Divine Liturgy at the Holy Sepulchre

At 11:00 PM on New Year's Eve, we walked over from our hostel to the Holy Sepulchre. The two entrances into the courtyard were closed, and a small group gathered waiting for them to open.

In the photo above, you can see me and a priest from Ukraine waiting just outside one of the entrances.

The church is open from, I believe, 4:00 AM until 8:00 PM, and there are so many tourists that the Orthodox actually never do liturgy at that time -- they always do vigils between about 11 PM and 3 AM, hoping thus for some quiet.

Around 11:30, the gates finally opened and a small group of probably around 30 people total went in.

Here I am inside the main church (you can see me in the far door into the altar area), which is directly opposite the Holy Sepulchre.

We started Orthros at 11:30, which was read and chanted primarily by these two monks. About 10 minutes into Orthros, the Catholics, who have a small church adjacent to the Orthodox Church, started their mass with a thundering organ accompaniment that reverberated throughout the whole structure.

Since it was New Year's Eve, the Catholics had also decided to have a service, and all of us were forced to endure it. The soppy organ music continued without stop for the next 45 minutes. In the altar, we couldn't hear one word of Orthros and actually had to have someone go back and forth to let us know where we were in the service so that we could respond when necessary.

The service was led by His Eminence Archbishop Theodosios (Hanna) of Sebastia (who has an interesting story, as you'll see in the link), and in addition to one hieromonk and one hierodeacon from the Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre, we also had one Ukrainian priest, one Russian priest, me, and one Russian deacon.

I asked the archbishop about the Catholic's organ music, and he said usually they did not have this problem, but that it did occur on special occasions.

On Fridays, the Orthodox celebrate the Liturgy not in the main church but upstairs in the chapel located on the very spot where Christ was crucified. Toward the end of Orthros then, just as the organ concerto had finished, the archbishop motioned for all the clergy to follow him up some stairs located in the back of the altar area which lead up to the chapel on Golgotha.

Here we are in the middle of Liturgy on Golgotha.

At the Great Entrance. The Brotherhood provided us with very nice vestments which feature the emblem of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. Unfortunately, we didn't get to keep them. :)

Here I am receiving Holy Communion from Archbishop Theodosios.

Here we are toward the end of the Liturgy. Below is a scan of a photo that the Patriarch gave us of the inside of the Holy Sepulchre, in which Christ was buried and rose again. Also below is a 3-minute video my dad took during the Divine Liturgy.

After the Liturgy, we were invited for a coffee and a snack with the archbishop and the Brotherhood. We stayed for a few minutes and then, around 3:00 AM, we headed back to the hostel to get a couple hours sleep before heading out on a trip to the Dead Sea early the next morning.

Jerusalem Underground

As we wandered around the old city, we came across the headquarters of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia's mission in Jerusalem, St. Alexander's (see photo above). It is located very close to the Holy Sepulchre and the present-day church sits atop the spot regarded as the "Last Judgment Gate," i.e. the way by which Christ left the city on his way to Golgotha.

This is also located underneath St. Alexander's. Scholars believe it is part of a triumphal arch that was constructed by the Emperor Hadrian when he rebuilt Jerusalem in 135 AD. The area underneath St. Alexander's is actually quite large, and scholars now believe that this area was part of or connected with the original Church of the Holy Sepulchre from the 4th century.

Having walked and seen quite a bit, we were quite hungry at this point, and we found a hole-in-the wall restaurant that had exactly one thing on the menu -- kebabs. In this photo, you can see their entire operation. To the left, one man is kneading, with bare hands, an enormous mound of ground meat, mixing in spices. He then makes a sausage-shaped patty and puts it on a skewer, which he hands to his partner in the right of the photo. This man is in charge of the grill. They serve the kebabs with some pita, a little grilled tomato and onion, and you can get some yogurt if you want. Quite simple, but very good.

After lunch we headed to the Burnt House, which I was quite interested to see. What remains (see above) is what was once the basement of a Jewish house that was destroyed, along with the Temple, in 70 AD by the Romans. It includes a mikvah (ritual bath) and stoneware (which, according to rabbinic oral tradition, do not contract ritual impurity) , both of which indicate it was occupied by a priestly family who needed to be ritually pure in order to serve in the Temple. This basement area seems to have been some sort of workshop, possibly for goods related to the Temple. The site is interesting for how much was preserved after the Romans set fire to the house. The upper floors seem to have come crashing down into the basement, and the ash covered and preserved everything until it was discovered in 1967.

Next we went over to the adjacent Wohl Archaeological Museum, which is quite similar to the Burnt House. Here are the remains of several large houses undoubtedly belonging to wealthy Jewish families from the time of Christ. There are a plethora of ritual baths, which again lend credence to the idea that this area, which at that time actually stood on a hill overlooking the Temple Mount, was a wealthy area inhabited by priests (well-off priests -- how do you like that idea?!)

