Good day,
It really has been a fantastic day. As many of you know, it is La Semana Santa (Holy week ) and today was Palm Sunday. It has been one of the most wonderful days I've had here in Jerusalem. I've written before on how this city is a city of religious devotion and how that has touched me. Well, it happended again today. This morning I went to the Chuch of the Holy Seplecure to see the festivities. The church is shared between the Cotholics, the Greek Orthodox, the Armenian Orthodox, and the Coptic Christians from Egypt. That is jusht the main part of the church, there are also carious African churches/sects connected to it. So, imagine walking into a church that is shared byall of those different donominations and seeing them worship on one of their most holy days, and all in their own unique way. I was able to see people form all over the world, literally. It was so amazing to see the devotion of these people. I saw many people praying, many singing, and many people in tears. On thing tha impressed me was the 'Laying Stone.' In the church there is the traditional stone where they lay Christ body to prepare it for burial. The tradition is to kiss the stone, except on a day like today. Women (I only say women do this) anoint/wash the stone, as part of the process they use the scarves off of their own heads to wash the stone, they then kiss the stone and pray. it was here theat I saw the most tears, it was very touching for many of these women.
This afternoon wa got to participate in the Triumpful Entry. The percetional started over in the Bethany area and went up and over the hill into Lions Gate at Jerusalem and ended in St. Annes Church. THe percetional was incredible. There were literally thousands of people, and many of them were singing and praying in different languages. Yet again, it was good to see the devotion of these people. There were many pepole who had a difficult time walking because of injury or age, but they did the walk (and it was hot), it was incredible to see.
The day ended with a parade like thing that the local scouts did. I had no idea that there were scouts in Jerusalem. It was cool to see these kids wearing some of the same patches I wore.
To sum it up, it was a great day. Chau!
It really has been a fantastic day. As many of you know, it is La Semana Santa (Holy week ) and today was Palm Sunday. It has been one of the most wonderful days I've had here in Jerusalem. I've written before on how this city is a city of religious devotion and how that has touched me. Well, it happended again today. This morning I went to the Chuch of the Holy Seplecure to see the festivities. The church is shared between the Cotholics, the Greek Orthodox, the Armenian Orthodox, and the Coptic Christians from Egypt. That is jusht the main part of the church, there are also carious African churches/sects connected to it. So, imagine walking into a church that is shared byall of those different donominations and seeing them worship on one of their most holy days, and all in their own unique way. I was able to see people form all over the world, literally. It was so amazing to see the devotion of these people. I saw many people praying, many singing, and many people in tears. On thing tha impressed me was the 'Laying Stone.' In the church there is the traditional stone where they lay Christ body to prepare it for burial. The tradition is to kiss the stone, except on a day like today. Women (I only say women do this) anoint/wash the stone, as part of the process they use the scarves off of their own heads to wash the stone, they then kiss the stone and pray. it was here theat I saw the most tears, it was very touching for many of these women.
This afternoon wa got to participate in the Triumpful Entry. The percetional started over in the Bethany area and went up and over the hill into Lions Gate at Jerusalem and ended in St. Annes Church. THe percetional was incredible. There were literally thousands of people, and many of them were singing and praying in different languages. Yet again, it was good to see the devotion of these people. There were many pepole who had a difficult time walking because of injury or age, but they did the walk (and it was hot), it was incredible to see.
The day ended with a parade like thing that the local scouts did. I had no idea that there were scouts in Jerusalem. It was cool to see these kids wearing some of the same patches I wore.
To sum it up, it was a great day. Chau!
This is one shot of the street during the percetional.
This is a woman lighting candles at the Church of the Holy Secoecure. I saw this woman light many candles, this was a special time for her.
This is one of the African priests, I loved the contrast with scin and his robes.
The scouts played the bagpipes, it made me think of Jonny Ommet.
I love this picture. I tried all day to catch one of the scouts smiling and I got this one at the very end of the day, so this is my luck shot.
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