Our first visit outside of Jerusalem

After the incredible celebration of Mass at the Edicule of Christ's Tomb in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, we did our first road trip. Our first stop was Caesarea Maratima. The fact that so many of the ruins survive testifies to the fact that the city was built by Herod the Great (who built for eternity). It was apparently a splendid city (e.g. Josephus Wars 1:408-15 & Antiquities 15: 331-41), which is easy to see from the ruins and the beautiful location on the Mediterranean.

We stayed at a Carmelite Guesthouse in Haifa. The sisters were most gracious hosts. It was also a lovely luxury to have air conditioned rooms, especially since the temperature was in the low 90's and the humidity was very high! Our next stop was Acre (modern Akko). Acre was the major port city before Caesarea was built. In medival times it was shaped by the Crusaders and the maritime powers of Europe. There is a large ruin of a fortress of the Knights of the Hospital of St. John that is most impressive. The el-Jazzar mosque is also very beautiful. This part of the trip, while not directly related to the Gospels, helps to contextualize the world at the time of Jesus through the 1st century.

Our first stop yesterday was to the Carmel on southern edge of Mt. Carmel at Muhraqa. This cite is traditionally identified with where the Prophet Elijah challenged and slew the prophets of Baal (1Kings 18:19-40). There is a statue of Elijah slaying a prophet in the courtyard of the monastery. This the chapel; the brass relief on the wall to the right is Elijah receiving food from the angel prior to his journey. It is a very simple and pretty chapel.

Our last stop was the famed ruins of Megiddo. The city was important because of it's location along the plain of the Valley of Jezreel at the head of a pass through the Carmel range along the ancient route between Mesopotamia and Egypt. King Solomon's city here was the 16th! There were a total of 24 cities built one on top of the other, making it an extraordinarily rich archeological site. Many, many battles have been fought there throughout history. In fact, the visionary St. John places the Last Great Battle (Rev. 16:16) here (har is mountain, so har-megedon is the Mountain of Megiddo).

He is not here...Come and see the place where he lay

As I mentioned in my last entry, we spent the night in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher on Tuesday night in preparation for celebrating Mass at 6:30 on Wednesday morning. On Tuesday, we tried to begin our day with Mass at the Cenacle (or at the Franciscan house directly attached), which we were told was at 7:00. When we arrived, we found workmen in Cenacle replacing light fixtures who were not happy to see us; they closed and locked the doors as soon as we left! The door to the convent was locked with no doorbell. We knocked but to no avail. That is how we ended up at nearby Dormition Abbey with the German Benedictines for Mass that morning. I was very edified that my classmates suggested we fast that day. I find it a challenging and rewarding practice that I do regularly, but it was not something we were encouraged to do while we were in formation. (Our novices now do a modified fast of bread and water one or two days per week.) We did drink water. The picture is from the Grotto of the Betrayal in Gethsemane; it reads: Stay here and watch with me.

At 9:00 PM sharp, a group of three Dominican friars, a large group of Philipina (I think) Carmelite Missionary sisters and a few others were locked in. The entourage in front of the church included representatives of the Franciscans, the Greek, Armenian and Coptic Orthodox, as well as two members of the Israeli police and the young Muslim Arab (in a white T-shirt and jeans!) with the actual key. You can see me next to a ladder used to lock the exterior of the church, then passed through a small hatch (the handle is just to your left of my arm on the ladder). There was quit a crowd outside the Church to see us locked in; we waved to each other as the door was actually closing.

Walking around to visit and pray at the holy sites in the Church without throngs and throngs of people was a very different experience! Some of the lights were kept on so that we could move around. The quiet was profound. Singing (outside of liturgy) is forbidden by the Status Quo, the complex set of rules governing the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the various churches' rights and responsibilities. The first place I was drawn to was the Chapel of Adam, directly below Golgotha. My reflections revolved around the Fall, my sins and how placing ourselves rather than God at the center continues to this day to mar humanity and all creation. It was also here that I first feel asleep. (Remember, we had been walking all day and crossed the Kidron Valley twice in the heat of the day.) It was very moving to pray my favorite variant of the Jesus Prayer here: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me, the sinner. (emphasis mine to show the variation.) It is a strong identification with both Adam and Christ, "For just as in Adam all die, so too in Christ shall all be brought to life." (1Cor. 15:22)

