Holy Wednesday

The purple column in
the middle of flowers

As with tradition on Holy Wednesday, the column of the flagellation was venerated in the chapel of the Blessed Sacrament in the Holy Sepulchre Basilica. The purple "porphora" column is believed to be the place where Jesus was tied and flogged. It is now in 2 pieces ... one here in Jerusalem and the other half in Malta. Today's ritual followed the daily procession in the Holy Sepulchre, and there were specific hymns and prayers said in front of the column. Then people were allowed to climb up a 4 step ladder to reach the column and kiss it. Today the niche where the column is kept was filled with flowers.

Tomorrow is Maundy Thursday so there is no morning Mass. The clergy will join the bishops at the Holy Sepulchre for the Chrism Mass which is combined with the Lord's Supper in the morning. The other churches and chapels will conduct the Lord's Supper in the evening.

The Catholic Church has applied for 600 permits for catholics in Gaza to come out to Jerusalem to celebrate Easter but none have been granted because Israel has tightened the access. It's sad that christians have to pay the price of muslim violence in Israel.  https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5202025,00.html  and   https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-age-limits-bar-gazan-christians-from-entering-israel-on-easter-1.5956171

The column

Tourists have continued to come ... a lot of americans. Germans and french tend to come as families and individuals instead of groups. Eastern cahotlccs have also been coming a lot ... ukrainians and romanian byzantine catholics. Soon the orthodox churches will also send pilgrims for their Holy Week next week. The jews have already arrived from overseas to celebrate the Passover. So you can imagine how crowded the Old City has become. One good thing this year is the Catholic and Orthodox calendars don't coincide so we have separate dates for Easter. That will ease the congestion in the Holy Sepulchre.

We've been getting news from the streets that Friday will be a violent day. Security is noticeably stepped up today when groups of military police walked up and down our street. Army chiefs have warned of an explosive situation.   https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-idf-chief-of-staff-warns-there-s-a-risk-of-an-escalation-this-year-1.5956331

And in a bizarre case, a jewish settler not only built an airstrip but also landed a private helicopter in an Israeli checkpoint in order to claim the piece of land at the Qalandya crossing with Palestine. He was arrested not because he was a danger and breaking military and security airspace but because the military was  afraid the arabs might stone him. Imagine if an arab flown a helicopter into the checkpoint ... he would ave been shot down immediately, no questions asked.  https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israeli-settler-lands-helicopter-at-checkpoint-in-attempt-to-seize-it-1.5956163

Rain in the morning

Meantime this morning we all woke up to a surprise ... quite a heavy shower covered the country. It's the last rain for the year and we expect the drought to begin. It's a dreadful prospect and we hope some solution is found to solve the water shortage.