Letter from Palestine, 30. Holy Week.
25th March 2005
Dear friends!
It is time for letter again, on Good Friday. The subject is obvious, Holy Week. I will try to give some impression of these days in Jerusalem.
It started with a wonderful Palm Sunday. After Eucharist in St. George’s I attended the palm procession from Bethphage over the Mount of Olives to the Old City. Because it is only western Easter (Catholic and Protestant), and many of the local Christians (who are Orthodox) do not celebrate Easter now, there were more than expected there. It shows that the tourists have started to come again, a hope for income for some of those who did not have much work the last few years.
The sun was shining, and I was satisfied with my choice of clothes, salwar kameez, which made me have something to cover my head with when it became too hot. Some of those I walked with also found it practical with this land mark in blue, not difficult to find, a head taller than many of those around. It was a good feeling walking with so many happy representatives from different denominations. Some groups were singing, some had a guitar and most had a palm branch or an olive branch. The procession ended in St. Anne’s Church just inside the Lion’s gate. It was like infinity of people. They kept coming through the gate.
I had an appointment to meet with a Lutheran pastor from the USA at St. Anne’s. I had met him at the Week of prayer for Christian unity a couple of months ago. I doubted that we would find each other, I had only seen him once before, but we managed, when the crowd was not that big any more. I joined him for dinner at Tantur, where he is studying, an ecumenical institute just by the checkpoint to Bethlehem. Tantur is in a way just in the middle of the conflict, and so it was not a surprise that the talks were on that subject. Some had attended both a demonstration from Bethlehem to the checkpoint and the procession over the Mount of Olives that day. The demonstration was a protest against the movement restrictions which the Palestinians in Bethlehem experience. This day they did not have the chance to attend the palm procession, as it is for them with everything every day in Jerusalem.
Monday to Thursday I have worked. It is a bit strange about Maundy Thursday, which is so holy in Norway. Here most is arranged after working hours that day. It was a party in the morning in Jalazone, and I found it important to be there. The party had nothing to do with Easter, the families are Muslims, but it was a party honouring the mothers, as it was the Palestinian Mothers’ Day last Monday. The children in the kindergarten had practiced rhymes and songs which they performed for the proud mothers. The older children in the child identity programme had practiced dances and songs, it was a good chance to show what they had learnt, and it was a nice tribute to the mothers.
Maundy Thursday night we had a nice service in St. George’s The Last Supper was remembered with Eucharist and foot washing. It is not an everyday experience to have the foot washed by the Anglican bishop of Jerusalem. It was an experience, especially when he in his sermon preached about the importance of the balance between the two services of Eucharist and foot washing in the church, or Christian fellowship and diaconal work among all needy. It was a sermon that hit, as it is a subject which is important for me.
At the end of the service the altar, the lectern and the pulpit were stripped, and clergy and laity left the church in silence to go in procession to Gethsemane. This silent parade along the streets of Jerusalem gave a new dimension to the night of Maundy Thursday. The Church of Agony was full, so instead of trying to push all of us in there, we went up the hill to a plateau where we could watch the Old City, light candles, reflect and be silent.
This morning we met at 6.00 AM to go Via Dolorosa, The Way of the Cross. Different groups go on different times, and though we were not the biggest group, we were enough to make it difficult to follow all the readings on the 14 stations. Small tractors collecting garbage in the streets of the Old City and tourists more aware of getting their way through taking their pictures were a bit disturbing, but it might be a good reminder of everything disturbing Jesus on his way to Calvary. The procession yesterday was more silent and suitable for reflection, today’s walk was rather an obligatory part of Good Friday in Jerusalem.
While we have had some cold days since Palm Sunday, it has been warm again today. I have spent the morning out on the terrace, together with a friend from the church. I find the English term “Good Friday” a bit strange (in Norwegian it is “Long Friday”), but it has been true today, it has been a good day. At noon we had service in St. George’s, so silent, and in a way unfamiliar, with the stripped altar and a short liturgy. Tonight I plan to see “The Passion of the Christ”, it will be shown at the Notre Dame Centre. I have not seen it before, and found out that Good Friday in Jerusalem probably was the right occasion.
Tomorrow the happy days start, with decorating the church in the morning and Easter Vigil in the evening. There are different possibilities for the night, I have not quite decided where or how long I will wake. Easter Sunday also has many services. Depending on the wake I will see if I attend a sunrise service or not. Easter Monday I will probably visit one of the places said to be the Biblical Emmaus, there are more than one.
Wishing you a good and blessed Easter!
Easter greetings from Hanne.