On the right in this photo you can see steps leading down into a ritual bath. On the left seems to be a foot bath. The procedure seems to have been that one took a bath in a separate area, then walked to the ritual bath. One washed their feet in a basin like this one before walking down into the ritual bath.

After finishing here, it was about 5:00, when most things in the Old City closed, so we decided to head back to the hotel to rest until the service that night at the Holy Sepulchre. Stay tuned for the next post! I'll be trying to do one a day until the story is finished.

Here is a photo of my dad about to enjoy a can of Coke Zero in Arabic.

For more photos from day three, click here.

The Upper Room and St. David's Jerusalem

After the Temple Mount, we headed toward Zion Gate in the south-southeast of the Old City. In the photo above, you can see the outside of the gate, which are pockmarked with bullets (some of which you can still see in the wall) from the 1948 war.

We had been told that the Upper Room, in which Christ dined with his apostles in the "Last Supper," and possibly the same room in which the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles at Pentecost, was located just outside this gate.

As with most of the things that we set out to find, this was an almost impossible task. We walked around and around it and finally stumbled upon it almost by accident. It is, as far as I saw, completely unmarked (at least in English). This is probably due to the fact that it's actually now inside the so-called "Tomb of David," which hosts a Jewish yeshiva. Even once we were inside the building, we still had no idea where the room was. I asked one Jewish student and he, seeing my attire, laughed and said, "Why should I help you?" When I suggested it would get rid of me, he pointed me to the room, which was about 10 feet away.

This is the room, or rather the room that was built in the 12th century on the original site of the room. You can a mihrab on the left in this photo, testimony to the fact that it was turned into a mosque in the 16th century. The room is now, as you can see in the photo, quite plain.

Afterwards, we headed to the nearby City of David, which is the archaeological site built on St. David's Jerusalem, which is actually almost wholly outside the walls of the what is today known as the Old City. See their website here for an interesting view of how the city has changed over time. Above, I am looking at what they believe was some kind of royal room, possibly containing a mint.

If you are reading this in preparation for your own trip to Jerusalem, I would have to admit here that I would not make this visit a priority. As Pres. Pelagia notes, I love seeing "some old rocks piled on top of each other," but even this was too much for me. The site is so old that almost nothing is discernible today. The one interesting bit (especially if you have kids) is the tunnels, which were originally designed to give the city's inhabitants secret access to water supplies during times of siege. It is believed that these tunnels, which you can walk in (see photo above), are the ones which David and his army used to take the city in the first place. There's even one tunnel with 2 feet of water that you can wade through. We passed, but I imagine kids would like it, especially during the summer.

After the City of David, we headed to the Jaffa Gate on the west side of the Old City in order to see the Tower of David (aka the Citadel). Click here for a 360 degree virtual tour. The site has been strategically important possibly since the time of David, with some saying that David's city originally had a tower planted here. Its more "recent" history begins with the Hasmoneans in the 2nd century BC. It was significantly enhanced by Herod, but then went on to serve some purpose for every occupier of the city. Under the Byzantines, it was a monastery (a common theme, I noticed).

The map I'm looking at above tries to explain which pieces lying below belong to which eras.

After the Tower of David, which also houses some interesting museum pieces organized by era (and occupier), we set out wandering on the streets of the Old City. In the photo above you can see me looking in one of the typically overstuffed shops on a typically crowded street. The shop owners are relentless in their pursuit of tourists. Prices, we learned, usually start about 4 times higher than what they expect to finally receive after a prolonged period of haggling. This whole elaborate process (which extends to everything, including taxi rides) was amusing at first, but quickly, I would have to say, became tiresome.

The Temple Mount

Sorry for the delay in posting. I've been swamped since returning from Jerusalem, with work and with house blessings, which is a very interesting experience, as we go door-to-door in the days around Theophany asking people if they would like their houses blessed.

Anyway, to resume the narrative of the Jerusalem trip. On our third day, we decided to go early to the Temple Mount in order to avoid the long lines we had seen the previous day. As I mentioned previously, non-Muslims' entrance to the Temple Mount is strictly controlled, and subject to constant change at the whim of the Muslim authorities. So we arrived around 7:20 (it opened at 7:30) and got in right away. One Israeli guard--whose curiosity, I suppose, was piqued by my attire--approached me as we entered and asked where I was from. When I said "the US" he seemed satisfied, or at least unwilling to make more of an issue of it. Probably the issue for him was the controversial ban on prayer by non-Muslims on the Temple Mount. Jews are removed if their lips are seen moving in silent prayer and, ironically, Israel enforces this rule.

