Early popes

Gold embroidered
vestment on display

It's Saturday and today we celebrated the memorial of Ss. Cyprian and Cornelius, 2 early popes. In fact just a few days ago we received news that renovations in a small church outside of Rome had revealed a box under the altar with bones of several people. Names written on the box were St. Peter, popes Cyprian, Cornelius, Callixtus and several other martyrs of the 1st century. Wow.  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/11/bones-attributed-st-peter-found-chance-1000-year-old-church/amp/

And talking about ecclesiastical history, yesterday our provincial house organized an exhibition of medieval and renaissance liturgical vestments conserved in our central church. Some very spectacular pieces of embroidery never seen in public for a few hundred years were brought out for the public to admire. Gifts from european royalty.

On the flip side, we also received news of the bishop of Wenzhou who was missing for several months. It's been revealed that he's in hospital for an operation. A dreadful dark message read that "they" are planting something inside his head.  https://aleteia.org/2017/09/15/chinese-bishop-pressured-by-beijing-to-cut-ties-with-rome-found-in-hospital/?utm_campaign=english_page&utm_medium=aleteia_en&utm_source=Facebook#link_time=1505496657

Shwarma

Well the weather is still very hot ... the heatwave is still around. But the nights get a little chilly even at 26 degrees. I feel the strain in my heart when I walk uphill to work. It's the heat and the weakened body. I realize that I am no longer as young as I used to be ... and things that I took for granted - things that I could do - nowadays it's necessary for me to think carefully if I can do it, and how I can do it to make it less strenuous on my heart.

And the new nuns in the kitchen are keeping a close eye on my diet. Remember they are from the hospital where I had my operations. They know my medical history ... and they're watching my cholesterol, allergies, blood pressure, diabetes etc... But it's not bad. They actually know how to make delicious food suitable for my health needs. Simply love it. So I'm eating a lot more normally now than before.

Our Lady of the Spasm

Our Lady of the Spasm altarpiece
at the 4th Station of the Cross

It's the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows ... and there was solemn Mass at the 13th Station up on Mt. Calvary this morning. But the 4th Station of the Cross also celebrated its patron ... the place where Jesus met his mother on the way to Calvary. It's part of the Armenian Catholic church and the name called by all Orthodox and Oriental churches is "Our Lady of the Spasm" meaning shock or trauma. There are several events which recall Mary's shock ... one in Luke's Gospel which said the inhabitants of Nazareth tried to push Jesus over a cliff. Tradition says Mary stood some distance away and saw what happened and was shocked. Obviously the 13th Station also recalls the trauma of Mary as she carried her dead son's body. But another tradition says when Jesus was born, the angels showed Mary the instruments of torture that Jesus would have to suffer and this caused her to be traumatised. That's the subject of the altarpiece at the 4th Station (which is also the 3rd Station here for us).

Well shock is the word today as we learned of another bombing today ... this time at the London tube. It\s terrible how many people were wounded in an enclosed space underground. People int he West have not yet learned from us to be wary of unattended luggage and packages. In Israel, any such package would have been alerted to the police immediately. Better safe than sorry.

And the implosion continues as news just came in reporting how ultra-orthodox jews had attacked an orthodox jewish soldier. He had to be extracted by police who ere called in. Good thing he wasn't seriously injured as he hid in a store. The store however was stoned.  The ultra-orthodox jews are protesting against compulsory military service. Anyone from their community joining the army is considered a traitor.    https://www.timesofisrael.com/ultra-orthodox-soldier-attacked-in-jerusalem-neighborhood/

And earlier in the day we learned that jewish settlers destroyed the olive trees of neighbouring arabs. The harvest season is going to start and such destruction is terrible as it means the arab families will have no oil and food for the next year. It's too bad the perpetrators are seldom caught, and if they are caught, they are never charged.   https://www.timesofisrael.com/settlers-uproot-olive-trees-in-village-south-of-nablus-palestinians-say/

Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Relic of the True
Cross

Today is the feast day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. It recalls 3 events: the finding of the Cross by St. Helena, the building of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre over Mt. Calvary and the recovery of the Cross by Emperor Heraklius from the Persians who stole it in 613 AD. Solemn Mass was celebrated on Mt. Calvary but I had Mass back in our own house. We have a piece of the True Cross in our sacristy and it was brought out during Mass. After Mass everyone came up to kiss the relic. Later in the evening the sisters of M. Teresa came for eucharistic adoration but I brought the relic out as well and they venerated it before the benediction of the Eucharist. It was a nice way to end the feast.