At midnight, the solemn silence was broken with exaltation: Christ is Risen! Truly, He is Risen! For about 30 minutes the various Orthodox communities go around to all of the holy places within the Church and incense them. At 12:40 prayer begins with the Franciscans praying solemn Office of Reading and Lauds; that day we celebrated the solemnity of the Birth of St. John the Baptist. The incensing during magnificat (Canticle of Mary) includes not only the altar of the Franciscan chapel and the portion of the Pillar of the Flagellation in the chapel, but the Tomb as well. After the Franciscans finish Office, the Greek Orthodox begin Divine Liturgy (the Mass) within the Edicule of the Tomb. After the Greeks finish, the Armenians have their Divine Liturgy at the Edicule. So needless to say, the Church is not silent, but filled with chanting and praising God for the glory of the Resurrection!

At around 5:00, groups of Latin pilgrims begin arriving for Masses at either the Stabat Mater Altar (the Latin chapel next to Golgotha) for larger groups or within the Tomb itself. Fr. Gregory and Brs. Matthew Augustine & Ambrose arrived around 6:00. Fr Steven was chosen to be the main celebrant of the Mass. I cannot begin to describe what it was like to celebrate the Eucharist there! At every other tomb, the Mass is offered because the person's remains are there; at Christ's Tomb, you celebrate the fact that His body is not there, yet is most intimately and universally present.

Clean up to go to a tomb or Good Friday on Tuesday

Today we had what Fr. Steven called "Jesus' Last Day" tour. We started at the Cenacle. We were told there was Mass at 7:00 there, but couldn't find a soul, so we went to Mass with the German Benedictines at Dormition Abbey. After Mass, we found a spot and read the Institution Narratives. We then crossed the Kidron Valley to the Garden of Gethsemane and the Church of All Nations to commemorated Our Lord's agony in the garden. Next, we prayed at the Grotto of the Betrayal. Then, we went to St. Peter in Gallicantu to remember His trial and Peter's betrayal. The Via Dolorosa was our next stop (actually our next 14 stops!), ending in the Church of the Holy Supulcher. There we found out that we could actually spend the night; we had been previously told this was only possible on Saturday nights. So we "reserved" our spots and high-tailed it home to shower, maybe take a nap and then head back to be locked in for the night. That's where we're off to now. We will celebrate Mass at 6:30 tomorrow morning in the edicule, or the little room inside the tomb structure. A perfect way to end the day.

This is the dome at the chapel in Bethany; I like the angle. That's the only reason I put it up. Today was a free day. We celebrated Mass late, so everyone could sleep in. Bart and Steve went off to see a movie, but I decided not to go with them. They even found a mall that had a multiplex: the only one in the city!

Today is the 10th anniversary of my father's death. I thought of it a bit when we were at Lazarus' tomb yesterday. I remember being concerned at times (as many were) that he would not live to see me ordained, yet he made it just past my first anniversary. I am grateful to God for that unexpected gift. Jesus wept at Lazarus' tomb, just as you and I weep at the death of a loved one or other deep sorrow; he shared the grief of Martha and Mary, just as we have sat with others. It is the Incarnation that allows this intimacy on a human level. Jesus came to redeem the world not like some kind of Superman (a visitor from outside) but from within. He is not a stranger to our pain and suffering, nor to our joys. Likewise Mary, freed from sin from the moment of her conception, had a more fully human (not less) human experience than you and I. (I think that is one of the main things we celebrate today in the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.)

In these days of seeing and experiencing the places where the events of our salvation took place, I feel like I am getting to know Jesus better. I am gaining familiarity with where he walked, where he taught, healed and exorcised. I'm getting to know someone I've "known" all of my life (as well as His friends) all of a sudden in a new way, coming to a deeper appreciation and understanding of where He is coming from, as it were. And coming to know a friend better is always a joy for both!

The Sacred Heart & 2 Empty Tombs

Today we celebrated the solemnity of the Sacred Heart. In his first letter, St. John tells us "In this way the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him. In this is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as expiation for our sins." (1 John 4:9-10) Jesus most perfectly reveals God's love on the Cross. Today was semi-free: we didn't have class, but were "strongly encouraged" to visit Bethphage & Bethany. We decided to do a "Jesus Enters Jerusalem" day.

