9 degrees

Cloudy cold windy day

It's still 9 degrees today with a gusty icy wind blowing across the City. I thought I was prepared, wearing a woollen sweater and a hoodie ... but it wasn't. It was so cold I had to wear a long sock round my neck because I didn't have a scarf. Everyone on the streets had their hands in their pockets. I had to carry a bag of books and my hand was frozen. I'll have to turn on my heater tonight if I want to keep warm. I guess Buddy and JJ need it too. They've been all fluffed up to keep warm themselves.

I guess I must be very tired ... I'm losing much of my memory as a result. This morning I went to work in the other library 1km uphill in this terrible weather. When I reached the door, I realised I wasn't carrying my bag pack with all my keys. Could it be possible I walked 1 km without realising I didn't have my bag pack with me? So I walked home and searched for it. It was on my table. Then I had to walk back again to work. That's 3kms I walked this morning. I was by then too exhausted to do any work. 

Coffin today

As I stood outside the library door catching my breath, our infirmary van came. It stopped at the inner courtyard and the driver opened the back door and brought out a coffin. Another friar had died. I don't know who because I didn't receive any news. The dreadful weather and pandemic is not helping. In the past year we lost about one friar a month. With my health going downhill ... and I can feel it every day with difficulty in walking distances ... I guess my time is also soon. 

But before I die, this coming Monday I'll be celebrating Mass inside the Empty Tomb for all the benefactors who helped answer our call for help. The Custos is very grateful and the superior of the Holy Sepulchre allowed me to preside the Mass in thanksgiving for you all. Will be praying for you all there.

Cold storm

Sahlab yesterday

 The temp just plunged 20 degrees. From 28 degrees, hot and sunny during the day ... it just plunged. By 6pm it was freezing, and a gusty biting wind was tearing through the City. Utterly unbearable. I wasn't dressed for that weather. I only had a T-shirt and a hoodie on my way to work and it was already hot. I had to remove the hoodie. But on my way home, it wasn't enough. I had to rush home in order to keep warm. What's happened to summer?

This cold weather is perfect for sahlab ... the turkish orchid-drink with roe syrup typically drunk in winter. My friend yesterday had invited me for tea to celebrate my birthday, and I decided to order a sahlab. Every winter I drink it once, as it makes winter feel like winter. This year I missed it due to the lockdown, so yesterday I just had to make up for it. It was 28 degrees yesterday and felt weird  drinking hot sahlab ... I should have waited for today.

Way of the Cross today

Today is the last Friday before Ramadan. Thousands of muslims from around the country tried to enter the Old City to pray at the Al Aqsa Mosque. But the City Gates were blocked by police who checked permits to enter the City. Many were turned back. Many jews were also entering the City, because in a few days it'll be Memorial Day for Fallen soldiers and Independence Day, which is a sore point for arabs who lost their land. There was a scuffle at the junction of the 3rd Station of the Cross. There were lots of soldiers, and I saw a jewish man with a badly bruised face. I guess an arab must have pushed him and he scraped his face on a wall or floor.

Just a few hours earlier, there were groups of catholics from outside of Jerusalem came to make the Way of the Cross. They celebrate Holy Week with the Orthodox Churches and that will be next week. That's the arrangement between the churches here in the Holy Land because we use the Gregorian Calendar and the orthodox use the Julian Calendar, resulting in a 2 week gap. In turn, the orthodox will join the catholics to celebrate Christmas on December 25th.  Nice deal.

Mass at the Tomb

Sr. Marina &
Fr. Abraham

 It's Easter Thursday ... I was able to celebrate Mass in the Empty Tomb this morning. It was a privilege because this week, all Masses in the Tomb are totally booked. The superior there kindly squeezed me in in a 20 min slot before the Tomb was transferred to Greek Orthodox guardianship at 8.45am. It was a last-minute arrangement for Sr. Marina, who is here for a sabbatical leave but was stuck in the pandemic lockdown. Next week she will return to her mission in Taiwan. I got a fellow filipino priest to preside as he never had the chance to celebrate inside the Tomb itself.

