Via Dolorosa N Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher

24/12/08
At Via Dolorosa, we followed and prayed the Stations of the Cross which is also called the Ways of Sorrows. This path traces the traditional footsteps of Jesus when he carried the cross that started from the time Pontius Pilate condemned Jesus to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher where he was crucified, taken down and removed to be put in the tomb.

We prayed the first three Stations at the Armenian Catholic Chapel which marks the spot where Jesus fell for the first time. After which we went along the foot paths to the designated spots to pray. It was really a trying experience to pray cos' the whole area is totally commercialised with so many souvenir shops distracting the group and also many other people were walking along the narrow pathways. However we managed to press onwards regardless.

The pics here tell of the group stopping at the various stations ..... Church of the Flagellation, Chapel of Condemnation, Armenian Church of Our Lady of Spasm, Franciscan Chapels, Church of St.Veronica, Greek Monastery of St. Charalambos, and a Coptic Church .... and finally .....

.....we reached the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher where the last five Stations of the Cross were prayed. In this Basilica is situated five churches and the Basilica is considered the most holy place on Earth for Christians.The present Church was erected by the Crusaders and contains the Place of Crucifixion and the Tomb of Jesus together with The Chapel of Adam, The Chapel of St. Helena and The Chapel of the Finding of the Cross.

The pictures below show one of me touching the shrine marking the position of the Crucifixion which is also called the Calvarium (Golgotha). One of them shows us pilgrims touching The Stone of Anointing which was the place Mary received the body of Jesus after he had been taken down from the cross. It was supposedly on this stone that Jesus' body was anointed with a mixture of myrrh, aloe and aromatic oils in preparation for burial.

Here is the picture of The Holy Sepulcher ... the holiest place in Christendom. It lies in the centre of the Rotunda in the Edicule which is richly decorated with oil lamps which burn day and night.
The tomb inside is covered by a marble slab and as we visited the tomb of Jesus we prayed inside and placed religious objects to be blessed here.

It was quite a solemn occasion as our group was lining up to enter the tomb ... and yet there were other tourists from other groups trying to cut our queue to enter the tomb first. Our local guide, Anis was very furious when he realised what the others were doing to our group.
He confronted them in the queue and of course they denied it. And he yelled at them ... "How dare you people lie in front of Jesus Tomb!! " And then they backed away .... I believe it's not easy to be a tourist guide here to stand up for your group. Good for Anis and thumbs up for him too.