We started with another encounter with the "fence." Bethany and Bethphage are just on the other side of the Mount of Olives from Gethsemene, etc., but with the wall, you have to go quite a ways south before getting to a check point to cross.












Although Bethphage is the starting place for the annual Palm Sunday reenactment of the Jesus' entry into the Holy City (Mt. 21:1, Mk. 11:1 and Lk. 19:29 ), our cab driver told us he had just been there a day or two ago and everything was closed, so we started in Bethany.The chapel is a simple Greek cross-shaped building with four lovely mosaics with scenes involving the siblings and Jesus. Lazarus' Tomb is just up the street from it. It is actually quite a small space, not for the claustrophobic. We spend some time there praying for the dead, especially Fr. Fabian (Stanley) Parmisano who had just died. We read aloud John's account of Jesus raising Lazarus. It is one of my favorites in the Gospel and take any chance to preach on that text. It was also moving to be in that tomb itself, as well as the spot from where Jesus summoned his friend.

Getting back into our taxi to get onto the other side, we started near the top of the Mount of Olives at the Church of the Paternoster. This is traditionally the site where Jesus taught the disciples the Our Father. The courtyard in front of the church has ceramics of the Our Father in over 60 languages. We had the opportunity to spend some time before the Blessed Sacrament with the Carmelite sisters who live there. (The church was closed when we arrived, but when the sister (?) in the shop learned we were priests, she took us into the chapel.) Midday Prayer was a bonus. (They also prayed in French.) From there, we arrived at Dominus Flavit ("The Lord Wept") Church just in time for the gates to be almost literally closed in our faces. We walked down into the Kidron Valley and up to the Lion's Gate. Believe me, the Psalms aren't kidding when they say "let us go UP to Jerusalem!" The picture taken near the top of the Mount of Olives looking toward the Old City. When we reached the bottom, there was a olive tree from which we each took a small branch which we carried as we walked up into Jerusalem.

After lunch, we prayed for a long while at the Western Wall, recalling Jesus' lamentation over the Holy City. We sat in silence. We end our day at the Holy Sepulcher complex, where each of us went his own way. I spent quite a bit of that time praying at Golgotha. We met up again at the Tomb just in time for the 13th & 14th Stations of the Cross. I'm sorry that the image is fuzzy, but for seeing the outside of the tomb, it was the best I got today. I was probably not perfectly still: I was so amazed that I got an unobstructed view into the tomb from where I sat, I had to move fast. (We will be back: we have the amazing privilege of celebrating Mass inside the Tomb next week and we hope to get locked into the church for the night one Saturday night.)

Christmas, part II

Finishing up for yesterday, after Bethlehem University, we headed down the Latin Shepherds' Field (there's also a Greek one). As you're looking into in the chapel (on the left), you are looking into and and to the painting (on the right) at the the opposite end of the chapel. It is a lovely little building, very quiet and peaceful. Everyone would have jumped if the angels (or anyone else) started to sing! (Speaking of which, I make a funny/not funny gaffe today when we were eating lunch: I was fidgeting with my soda can and cup when it popped with loud bang that could have been a gunshot in this cavernous, almost empty room; I was very embarrassed!)

After that we headed to the Herodian, Herod the Great's "summer palace." (Herod the Great ruled when Jesus was born; not to be confused with his son, Herod the tetrarch, whom we hear about in the Passion narratives.) It basically looks like a volcano: he took an existing hill, built it up even more, and put a resort on top of it. To give a perspective of size, you can see a row of Israeli soldiers standing on the rim on the opposite side, to the right. One guide (written by Fr. Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, OP) quipped that Herod built for eternity. A huge proportion of the extant ruins all over the area date from Herod's time. It is amazing what a megalomaniac with good taste and unlimited resources can do! It is the supposed site of his burial, but that cannot be definitively proved. There is an area that is identified as his tomb on the site; the problem is that it sits atop one (of three) cisterns. The dubium begins with the simple fact of it's location: dead bodies and standing water are not a good combination for the living.