Sr. Marina was very touched. I gave her a crucifix with a relic of Mt. Calvary as a reminder of the Holy Land. Hopefully she will return safely to her mission and share her experiences. I also remembered all of you at Mass and prayed for all of you.

Then I had to rush off immediately after Mass to Bethlehem to celebrate another Mass for the MC sisters there. The 4 sisters are elderly and care for 12 mentally-handicapped men. To relieve their stress of work and going out for Mass (not priest comes to their convent), I decided to go today. I also brought 12 sacks of clothes, shoes etc... for the poor there. Then in the afternoon I went to the MC convent in Jerusalem for Adoration and confessions. So it has been a very busy day running between 2 countries. 

Ma'amoul ... Easter cookies

One nice thing though ... some people made ma'amoul  for me. It's the Easter cookies eaten by locals. It's made from samolina and date fillings. That for me is a typical Easter celebration. I must have ma'amoul for Easter!

Today is also Holocaust Day. At 10am a 2 minute siren was sounded and everyone stood still. I was in Bethlehem though. Next Tuesday will be Memorial Day which commemorates all the soldiers who died since the founding of the country. But this year it coincides with muslim Ramadan. It will be very tense and I'm expecting road closures, neighbourhood lockdowns etc. I'm not sure if it'll affect my workers from coming to work. I'll have to reassess it and make a last minute decision if the libraries should close.

Day off

Carmel market

It's Holy Tuesday. I decided to take a day off and visit our community at Jaffa. The superior there has been calling to go ovr and have a rest many times. And really, I felt so stressed the past week I decided to drop everything and went to visit them. I left very early at 5.15am to avoid the traffic jam. Then upon the arriving, I could smell the salty sea air and hear the waves smashing on the rocks. It's been over a year since I sensed all that. It felt very good.

Foot volleyball at the beach

I then concelebrated Mass with the community with Lauds. Then had breakfast and an hour long chat with everyone. It was good to catch up with everyone. Then I took a long slow walk along the promenade along the shore ... it was great. A hot 28 degrees, sunny with sea wind blowing hard. The sea has been cordoned off because of the oil slick that polluted all the beaches in Israel. Lots of people, old and young were enjoying the sun and breeze, and groups were playing foot volleyball (like sepak takraw). Then I went to the Carmel Market ... all the colours, smells and tastes of the food there. I missed it after a year's lockdown. 

Anyway I walked back and forth around, a total of 10km I guess. It was something I needed. I didn't cough or had an asthma attack. But when I got home, the sore throat and cough and wheezing came back immediately. Guys at home say its the dust in the air ... a desert wind is blowing, causing desert sand to blow into the city. In Jaffa, the moist sea air coagulates the dust and drops them on the ground because they become to heavy to be airborne. I wish I could take a longer holiday there. Maybe summertime ... and I can bring Buddy and JJ along with me.

Easter!

Patriarch blesses the water

It's Easter! Holy Saturday saw the Patriarch presiding at the Vigil which takes place in the morning not night, of Holy Saturday. The Holy Sepulchre was relatively crowded. Many priests came to join in, as did local christians and religious. The Easter proclamation "Exultet" was sung in front of the Empty Tomb. It was very poignant and moving. And taking place at 7.30am, it is the first Easter vigil even before New Zealand or Japan begins the ceremony. Here we call it the Mother of all Vigils. Jerusalem comes first ... after all the Resurrection took place here.

Lamb of God

I followed everything online as I cannot join in the celebration. It was too crowded and risky for me. Likewise on Easter Sunday, the Patriarch presided at the first Mass at the Empty Tomb at sunrise. I believe it was even more crowded than Saturday. I was told priests could only celebrate if they were given a ticket. Those without cannot concelebrate. 

