Day 2 - Sept 30 (Wednesday)

Jerusalem - city from 10th centuries BC, built by King David, "the place of peace".

Today in Israel is the holiday of Sukot, commemorating 40 years of the Jewish people wondering in the desert. God kept them there on this journey to teach them trust in Him. In commemoration, there is a tradition to build a tent (in the back yard, on the balcony of an apartment, in front of a restaurants), and spend some time in the tent, and especially eat a meal.

We start our day with a visit to Russian Ecclesiastical Mission's Trinity Cathedral, with two miraculous icons of the Theotokos and St. Nicolas.

Next, we go for an audience with the Partiarch of Jerusalem, Theophil III. We all receive a photo of the Lord's Tomb and chocolates!


Chapel at the Patriarchate

Next we walk to the birthplace of the Virgin Mary, the house of Joachim and Anna, near the Lion Gate.

Near there are also ruins of the Pools of Bethesda, where the Lord later healed a paralytic of 39 years. We read that Gospel passage and wonder among the ruins...

From there we get ready to walk the Way of the Cross: from the prison of Christ to Golgotha. Sister Natalya tells us that even though it is a walk on the streets of old city in Jerusalem, the enemy always finds ways to distract, tempt and provoke. We hold crosses, sing the "Before thy cross" and walk....

Prison:

We start in the prison of Christ: sister tells us about the cruel game the Roman soldiers invented during their time of occupation (they were bored away from Rome and its "entertainment", among Jewish people who were only interested in God and rules). This "Game of the King" was most cruel, they chose a victim and at the end of the day killed him (after many horrible tortures).

Lithostrotos is Greek for stone pavement, and it's a place where Pilate brought out Jesus to be judged. Pilate wrote out the plate that went above Christ's cross "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews".  We visit the cell where Christ was held.



We walked the Way of the Cross singing "Before Thy Cross", stopping at a place with the Lord's hand imprint and finishing at the Judgement Gate (with the "eye of the needle" (Alexander Nevsky Church).

We finish in front of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.