Today we started at the Israel Museum. It is a huge complex! Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it!) only the two main attractions, the model of 2nd Temple Jerusalem and the Shrine of the Book, were open. (Something you won't find in any tourbook: there are three windows outside the museum: information, tickets and weapons' check. The museum offers free admission to active duty Israeli military personnel and new immigrants, both of whom are usually armed.) The model is immense and it give one a sense of how dominant the Temple was (the largest in the world as the time) in the city, even in the city's lay out. There were a number of errors that Fr. Gregory pointed out, but it is mostly conjecture based on solid history and archeology, so it is understandable. The Shrine of the Book houses the Qumran scrolls. It is shaped, inside and out, like a jar from Qumran and it's scroll. The "scroll" on the inside (the building's axis) is a reproduction the complete scroll of the prophet Isaiah, almost seven and a half meters long!
We had lunch in the café of the Bible Lands Museum, which showcases the peoples and places (and their contemporaneous history) mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures. The one thing I would fault that museum for is the lack of context for the lesser known peoples that are well covered in salvation history. I'm willing to admit that much of the reason may be that I am not a Jew (so not as focused on the Hebrew Scriptures) or an Old Testament scholar. But it was interesting none the less. They also had a temporary exhibit of 18th - 19th century lithographs and photos of Egypt that was neat.

Bubbling in my heart and soul is the Israeli security "fence." In places it is really a fence, but around Bethlehem it is a wall, complete with heavily armed fortifications. The state of Israel is very concerned with its safety. We had no trouble entering and only minor trouble getting out; the guard did not know English well, but once she saw our American passports (and that we were all caucasian), she waved us through. I am still reading Chacour's Blood Brothers, which puts a very human face on both the Jewish and Palestinian people. The wall vividly and viscerally contrasts the Jews and Palestinian people and their suffering to the policies of the secular government of the state of Israel, which in many ways are the source of that suffering. The increasing similarities with our own country's issues with regard to our border with Mexico pains me. I purchased a small Nativity set yesterday in Bethlehem. (We were there around 2:30; the shopkeeper said we were the first ones to go into his shop that day, which tells you something about the economy of Bethlehem which depends on tourists.) The remarkable thing about this small set was that it featured a wall, preventing the wise men from getting to the Christ child. (It didn't bother me one bit that I paid over what it is worth.) The visual image really hit home. It was another moment, like my time in the crypt of Dormition Abbey, when the Lord touched my mind and heart.

Christmas in June?!

Today began with the powerful experience of celebrating Mass in the study of St. Jerome in Bethlehem. Many of the Holy Places have special votive Masses to be said when visiting them; the one for St. Jerome's study is the Mass from Christmas. So in the middle of June, the six of us celebrated a "little" Christmas. This a photo of the altar in the study. It was quite moving; Fr. Gregory preached a great homily on the Incarnation: Christ embraced all of the messiness and seedy underside of our life and save us in and through the mess. St. Jerome was a good example since he was quite the curmudgeon, yet became a great saint! We continued our morning by praying at the main sanctuary (Greek Orthodox) of the Church of the Nativity, waiting to get into the grotto of the birthplace of Christ. When we were finally allowed in, there was a small group celebrating Mass in Italian; we prayed with them before praying before and venerating the spot.

From there, we visited a Latin Palestinian friend of the Ecole who does wood-working in olive wood grown right there. Fr. Gregory was hurrying us to get out, but we gently reminded him that he had strongly encouraged us to buy in Bethlehem. Despite the near desperate situation (his was one of the few shops that was actually open; there is little to no economy to speak of because of the state of Israel's persecution of the Palestinians), our host was most good natured and welcoming. After getting our first round of goodies, we briefly visiting the Franciscan Missionary Sisters, for whom we had be given a donation by the group from Westmont College we met yesterday.

From there, we went into the Milk Grotto, when the Holy Family stopped journeying to Jerusalem, so the Blessed Mother could feed the Christ Child. Besides this association, there is the tradition that some of the Blessed Mother's milk feel on the stone which turned milky white. Drinking some of this powdered stone, mixed with water, helps women who are having trouble conceiving to conceive. What struck me about this image, which is by no means a "main" one in the complex, is that it depicts Our Lady as the (beautiful) Palestinian woman she was.