For many in the parish, it was an occasion for baptisms. I saw 2 little boys dressed in franciscan habits walking to church with their mothers. That's very normal ... catholic boys usually dress in franciscan habits as a sig of their consecration to St. Anthony of Padua. The local catholics believe St. Anthony will protect their boys as once St. Anthony revived a dead boy for a poor family some 800 years ago. So if you haven't yet done it ... go consecrate your boy(s) to St. Anthony. Also St. Anthony is now as the scourge of demons ... he could caste them out easily. Consecrating boys to St. Anthony therefore meant putting them under his protection so evil powers will not influence the boys.

On the way to baptism ....

Now back to the continuing implosion of Israeli society ... yesterday the High Court struck another blow at the Chief Rabbinate. It rules that the Chief Rabbinate does not hold the monopoly to grant kosher certificates to restaurants. Other legit rabbis are also able to do that. The Chief Rabbinate had recently abolished all rights of all rabbis except themselves in granting these certificates so that restaurants can open "legally" under jewish law. But a lot of corruption and bribery goes on. The High Court made the right move ... but you can be sure the Chief Rabbis will be fighting back. It's all out war between the Chief Rabbis / ultra-orthodox Jews against the Justice system of Israel. No guesses who will win.  https://www.timesofisrael.com/restaurants-okayed-to-say-food-kosher-without-rabbinates-approval/

Bethlehem

Perpetual adoration at the
Milk Grotto 

Fr. Tom is free. I got the news yesterday midday ... and rang M. Teresa's sisters immediately. Fr. Tom was kidnapped for 18 months in Aden (Yemen) while 16 others were killed including 4 M. Teresa's sisters last year. I have prayed for him everyday ... and so did many others. Now he is free. That is really good news. He is now in Rome. What a relief. I'm sure M. Teresa was protecting him.

Today started early. I was up at 3am to prepare my room and finish off whatever work I had to do ... because I had to go to Bethlehem. Linda from the chinese noodle shop Mian wanted to visit it with a couple of her friends and asked me to bring them there. So we took the 8am bus and reached there at 9am. One of her friends is a old lady who walks with a walking stick. It took a very long time to reach the Basilica. Just to visit 2 churches, it took 3 hours. Wow I was in a hurry to get back to Jerusalem to work at 12pm. So I left them there as they wanted to eat lunch. Ran 1km to the bus-stop to catch the bus because at lunchtime the buses stop running for an hour and a half.

Tibetan lamas seen at
Jaffa Gate

Anyway we visited the Milk Grotto and the chapel of perpetual adoration. It is always so calm and serene. I like it there. The restoration work at the Basilica of the Nativity is still not completed. But the little that was exposed for the public to see ... it's amazing. Anyway I got home in time to start work. Had 2 meetings immediately and a phone call from one of my bosses regarding an outstanding job (outstanding = not yet done). Will have to go visit a chinese group tonight at their hotel. I'm going to be very tired.

There was a shocking bit of news yesterday ... the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia was secretly in Israel on Sunday. Unthinkable. But when you share common enemies, the best way to survive is to form alliances. http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Did-the-Saudi-Crown-Prince-make-a-covert-visit-to-Israel-504777

And talk about implosion .... jewish society is once again divided. The High Court has ordered the govt.'s flip-flopping on enlisting ultra-orthodox jews to the army to be concluded. The status questionis is this: it is a law that all 18 yr olds must serve in the army. In fact, for the past 60 years, the ultra-orthodox have never done it ... and the govt. closes one eye because it needs their political support to form a coalition for a government. The former govt. which was more zionist pushed to enforce the law and arrested several ultra-orthodox for refusing to enlist. Riots have broken out every week over this .... till today. So the High Court stepped in and declared yesterday that the govt. either abolish the present law and write a new one which exempts ultra-orthodox from military service, or enforce the existing law because it is only fair and democratic. The ultra-orthodox are up in arms while the majority of jews are elated by the Court's ruling.  http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Haredi-religious-MKs-up-in-arms-over-conscription-decision-504907
and    http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Court-orders-govt-to-pass-new-law-or-draft-all-haredim-504901

Heatwave is back

Shnitzel and peas for lunch

Today the temp. rose to above 30 degrees. And it will be like that for the next few days. The nights are cool though ... around 24 degrees with a breeze. Road work is still continuing along our street ... a little further down towards Ecce Homo so I haven't heard much noise for the past few nights. But last night was really noisy. I was woken up at 4am by the banging of their huge containers which they use to mix cement and plaster.

