Posted on October 30, 2009 in 2009 Pilgrimage to the Holy Land - 0 COMMENTS
Day Nine
by Rev Fr Chris Flesoras
Our first stop this morning was the Church of the Holy Martyr Stephen. The Church is located across the street from the Roman Catholic Church of All Nations, in the Kidron Valley. The Church itself is two levels; on the second level is the Church itself, the first level contains the rock on which St. Stephen was martyred by the Jews shortly after his ordination to the deaconate by the Holy Apostles (the first bishops. It was a blessing being able to venerate this sacred rock.
Fr. Archistarhos, our guide of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem gave a beautiful talk in the church proper. He explained the history of St. Stephen as well as a burial tradition of the Jews. As Christians put flowers, light incense, and burn vigil lights at the grave of a family member or friend, Jews of old would place pebbles upon the graves upon the tombs. The pebbles represent the feelings, the emotions of the faithful.
Our next stop was the Russian Orthodox Monastery of St. Mary Magdalene. The Monastery, situated on the hillside of the Mount of Olives is normally only open to pilgrims for a handful of hours on Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday. Thankfully, Mike our driver, was able to get us in for a visit.
We could not believe the beauty of the gardens and the Church. The gardens were lush and the church was filled with icons and holy relics. Two large reliquaries were to the left and right of the altar – on the left were the Holy Relics of Saint Barbara of the Holy Family, to the right were the Holy Relics of the Grand Duchess Elizabeth. The primary icon above the iconostasis, essentially a platytera, was an icon of St. Mary Magdalene standing in front of Caesar Tiberius. Father shared with us the story of St. Mary from her biography; remarkably through her faith and efforts, Jesus was almost considered a God by Caesar Tiberius! The red eggs that we crack at Pascha with the words, “Christ is Risen!” Truly He is Risen!” are almost products of her faith in the Resurrected Christ, which I will look forward to sharing on a later occasion on account of the length of today’s writings.
We departed from this Holy Monastery and went to the Walling Wall, the most sacred site for Jews. It also remains of great spiritual importance to Orthodox Christians as the Temple since the Prophet Solomon who followed the directions of the Lord constructed it, it was the place where the Virgin Mary was raised and nurtured in the Faith, and our house of worship continues to follow the design of its sacred space. The Wall is actually a retaining wall from the Temple rebuilt after the Jews returned from exile, not a wall of the Temple itself.
We met and conversed with a delightful Jewish man from Chicago while we waited to proceed through the security checkpoint. He was visiting the Wall hoping that one of the Orthodox rabbis could help him believe as he struggled with his faith. He explained that he just couldn’t find God after the atrocities and the holocaust; how could a just God allow so many people, including some of his family members, suffer and die? I shared my hope with him that God would soften his heart for which he was most grateful.
I walked to the wall and spent a few moments in prayer and also respectfully admiring the piety of those who have traveled from all over the world to offer their prayers at this place. To my surprise and disappointment, a boy about 10 years old came up and spit in front of me. After I processed what happen, I went to speak with one of the rabbis. As I would ask, “Do you speak English,” this boy would run up and tell them something in Hebrew to which they would simply say “No.” I wasn’t upset just perplexed. To get his goat a bit, I took his picture. Just about that time another Rabbi said, “I speak English.” As we began to speak the little boy ran up to him and told him in Hebrew not to speak with me. The man quickly responded back that he’ll be okay and to go his way.
Sadly, as the rabbi noted, many pious Jews (and Christians I might add), remain completely ignorant of their Faith. They assume many things, hold prejudices, and act as defenders of their Faith, only to the embarrassment of their peers. We spoke for some time and agreed that God is great and that there must be a more concerted effort to teach people correctly and to better embrace one another in love. He was a good rabbi indeed! We parted ways offering God’s blessings to each other.
Our first stop at the Church of the Resurrection was the oldest chapel at the Sepulcher. Here, we were able to receive the blessing of the Abbot of Brotherhood, Fr. Isidoros, we then advanced to the venerate numerous Holy Relics, including a piece of the Holy and Life-Giving Cross of our Lord. The faithful were also asked to offer names of the living and the deceased to be commemorated in this evening/mornings services.
Immediately outside of the Office was a chapel dedicated to Adam. The reason for this is because it was in the rock of Golgotha, the place of the skull (in reference to Adam’s skull). As Father explained, when Noah gathered the animals as well as his family prior to the flood, he also gathered the relics of those who came before him, including the skull of Adam, the first man. According to tradition, after the flood, Noah returned from Mount Ararat and buried it here in a cave, which can be seen through a small window. When the Lord was crucified upon Golgotha, immediately above us, the earth shook. It is said that on account of this earthquake, His blood even washed the skull of Adam, the first of God’s created.
As we listened to Father’s explanation of this chapel as well as the place of Calvary immediately above the section of the Church, the bells rang and the symandron was hit marking 1PM. Deacons from the Greek Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church and the Armenian Church each passed through/buy the Chapel censing the sacred space.
Advancing from the Chapel of Adam, we venerated the stone on which the Lord was laid after HE was taken down from the Cross. The stone, over which hangs numerous vigil lights, is sweet smelling. On the all behind the stone is a beautiful mosaic depicting the Lord being taken down from the Cross and laid on the funeral bier.
