We started the morning of our last day on Mount Zion with Mass in The Chapel of St. Francis Ad Coenaculum. After Mass we went to The Upper Room (The Cenacle room) on Mt Zion in Jerusalem is where two major events in the early Christian Church are commemorated: The Last Supper and the coming of the Holy Spirit on the apostles.
We then went to one of the holiest sites for Jews on Mount Zion - the Tomb of King David — the celebrated Old Testament warrior king of Israel who is traditionally credited with composing many of the Psalms.
We then moved onto Dormition Abbey. The location is identified in Christian tradition as the site where the Virgin Mary is said to have died, or fell into 'eternal sleep'. Its Latin name is "Dormition Sanctae Mariae" (Sleep of St. Mary). In the crypt of the church lies a recumbent statue of the Virgin in death, and the rotunda above is noticeable for its beautiful mosaic.
We then went to the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu. "Gallicantu" means cock's-crow in Latin. The Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu commemorates Saint Peter's triple denunciation of Jesus, It is also the site of the Sacred Pit. When these underground caves were discovered in 1889, their physical characterisics, their proximity to Caiaphas’ palace, and their contiguity with the Sacred Pit (Dungeon), all suggested the public jail where, according to a 4th -Centry Jerusalem tradition not recorded in the gospels, Jesus would have been scourged not only by Pilate but also by Caiaphas, and where the apostles Peter and John would have been held and scourged fro preaching. thought to be the cell where Jesus was detained for the night following his arrest.
We spent some time at the The Western Wall - Judaism’s holiest place in the Old City of Jerusalem. The wall and the plaza in front of it form a permanent place of worship, a site of pilgrimage for Jews and a focus of prayer — often times petitions are written down and placed between the huge stones. We placed the petitions that you've submitted throughout our pilgrimage s in the wall today.
Our last stop was Yad Vashem, Israel’s memorial to the Jewish victims of the Nazi Holocaust. The museum has one long corridor with stark walls of concrete. There are ten exhibition halls and each focus on a different chapter of the Nazi Holocaust that began in 1933.
When we got back to the hotel this evening, we gathered together and Fr. Mike and Fr. Dennis blessed the religious items that we purchased, and talked about some of the highlights of our trip. I don’t know where we would all begin to speak about our experiences on this trip — to talk about how much we learned, what wonderful things we saw, how spiritually emotional and life-changing it was to touch, see, feel, and walk in the footsteps of Jesus. Each day was filled with so much wonderful stuff that it was hard to believe that the next day could be better–but it always was.
Thank you for journeying with us on this pilgrimage - we can't wait to get back home to share our experiences with you. Please keep us in prayer tomorrow as we travel home.
Click the image below to view a short video that contains an overview of our seventh day in The Holy Land!