The Via Dolorosa

Today (Tuesday) had a leisurely start at 8:00. . . .that Itai is a taskmaster!  We left the hotel and headed straight for Holy City, with our driver, Anwar, letting us out at the Garden of Gethsemane.   While I'm sure it is much shrunken in size from Jesus days, there are at least two trees there that date back to his time.  These olive trees are amazing in that they hollow themselves out as they age, with the shoots on the outside extending the tree over time.  And, of course, we know that this is where the disciples fell asleep while Jesus prayed and was eventually arrested

Of course there's a church at the Garden of Gethsemane - the Church of All Nations (the Basilica of the Agony).  It is built over the rock on which Jesus is believed to have prayed in agony the night before he was crucified.  While it was built intentionally very stark inside (hence its name), we stayed a few minutes there and gathered our thoughts for the day ahead.

From there began the first steps of what was eventually a 4 mile hike throughout Jerusalem, as we moved steadily up the hill and into the city through the Lion's Gate.  Located in the eastern wall, it is one of seven open gates into Jerusalem, and marks the beginning of the traditional Christian observance of the last walk of Jesus from prison to crucifixion, the Via Dolorosa.

As Wikipedia states, the Via Dolorosa (Latin for "Way of Grief," "Way of Sorrow," "Way of Suffering" or simply "Painful Way") is believed to be the path that Jesus walked on the way to his crucifixion. The winding route move west to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and is today marked by nine Stations of the Cross, with five more  being inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.   Each station contains an image with accompanying prayers, and the object is to help the faithful make a spiritual pilgrimage through contemplation of the Passion of the Christ (the short final period in the life of Jesus).

The Via Dolorosa begins with the first and second stations which commemorate Jesus encounter with Pontius Pilate.  At each station, Father Schalk led us in prayer and reflection.  And, for most of them we took turns carrying a wooden cross (four persons at a time).  As the path traverses very narrow streets, and mostly uphill, you can clearly see that this was an arduous task for Jesus especially after being whipped and abused throughout the process, falling three times during the process.

Eventually we reached the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which houses his tomb, and the site of his crucifixion.  After mass, we had a great lunch and then back to the Church to see the holy sites.  We waited about 2 hours, barely shuffling a foot at a time as we moved in a circular manner around the mausoleum that covers the site of the tomb.  Tempers were short and we argued with the people behind us pushing us forward, and Cheryl argued with one of the Greek Orthodox men who were trying to do crowd control.  Frankly it was completely distracting from the reason we were there and a very poor process for crowd control.

At last we were admitted to the chamber in a single file manner and stepped inside to see the tomb, and that seemed to make up for the past 2 hours of hassle.  But, not enough for Cheryl and I to move on to the next big line and go upstairs to see the site of the crucifixion.  Many in our group made the same choice and adjourned to the courtyard for some fresh air and a chance to recover from standing in one place for two hours.

Following this, we were given some time for shopping in the many nearby stores.  All I bought was a beautiful cinnamon roll of a hand-pushed cart from a very nice man selling all sorts of fresh baked goods.  And, then, time to leave and we walked roughly back the way we came to end up at the Wailing Wall.

The Western Wall is an ancient limestone wall, but a relatively small segment of a far longer ancient retaining wall.  It was originally erected as part of the expansion of the Second Jewish Temple begun by Herod the Great to create more space for the Temple itself and its auxiliary buildings.  The Western Wall is considered holy due to its connection to the Temple Mount and is the holiest place where Jews are permitted to pray.

After passing through Security and a metal detector to access, men and women are separated into different sections.  Men must wear a yarmulke (which felt like it was going to pop off my head any second) to approach the wall. And, I shared the space with many other men, most orthodox Jews weaving frontward and backward.  Of course, like all others, I had a note prepared that I inserted into the wall.  Cheryl and Mary did the same on their side which was shielded from ours by a high fence.

Then, back on the bus with our weary group, and to the hotel for dinner and rest.  Our wake up call will have us out of the hotel at 6:45 a.m. in order to get to the Dome on the Rock, the holy site for Muslims, adjacent to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.  More on that tomorrow.