Mass in Christ’s tomb, the head of St. James, the sky path of the Paraclete, and the riddle of Siloam...

[Michie]

I arrived in Jerusalem from Galilee somewhat late in the evening, and it was around 9:30 PM after I parked my car in a nearby parking garage, walked back to my hotel, and settled down in my room. The next day was Sunday, so I needed to find a place in Jerusalem to go to Mass in the morning. I was interested in going to Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (the ancient church built over both Golgotha and Jesus’s tomb, (GPS Coordinates: 31°46’41.77″N, 35°13’47.16″E)) and began researching Mass times. According to the website I found, the church opened each day at 5 AM and Masses were celebrated frequently at different altars in the church on Sundays. One of the places where Mass was celebrated that caught my eye was *inside* Jesus’s tomb itself! This Mass began at 6 AM and the website said “space is limited.” Although I was tired and 6 AM Mass was earlier than I had anticipated going to Mass, I said to myself…”YOLO!” Having the chance to receive Jesus in the Eucharist at *the* holiest place on Earth is not something you pass up this side of heaven. So, I set my alarm for 4:15 AM so I could get there extra early and fell fast asleep.

I woke up at 4:15AM and began getting ready for my day. I was excited to go to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. I had visited this church on my last two pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and it is always such an incredible blessing to be able to visit this ancient and holiest of churches. I packed my backpack for the day and left my hotel at around 4:45 AM. The website I had referred to the night before had the opening time of the church down for 5 AM and it was a 13-minute walk, so I decided I would run to the church to try to get there to see it being opened. It was obviously still dark outside, but everything was very well-lit. Additionally, it so happened that the night before was Israeli New Year’s so there were still many people (even youngsters) walking around outside the walls of Old City Jerusalem.

Continued below.

Chapter 4: Exploring Little- and Some Well-Known Sites in the Holy Land–Mass in Christ’s Tomb, The Head of St. James, The Sky Path of the Paraclete, & The Riddle of Siloam

Posted on May 21, 2023 by Dan Beaudoin Note from the Author: Copy/paste GPS Coordinates listed below into Google Maps to see or travel to each location. I arrived in Jerusalem from G…

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