The afternoon was spent catching up on our Catholic dogma! At the Abbey of the Dormition Fr John Hemer spoke about the importance of the Assumption of Mary into heaven.
The Abbey of the Dormition is the place that Mary traditionally spent time after the crucifixion. It celebrates her Assumption into Heaven.
After singing the Salve Regina Fr John gave a brief explanation of the dogma saying:"Mary was assumed body and soul into Heaven. This is because as Christians we believe in the resurrection of the body."
"We also call Mary the Mother of God. This is an important title. In the third and fourth centuries there were lots of heresies about Jesus. The Church says that Jesus is God from the beginning, from the moment he was conceived,. Therefore Mary is the Mother of God. It is an important title as it protects our understanding of Jesus."
"The Assumption is the logical conclusion to the Immaculate Conception. This teaches that every fibre of Mary's being belonged to God. Throughout her life she followed the will of God and was therefore taken directly into heaven. Yet, Mary is a normal human being- she is humanity as God intended. That is what it means to be human, it means to live life in God forever. This is something that starts now but is completed in Heaven."
This explanation and teaching meant that every pilgrim read the words of the hymn 'I'll sing a hymn to Mary' with particular attention.
Following the visit to the Abbey or Dormition we went on foot to the room of the Last Supper. After ascending some very steep steps, we were ushered into an already very full upper room. Despite the many other visitors, once again our choir were able to unify our pilgrimage group in song by leading the hymn that is normally used on Maundy Thursday at the end of the Mass of the Last Supper. It was particularly fitting for the upper room, the site of the institution of the Most Holy Eucharist.
We were then led out via a different set of equally steep steps and walked to the house of Caiaphas, the place were Jesus was held overnight after his arrest. Jesus spent the night at Caiaphas' house because according to Jewish Law a person cannot be sentenced at night. The mosaics in the Church of St Peter in Gallicantu, the church built directly over the site, showed scenes from many of the places we had visited that day including the Ascension and The Last Supper.
We were fortunate to be able to descend to the very old foundations of the house and saw the actual place that Jesus was held. Our guide pointed out that at the time of Jesus the only way to enter the chamber would have been through a hole in the roof and to be lowered with ropes. A fact that surprised many of our pilgrims and one said to me that "I'll really remember that when i next read the Gospel account, it feels very real all of a sudden."
After coming from the house of Caiaphas, we retraced our steps and went to the Western Wall just as the sun was setting. Unfortunately no pictures were allowed as it was the start of the Sabbath, but many pilgrims took the opportunity to visit the Wall and see this icon of the City before we move to Bethlehem tomorrow.
