More from Jerusalem

This will be a quick post, because we’re up early tomorrow morning for the bus ride to Galilee.  Today started with a lecture by Dr. Peter du Brul, S.J., of Bethlehem University, on “Jesus in Jerusalem.” We then headed to the city to trace the footsteps of Jesus in the gospels, starting with the Mount of Olives to the east of the city, just across from the Temple Mount. We saw sites commemorating Jesus’ weeping over Jerusalem, his triumphal entrance into the city, his agony in the garden of Gethsemane (complete with huge ancient olive trees), and his arrest.  We then walked into the city to trace the Via Dolorosa, the Crusader-era tradition that forms the basis of the Stations of the Cross in Catholic Churches. The final stations are housed in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and we stood in line like yesterday, but this time to touch the ground at Golgotha where Jesus was crucified.  Afterward we had about an hour of free time to shop in Jerusalem’s Old City. Everyone’s packing up now so we can have our luggage downstairs before 7:30 a.m. The next post will come from Galilee.


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