Emotion, Excitement and Exercise

When Yair, our beloved tour guide, told us our wake-up call for today would be 4:30am I groaned inside, however I didn't hear anyone on the bus groan out loud which made me very pleased.

We left the hotel at 5:30am to head for the Jaffa Gate. Five minutes later we were entering the Old City with the stars still in the sky. What a treat. It was so quiet, with all of the shops shuttered. A few cats were running around and a lady was locking up a mosque as she was leaving. Past experiences of the Old City had been so busy, hectic, and confusing that it seemed like this morning we were sneaking in before it was opening.

We walked into the Church of the Holy Sepulchre around 5:50am and again it was quiet. We went straight to the tomb and it was then I realized we were having mass INSIDE the tomb. I had thought we were going to have it in a chapel next to the tomb, but thanks be to God, we celebrated mass in a most sacred spot. A spot where we have commemorated the resurrection for over a thousand years.  Millions of pilgrims have come to this spot and you feel the universality of our faith here.

It was an emotional mass, especially during the reading of the Gospel, and included many special prayer intentions. The sun had risen when we came out of the tomb and it was a glorious day. The group was excited from this experience, which was good because we had quite a day ahead of us.

We headed for the Western Wall to pray. Some had written prayers to put in the cracks of the walls, as is the tradition. Of all of the places we visit this is the most powerful for me. I don't need to try to pray here, the prayer comes to me. It was awesome.

We then walked through a recently excavated tunnel which goes along the length of the Western Wall below the Muslim Quarter. There are stones that are larger then stones used to build the pyramids. When we came above ground we were near the Damascus gate and walked back to our hotel for a satisfying breakfast. It was a whole day in just a morning. We didn't need any more exercise, but after a rest we ventured out for more, but those stories will have to wait for another day.