From there we went up to Bethlehem University, the only Catholic university in the Holy Land. Our host, Br. Jack, FSC (I knew I was "home" when we entered the building and there looking out was St. John Baptist De La Salle!) gave us a nice tour of the University. During the last war, the University was occupied by the Israeli army (the university is on the highest peak for miles). At one point, 4 missiles hit the University. One went into the library, on a floor with an exhibit of local Palestinian culture. They simply glassed over the hole and added documentation of how it got to be there and has been part of the exhibit!

I am running out of time (I have to change rooms before Vespers), so I'll come back and finish later...

The Patriarch's Three P's

Today began with an audience with the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, His Beatitude Fouad Twal. (Before I go on, an apology/disclaimer: when we the left the house this morning, our plan was to return, change out of our habits and go to some sights, so I did not bring either my hat or my camera. After the audience we decided not to go back to St. Stephen's so I don't have any pictures for today.) We thought is was going to be a semi-private audience with ourselves (the four of us and the two student brothers) and a group from Westmont College (their group leader did doctoral studies with Fr. Gregory.) When we got there, we found that there was also a parish group from Houston with close to a hundred people. These things happen!

His Beatitude spoke about the good working relationship that exists between the Christian leaders of Jerusalem and their role as the bridge (intermediaries and peacemakers) between Jews and Muslims. Their task is made more difficult in that both sides are not particularly keen on Christian involvement. He began with the premise that Christians have always been the minority in the Holy City. If I remember correctly, he said there are roughly 455,000 Jews, 220,000 Muslims and 10,000 Christians currently in Jerusalem! That includes Roman Catholics, Eastern Catholics, members of all Orthodox Churches and all Protestants. He spoke of the political challenges of his international (!) diocese, which includes Israel, Palestine, Jordan and parts of Cyprus.

When a woman from the Houston parish asked what we (people in the United States) could do to help him, he said there were three P's, two big and one little:

• Pray: He exhorted us to pray for peace, as the Scriptures tell us, not only for Christians who live in the Mother Church of Christianity (Jerusalem), but for all of Jerusalem's children, Jews, Christians and Muslims.
• Pilgrimage: Tell others of our experiences here and encourage others to come and see the places where the drama of our salvation was played out. These two were the most important, he stressed.
• project: Do some project to benefit the ministry of Christians in the Holy Land, e.g. supporting a child, student, or seminarian (his seminary is full!); adopt a classroom, school, etc. It is these apostolates for which Christians, especially Catholics, are respected highly by the Muslims and, to a lesser extend, the Jews. (E.g., he said that 30% of the students at Bethlehem University are Muslim.)

The audience concluded with him giving us his blessing and, of course, pictures. His "official" photographer took a lovely photo of us with His Beatitude. Coincidently, we got home just as the photographer was coming to drop off our pictures. After the audience, we had tea with the Westmont students at their hotel. It was basically a Q & A for them with Fr. Gregory. The rest of us (friars) chimed in when we got to more personal issues. We had a pleasant and frank discussion for an hour or so. As I told their leader and the brothers on the way out of the hotel, I absolutely love those types of "random" interactions with students. They seemed to appreciate our presence as well.

The friars at St. Stephen's told us that the Armenian Cathedral had Vespers at 2:30 (!) and encouraged us to go. They said they had the best choir in the city. Since we had some time, we decided to hunker down in the Armenian Tavern just down the street from the Cathedral. We had a long lunch and enjoyed conversation. (I had this image from Sister Act: some guys would come in, look at us and say: if this turns into a priests' restaurant, I'm outta here!) When we finally got the Cathedral, we found out that the church was closed until August. How a community closes down it's mother church for two months somewhat baffeled us but, as we are learning, these things happen!

We next tried the church of St. John the Baptist: it was locked tighter than a drum. Next, we made our way to St. Mark's, a Syrian Orthodox monastery and church. It was closed, but Sr. Justina came, let us in and spoke with us. She told us about the two things that St. Mark's is known for: an image of Our Lady painted by St. Luke and the Upper Room. She told us of two of miracles that she had recently occurred there with the Holy Spirit. While I doubted some of her claims, she was clearly a pious nun who loved Our Lord with all of her heart. Finally, we started home, taking our time and stopping in some shops (where the shopkeepers didn't accost us; it was much calmer than it was over the weekend). I heard one lady say "Monks!" in Russian as she passed us, with an amused you-don't-see-THAT-everyday tone of voice. We ended our excursion at the American Colony Hotel, which has a large (by Jerusalem standards, it seems) bookstore, all of which are in English. It is only 5-6 blocks from St. Stephen's.