Dear friends!
It is time for letter again, on Good Friday. The subject is obvious, Holy Week. I will try to give some impression of these days in Jerusalem.
It started with a wonderful Palm Sunday. After Eucharist in St. George’s I attended the palm procession from Bethphage over the Mount of Olives to the Old City. Because it is only western Easter (Catholic and Protestant), and many of the local Christians (who are Orthodox) do not celebrate Easter now, there were more than expected there. It shows that the tourists have started to come again, a hope for income for some of those who did not have much work the last few years.
The sun was shining, and I was satisfied with my choice of clothes, salwar kameez, which made me have something to cover my head with when it became too hot. Some of those I walked with also found it practical with this land mark in blue, not difficult to find, a head taller than many of those around. It was a good feeling walking with so many happy representatives from different denominations. Some groups were singing, some had a guitar and most had a palm branch or an olive branch. The procession ended in St. Anne’s Church just inside the Lion’s gate. It was like infinity of people. They kept coming through the gate.
I had an appointment to meet with a Lutheran pastor from the USA at St. Anne’s. I had met him at the Week of prayer for Christian unity a couple of months ago. I doubted that we would find each other, I had only seen him once before, but we managed, when the crowd was not that big any more. I joined him for dinner at Tantur, where he is studying, an ecumenical institute just by the checkpoint to Bethlehem. Tantur is in a way just in the middle of the conflict, and so it was not a surprise that the talks were on that subject. Some had attended both a demonstration from Bethlehem to the checkpoint and the procession over the Mount of Olives that day. The demonstration was a protest against the movement restrictions which the Palestinians in Bethlehem experience. This day they did not have the chance to attend the palm procession, as it is for them with everything every day in Jerusalem.
Monday to Thursday I have worked. It is a bit strange about Maundy Thursday, which is so holy in Norway. Here most is arranged after working hours that day. It was a party in the morning in Jalazone, and I found it important to be there. The party had nothing to do with Easter, the families are Muslims, but it was a party honouring the mothers, as it was the Palestinian Mothers’ Day last Monday. The children in the kindergarten had practiced rhymes and songs which they performed for the proud mothers. The older children in the child identity programme had practiced dances and songs, it was a good chance to show what they had learnt, and it was a nice tribute to the mothers.
Maundy Thursday night we had a nice service in St. George’s The Last Supper was remembered with Eucharist and foot washing. It is not an everyday experience to have the foot washed by the Anglican bishop of Jerusalem. It was an experience, especially when he in his sermon preached about the importance of the balance between the two services of Eucharist and foot washing in the church, or Christian fellowship and diaconal work among all needy. It was a sermon that hit, as it is a subject which is important for me.
At the end of the service the altar, the lectern and the pulpit were stripped, and clergy and laity left the church in silence to go in procession to Gethsemane. This silent parade along the streets of Jerusalem gave a new dimension to the night of Maundy Thursday. The Church of Agony was full, so instead of trying to push all of us in there, we went up the hill to a plateau where we could watch the Old City, light candles, reflect and be silent.
This morning we met at 6.00 AM to go Via Dolorosa, The Way of the Cross. Different groups go on different times, and though we were not the biggest group, we were enough to make it difficult to follow all the readings on the 14 stations. Small tractors collecting garbage in the streets of the Old City and tourists more aware of getting their way through taking their pictures were a bit disturbing, but it might be a good reminder of everything disturbing Jesus on his way to Calvary. The procession yesterday was more silent and suitable for reflection, today’s walk was rather an obligatory part of Good Friday in Jerusalem.
While we have had some cold days since Palm Sunday, it has been warm again today. I have spent the morning out on the terrace, together with a friend from the church. I find the English term “Good Friday” a bit strange (in Norwegian it is “Long Friday”), but it has been true today, it has been a good day. At noon we had service in St. George’s, so silent, and in a way unfamiliar, with the stripped altar and a short liturgy. Tonight I plan to see “The Passion of the Christ”, it will be shown at the Notre Dame Centre. I have not seen it before, and found out that Good Friday in Jerusalem probably was the right occasion.
Tomorrow the happy days start, with decorating the church in the morning and Easter Vigil in the evening. There are different possibilities for the night, I have not quite decided where or how long I will wake. Easter Sunday also has many services. Depending on the wake I will see if I attend a sunrise service or not. Easter Monday I will probably visit one of the places said to be the Biblical Emmaus, there are more than one.
Wishing you a good and blessed Easter!
Easter greetings from Hanne.
posted by Hanne at 10:01 AM
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