Holy Sepulchre, Jericho, Mount Tabor

Sunday November 16th. 4.15 a.m. wake up call. We walked from the Jaffa Gate through the nearly deserted bazaar to the Holy Sepulchre church where we had 30 minutes to look around. The Copts were praying and at 5.30 a.m. the Franciscans began a Latin Mass with organ near the tomb. This church seems to symbolise the terrible divisions in Christianity. I have been often asked about evidence of this division and we did see a chapel which had been burnt out in fighting. The key to this mighty building is held by a Muslim family. Many Protestants find the Garden tomb gives them a better idea of the Resurrection scene but this church has to be seen when filled with liturgy. Our mass at 6 a.m. in the Calvary chapel was a high point of the whole journey. Just as we received communion the organ swelled to its full glory! It was a moment of great faith - He is risen! After Mass we were advised to go straight to the tomb as the daytime queue usually has at least a 2 hour wait. The Copts pulled me back from passing their tent-like chapel tacked on the back of the 19th century tomb. The tomb itself is strangely moving. We saw Revd Beverley Mason and friends from St John's, Upper Norwood doing the stations! We walked back through the Jewish quarter past the St John hospital site. We placed our prayers in the Western wall (wailing wall). After breakfast when we celebrated Basil's 77th birthday we left for Jericho stopping for a last view of the city from the Mount of Olives.
At Bethany we visited the Catholic church of St Lazarus with fine Resurrection mosaics and the tomb of Lazarus which now part of a mosque as Lazarus is venerated as a prophet by Muslims. We left Miriam at the desert service station point and picked up a Palestinian guide for Jericho.
The cable car at Jericho is entirely below sea level. From the top walked up the Greek Orthodox monastery where there is one monk. Had lunch and saw the Zaccheus tree(not a sycamore!) The tel here was excavated by Kathleen Kenyon and there are 23 layers making it probably the oldest city in the world. We travelled up the Jordan valley to Nain and then took taxis to the top of Mount Tabor. A lovely church with chapels for Elijah and Moses commemorating the transfiguration.Staying at Maagan hotel connected to a kibbutz on the Sea of Galilee.

St George's cathedral, Gethsamene, St Peter in Gallicantu and Mount Zion

St George's and organ, Garden tomb sign, St Stephen's, Gethsamene, St Peter Gallicantu and model of the city, Mount Zion, statue of David, Dormition abbey
Saturday 15th November. We had a morning off so set off for a walk from the hotel to St George's Anglican cathedral where I worshipped during Holy Week 1972. There is now a very fine Rieger organ and we were delighted to find embroidered hassocks from Coulsdon (St Andrew and St Francis) and Croydon. There is a very nice pilgrim house. The Garden Tomb is much bigger than I remember with a winepress. Nearby we found St Stephen's basilica and a Dominican Mass with organ in progress. This could be the site of Stephen's martyrdom. To the Church of All Nations, Gethsamane which was very crowded and a Brazilian Mass in progress. Nearby is the Tomb of Mary and the Betrayal grotto and olive press. Maranatha tours treated us to a Middle Eastern lunch after all our problems about hotels and cash! It was delicious but there was far too much to eat! To Mass at St Peter in Gallicantu. The church commemorates Peter's betrayal and the cock is seen as the weathervane of this fine church. The batteries in the keyboard failed so Liz sang the psalm unaccompanied. It was her birthday and the group gave her a lovely card and keyring. We descended to the prison below the church but it was too crowded and busy for us to go into the dungeon where Christ may have been held. This could have been the house of Caiaphas and the steps are certainly from the period. In 1972 we walked down them in the dark on Maundy Thursday going to Gethsamane led by Bishop George Appleton. We overlooked the possible site of the pool of Siloam which is where the baptisms at the first Pentecost probably took place. An interesting model of the city. To the Cenacle (Upper Room) which now a mosque in the middle of a Jewish diaspora school! Pope Benedict wants it back which is odd as it is not authentic! To the Dormition abbey Mount Zion for nice cup of tea and vespers in German. Fr Josef greeted us very warmly. The organ was well played if rather chromatic. Much mention of kings in the psalmody perhaps because the Kaiser founded the monastery. The community is young and growing and the abbot is only 38. Lay people sat with the monks in the apse.

Jerusalem - Via Dolorosa and Ein Karem.

Friday. To the Temple excavations where we saw helpful films. The street is Herodian and we saw the steps to the temple where Jesus and Paul were. At St Anne' church (Crusader) we saw the "birthplace of Mary". The Pool of Bethesda was poorly excavated. The Via Dolorosa where 4 people each took turns to carry the cross was most moving - unexpectedly so. I have so often been the crucifer but here the weight of the wood on my shoulder bore down on me. And the people just carry on their busy lives in the bazaar just as they did on the first Good Friday! It was helpful to have the Taize chant to keep our concentration as we moved from station to station. At one there were some very noisy kids in a house nearby. At Calvary in the church of the Holy Sepulchre I read the passage about Jesus dying and Liz read the 14th station at the tomb. We queued up to venerate at Calvary and a German party pushed in and were very rude to Dom Brendan who said this was a holy place to no avail. We had an excellent pizza near the 3rd station and Liz was invited to see the chapel there. We went to Ecce Homo to see the Antonine fortress pavement with games played by the Roman soldiers. I played the organ at Mass- it was a split manual electronic with toothpick pedals. Carlos disappeared but made his way back to the hotel!
To Ein Karem - the beautiful church of the Visitation on the hill with lovely frescoes and a wall of Magnificats in many languages. The Church of John the Baptist has horrid tiles and grotto of the "birthplace" but I liked the walls of Benedictus in different languages. I bought a card of the Benedictus and Liz got a cross. We had pistacchio ice cream. In the late evening we returned to the garden of the Church of All Nations for silent meditation among the ancient olive trees. We were fortunate not to be able to go into the church!