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| Sunday, 14 November 2004 |
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Features |  |
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In the footsteps of Christ : To the Golden City by Carol Aloysius The journey to Jerusalem from Bethlehem is as inspiring and spiritually uplifting a journey as was our path from Jordan to Israel.
Travelling through the vast desert, we pass several Kibbutz buildings - communal settlements run co-operatively by its members. We pass streets full of young men and women in their late teens carrying rifles and learn that serving in the army is compulsory for all young people aged 18 to 24 years. We realise that we are now nearing our destination, when that all time favourite "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Hark How I hear thee sing", sung in English and Hebrew, is aired over the speaker system of the bus. We stop to look at The Knesset - Israel's parliament building with its simple exterior and a foyer decorated with a mosaic by Marc Chagall. Opposite is a bronze Menorah, gifted by the British decorated with panels representing important figures and events in Jewish history. Overlooking it is the Supreme Court building considered to be the most impressive and tallest architectural creations in the city. The Children's Museum also known as the Holocaust Museum is perhaps one of the most poignant sights we see enroute to our destination. The dark cave like interior is lit by thousands of stars and memorial candles, a illuminate photographs of some of the one and a half million children who died during Hitler's reign of terror, and whose names we hear in the background as we pass through a seemingly unending pitch dark labyrinth till we finally emerge into the sunlight. In front of us stand rows of gleaming new buildings -symbolising the promise of a new Israel which emerged three years after the Holocaust . Our bus finally pulls up at the Hotel of Mount Olives, a beautiful hotel very close to the Mount Olives. The next day we enjoy a panoramic view of the Old City of Jerusalem .from the Mount Olives. With a labyrinth of over a hundred streets and thousands of tiny shops, some built into the walls of the city, the Old City has changed very little in appearance down to its ancient cobbled pavements. Today both Jews and Palestinians live here carrying out their various businesses outside the city's walls. The walls, 4.3 km of them towering forbiddingly at us, are the legacy of Suleyman (King Solomon) the magnificent, who also built seven gates by which one could enter or leave the city - the Damascus Gate, Herod Gate, St. Stephen's Gate, Dung Gate, Zion Gate and Golden Gate. Variously called the Golden City, the Sacred City, the Holy city. Jerusalem is a religious capital for more than half the world's population. From its barren hills the prophets and Christ launched their laws of moral and brotherly love. To the Christians it is the city of Jesus's last ministry, the city that saw Jesus die and rise from the dead. To the Muslims it is where Prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven. The city, standing high on the Judean hills, is built on the bare craggy limestone summit, All the houses are flat roofed and required by law to be built from the local limestone, that distinguishes the city from the other Israeli cities. We visit the Golden Gate where Jesus made His triumphal entry on a donkey's back on Palm Sunday and where people waved palms and sang "Hosanna to the Son of David". This scene is re-enacted every Palm Sunday. Dominus Flevit, the place where Jesus wept while on His triumphal march into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The site of Christ's weeping over Jerusalem now has a church that resembles a tear shaped shrine. The altar is framed by a panoramic glass window facing Jerusalem. We pass a cemetery containing small wooden boxes filled with bones of the dead, an ancient Jewish custom our guide tells us. The Temple Mount, the Dome of the Rock where tradition was the rock which according to Abraham prepared to sacrifice his son Isaac.Ein Karem, the birth place and church of St. John the Baptist is another of our memorable stops. Our next stop is the Pater Noster (Church of the Lord's Prayer). We stand in front of a wall panel with the Lord's Prayer inscribed in Sinhala - a gift from Superlink Travels, which has organised our tour. Mount olives one of the holiest mountains to Christians. It is here, Jesus took His disciples, blessed them and ascended to heaven. The top of the Mountain is said to be the very site, and a beautiful church has now come up at the spot. The Garden of Gethsamane where Jesus spent the night before His betrayal. One of the most authentic sites in the Holy Land. We are told that the appearance of the garden has hardly changed over the past twenty centuries since Jesus prayed during the most agonising and sorrowful hour of His life. Eight gnarled olive trees growing here are believed to be the same trees under which Jesus prayed in His final hours of agony. It was in this very garden that Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot, and led to the High priest Caiphas's house nearby. We meditate in that quiet tranquil garden before taking off to the Basilica of the Agony of Christ also known as the Church of All Nations built by 16 nations. This is by far one of the most beautiful churches in Jerusalem, built in the early 20th century, it bears a coat of arms of each contributing nation seen in the cupolas and pictures. In the afternoon, we visit the church of St. Peter's in Galicantu where Peter wept after having denied his Master thrice. Then to the Dungeon where, as Jesus was kept before He was taken to trial. To reach it we have to climb down several slippery steps carved into rock until we arrive at a tiny cave. On the instructions of our guide, we looked hard on either side of the rocky walls, where we could discern the faint impressions of the back of a head pressed into the wall. Still more amazing, by looking harder on the opposite wall, we could make out the faint image of a man, hands outstretched in an attitude of prayer. Many believe it is the image of Christ. Emerging from the dungeon we pass several torture chambers where prisoners were whipped, scourged and tortured. We then walk pass St. Stephen's Gate where the first Christian martyr was stoned and killed, and the Church of St. Anne, the site of the birth place of the Virgin Mary. |
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