Tomorrow, we have Mass at St. Jerome's study/cell in Bethlehem at 8:00, followed by touring Bethlehem and environs. We have to go through the Israeli security "fence" to get Bethlehem, which is considered a Palestinian village.

The Discipline & Gift of Prayer

I know it sounds strange, but I hadn't really prayed in Jerusalem until yesterday. Yes, I had prayed the Office, celebrated Mass, said prayers in the holy places I'd visited and otherwise been outwardly observant. This is the discipline of prayer; frankly, I am good at that. Even praying Vespers in a language I haven't studied in over 20 years, French, d'accord! But all of this was in the context of much busy-ness (class and touring with Fr. Gregory) and general state of being overwhelmed both physically and spiritually by this place.

Yes, in one sense I prayed, but it was not the unitive communion with God that is the goal and heart of true prayer. That changed last night. I did not have the energy or desire to go out of the house yesterday, even as Bartholomew did, to go and pray at the Cenacle on Corpus Christi. Rather, I made a Holy Hour in the Basilica. The best I can describe was that it was refreshing. By focusing on His presence in the Eucharist (where I have always most easily and effortlessly experienced His presence), I was able to have a uniative experience, if only for a few fleeting moments, and it restored me.

Class today was exhilarating! Not because of the "exciting" subject of demonology and Jesus' exorcisms in the Gospels, but by looking as carefully at the Scriptures as we've begun to do, it was almost like encountering them for the very first time. The Gospels are coming alive before my very eyes and in the depths of my being. Talk about feeling Jesus' presence!

This afternoon, I went out by myself to Mt. Zion. (There are many senses of that term, but here I am refering to the actual hill with that name.) It is just to the southwest of the Old City. I got lost getting there a couple of times because the map I used was not as detailed as I would have liked. (Note: you are most likely to be accosted by a merchant when you are standing still in this city!) But that's fine: there's only so far one can go before coming to the walls.

My first stop was Dormition Abbey. It was here that I had my first powerful experience of prayer since arriving. I was not too impressed with the main/upper church. I almost left without going down to the crypt. I had forgotten about it (I didn't bring a guidebook) until I heard chant coming from the crypt. It was probably no accident that it was in a church dedication to the Great Mother of God that I really prayed: she was looking out for me.


When I first got down there, the place was crawling with tourists wandering around and snapping photos. I joined the flow. After I had prayed before the Eucharist, I was taking a picture of this apse when someone intoned the Salve Regina. Without thinking, I joined in. After a moment, having got this photo, I turned around and went the ten paces to join everyone else around the statue of the supine Virgin. Everything just melted away: there was only the praise of the Blessed Mother. It stopped me in my tracks (even though I wasn't moving!). When we finished, I sat down and began to pray the Rosary. (A note on my experience of the Rosary: it is like my spiritual barometer. When all is well, it flows naturally and easily; when I am not centered for whatever reason, it becomes laborious. I had only prayed it once since arriving: the jet lag, being overwhelmed or whatever had me off balance, and so the Rosary was difficult.) Those few minutes, which started as feeling like an eternity, became a moment of communion. Like Peter after the Transfiguration, I simply did not want to leave the place. I took more pictures, but unlike before, with a sense of excitement and wonder.


This place will have a special place in my heart from now on.









My next stop was the Cenacle. The brothers who had been there had said it was difficult to find, but to look for the Arabic script on a door above King David's tomb. I stumbled onto it almost without realizing it. There was a group Russians whose talking and photo-taking (with another group down below, ready to come up) made a place to come back to and pray at another time.

My last stop was St. Peter in Gallicantu. I just love the way that rolls off the tongue! If I ever get to name a church... (Oscar Schindler's grave is in a cemetery very close by, but the gates were locked.) There was even a group Missionaries of Charity getting ready to go in. The upper church had some wonderful mosaics of Peter's betrayal. The most poinient one has Peter's betrayal depicted on top, while beneath is Peter dressed as Pope. (I'm sorry that the quality is not very good. Just means I'll have to go back.) Another two images that I had not seen before were in the lower church: Peter's denial with the rooster on a pillar and the scene before the fire between them and








Christ giving Peter a shepherd's staff, with the citation of John 25:15b engraved below. The views from St. Peter in Gallicantu are stunning:





All in all a very good day! I've already missed Vespers, so need to go and get cleaned up for dinner and the weekly community recreation.

