Christmas Eve

24/12/08
When we entered Bethleham, these are the high walls we first faced at the military checkpoint.
I heard that Bethleham is a walled up city and here I saw the gigantic concrete walls and the graffiti on them. Many locals are not happy with the walls being erected but they have to accept it. When these gigantic concrete walls were erected, I heard that many ancient olive trees were also destroyed.
Not all tourists are able to visit Bethleham freely cos' I heard that certain groups were turned back because of the absence of a Spiritual Director with the group.

This evening being Christmas Eve, we had a surprise from the military personnels that came on board to check the bus. This is the usual practise that whenever a tour bus enters Bethleham on Christmas Eve, the military personnels passed out Christmas pressies to us tourists. It is a nice gesture on the part of the Israeli government to give sweets to visitors in the Holy Land.

A sweet package pressie from the Israeli Government containing .... lollipops, chocolates and sour candies .... and a tag wishing visitors a Merry Christmas!

Wailing Wall N Church of the Visitation

24/12/08
After lunch we visited the Wailing Wall which is also called the Western Wall. This wall was part of the temple built by King Herod in the first century B.C. The Jewish people gather here and do their pilgrimage by offering prayers for the peace of Jerusalem and also for the coming of the Messiah.
When we were there, we can see the peace keepers all over the area and there was very tight security check on anyone visiting this place.

Later on in the afternoon, we went on to visit Ein Karem which according to tradition is the "City of Judah" associated with the life of John the Baptist. It was here that John's father Zacharias had his summer home and it was also here that the Virgin Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth.

The church is situated up on a steep hill and the architect Barluzzi designed the beautiful Church of the Visitation situating it on the site of the home of Elizabeth and Zacharias. Inside the church shows the fresco depicting The Visitation.

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.

Jerusalem

Wednesday 24/12/08

This morning our group entered Old Jerusalem via St. Stephen's Gate. From here we walked up to the Pools of Bethesda. Here was one ot the main water reservoir during the time of Jesus and it was also here that Jesus cured a man who was sick for 38 years (John 5:2-13)

Here are the photos of the Pools of Bethesda where we roamed for about 15 minutes and the area was totally dried out.

From the Pool of Bethesda we headed towards St. Anne's Church which is the traditional birth place of Mary, mother of Jesus. St. Anne would then be Jesus's grandmother :-)

Shepherd's Field

23/12/08
Late afternoon and we entered Shepherd's Field some 3 km east of Bethleham. It was here that an Angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds who were watching their flocks of sheep that night. The angel told them of the good news that Christ the Lord was born (Luke 2:8-11).
In this area there were many caves. These caves were where the shepherds would rest together with their flock of sheep in the cold winter season. We would be experiencing Mass being said in one of these caves on Christmas eve.

Bethleham N Basilica of the Nativity

23/12/08
In the afternoon we went on to Bethleham, some 8 km. south of Jerusalem. The word Bethleham in Hebrew means "House of Bread". This was the birth place of Jesus and His ancestor ..King David. We reached the Basilica of the Nativity and had to literally bow low to enter the church grounds. Notice that the entrance of the church was made low and narrow in order to protect it from the Moslem invaders and to prevent them from entering on horseback.
Today the front of the church is shared by the Greek Orthodox, the Latins and the Armenians.
Anything in front of the altar area is considered no man's land.

We entered the Grotto of the Nativity and the silver star denotes the spot where Jesus was born (Luke 2:1-7). The holy manger lies to the right of it.

Mt.Zion N Basilica of the Dormition

23/12/08
We visited the Basilica which is considered to be the most important place in Mt. Zion. The church has a staircase which leads down to a crypt venerated as Mary's home after Jesus's Resurrection. It is also considered as the place for her "death". In the centre of the crypt lies a life-size statue of the sleeping Mary. It is made of cherry wood and ivory.

Lunch today was at The Gate restaurant. We had grilled upside down chicken with savoury rice.