in front of the altar of the church. Called the “Rock of Agony,” it is where Jesus prayed and sweated blood the night before his arrest. A “crown of thorns” of wrought iron surrounds the rock.
Adjacent to the church, which is at the foot of Mount of Olives, is a garden shaded by eight ancient olive trees. “Gethsemane” means olive press in Aramaic. It was here at the Garden of Gethsemane that Jesus came with his disciples to pray. Here, he became very human and tried to find a way out of his mission (“Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me”), but overcame his weakness to accept his Father’s will (“Nevertheless, not my will but thine, be done…”). Betrayed by Judas, Jesus was arrested here by the soldiers of the High Priest.
2. Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu — This church stands on the place believed to be the site of the House of Caiaphas, High Priest at the time of Jesus execution. Here, Peter is said to have denied Jesus thrice (“Before the cock crows, thou shall deny me thrice…”). Jesus is believed to have spent the night in a prison over which the church was constructed. Wounded and broken, Jesus spent an agonizing night in the depths of this prison, and many Christians believe that his blood, sweat and tears have left a visible mark on its stone walls. Personally, this place touched a raw nerve in me, and I could almost see, not just imagines, the depth of Christ’s suffering.
3. The Via Dolorosa — Pilgrims should not expect the Via Dolorosa or the Way of the Cross to look as it does in the movies. Most of the stations are now in between shops in a busy marketplace in Jerusalem. Perhaps, what have remained from the time of Christ are the ancient stones he walked on, mute witnesses to his agony. The first station (where Jesus was condemned) is now inside a school, the fourth station (Jesus meets his mother) is now a restaurant. The second station (Jesus takes up the cross) is a chapel, as are the third, fifth, sixth and seventh. Others are markers outside churches, not all Catholic.
4. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre — The last five Stations of the Cross are in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, whose custody is shared by different Christian denominations. Despite that, the Church resonates with spiritual significance. The 11th station (Jesus is nailed to the cross before his mother) inside the Church is now a Roman Catholic chapel filled with intricate mosaics. Right beside it is a Greek Orthodox chapel that marks the spot where Jesus is believed to have died on the cross (the 12th station). Two supporting pillars flank the altar here. Underneath the altar is a silver disk with a fist-size hole, marking the spot where Jesus’ cross stood on the rock of Golgotha or Calvary.
When you put your hand into the hole and reach out about five inches, you can feel the rock where Christ’s cross was dug into. I rubbed my handkerchief and my rosary on this spot, for though physical relics of Christ’s crucifixion are not prerequisites to a strong faith, they are to me palpable manifestations of faith. I’ve always believed that to see and feel are to believe even more deeply.
The 13th station (Jesus is taken down from the cross) is more accessible to pilgrims. An altar marks the spot where Mary received the body of her son after he was taken down from the cross. Jesus’ body was then laid out on the stone of unction and anointed with a mixture of myrrh, aloe and aromatic oils.
The 14th station (Jesus is placed in the tomb) is on a spot that is the holiest place in Christendom. The tomb of Jesus is in the center of the Basilica beneath the main rotunda. It is within an ornate “edicule,” which resembles a mausoleum. Before you reach the tomb inside a small inner room, you will see a piece of the stone that was used to seal the cave where Jesus was laid to rest.
The sacred cave — hewn in stone — where Jesus was buried is now covered with a flat marble slab. That slab was put in place in 1555, or five centuries ago. Only five people at a time are allowed to pray before the tomb, over which you may gently rub your rosaries and crucifixes.
Words will not do justice to how I felt as I knelt before Jesus’ tomb. Overwhelming. Uplifting. Edifying.
I left Jerusalem with a faith lift.
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