Around the Priory

The "Winter Chapel" where we have been celebrating Mass in English each morning. It is so-called because it is nearly impossible to heat the Bascilica Church in the winter time, so this is where the community sings the Office and celebrates Mass.


The painting (yes, it's painted to look like a mosaic) of the patron, St. Stephen the Protomartyr. The artist Joseph Aubert painted the three images in the sanctuary (this, St. John the Baptist and Christ) for the side altars of important saints such as St. Joseph, St. Catherine of Alexandria, St. Jerome, St. Mary Magdalane and St. Dominic. They were done in 1900.

All this and class too!

Yesterday morning, we had our first class session on John the Baptist. We are approaching the text in seminar, as opposed to lecture, style. It was fast paced and lively! Our session was only two and half hours, but it certainly felt like more! Fr. Gregory provided lots of background information, so much so that we were often struggling to keep up.

We broke for the Priory's main meal, which is at 12:30. After the (at this point) requisite siesta and a walk with the brothers on a shopping trip, I spent the afternoon reading up on the Kidron Valley, the Citadel, the Western Wall and other sites, as well as captioning my photos so as not to loose important details. After Vespers (7:30) in the Basilica and supper, Fr. Gregory and another professor, Fr. Olivier-Thomas Venard, took us, along with the two newly arrived student brothers (sans luggage, sadly) from St. Albert's out for a beer and an evening stroll in the Old City. After walking through parts of the Old City with wall to wall people and every shopkeeper trying to get you into his shop, walking the streets at night at the end of the Muslim and beginning of the Jewish Sabbaths was almost eerie. (It was also odd going out without hat and sunglasses!) We gave ourselves an extra hour's rest for today, so we're having Mass at 9:00 then heading out on our own to the Citadel, meeting Fr. Gregory for lunch, then going to the Western Wall, Mt. Zion and the Jewish Quarter. I must confess though, I am still overwhelmed by it all.

Evening came and morning followed; the third day

Yesterday, the three of us walked around the northern section of the wall around the Old City. We started with Mass and morning prayer at home. This is photo of us: Fr. Bartholomew Hutcherson, myself and Fr. Steven Maekawa. This is toward the end of the walk. To your right is the Temple Mount & the Dome of the Rock; to your left is the Mount of Olives. Bart got a lovely photo of a white dove perched resolutely above the Damacsus Gate: hopefully, an auspicous sign for the trip. It took four boys about a minute to get it to move.

Needless to say it was hot! It really was amazing to see how close everything is. Yesterday was meant to be more of an orientation than an in-depth visit to anything, though we did visit the Holy Seplucher, St. Ann's and the birthplace of Mary. Fr. Bart takes oodles and oodles of photos and has posted them, if you would like to see them.

Today will be our first day of class. After our walk (and a nap!), we got down to work studying for today's class on John the Baptist. (See my previous posts for our class schedule.) We joined the priory community in the Bascilica for evening prayer (vespers). It was enchanting (no pun intended) to hear the brethren singing in the beautiful church. I felt like a Novice, having simply to sit and listen, since it's been twenty years since I've studied any French! The friars and students of the Ecole have been most welcoming.

It's coming!!

I just printed out my boarding passes for tomorrow's flights. I'm feeling like a kid the day before Christmas. I concelebrated Mass with the Nuns this morning, who included us (Bartholomew, Steven and I) in the Prayers of the Faithful. Not even finding out Friday that I've been cited for running a red light, although the accompanying photo clearly shows it's yellow, and will have to face that when I get home, can dampen the mood.

Shades of Green

Can I just say that I am a little jealous of my beloved and esteemed classmate Fr. Bart who, according to his Facebook page, is already playing in Rome with pictures to prove it? This week is going really slowly in my world... Einstein was right: time is relative! I just keep trying to remember that I will have over a month of summer when I return and he will have to go to work almost immediately. It all balances out in the end. That may be true, but I want to be there NOW (and over the jet lag)!