But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
John 20:11-18 NRSV
Today was designated as a free day with an option to go to Masada (Herod the Great palace near the Dead Sea) and to swim (or actually float) in the Dead Sea. I decided to pass on that to spend some extra time in the city of Jerusalem. This was well worth my time as we visited the Mount of Olives again, stepped inside a couple of churches we didn’t have a chance to visit and re-walk the Via Dolorosa, again being able to take our time and step into some different churches along the way. Today we saw the beautiful Russian Orthodox Church/Convent of Mary Magdalene (dedicated to the Mother of Czar Alexander the III), revisited the Church of Gethsemane and Dominus Flevit.
The one surprise was the chance to visit the Church of the Assumption which is Saint Mary’s Tomb. This came by accident, we were waiting on our bus and I looked down among the cemeteries by the Mount of Olives and I saw this old church down in the valley. We walked down several steps and walked into this beautiful building.
On the Via Dolorosa, we had a chance to stop at the church of the Flagellation, which was closed for Mass yesterday and the Greek Orthodox location of Christ Prison. Instead of a hurried frantic day rushing to and fro, it was nice to be able to contemplate a little more and really think about the stations of the cross.
Tomorrow we will visit the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu, Gordon’s Calvary and the Garden Tomb in the afternoon. The morning we will either visit King Hezekiah’s Tunnel, or I may try to make it up to the church of the Ascension and the Church of the Pater Noster. Hopefully tonight we will head back to the Wailing wall to see the start of the Shavout, Pentecost and the celebration of God giving Moses the 10 commandments.
Thanks for reading my blog and looking at my pictures.
One more day in the Holy Land!
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