Holy Land Pilgrimage 7

This is just one of the hallways in the Notre Dame Guest House.

These icons are in the stairwells.

This is the room I shared with Fr. John Frink.  We paired up so we could be Frink and Frank.

These next pictures are on the Mount of Olives.  This first one is just to show you how prevalent the crescent moon is.  The Muslims are the owners of the Ascension Chapel.  They are very nice about it here but it always creates a strain.

Ascension Chapel, which is very simple.

We waited in the courtyard until there was room for our group to go in.

This opening in the floor shows where Jesus supposedly lifted off.  Sometimes the piety is strange.

It is likely that Jesus taught the Lord's Pray to the people several times.  This is the place they thought he taught it to His apostles.  I was privileged to be the main celebrant for the group Mass at this place.  The Lord's prayer is translated into 162 languages so far.  A Bishop can submit the translation for a new language.  Nawar is needed.

This is the chapel I said Mass in.  I preached about my Dad and how he helped me understand what the Lord's Prayer was about.

St. Joseph

Flat Stanley has been trying to learn Italian.

A view of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives.

This is probably where Jesus wept over Jerusalem because they would not accept Him. It has the best view of Jerusalem.

This picture is in the sacristy.

The front view of the Dominus Flevit Chapel.

Next we got to go to a place that I had never hoped to go into, the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Mary Magdalene on the Mount of Olives.  It is so beautiful from the outside but they have very short hours to visit so no one from our group had ever been in it.  This time we made it.

St. Mary Magdalene

It was just great to be in here.  St. Mary Magdalene had such a powerful love for Jesus.

Many scholars believe that Mary, the Mother of Jesus, was born in Jerusalem.  This place marks the spot.

As you can see, it also is Orthodox.

Sts. Joachim and Anne, the parents of Mary.

St. Stephen

I need help translating their names.

The church of St. Anne

These are what is left of the Pools of Bethesda.

St. Anne and Mary in the Church of St. Anne.

The birth of Mary

More ruins of Bethesda, which are right next to the Church of St. Anne.

Then we had lunch at Ecce Homo.  Flat Stanley wonders if you can guess what kind of pop this is?  The answer later.

At first I thought this was Theresa Monahan

After lunch we went onto the roof to look around.  This dome is a part of the Church of Ecce Homo, Behold the Man.

This of course is the Dome of the Rock.  It is a Muslim sacred place built on the spot the Temple of Jerusalem used to be.  It also happens to be the spot that Mohammad was supposed to have ascended from.

The courtyard below is the playground at a school.

Everything is built very close in Old Jerusalem.

This is a view of the Notre Dame Guest House from that roof top.

Narrow street and stairway all in one.

The Church of Ecce Homo.

Jesus after the scourging and crowning of thorns.

The Way of the Cross is through very narrow streets.

This church marks the spot that was one of the places Jesus was imprisoned.

The 4th Station.

The third Station.

The fifth Station

All that marks the 6th Station.

This is the first part of the Holy Sepulchre.

Holy Sepulchre is actually several churches in one, so there are several different styles.

This was probable the very spot Jesus was crucified.

Under this altar is the spot that you can touch the rocky ground of the crucifixion.

Those were all different views of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

The wall around Jerusalem.

A better look at where we were staying.

This night we had a fancy dinner by the tour company that helped organize the trip.  They hope they could convince each of us to bring a tour to the Holy Land, using them of course.