Began the day today with Mass at the church of Pater Noster. Now, imagine a place where the words of the Lord's Prayer are printed in mosaic all over the walls, inside and out, in I'm not sure how many languages. Part of the tourist attraction (aside from actually celebrating the Mass) is to find the place on the walls where the Our Father is printed in a language you can understand.
Leaving Pater Noster behind us, we set off for the Garden of Gethsemane. Yes, it's actually a real garden (walled in and complete with olive trees that are more than 2000 years old). The trees are still bearing olives! There's yet another church nearby, dedicated to the suffering of Jesus. It's decorated in colours hues of purple, the colour that symbolizes suffering and pain.
No visit to the Holy City would be complete without a walk through the Via Dolorosa and a moment or two dedicated to the recitation of the Stations of the Cross. In our case, we recited them all, along the way, and it's amazing how this devotion comes to life when you consider that you're walking the actual way of suffering and pain. Some of the physical structure of the walls of the city has been slightly altered, but the streets are still narrow, now cluttered with souvenir shops which compete for your attention. Was it this busy in the time of Jesus too?
The Via Dolorosa ends at the Holy Sepulchre, the place where the tomb of Jesus lies. Visiting it takes a lot of patience these days, because pilgrims must wait their turn to enter the crypt where they are given a mere 15 seconds to pray in silence before an Armenian priest does his utmost best to keep the line moving. This place is dotted with all manner of Easter candles, reminders of the morning when the Church celebrates the Resurrection.
Ever heard of a Pascal Candle with a lightbulb attached? There's one or two of them there too.
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