From Father Alex's Blog

Father Alex has first hand accounts and great pictures so check it out:  http://fatheralexinisrael.blogspot.co

 The Samaritan Ceremony

 

From Father Alex: 
There's a wonderful story as to why I wasn't able to blog the other day. It's because I spent the night in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. This is the place where Jesus Christ died on the cross, his body was prepared, was laid in the tomb, and was resurrected. Each night up to about 30 pilgrims may spend the night in the Church. It is locked at 9pm in a wonderful ceremony and then you are locked in until 5am. It was an intense time of prayer and meditation and also some holy conversation with my new friends.

That night we went to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher to be locked in with other pilgrims. I had no idea what to expect. I had been to the church once but had not been able to see much because it was so busy. Now I would have the entire night to pray.  This lock in begins at 9pm when they kick all the pilgrims who aren't spending the night there outside. Then some of the priests walk over and begin the process of locking the door. People take pictures, a small door is opened and a ladder is brought from outside in as the bolts from outside and in are set. Then with a loud thud you are there until 5am when the process is done in reverse.

This picture can only be taken when the door is locked from the inside, so few pilgrims ever take this picture.

Praying in this church was powerful for many reasons. The first was that this place felt like holy ground. It has been around for centuries and large parts of it date back to the 4th century. But aside form age and imagery it helps to put in perspective that the events that happened in the bible actually happened someplace. We hear names like Golgotha and Calvary but can we imagine them? What if we could touch them? Being able to make that connection has increased my faith and I hope that it informs my teaching and preaching from here on out so that other people can feel it too.

I have met many people, some bible scholars, others clergy, and still others who are just skeptical that want to deny the truth of the crucifixion and resurrection. But the bible cannot be denied in its truth. History and fact are on the side of Christians who claim that the tomb was empty on that Sunday morning and that the one was crucified is now alive. Being able to say prayers in the tomb of Jesus was also powerful but even more powerful was reading the Gospel accounts and discussing them with the friends I had made on this trip.