March 15, 2012

Today we visited several sites in Old Jerusalem. It rained off and on (wait a minute,....aren't we in the desert?) and was cool, but not so much rain that it stopped us from doing what we wanted to do.


- First we went through St. Stephen's gate into the old city of Jerusalem. St. Stephen was thought to be martyred near this spot.
- Walked to Church of St. Anne, mother of Mary. An ancient church (crusaders, circa 1099) built over the spot where it is thought that Mary was born and lived as a young girl.
- Nearby are Pools of Bethesda, where the Bible says that Jesus cured a paralytic. They are dry now (drained) and have been excavated as an archeological site.
- Mass in the Chapel of Flagellation, to commemorate Jesus' scourging. This was a small chapel but very special with many details like a crown of thorns light fixture, and a crown of thorns mosaic over the altar. The mass was very special too.
- The highlight of the day was going through the stations of the cross where they actually occurred. We have done the stations over the years as Catholics, within a church, but this was really different since we were walking the route that it is thought Jesus took. This route is called the Via Dolorosa. Our group took turns carrying a light cross and Kathleen and I did that together. Very special experience.
- Stations of cross ended at Church of Holy Sepulchre, over the site of Calvary and the tomb. The last 5 stations are actually located within that church. This church has 10,000-25,000 visitors a day. It is one of the most revered sites in the Christian world. You can feel it too when you enter.


We had a nice farewell to jerusalem dinner tonight at a local restaurant. Middle eastern/Mediterranean food. Kathleen tried hummus for the first time and liked it!


Tomorrow we are seeing a few more sites in Jerusalem then traveling to the Dead See, Galilee, and Jericho. Different hotel room starting tomorrow night, in Tiberias at the Sea of Galilee. Will send an update from there assuming that internet access is decent!