Day 8 - Jerusalem - Mount of Olives and Jewish Quarter

 Day 8

Today we began our pilgrimage across the road from the old city at the top of the Mount of Olives where our first port of call was the Chapel of the Ascension.  

This is the site traditionally believed to be the last point on earth touched by Jesus as he ascended into Heaven following his Resurrection.  For many years it was thought that he must’ve launched himself skywards (similar to how Henry Cavill does as Superman), from a crouching position because the Chapel surrounds a stone slab (called the "Ascension Rock"), which contains an impression believed to be his right footprint.  

However this theory was quickly dismissed as nonsense by religious scholars when the left footprint turned up in the the Al-Aqsa Mosque (the big one opposite the Dome of the Rock on Temple Mount) having been taken there in the Middle Ages.  

We spent about 20 minutes waiting in line as Don Mourad took us through the history and architecture of the chapel, explaining that the main structure was from the Crusader era; the stone dome and the octagonal drum it stands on are Muslim additions, as are the exterior walls; but only the arches and marble columns are part of the original Christian structure.  Then, with the familiar words “Yallah, Yallah, Yallah” ringing in our ears we were ushered in and out of the Chapel and on to our next stop, the Church of the Pater Noster.  

As we entered the grounds of the Church of the Pater Noster, the first thing I noticed was the partially reconstructed fourth-century basilica know as the Eleona church.  

Upon closer inspection and with the added advantage of Don Mourad’s dulcet tones explaining everything through my Whisper, I realised that there are not one, but three architectural structures.  In addition to the Eleona church there is a cloister, (built in 1868 and modelled on the Campo Santo at Pisa in Italy), and a Carmelite convent church.  

However, we were there for one reason and that was to visit the grotto underneath where it is said Jesus instructed his disciples and is believed to be the place where he taught them the Lord’s Prayer.  So we waited in line for a bit before entering, then found a nice spot to stand, then as one recited the Lord’s Prayer; which was lovely. 

Then, “Yallah, Yallah, Yallah” and we were outa there.  We did spend time walking around the rest of the site and for me, the most attention grabbing thing were the plaques that adorn the walls of the cloister, the convent church and partially reconstructed Eleona church, displaying the Lord’s Prayer in over a hundred different languages and dialects from all over the world.

From there we continued walking down the Mount of Olives, stopping briefly at a lookout to take pictures of the old city, and again at the entrance to the Church of Bethphage, (the traditional starting point of the Palm Sunday procession), where Jesus mounted a donkey and made his way into Jerusalem.  

From here until we celebrated Mass at the foot of the Mount of Olives, we would be walking the same path that Jesus did all those years ago.

Our next stop was at the Sanctuary of the Dominus Flevit.  This is the place where Jesus wept at the failure of the people of Jerusalem to recognise that God had come to visit them.  Unfortunately, there was a Mass taking place when we arrived so we only got to walk around the grounds, check out some old tombs, and take in the stunning view you get of the old city.

We then made our way down to the Garden of Gethsemene at the foot of the Mount of Olives to celebrate Mass at the Church of All Nations, (also known as the Church or Basilica of the Agony).  We couldn’t go into the garden but we did walk around it and it is stunning.  It is so calming and peaceful, and choc-a-block full of ancient Olive trees.  We then made our way into the church and got to sit in the prime location, around the section of bedrock where Jesus is believed to have prayed before his arrest.  It was just great.  I love these Masses. 

I did notice a curious sign on the door of the church forbidding any explanation within.  A bit tough for the evangelical side of the Faith I would’ve thought.

Having completed our tour of the Mount of Olives, we went to meet the bus.  Luckily it was caught in traffic because our octogenarian stalwart Father Ed really needed a rest.  So at the first opportunity he plonked himself down in a vacant chair by the side of the road which just so happened to belong to one of the street vendors.  Ever the entrepreneur, in the few short minutes available to him before the bus arrived, Father Ed managed to add a few more Shekels to the collection plate.

We then went back to the old city and stopped for lunch.  Afterwards, as we made our way through the streets towards our next destination, I spied what looked like a row of Roman columns.  No one else seemed to bat an eyelid and kept walking, but I stopped to investigate.  It turns out it was the “Cardo”, (Jerusalem's main street about 1500 years ago), which in it’s day, was an exceptionally wide colonnaded street that ran through the heart of the city and I had just chanced upon an open section of it near the main square in the Jewish Quarter.  

My excitement was short lived however as I heard the unmistakable voice of Father Wim booming “Yallah, Yallah, Yallah” as I hurried to catch up with the group who were sprinting to the Church of the Assumption of Mary.

This was a relatively quick visit and a bit confusing as I visited a house at Ephesus in Turkey a few years back which was supposed to be the house where Mary’s Assumption took place.  I asked Don Mourad about this as we descended the stairs leading to a large crypt containing the empty tomb of Mary and he said, “Well, if she was capable of being born in three different places, then I guess she is also capable of being assumed into Heaven both here and at Ephesus! Remember, the Lord works in mysterious ways.”

We then did another “Yallah, Yallah, Yallah” tour of the room where the Last Supper took place and the wrong “Tomb of King David” according to Don Mourad.  As he said to me while waving me through and noting my obvious angst at the number of people crammed into the crypt, “don’t worry if you can’t get a good picture, this is not his tomb. He would’ve been buried in a much nicer part of the city.”  

It was here that I discovered a new boy band called “Young Kippur” who were giving an impromptu performance at the tomb.  I predict big things for these plucky young lads and can see them climbing Jacob’s ladder to the very top of the charts.

Our final destination was the “House of Caiaphas” and the dungeon where Jesus was imprisoned on the eve of his judgement and crucifixion.  Caiaphas (for those of you that don’t know), was the official high priest during the time of Jesus’ ministry. He was president of the Sanhedrin (the High Court) who met at his house to hold an informal trial following the arrest of Jesus at the Garden of Gethsemene. Also present and lurking in the shadows was Peter, who when sprung denied he had ever met Jesus.  He did this three times as a nearby Rooster cock-a-doodle-dooed twice.  Mortified, he ran away bawling with Jesus’ words, “I told you so” ringing in his ears.  This is why the church which now stands upon the ruins of the house of Caiaphas is called the “Church of Saint Peter in Gallicantu”, for Gallicantu means cock's-crow in Latin.

So we walked around the Church and then went down to the chapel underneath. Here we looked down a hole in the center of the chapel into which some believe Jesus was lowered and imprisoned in one of the crypts underneath.  We then made our way down to the said crypt where Father Wim led us in prayer and reflection.  

On the north side of the church we viewed an ancient staircase that leads down towards the Kidron Valley.  This may have been a passage from the upper city to the lower city during the first temple period.  Many Christians believe that Jesus followed this path down to Gethsemene on the night of his arrest.

It had been a very long day and we were quite foot sore by the time we got back to the hotel.  So we washed our feet in the shower the minute we walked through the door and after freshening up sufficiently we headed to the bar for “Re-cappy hour” with the gang.

Good night.