Return to Calvary

This last Wednesday I joined the "Church in the East" class on their field study to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, or the Church of the Resurrection as Petra, the teacher of the class, prefers to call it.  

 

To us evangelical westerners, this ancient and eastern church can be a very alien place.  Petra's love and passion for this church, all its history, and all that it stands for, gives a much needed glimpse at the true nature of the church.  

The history of the church itself is fascinating, dating back roughly to the 4th century and the time of Helena.  It currently houses seven denominations, if I remember correctly.  (Greek Orthodox, Catholic, Armenian, and Coptic, for starters).  I think the flag below may be the Armenian's.

It's been added to and subtracted from, depending on who was in charge at the time (Byzantines, Muslims, Crusaders, etc.) and how much money they had.  And now, over a thousand years after it was built, Christians from all over the world still journey here to remember the death and resurrection of our Lord.

 There is meaning and symbolism in everything.

 In every little detail carved in stone, or laid in mosaics.

There are layers of history in every room, carved into every stone.  (These crosses are left as "holy graffiti" from visitors, for ages past.)

 

We looked at the dome over the tomb, a relatively recent addition/repair.  The design was done by an American protestant.  Just another way this place brings all denominations together.

I also got to see the area under the main dome for the first time - it's always been roped off when I'd been there before.  Jerusalem has been known as the "navel of the world" and the temple was considered the navel of the navel.  When Christianity took over the area, someone (Jerome or Origen, I think) suggested that the navel was now centered between the cross and the tomb, under this very dome.  

 

 Reminders of the story of Christ are everywhere.  It's a good place to go to think and remember.

 The last place we visited what Helen's Cistern.  I hadn't been there before.  It had great acoustics and a boat.  

Of course, when entering or leaving the church, one cannot fail to notice the mosques, squeezing in about it.

or the lovely signs posted on them.  

 For all that, the church still endures.  Maranatha!