Liturgy in the Holy Sepulcher & a Few Concluding Thoughts »
Posted on October 31, 2009 in 2009 Pilgrimage to the Holy Land - 0 COMMENTS
Day Ten
by Rev Fr Chris Flesoras
After an eventful night, which included a trip to Hadassah University Hospital on Mount Scopos (thank God, all is well, someone was just under the weather), we arose for breakfast, to then depart for the Church of Saint Photini and Jacob’s Well in Samaria. As we know from Scripture, the Jacob’s Well was the source of water of the region, at which the Samaritan Woman encountered Christ. It is therefore a sacred place for Jews and Christians alike.
A Christian Church was first built in this location in the 5th century that was destroyed shortly thereafter in a Samaritan Revolt. It was rebuilt in the 6th century and then again in the 12th century by the Crusaders. In 1914, with funding from Russian, the Church was being rebuilt. Unfortunately, due to the Bolshevik Revolution, funding ceased in 1917. For almost 100 years the Sanctuary remained unfinished.
In 1980, Archimandrite Justin was assigned to this community after an overzealous Jew from the United States murdered the previous priest. Although there have been countless threats on his life, not to mention that he was attached and stabbed 15 times, with great faith, Fr. Justin has not only completed the Church, but also beautified it beyond belief. In addition to the Relics of his martyred predecessor to the front right of the altar, up on one of the sixth or seventh century capitals at the top of one of the 56 columns (Fr. Justin noted that he purchased, found and was “gifted” others to complete the Church), is the jug from which the Samaritan woman drew water. It was returned from Constantinople this past year.
Descending the stairs on either side of the altar, we entered a small chapel in which is the well, some 120 feet deep. I drank a cup of holy water from the well as the two Ukrainian Bishops and the priest who we met at the Patriarchate a few days before were praying Liturgy.
In the nave were another group of pilgrims from the US and Canada, all of whom were affiliated with Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Brookline, MA. To my surprise the Abbot from the Monastery was present. We’ve been playing phone tag over the past six months, since we have a common friend at Kykkos Monastery. When he learned that I would be traveling to the Monastery after my stay in Jerusalem, he was extremely excited, as he happened to bring incense for our friend, with the hopes that he would meet someone who could take it to him. One of the members of our group also saw recognized on the priests of the group whom he hasn’t seen since they were children in Salt Lake City. Again, God works in mysterious ways!
We departed from the Church to visit Mar Sabba (Saint Sava) Monastery. The drive was difficult for the large bus, so we split into two groups and drove to the Monastery in two smaller vans (with “Hawaiian Travel” written on the side). Our driver was quite the character. He had Greek flags, Greek music, a picture of the Greek Prime Minister, and other photos of Greece in his van. It was really funny. Basically, the region in which he works and lives is poor. Some will go to great lengths to make a little extra money; in this case, we were with the most enthusiastic, pro-Greek Palestinian who walks the earth.
Mar Sabba, the oldest functioning Monastery in the world (over 1500 years) is situated in the Judean Desert. The history, the location, the lack of electricity, the simplicity, and the structures were magnificent. Venerating St. Sabba and other Saints of the Monastery, standing in the cave was set aside by God to serve as a church for the brotherhood, seeing St. Sabba’s cave dwelling across the river below, hearing the bells, walking through the Catholicon was overwhelming. For over 1500 years, the monastery has produced saints, defended the Faith through theological discourses, maintained a love and respect for icons, nurtured some of the greatest hymnographers of the Church, and established the order of much of our worship.
Since the brotherhood continues to follow the typikon of St Sabba himself, women are not allowed in the Monastery, the women remained on the exterior patio with a youthful and kind monk, Fr. Ephraim who shared much of the history of the monastery as well as the blessings of Holy Oil, Holy Water, and reading materials on the brotherhood. We were led through the Monastery by Fr. Lazarus, an American and convert to Orthodoxy, who has been at the Monastery for the past 15 years. He was brought into the Church will studying at UC Santa Cruz, at the time same time that Fr. James from the Old Russian Orthodox Cathedral in San Francisco, Fr. Gerasim and Fr. Damascene from the Serbian Monastery in Platina were brought into the Church.
Although Fr. Lazarus shared many a beautiful thought with our group, I was taken with one discussion in particular: he explained that returning to the Monastery after being away for a few years assisting another community of the region, a lot more touristy than St. Sabba, was like being able to breathe again. Too many times when we remove hard work, we become spiritually heavy. The only way that we can ascend is through being lightened through physical labor and great spiritual exercise.
We departed from Saint Sabba and drove in the small buses to the Holy Monastery of St. Theodosius. It was a beautiful complex now inhabited by a group of sisters –sister Christina is who let us into the Monastery. We venerated numerous Holy Relics both in the main Church and in the Chapel of the Magi. The Chapel bears this name as it was revealed to St. Theodosios by the Virgin Mary in a vision that the cave in which he was to build a Church was the resting place of the Magi as they were returning to their own country. Today the cave contains a small altar table for services and the tombs of 6 (I think) Saints of the Church. Again, a most blessed visit.
We returned to the hotel about 4:30pm this afternoon. The reason for this early return to the hotel is so that we could rest a bit prior to departing at 10:30pm for the Holy Sepulcher for Divine Services. More tomorrow; it’s a scheduled free day so some time for sleep, a trip to the Old City, and time to pack as I will depart on Monday morning at 6AM for Cyprus.
