Holy Land Pilgrimage: Carrying our Cross

 

I couldn’t believe it! It’s been almost a year since I wrote this blog. Aside from the many things that happened, I’ve been focusing on my faith blog and didn’t have the chance to finish this. But I always say God’s timing is perfect. Things happen when He wants them to happen. It is with both gratitude and sadness that I reminisce on our Holy Land trip. Gratitude for the chance to visit the place where Jesus walked before all the hostilities happened. Sadness because of the war going on in Israel right now. I pray for peace, that the Israelites and Palestinians will learn to live in harmony. I also pray that the holy sites may not be affected so that many more people will still get to see them and remember that it was here where God sent His only son to live among men.

 

With that being said, let’s continue the journey.

 

VIA DOLOROSA

On the 8^th day of our pilgrimage, we not only followed Jesus’ footsteps, but we also carried His cross. Our whole morning was spent in Jerusalem tracing the Via Dolorosa, a processional 600-meter route in the Old City of Jerusalem from the former Antonia Fortress to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. After entering the city through Herod’s gate,

 

we made our way to the Church of Flagellation, site of the 1^st Station, where we were given a wooden cross to carry. Each group took turns in carrying it as we prayed the Stations of the Cross around the streets of the Jerusalem market.

 

 

“As they were coming out, they found a man of Cyrene named Simon, whom they pressed into service to bear His cross.” – Matthew 27:32

 

A sob almost escaped my throat when we took our turn at the cross. Unlike Simon of Cyrene, we were willing to carry this burden. Connecting with Jesus by carrying His cross made me emotional. Experiencing how Jesus was rejected by the people cut deep. Before we started, Bro Arun Gogna told us to take note of our surroundings. It is exactly as it was in Jesus’ time – a marketplace where people ignored his suffering as he carried the cross. True enough, we too were ignored. People passed by without throwing a glance at our group, sometimes shoving us a bit in their rush to overtake us.

 

Along the bustling streets of the Old City, we solemnly made our way passing the 2^nd to the 8^th Stations:

• 2^nd Station – Church of the Condemnation and Imposition of the Cross
• 3^rd Station – Armenian Polish Catholic Church
• 4^th Station – Armenian Church of Our Lady of the Spasm
• 5^th Station – Franciscan Chapel of Simon of Cyrene
• 6^th Station – Greek Catholic Church of the Holy Face
• 7^th Station – Franciscan chapel
• 8^th Station – Chapel of St. Charalampos

 

At the entrance to the Ethiopian Orthodox Monastery (Deir Al-Sultan) and the Coptic Orthodox Monastery of Saint Anthony where the 9^th Station marker was, we had to leave the cross. These 2 churches together form the roof of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

Monk guarding the entrance to the Ethiopian Orthodox Monastery at Deir Al-Sultan

 

We descended from the roof and followed a circuitous route through the bazaar to reach the Parvis or the courtyard facing the entrance of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The 10^th Station is in the Chapel of the Franks (also called Chapel of the Torment, Chapel of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary or Our Lady of Sorrows) which was accessible from the Parvis.  

 

We then entered the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (also known as Church of the Resurrection or Church of the Anastasis). It is a magnificent edifice shared by different Christian denominations. The main building has chapels run by the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic (called Latins in Israel) and Armenian Apostolic churches. The Coptic Orthodox (Egyptians), Syriac Orthodox, Ethiopian Orthodox churches occupy other parts of the church. An interesting trivia about this set up is that the key is kept by a Muslim to keep the peace.

 

Joining a throng of pilgrims, we climbed the stairs to Calvary where the 11^th to the 13^th Stations were located:

• 11^th Station - Catholic Chapel of the Nailing to the Cross

Above the altar: 12^th century mosaic of Jesus being nailed to the cross

• 12^th Station - Greek Orthodox Chapel of the Crucifixion’s Altar where the rock of Calvary is encased in protective glass

• 13^th Station – Catholic altar of Our Lady of Sorrows

 

Finally, we made our way down to the 14^th Station at the Edicule, a 19^th century shrine where the empty tomb of Jesus is enclosed. It is in the Rotunda under the Dome of the Anastasis.

 

The spot that intensified the sense of Jesus’ suffering for me was the Stone of Anointing or Stone of Unction where Jesus’ body is said to have been laid after He was brought down from the cross and anointed before burial. As I gazed at the 3-part mosaic depicting the Descent from the Cross, Anointing of Jesus’ Body, Burial of Jesus on the wall beside the slab, I was one in sorrow with the Blessed Mother and His disciples.

Stone of Anointing

 

Our morning tracing the Via Dolorosa made us keenly aware of what Jesus suffered for our sake.

 

I’ll tell you about the other places we visited on our 8^th day in my next blog as I feel Christ’s Passion deserves to be experienced on its own even virtually by my readers.