Church of the Holy Sepulchre – Christ’s tomb. The wait was too long yesterday, so we went back first thing this morning and walked right in to pray before leisurely praying our way around the entire church with all it’s amazing sites.
Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center – Mass
We chatted with a man at the Holy Sepulchre, and he invited us to Mass at the Notre Dame Center. Glad we went! It was beautifully celebrated and we were again starved to hear a Mass celebrated in English.
Gethsemane Grotto
The grotto in the Garden of Gethsemane is celebrated as the site where Christ came to pray when we was in Jerusalem. It is here that many artists depict the arrest following Judas’ betraying kiss. Below the altar are two bronze figures of sleeping apostles.
Gethsemani Garden
The Church of all Nations
With the Garden of Gethsemane to its left, The Church of All Nations enshrines a section of stone where Jesus is said to have prayed the night of his arrest. It is here that Jesus’ sweat became as blood. The deep purple stained glass evokes a somber atmosphere that is fitting.
Kidron Valley (Valley of the Kings)
The Old testament (Book of Joel) describes The Valley of Josaphat where Elijah “will gather together all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Josaphat…for there I will sit to judge all the nations”. The belief that judgement day will begin in the Kidron Valley has been around for a long time. Ancient Jews started burying prominent people there in the 8th century BC. Jewish belief was that the Messiah would pass through the Golden Gate to start judging the dead. In reaction to this belief , Muslims established a cemetery in front of the gate to block the Messiah’s path — and this may also be why the Ottoman ruler Suleiman the Magnificent sealed the gate in 1541. Red arrow shows sealed off Golden Gate.
The tomb on the right, with the pillars and pointy roof, has an inscription on it saying it is the tomb of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist.