Since it was so early, the place was nearly deserted and blessedly free of the usual tour groups, so it was actually surprisingly quiet and peaceful up there, above the chaos that was already brewing down on the streets in the Old City. Above, I am standing in front of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Behind us here is the inside of the dome in the small Dome of the Chain, which is like a gazebo sitting just outside the Dome of the Rock.

The view out to the east from the Temple Mount. The golden domes you see belong to the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Mary Magdalene, which is situated on the Mount of Olives.

Here is a view of the famous Dome of the Rock, which is a massive shrine built on top of "the rock" -- the peak of Mt. Moriah, which most believe was the center of the Holy of Holies in both the first and second Temples.

Interestingly, the whole Temple Mount plateau--which equals 18 footfall fields--is basically a man-made construction, another engineering feat in Jerusalem, this time from Herod the Great. In renovating the Second Temple shortly before Christ's time, Herod had one mountain partially excavated--the remnants formed one corner of the plateau and the rock from the mountain was used as fill between the four retaining walls he constructed (one of which is the famous Western Wall).

At this moment in time, the Dome of the Rock is closed to non-Muslims, but there are times when the Muslim authorities randomly decide to open it again to non-Muslims. From what I understand, it is then possible to touch the rock which is the peak of Mt. Moriah, the site of so much sacred history (Abraham's near sacrifice of Isaac, etc.).

Here is a close-up of one section of the wall of the Dome of the Rock. If you look closely, you can see a bird perched in one of the holes in the right-hand pane.

As I mentioned in a previous post, here is one of the many entrances/exits to the Temple Mount which only Muslims can enter through.

After we finished exploring the Temple Mount, we found a little hole-in-the-wall cafe where we had an interesting anis flavored coffee and a snack for breakfast.

For more photos from the third day, click here.

Underneath the Western Wall and The Tomb of the Virgin Mary

After meeting with the patriarch, we headed to the famous Western (or Wailing) Wall, from which I had booked a special tour that goes in the tunnels underneath the Western Wall.

The photo above was taken from the top of the Western Wall plaza, an open area in front of the small section of the Western Wall that is exposed and used by Jews as a place of prayer. (Entrance to this plaza, by the way, requires passing through a metal detector.) You can see the famous section of wall on the left. On the right is a makeshift passage leading up onto the Temple Mount. This is controlled by the Muslims, who only allow non-Muslims to enter the Temple Mount through this guarded entrance (where, once again, you must go through a metal detector). Muslims, however, can pass freely without check through at least five entrances located around the Temple Mount. But more on this later.

This photo was taken toward the beginning of our tour, which takes place several stories below the modern-day ground level. But even here we are not yet at the ground level from the time of Herod the Great (19 BC). This level you can see on the tour through glassed-off sections of the floor that reveal shafts down another three stories or so. Down there was the original street level, and most believe that a row of shops originally lined this outer part of the Western Wall during Christ's time.

In the photo above, our group stopped to discuss some of the enormous blocks used in the wall. The one in the center of this picture is approximately 14 meters long and weighs around 600 tons. Many of these rocks were quarried out of the mountain that once stood here, which Herod had excavated in order to form an artificial platform area for the Temple Mount.

Here the tour guide showed us some graffiti that had been carved into the wall in Greek.

Here you can get an idea of the tunnels we walked through. The Western Wall is on the right. Jews come down here to pray, because they can get slightly closer (as compared to the Western Wall section above ground) to the spot on which the Holy of Holies stood.

After that most interesting tour, my dad and I explored some Armenian ceramics shops and bought some gifts, and then decided to drop them off back at our hostel via the Ramparts Walk, which runs along the top of the walls of the Old City. We thus walked from Jaffa Gate in the west around to Damascus Gate in the north, the closest point to our hostel. Above you can see my dad on the ramparts. The Latin Patriarchate complex is in the background.

Here I stand on the ramparts. In the background you get an idea of the chaos that is the Old City. Deep in the background you can see the famous Dome of the Rock sitting in the center of the Temple Mount, near where we had just taken that tour in the southeastern part of the Old City.

After stopping at the hostel, we headed out again and wandered the streets. We came to find that it is next to impossible to find what you are actually looking for in the Old City, but if you just wander around, you'll run into all sorts of fascinating sites. Here, we stumbled into the Orthodox church that sits on the site in which Christ and Barabbas were held prisoner. An Orthodox monk was managing the site, and when I asked to go underneath the church to see the actual site where Christ was held, he shooed the tourists out and turned on the lights in that area just for us. Above, I am standing where Christ was chained. In the bottom right of the photo, you can barely make out two rather large holes. The prisoner's legs went through here, as you see in the icon in the photo. Behind me and on the opposite wall was a place carved into the rock in which a chain could be looped.

Next we ran across the house in which the Virgin Mary was born and raised, the house of Sts Joachim and Anna. What is left of the house is underneath a Russian Orthodox church built on top of the site. Here you can see my dad coming back out through a narrow passageway.

