Come to Israel, Day 5 ends, Day 6 begins

The bus ride to Jerusalem wasn’t too far from where we were, but it was evening by the time we pulled up in front of the huge hotel. 

The Olive Tree Hotel in Jerusalem was more modern and the nicest of the three hotels we stayed in.  We arrived to a nice surprise – once we passed the olive tree and entered the hotel, we were treated to fresh, cut bread, along with a bowl of herbs and olive oil.  We dipped the bread into the oil, then the herbs as we were shown, and it was delicious! We barely had time to unpack, however before going down to the lower level to the large dining room.

After dinner we were treated to an outdoor light show at the Citadel – an old fortress in Jerusalem, now turned into an outdoor theater.   The “light show” was nothing like I’d imagined – it was actually the story of the Israeli people (wars, peace, wars, peace, etc) projected onto the stone walls of the citadel.  At the very end it did show the wise men following the star…

After a wonderful breakfast – with real tea! – we boarded the bus and drove the short distance to the Mount of Olives.  ​​

Leo had warned us (again) to dress warmly, but I think we were all surprised to see that it was only in the mid 30’s when we left.  Along the way we could still see signs of how much land the olive trees used to cover… but the section where the garden of gethsemane is, is small by comparison.

The actual Mount of Olives is a very large hill, (or a small mountain) right near the Old City in Jerusalem.

Leo pointed out that each church built on the Mount of Olives marks important moments from the Bible.  Our first stop when we got there would be the “Pater Noster” church, or the Church of the Lord’s Prayer.  

It is here that historians believe that Jesus taught his disciples to pray The Lord’s Prayer.  But, Leo told us without explaining, St. Helene thought it was more than that.

The climb to the Church was mostly uphill, with a lot of stairs.  After hearing this, some of our group decided not to make the climb… but I was there to see everything I could!  

And he was right; it was a long climb up a steep hill, with twists and turns and walled railings, and a tiled walk that led us to wide stairs and then into what looked like the main entrance of the church.  (Which is also called Eleona, which means olives)

    However, instead of going directly into the church, we went around to another door that led us down into the cave below the church.  

Leo told us that Queen Helena built the first church here on the upper slopes of the Mount of Olives – as with the others she built, it was on one of the sites that the local people venerated, this one was the site of the Ascension of the Lord, which was believed to have occurred just outside a small cave.  

Shown here is the original entrance to the cave from outside… and below that, what it looks like from the inside.

Helena’s Church of the Ascension was built over the cave.  However, that church was destroyed by the Persians in 614 and the Catholic Church then built the Pater Noster church over its ruins in the 1860’s through 1874,

When we were all inside the cave, Leo explained that this is where it’s believed that Jesus actually taught his disciples The Lord’s Prayer. He noted that Jesus spoke both Hebrew and Aramaic. I believe Father Turner read from the bible about Jesus’ disciples asking to be taught how to pray, etc.  And we prayed the prayer together.

We returned to trace our steps back outside; as we did, we passed a niche in the cave reserved for an icon of Jesus teaching the Lord’s Prayer.  In front of it was a basket filled with prayer requests…

We left using the main stairs again and Leo stated that this is where the Palm Sunday walk began, all the way down to the Garden of Gethsemane. From here we could see all of Jerusalem (at least the old part) as the procession would head down to the garden, then into the city to walk the Via del a Rosa.

On Monday we’ll begin our own Holy Week procession by visiting the room of the Last Supper…