Sunday, April 4, 2010

Good Friday! The understatement of the year

We began the day with 2 hours of New Testament class, which helped us get in the mood fo the Via Dolorosa, which is the way the Savior walked, carrying the cross from His trial at the Antonia Fortress, by the Temple Mount to Calvary, to The Church of the Holy Sepulchre (traditionally). I read John 18-19 as we waited (and this couple from England who, when they saw that I was reading the Bible, talked to me for a bit and included a hearty “Praise the Lord!”) for the procession to be led out by the Franciscan Fathers. We (the Jerusalem Center people) have a long-standing friendship with one of them – Father Angelo, from the Philippines by way of LA. He served to translate the text that was read at all 14 stations of the cross in English. Admitted my group only followed the procession for about 2 stations – understand that it’s so uncomfortably crowded, plus we wanted to go acoustics hopping – a favorite pastime of me and my musicaholic, acoustic junky friends. So off we headed, beginning in Dormition Abbey, where we sang mostly sacrament hymns and were approached by a lovely french woman. I think the best part of all the singing we do in these churches is getting to meet people from all over the place. We continued our safari, stopping at a few smaller chapels along the way and eventually ended up at the St. Anne’s Church, where the Pool of Bethesda was found. We sang off and on for about an hour and a half. I mean seriously, what’s the point of vaulted ceilings and stone walls if you don’t use them? Of course there were plenty of tour groups coming and going and they were very polite and appreciative. We even got to hear a group from Indonesia sing. We made a few videos, and I’ll post them as soon as I have a good connection. I also spoke with a lovely woman from Italy on our way out.

Keep in mind that it’s also been Passover week, so we went to the Western Wall to welcome in Shabbat with the Jews (probably our last chance to do so). I’m impressed by the large number of adolescent girls praying at the wall. But I think that explains the continuity of Judaism because the influence of the mothers is probably the strongest in teaching the traditions and practices of the people and setting the tone of worship and observance in the home. Go, women! Afterward some of us wanted to go to the service and funerary procession that would be taking place at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, but since we’re not allowed to be in the Old City at night (keep this in mind), they ordered taxis, which took us from Dung Gate to Jaffa Gate, which is probably farther from the Holy Sepulchre than we already were, and since we were running late, we had to RUN through the streets of the Old City to get there. Slick, uneven stones, stairs, narrow corridors and lots of people – it was awesome. But when we arrived at the Christian Quarter, we found that we couldn’t even get into the courtyard of the church – too crowded. So, we ran around the block to see if we could get in through the Coptic church or the Ethiopian monastery. No go. What are we gonna do? Well, we’re stuck here until 11:00…in the Old City….at night….with nothing to do….(8D). NO ONE EVER GETS TO DO THIS, so we did our best to capitalize on the experience. Someone had been into a church earlier that day that led to the roof, overlooking the courtyard of the Holy Sepulchre church, so by a miracle, we were able to convince them to let us in. We were pretty thrilled by that….but then my friend John and I were poking around on the roof and I was taking pictures of the view of the city while John climbed up a random staircase that led to a door under a dome. This shouldn’t be surprising – there are tons of domes in Jerusalem, but I just wasn’t putting two and two together, as far as this dome’s significance, so anyway John found that the door was only chained shut and could be opened about 10 inches, but the door was 15 feet above the ground and smack dab against a metal rail and the chain was at an inconvenient level…but that never stopped us – I love trying to fit through tight places – so, in a skirt, I squoze (haha – great word) through (and I have bruises on my legs to prove that metal door meant business), and found myself in a very dark, narrow, round balcony. When I stood up and looked over the rail, I realized, I WAS IN THE TOP LEVEL OF THE CENTRAL DOME OF THE CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE!!!! This is a big deal. No one can get up there. Not even our Ancient Near Eastern Studies professor who is not above paying people off to let him take pictures wherever he wants to, even when it’s not allowed. So, we got John in too and we very giddily and from at least 100 feet up watched the goings-on of the service that it had been impossible to get into. We were joined by a few more students, which scared us because it was dark and for all we knew, it was ghosts or angry priests or some kind of trouble. Pictures!! Then apparently we were spotted and got quick word that someone was coming up after us, so the excitement of living on the edge was intensified about 200 times as we rushed back around to the only door and try to get 8 people out really fast without sending anyone falling to their death. But we did it. Hahaha. So tricky! I think we’re gonna start a club – the 5 Levels of the Holy Sepulchre Club! So, I have pictures and video of the proceedings downstairs. Many of you will know better than I what was taking place. Apparently a manikin representing Jesus was brought in on a cross and taken into the edicule, which contains the tomb. Then the manikin is left in and the cross is carried out, followed by a lot of priests and other officials of the Catholic Church. So, it’s a pretty exciting affair, attracting to many pilgrims and very curious LDS young adults who haven’t seen something of this sort before. Great experience.

3 comments:

  1. I'd be jealous, except I'm so happy for you. These memories will be part of you forever, and will influence the rest of your life in ways you cannot yet imagine. Thank you, dear Allie, for sharing these adventures with us in such detail. I love you!

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  2. Ooooh, you're so devious! What a cool experience. Good thing you're not afraid of heights, huh? So, did you start singing? You can come sing in my stone-walled house anytime you like.

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  3. (You do know that this is Sarah, don't you?)

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