He then left to make his way as usual to the Mount of Olives, with the disciples following. When he reached the place he said to them, 'Pray not to be put to the test.' Then he withdrew from them, about a stone's throw away, and knelt down and prayed. 'Father,' he said, 'if you are willing, take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, let your will be done, not mine.' Then an angel appeared to him, coming from heaven to give him strength. In his anguish he prayed even more earnestly, and his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood. (Luke 22: 39-44)
The very rock on which Our Lord sweated blood was the place where we celebrated our first Mass of the pilgrimage. The stone is surrounded by a crown of thorns in wrought iron, a reminder of what suffering Our Lord was to endure the day after that night. As Fr Lawrence Jones who was presiding and preaching said, "It is wonderful to be here." He added that it was okay for us to be emotional, even though it wasn't very British to do so.Walking straight through the Garden of Gethsemane (only to come back after Mass), we came to the front of the Church of All Nations. It was built by the Italian architect Antonio Barluzzi between 1919 and 1924. Barluzzi designed quite a few of the 20th century churches in the Holy Land. He wanted to convey the atmosphere of the particular event that happened at each of them. Fitting in with this, the Church of All Nations, also known as the Basilica of the Agony, is fairly dark, bare and simple inside, with minimal natural light. It lies on the foundations of two earlier churches: a 12th-century Crusader chapel abandoned in 1345 and a 4th-century Byzantine basilica, destroyed by an earthquake in 746.
In a sense, this was a bit of a strange place to start our Holy Land journey. On reflection, in another way it was the ideal place to start. This was the moment when there was no going back for Jesus. To the Father, He said "Thy will be done." By taking us here, Amer certainly did throw us into the spiritual deep end and got us into the prayerful mood.
As Mass started, recollections of time spent at every single Altar of Repose at different churches on Holy Thursday were foremost in the mind. We hear from Matthew that Our Lord said: "So you had not the strength to stay awake with me for one hour? Stay awake, and pray not to be put to the test. The spirit is willing enough, but human nature is weak." On mulling over these words came the realisation that you were actually sitting next to the Rock of Jesus' agony in the garden. Christ's ultimate sacrifice a few hours after the drama of Gethsemane was made a sacramental reality through the Sacrifice of the Mass. Our Lord was made truly present again in that place in the Eucharist, as He no doubt is every day in that simple but significant church.
As with many of the six occasions will celebrated Mass at the holy places, tour groups and independent visitors from all kinds of nations came and went in a respectful manner, joining in universal words like "Alleluia" when sung in the Mass. We sat around the rock on the sanctuary, where Masses for groups are celebrated. Afterwards, there was a chance to go closer to the rock to pray, touch, kiss and place rosary beads on the surface.
Once outside, reflections on that most holy of nights continued in the surroundings of the garden itself.
Then he came back to the disciples and said to them, 'You can sleep on now and have your rest. Look, the hour has come when the Son of Man is to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up! Let us go! Look, my betrayer is not far away.' And suddenly while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared, and with him a large number of men armed with swords and clubs, sent by the chief priests and elders of the people. Now the traitor had arranged a sign with them saying, 'The one I kiss, he is the man. Arrest him.' So he went up to Jesus at once and said, 'Greetings, Rabbi,' and kissed him. Jesus said to him, 'My friend, do what you are here for.' Then they came forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. (Mt 26: 45-50)
Looking back towards the old city on a bright morning, you could see which route Jesus would have been taken to the house of Caiaphas, the high priest. The word "Gethsemane" comes from the Hebrew "Gat Shemen", that means "olive press". This is a clear reference to the natural abundance of these trees in the garden. Olive trees last for centuries, making it probable that the very trunks we stared at were there on the night of agony. If only trees could speak.
As Mass started, recollections of time spent at every single Altar of Repose at different churches on Holy Thursday were foremost in the mind. We hear from Matthew that Our Lord said: "So you had not the strength to stay awake with me for one hour? Stay awake, and pray not to be put to the test. The spirit is willing enough, but human nature is weak." On mulling over these words came the realisation that you were actually sitting next to the Rock of Jesus' agony in the garden. Christ's ultimate sacrifice a few hours after the drama of Gethsemane was made a sacramental reality through the Sacrifice of the Mass. Our Lord was made truly present again in that place in the Eucharist, as He no doubt is every day in that simple but significant church.
As with many of the six occasions will celebrated Mass at the holy places, tour groups and independent visitors from all kinds of nations came and went in a respectful manner, joining in universal words like "Alleluia" when sung in the Mass. We sat around the rock on the sanctuary, where Masses for groups are celebrated. Afterwards, there was a chance to go closer to the rock to pray, touch, kiss and place rosary beads on the surface.
Once outside, reflections on that most holy of nights continued in the surroundings of the garden itself.
Then he came back to the disciples and said to them, 'You can sleep on now and have your rest. Look, the hour has come when the Son of Man is to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. Get up! Let us go! Look, my betrayer is not far away.' And suddenly while he was still speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared, and with him a large number of men armed with swords and clubs, sent by the chief priests and elders of the people. Now the traitor had arranged a sign with them saying, 'The one I kiss, he is the man. Arrest him.' So he went up to Jesus at once and said, 'Greetings, Rabbi,' and kissed him. Jesus said to him, 'My friend, do what you are here for.' Then they came forward, seized Jesus and arrested him. (Mt 26: 45-50)
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