Holy Land Pilgrimage 2011
August 25
We left the Golden Walls Hotel after an excellent breakfast very early to head to the Western Wall. This a place of great significance to Jewish people who believe it to be part of the ancient temple which housed the Ark of the Covenant. Thursday is Bar Mitzvah day and the whole area was alive with families flocking to celebrate this important event at this special place. There was an air of excitement heightened by the presence of traditional musicians playing for and dancing with the family groups.
We approached the wall with great respect many of us bearing petitions to place into the wall as is tradition. Even at this early hour many people were there praying, having Torah blessed or celebrating Bar Mitzvah. We then moved onto the site of the temple of the rock with its Golden Dome which Is the third Most Holy place in the Muslim faith. The vast plateau around the dome was almost deserted apart from a few fellow pilgrims and the crews of workmen preparing for the hundreds of thousands who will arrive for Ramadan prayers this Friday.
Jerusalem has been destroyed 17 times and rebuilt 18. As result the Jerusalem of Our Lords time is now some twelve to fifteen feet below the level of the current city. It makes it difficult to picture the city as it was at that time. But when we visited the site of the Pool at Bethesda and the birth place of Our Lady we went below the current city levels and gained a real sense of connection with Bible times.
Walking on through the city we passed through narrow bazaars selling everything from sweets to socks, tobacco to training shoes and plugs to parsley. A mixture of smells, sounds and colours almost too much to take in.
After lunch we celebrated a beautiful mass in the church of St Peter in Chains. Here Jesus was detained at the house of Caiaphas whilst Peter denied him three times. We spent time in darkness and silences in the Pit (dungeons) and read the gospel again overlooking the Kedron Valley whilst hearing the Meuzzins leading Muslim prayer from the Mosques.
The day ended with an audience with Bishop William who welcomed us warmly and reinforced the need for continued support for our Christian Bretheren. It is not enough just to support the annual collection for the Holy Places, they will cease to exist if we do not do more and support our "living stones".
We have kept you all in our prayers an especially remembered the sick at the Pool of Bethesda today.
God bless.
A Pilgrim
Photogallery
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