Finally, toward the end of the day, we made our way over to the Mount of Olives, to the east of the Old City. At the base of the mount, we walked through the Garden of Gethsemane where Christ was betrayed.

We then visited the Tomb of the Virgin Mary, the site in which the Apostles laid the Panagia to rest before she was taken up bodily into heaven on the third day.

In the photo above, I am at the actual stone on which the Panagia was laid. It is glassed off, but people slip names and prayer requests through the cracks, as you can see. The site looks very similar to the Holy Sepulchre -- i.e., the original cave was isolated by St Constantine's architects and a small edifice was built on top of it to set it apart. The church was then built around the site.

For more photos from our very full second day, click here.

Meeting with the Patriarch of Jerusalem

About 6:30 the next morning, my dad and I headed to the Patriarchate. Weaving our way through the maze of buildings, we finally came to the chapel dedicated to Sts Constantine and Helen, where they were just finishing Orthros (Matins). Around 7:00, they started Divine Liturgy, with just one priest serving, the Patriarch sitting in his throne, and the church occupied by about 12 bishops and priests, several nuns (including our new friend Gerontissa Melania) and maybe 3 lay people. You can see the entrance to the chapel in the photo above. The dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is in the background.

It was a nice, peaceful Liturgy, and afterwards my dad and I were invited to have coffee with the Patriarch and the clergy. Everyone drank and ate a snack in silence before the Patriarch headed out, telling me to come visit him in his office later.

Gerontissa Melania told us that the best time to visit him in his office would be around 9:30 or after, so she decided to take us to see a few things in the meantime. The first stop was the church (in one of the many former monasteries in the Old City) built on the spot where Simon of Cyrene was compelled to carry Christ's cross (Mt 27:32 & par.) You can see my dad at that spot in the photo above.

Afterwards, we went to what remains of another ancient former monastery, St. Euthymios, which now houses just one nun (see photo above). Many of these monasteries are tucked into hidden corners of the Old City and, we were surprised to learn, actually now have people's homes inside their grounds. Former monastic cells and buildings are now people's homes, all within the monastery's compound! Meanwhile, a handful of monastics try to live their lives there and at least preserve the monastic church.

At St Euthymios, the gerontissa received us gladly and showed us the ancient chapel dedicated to St. Euthymios, before treating us to coffee and a snack. We had a very nice discussion -- like so many there and here in Greece, she (a Greek) was fascinated to hear about the converts to Orthodoxy in the US.

Finally, we headed back to the Patriarchate. In the photo above, Gerontissa and I are headed into the compound. (Can you believe that the Patriarch's car actually drives in this alley to come pick him up?)

We were quite fortunate to meet Patriarch Theophilos III after waiting just a few minutes, and without making a prior appointment. And then he was quite generous with his time, spending about a half an hour with us. His English is excellent, so--to my dad's great relief, no doubt--we spoke in English. The main topic of conversation was the previous day's events in Bethlehem.

Apparently, every year before Christmas (according to the Old Calendar, Jan 7), the Orthodox (who are the main proprietors of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem) do a thorough cleaning of the church in preparation for the feast. This means bringing out ladders to clean on top of things, etc. Well, this day was the day before we met with the Patriarch, and he was there in Bethlehem that day to supervise. Apparently, some of the Orthodox clergy and monastics came too close to a small corner that has been taken over by an Armenian Orthodox group, and violence ensued. One of the Armenians shook the ladder on which one Orthodox monk was standing, and when another Orthodox came to support the ladder, he was hit in the head with some kind of iron implement like a crow bar and sent to the hospital (where he underwent surgery), along with two others from the Orthodox party.

When we asked the Patriarch about this situation, which was all over the news that morning, he was clearly quite distressed by what he had seen. He said he could no longer keep quiet about the insanity there and wanted the world to know how the Orthodox were suffering in the Holy Land.

Having now been there (albeit just for a few days), I have a somewhat better appreciation for just how highly charged and complicated the political situation there must be, and I can only imagine how difficult it must be to be the patriarch.

My dad and I were both very impressed by the patriarch's humility and friendliness. I presented the patriarch with two books -- one published by our Western American Diocese's press, featuring icons and essays of Fr. Stamatis Skliris, and another from my metropolis in Volos, Greece, detailing the history of one of its historic churches.

I was honored and humbled when the patriarch personally presented me with a pectoral cross from the Jerusalem Patriarchate (see above). Although this is probably something he gives to all the priests, it was still a highlight of the trip for me. He also gave me permission to serve Liturgy at the Holy Sepulchre (!!), which will be in a forthcoming post.

Below you can see my dad got in on a photo with the patriarch, who also presented my dad with several gifts, including an icon.