At lunch, there was the usual easter eggs but this year we have no ma'amoul ... the cookies with date filling shaped as the crown of thorns, the sponge and the spearhead. That's a very traditional local christian goodie here. One big surprise tough ... someone gave us a "Lamb of God" which is a marzipan cake shaped as a lamb. Our italian and polish sisters working in the kitchen always made 4 every Easter, but now our indian sisters don't know the recipe. It's a pity ... maybe I'll teach them to do it next year.

Easter eggs from Georgette

Today is Easter Monday. Everyone goes to Emmaus for the solemn Mass. It's not easy to get there as there are many police roadblocks. You need to bring your passport and vaccination clearance document in order to get back to Israel. Emmaus is Israeli-controlled, an arab village surrounded by a jewish settlement. It's so sad. I was the acting parish priest there 2 decades ago during the 1st Intifada. I miss it very much ... but I can't take the long journey with so many police checks that slow down the trip. I get sick very easily.

Good Friday

Packed Way of the Cross

 It's Good Friday. At 5.30am there were already 3 groups at our door waiting to make the Way of the Cross. I was out throwing the rubbish so I could have a cup of coffee before sunrise and the fast began. It was still very dark and cold, and lots of muslims were coming out from the Al Aqsa Mosque which is typical of Saturday. Police began setting up road barriers all around our house to control the crowds.

By 8am more and more people, all locals or religious living in the country, were coming to start the Way of the Cross so we finally opened out main gate to let them in. At 11.30 the friars with the Nuncio came to start the official Way of the Cross and the crowd was impressive. 

Dark sky and rain at noon

I on the otherhand had to stay away from crowds because I'm not vaccinated so I went 1km away to the Herodian Tombs which I usually do every Good Friday morning. There in the park there are several tombs from the time of Christ, one still intact with a rolling stone at the door. I sat there and read the Passion according to John. The sun was shining, a cold breeze was blowing, birds singing and I was all alone at the tomb. It was very evocative ... to be sitting in front of the tomb from the 1st century. After meditating on the Passion, I went home through the lower park towards Jaffa Gate of the Old City.

The rest of the day was spent in my room, cleaning and studying while following the celebrations in the Holy Sepulchre online. At 12pm the sky suddenly turned very dark, a strong cold wind blew and a couple of thunder rumblings were heard. It started to rain and continued to do so till 6pm. 

Procession of the True Cross

The Patriarch this morning presided at the Passion liturgy on Mt. Calvary. The relic of the True Cross was carried out and venerated up on Calvary. It's a very poignant liturgy. While the rest of the world, churches symbolically celebrate these rituals, here it takes place at the very spot where it occurred 2000 years ago. You should come and join in once in your lifetime. It's very special.

Police barrier in
front of our house

Maundy Thursday

Patriarch washing feet

It's the Triduum. But I had to work today. I couldn't join in the Chrism Mass which is always together with the Lord's Supper ... here in the Holy Sepulchre. But I watched it online. The Patriarch washed the feet of 12 friars; and consecrated the 3 jars of oil. These oil are crushed from the olives of the 8 ancient trees in the Garden of Gethsemani. It's always a moving celebration. And this year it was crowded with locals instead of tourists and pilgrims. A good sign ... but not good for non-vaccinated people like me. Regretfully I must stay away from all these celebrations for the sake of my health.

Crowded Chrism Mass

The weather is dreadfully cold. It was no higher than 13 degrees today and indoors it felt much colder. I guess Easter will be just as cold. Maybe back 2000 years ago, Easter was also just as cold or colder. We;re used to seeing the flagellation and crucifixion in hot, sunny desert weather. But it was the end of winter and the start of Spring ... which can be as cold as today.

Tomorrow is fasting day. I want to fast (no food or drink like the jews and muslims) but I'm afraid I might faint again and bash my head or something worse. I'll see what happens tomorrow. Meantime a good sleep might help.

Praying for you all here even though I'm not at the celebrations. 

Crowded Mass

Holy Chrism