A short walk, led us into a huge side vault of the Church. Within this section was found the tomb of the Lord. The chapel that is built over the tomb is beautiful. One can venerate both the rock that was rolled away from the tomb as well as the tomb itself. The tomb is open for veneration for all pilgrims during the day, but every evening, Orthodox clergy utilize this space as the Holy Altar as the Divine Liturgy is prayer (We did not venerate the tomb at this time as the wait was over an hour. We will return for the Divine Liturgy tomorrow evening at which time we will do so).
Our next stop was the tomb, or burial spot of Nicodemos and Joseph. We know from Scripture, that they offered their family tomb to Jesus Christ. Out of respect for the Lord, they had their family members buried not in the tomb of the Lord, but near, the tomb. In this space, Nicodemos and Joseph were themselves buried.
The space is unfinished; in fact it even has a dirt floor. Father explained that the reason that this chapel is in such a state is because the three Churches that are the caretakers of this space – the Armenian, the Coptic and Syrian churches, have been unable to work with one another. Even when the Israeli Office of Religious Affairs offered to coordinate the project by brining in all the specialists and artisans from their respective lands, and all pay for the all the work, they were unable to reach a common mind.
We then walked to the Chapel where the Lord was temporarily held prior to His Crucifixion. As Father explained, it took some time to prepare the place for the Lord’s crucifixion – digging the hole, getting the cross ready, etc. In turn the Lord was kept here for a short time. His feet were put through two holes and chained underneath to ensure that he would remain here.
Behind the place where he was chained is a small chapel dedicated the Virgin Mary. It is located here because it is believed that the Virgin Mary first learned that her son would be crucified. The prophecy of St. Symeon was fulfilled.
Walking a bit further through large passage, we were led to a side altar. It was here that the Roman Centurion (in charge of hundreds of men), who was responsible for the crucifixion of the Lord. He was the witness to all of the strange and miraculous events at the time of the Lord’s death upon the Cross. It was from here that he proclaimed that truly Jesus was the Son of God. As we know from Holy Tradition, he was baptized, Longinus. He was a martyr of the ancient Church (this chapel remains in the care of the Orthodox Church.
Next to this altar, is the place where the other soldiers were gathered to were present at the crucifixion. Here the soldiers played games to divide the Lord’s garments (the game was photographed some days before in a Catholic Church). This is the reason why Christians are not meant to play games of luck (gamble).
We then walked down two flights of stairs leading us to another chapel. It seemed a bit off the trodden path, as we were the only group here, in fact we all sat on the floor to take a break! Father explained that the early Christians didn’t have the blessing of the Gospel or other books to learn of the Faith. Instead, they would have to visit the holy sites as pilgrims where they would be told stories of Jesus Christ. Naturally, at this time, many of the locals of Jerusalem wanted to have the holy sites closed. The Holy Cross was therefore taken down and thrown into a cave that would be filled with trash and dirt.
Three hundred years later, St. Helen came with her envoys to look for the Cross. All that the locals knew was that it was buried somewhere under this sweet smelling plant as it had been covered with trash and dirt many years before. When her workers began digging they found nothing and wanted to give up. It is said that St. Helen would come by night to throw gold coins in the dirt. When the workers would return, they thought that they had found treasure and would in turn, dig deeper. After doing this for many days, the workers finally found the entrance to the cave and the Holy Cross.
On account of the weight of the Cross, weighed down by the sins of the world, the faithful chanted and prayed, “Lord have mercy!”, over 1000 times. The Cross became lighter and was elevated by the Bishop of Jerusalem on September 13. After each person venerated the Holy Cross, St. Helen gave them a piece of the sweet smelling plant, hence the plant of a King (or Queen).
In the next chapel to the left of the stair well was an altar which contained the stone on which the Lord sat when he was mocked by the soldiers. We are reminded in Scripture that he was dressed in purple, crowned with thorns (desert thorns which also released a poison that was very painful when one was pricked by the point), and given a staff.
In 1542, the region was under Ottoman control. The Armenians attempted to take advantage of the circumstances by giving a great deal of money to the Ottoman ruler and were granted the right to celebrate Liturgy from the tomb of Christ for Pascha. The Patriarch Sophronios at the time reminded all of the faithful and the Turkish government that the right was only for the Greek Orthodox faithful as it had been from the beginning. The Ottoman ruler gave the Orthodox Patriarch three punishments:
1) You will not be present for the Holy Light
2) You will take the light from the Armenian Bishop
3) You will be given human excrement to eat for your festal meal.
The Patriarch agreed but said what if the Armenian Bishop will be unable to take the holy light, shouldn’t the fate be given to the Armenians instead? The Turkish government accepted the deal. The Armenians began their paschal celebration but no light – midnight, one, two, and three… Finally at 3am as the Muslim crier went outside to sing the call the prayer, he witnessed the Holy Light split a column and come out to light the Greek Orthodox Bishop’s candle. This man, after proclaiming the Faith in the Resurrection of Christ, was thrown from the minarets and martyred. His relics are kept in a local monastery. As for the Armenians, they had a festal meal the next day (the pot, out of which the Armenians ate, is placed in the open outside the place where the Lord was temporarily held prior to His Crucifixion. The column that was split is outside, a reminder to all that it is the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate which is the true steward of the Holy Sepulcher.
We returned to the hotel to rest and to enjoy an early dinner. Tomorrow, we will visit the Monasteries of St. Saba and St. Theodore and going to Jacob’s Well, where the Samaritan Woman met the Lord. We will then pray Divine Services at the Holy Sepulcher.
