My Pilgrimage: May 31

Once again, the Holy Days messed up our schedule, but that’s ok.  We were supposed to visit the City of David and walk Hezekiah’s Tunnel, but they were closed due to the Jewish holy day.  So after breakfast we headed over to the Temple Mount.  You have to pass through security, and due to Ramadan you were not allowed to bring any food or drink in.  That meant we had to dump our water, which made for a very thirst group by lunch time.

While waiting, we are able to look at the extension of the Temple Mount made by Herod (the lower, bigger stones; the upper, smaller stones were built up by the Muslims after they had been pushed down by the Romans).

On the Temple Mount, basically all we could do was look at the outside and take some pictures.  Only Muslims are allowed inside.

Afterwards, we walked through part of the Muslim Quarter and made our way back to the Jewish Quarter, where we were going to have lunch.  But again, Holy Day meant everything was closed.  We had to back track to another place where we had a pretty good lunch buffet.  After lunch, we were free for the afternoon, so I walked around with two others on the trip.

I did make a fairly big purchase (for me anyways).  There is a Greek Orthodox icon store near where we ate last night.  I thought: this might be the only time I will be able to buy an authentic Greek Orthodox icon.  So I splurged for a nice icon of the Holy Trinity (one of the most…iconic…icons). 

We made our way back to the convent, and I walked around the church here a bit, including the crypt.  They have excavated a prison, and there is a possibility that, since this is so close to the house of Cleophas, Jesus may have been scourged and held prisoner here.  It’s something to really think about.

There are crosses etched in the walls

After a bit of a break, we had Mass and then dinner at an Armenian restaurant.  I was adventurous and tried an Armenian dish that was almost like a stew with peppers, tomatoes, onions, and a large beef patty on the bottom all covered in a yogurt and sesame sauce.  It was quite good, unlike anything I’ve tried before.

Following dinner, we made our way to the Western Wall.  I was blessed to be able to make my way down to the wall, as far right as you can go, and pray for a few minutes.  I could not help but think about my possibly Jewish ancestors, as well as other prayer requests.  It was a moving experience that is hard to explain.  Jesus may have touched those very stones, along with millions of others.

So now I must finish and get some sleep.  We have an early day tomorrow: Mass at 6:30 in the Holy Sepulchre. After that, it will be a full day at the Dead Sea.  Hopefully I can get more sleep tonight, after a slightly shortened sleep last night when I was awoken by the call to prayer around 3:30.