Lighted balloon clouds at the
Italian synagogue

Yesterday we had schnitzel for lunch. I'm not exactly thrilled. But it's been a very long time since I ate schnitzel ... and the peas were nice to balance the dry chicken meat. In the evening though I lost my appetite and ate only a nectarine and went to sleep early. It was an exhausting day running between meetings and getting some work down in the library. That reminds me this evening I have another important meeting. Hope I don't forget. My memory is going fast. Only this morning I had vague memories of Zurich and other places that I think I transited or even visited .... but I really can't remember anything clear or distinct. It seems like I just floated through 50 years of life. Frightening. A man without a past.

Some time back ... can't remember which day, I was out for a slice of pizza after a school meeting at the Roman Plaza. That's the neighborhood along Hillel street where the Italian Synagogue is, and where most italian jews live. The little outdoor theatre in front of the synagogue still had its summer decorations on ... lighted balloon clouds. Every night they put on a movie for free. People grab a piece of pizza from the nearby pizzeria and watch the film ... enjoying the breeze.

Yesterday was 9/11. There were few reminders on the newspapers because we're more worried about a possible war in the north with Lebanon and ISIS in the south in the Sinai Peninsular. The latter had attacked a police garrison in Sinai and killed 18 policemen.   https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5015224,00.html

Bric-a-brac

Eli and his quills

Just another 2 weeks and the Jewish New Year will begin. I noticed many houses had already started building the skeletal structures of the booths in preparation for the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths. It's not tents because tents are made from goatskin and are used by shepherds living with their flock. Booths or huts are made from branches and used by farmers to store their harvest while the work in the fields. The Feast of Tabernacles is therefore an agricultural/farmers' feast and not a pastoral/shepherds' feast. I was reminded of this when I visited a jewish friend Eli yesterday. He's a scribe ... someone dedicated to copying the jewish Scriptures by hand on parchment using a quill. Very interesting work!

And as the jewish New Year approaches, our school year will also begin. I think we're the only school that starts in October. All other schools have begun their new academic year last week. Well that only means that when other schools finish the academic early and start the summer holidays, we still have one more month of studies. Not that it bothers me too much as I don't have summer holidays anyway. In fact I'm busier during summer than any other time of the year. Maybe I should take my holidays during the school year then.

There's an article yesterday about the persecution of Christians in Iraq even though ISIS has been driven out (almost) from Aleppo. It's an awful situation.  http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/09/armenians-iraq-minorities-christian.html#ixzz4s0Yk4Snh

In the ongoing feud over the Greek Orthodox Church selling away its land, the Jewish National Fund has now criticized the jewish investors who bought the properties. The ripples of this land sales are spreading wide.   http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.811215

Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Basil and cross at
the sanctuary

Today we celebrated the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in anticipation ... the actual day is in 4 days time but people cannot come to church on a weekday. In typical armneian tradition, the cross was decorated with basil leaves and after the Mass there was the blessing of the basil. Strange? Well all Orthodox and Oriental churches celebrate the Feasts of the Holy Cross with basil because tradition says St. Helen discovered the True Cross under a bush of basil here in Jerusalem. I had been practising the blessing in armneian for 3 days now ... when the time came to do the blessing I messed it up. Was too nervous. Sang out of tune. But I guess nobody minded. I tried my best and Armenian is not my first, second or third languages. After the blessing, people came up to venerate the cross and brought home a sprig of the blessed basil. It's a nice tradition. We're supposed to be reminded of being basil in our everyday lives ... to exude fragrance and be a witness to the cross.

My former students
at the Mass

Today I had the rare occasion of meeting 2 of my former students from way back 16 years. One is now working in Australia and the other in Hong Kong. Both happened to be in Jerusalem for different reasons and we managed to meet up this evening. It was good they did not forget their teacher. During the Mass, one came to concelebrate while another student who studied with me last year served as deacon. It was a great moment.

Well I'm recovering from the dreadful allergic reaction. Am feeling better now but still am easily fatigued and nauseous. The new sisters in the kitchen ,,, who nursed me in hospital 5 years ago during my operation, were worried and brought me all kinds of food, It was very nice of them but I just could't eat. I just needed lots of fruit as my throat was very dry from the medication. I needed to quench my thirst.

Things are not looking good at the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate. Local arabs of the church are demanding the patriarch resign for upholding sale of church land to jews. Some have even filed for a court hearing.  https://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinians-call-for-ouster-of-greek-orthodox-patriarch/

And in a reversal of roles ... 2 jewish extremists attacked an arab bus driver and stoned the bus. They were arrested ... but I doubt they will be charged. These incidents seldom are charged. In fact it's 5 years now since our churches were burnt and vandalised by jewish terrorists but no one has ever been caught or charged.   https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5013983,00.html