Thursday, March 5, 2020

Thankful for yet another breakfast in the Holy Land, the Heights wayfarers departed their Franciscan Casa in high spirits, ambling through the various quarters of Jerusalem in route to the Western Wall. Also known as the Wailing Wall, this is the most sacred site in the world for the Jewish people. The boys spent time here, praying and placing their petitions into the wall.

After bidding farewell to the Western Wall, the group proceeded through a stiff security detail to enter the 3000-year-old Temple Mount, the site of the Muslim shrine known as the Dome of the Rock. The Temple Mount stands in the very place where the former Jewish Temple once stood. It is the site of much tension in the Holy City. For thousands of years the site has been considered a holy site by Jews, Christians and Muslims, and each of these groups vigorously asserts some claim to the holy ground.

Our travelers then passed the closed Golden Gate and entered St. Anne’s Church, the most well-preserved Crusader church in Jerusalem. According to a long-standing tradition, St. Anne’s marks the place where the home of Jesus’ grandparents once stood.  Many believe that St. Anne and St. Joachim dwelled here long ago, and that this is in fact the birthplace of the Virgin Mary. It is a tradition for pilgrims to sing resounding hymns in this church. Some of the Heights chorus members did so, giving voice to a beautiful selection of sacred music, much to the delight of pious onlookers.

The bus was then boarded, and our boys took to the road once more, traveling a short distance, before disembarking for a stroll through the ancient olive trees of the Garden of Gethsemane. Upon their entrance to the darkened Church of All Nations, the boys were deeply moved by the stone where Our Lord prayed and wept before His arrest.  The group stayed for quite a while here, reading the scripture passages and praying, all while venerating the stone.

The group then proceeded by tour bus to the new Saxum Center of Opus Dei and had a brief visit to its impressive visitor’s center.

Returning to the Mount of Olive’s area, the group found themselves at the site of the Ascension of Our Lord, from which they walked to the Carmelite Church of Pater Noster. This church marks the site where Jesus taught His disciples the Our Father. The walls of the church feature the Our Father translated into 140 languages. Much to the dismay of their teachers, however, only a small portion of the boys took this opportunity to deepen their knowledge of all these intricate tongues of the world.

After a brief stop for some scenic photos looking over the Holy City the group headed to the teardrop Church of Dominus Flevit. This stunning small church features a panoramic view of the Holy City of Jerusalem from the altar where Father Diego celebrated Holy Mass for the boys. This holy site recalls where Jesus wept over Jerusalem on Palm Sunday as he prophesied its future destruction.

The end of the day featured a special dinner in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem, where the boys amused themselves at table with rich foods and lively discussions on what had passed that day, and what was to come.  Some idle palavering did occur as well, as is customary among a herd of boys, supping after a long day. Foremost among the merrymakers were two boys clothed in lumberjack coats of a nearly matching pattern. It is still unclear at the time of this writing whether they intended to match their garb with one another or if this is merely a pleasant coincidence for them all to laugh at as the evening wanes.

Tomorrow the boys will begin the day with Holy Mass on Calvary and walk the Via Dolorosa. And what better way to spend a Friday in Lent than to walk the original Stations of the Cross, breathing the very air Christ breathed as he endured his passion and death.