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REVERED JERUSALEM CHURCH AT JESUS CRUCIFIXION SITE COMES ALIVE IN CENTURIES-OLD NIGHT CEREMONY
Newser
http://www.newser.com/article/d9v3grmo0/revered-jerusalem-church-at-jesus-crucifixion-site-comes-alive-in-centuries-old-night-ceremony.html
May 31 2012
By DANIELA BERRETTA | ASSOCIATED PRESS
Revered Jerusalem church comes alive at night
After the last tourists leave the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in
Jerusalem's Old City at nightfall, a little-known but centuries-old
tradition unfolds at one of Christianity's holiest sites.
Clerics from the three largest denominations represented in the church
_ Greek Orthodox, Armenian and Roman Catholic _ gather each night
for special prayers reserved for the men who take care of the site
where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected.
Starting at midnight, clerics and monks sing and pray for hours,
their chants echoing through the cavernous chambers of the Holy
Sepulcher's darkest rooms.
"The door of the church is closed, no pilgrims, no tourists, it's
very quiet," said Father Isidoros Fakitsas, the superior of the Greek
Orthodox Patriarchate at the church. "It's amazing to feel the liturgy
with no people, only the monks."
Isidoros said he has attended the services for 21 years.
The preparations require a rigid routine. Before the first prayers of
the new day, the Christian shrine needs to be cleaned, and maintenance
work has to be done.
The clerics sweep the floors, replace oil lamps and clean candle
holders, after thousands of pilgrims visited throughout the previous
day. Occasionally a small number of devoted pilgrims help them with the
cleanup and are permitted to stay and pray inside the church all night.
The early morning mass is a tradition associated with monastic life,
said Father Eugenio Alliata, professor of Christian Archaeology at
the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem. "Mostly monks and
religious people want to pray not only all the day, but also all the
night, or part of the day or part of the night. It is part of the
desire to pray without ceasing because prayers to God must be given
all the time, day and night," Alliata said.
Father Fergus Clarke, the guardian for the Franciscan community inside
the Holy Sepulcher, said the night prayers require a certain amount
of personal sacrifice, but also bring greater spiritual fulfillment.
"That's a wonderful vocation ... to be able to do something like that,
to know that while people are sleeping, others are praying," he said.
The night liturgies inside the Holy Sepulcher are regulated by a
consolidated tradition: The Greek-Orthodox start to celebrate mass
inside Jesus' Tomb at 12:30 a.m., before handing over to the Armenians
and then the Franciscans. The Greek Orthodox liturgy at the tomb is
the longest, lasting for about three and a half hours; the Armenians
then take over for an hour and a half and the Franciscans for another
half hour.
The night service is subject to some variations. On the feast of
Saint Matthias on the morning of May 14, for example, Catholics lead
a procession to Jesus' tomb during the Greek Orthodox liturgy.
Sounds collided with one another that night. The celestial voices of
Armenian priests rose from their wing of the Church as the sound of
a Franciscan pipe organ came from the opposite direction.
Competing for attention is nothing new in the ancient church. The three
main denominations that share the church jealously guard their turf,
and an air of mistrust lingers as each group makes sure no one else
crosses into their space.
While the Tomb of Jesus and the main passages of the Holy Sepulcher
are considered common spaces, the three main religious communities
each own a part of the church: The Chapel of Saint Helen, near the
place where Jesus' cross is said to have been found, belongs to the
Armenians; the Greek-Orthodox Church has ownership over the largest
part of the church, including the Altar of the Calvary, where Jesus's
cross was raised; the Franciscans own the Chapel of the Crucifixion
where Jesus was crucified, along with the northern part of the Church,
where according to tradition Jesus appeared to his mother.
The church was first built by Roman Emperor Constantine in 325,
at the site where the tomb of Jesus was believed to have been found.
Constantine's structure was destroyed in 1009 by Muslim Caliph
al-Hakim. A 12th century restoration by the Crusaders gave the Holy
Sepulcher its current appearance.
Life inside the Holy Sepulcher is regulated by a complex maze of
norms that are often subject to different interpretations, said Father
Samuel Aghoyan, the Armenian Superior of the Holy Sepulcher. At times,
tensions have even spilled over into violence, with monks pushing
and punching each other.
"We keep almost awake at night here to see that things are done
properly, on time, that no one will trespass the other's right by
doing things that he's not supposed to do," said Father Samuel. "So
we have to be careful and watch what we do or what they do."
Newser
http://www.newser.com/article/d9v3grmo0/revered-jerusalem-church-at-jesus-crucifixion-site-comes-alive-in-centuries-old-night-ceremony.html
May 31 2012
By DANIELA BERRETTA | ASSOCIATED PRESS
Revered Jerusalem church comes alive at night
After the last tourists leave the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in
Jerusalem's Old City at nightfall, a little-known but centuries-old
tradition unfolds at one of Christianity's holiest sites.
Clerics from the three largest denominations represented in the church
_ Greek Orthodox, Armenian and Roman Catholic _ gather each night
for special prayers reserved for the men who take care of the site
where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected.
Starting at midnight, clerics and monks sing and pray for hours,
their chants echoing through the cavernous chambers of the Holy
Sepulcher's darkest rooms.
"The door of the church is closed, no pilgrims, no tourists, it's
very quiet," said Father Isidoros Fakitsas, the superior of the Greek
Orthodox Patriarchate at the church. "It's amazing to feel the liturgy
with no people, only the monks."
Isidoros said he has attended the services for 21 years.
The preparations require a rigid routine. Before the first prayers of
the new day, the Christian shrine needs to be cleaned, and maintenance
work has to be done.
The clerics sweep the floors, replace oil lamps and clean candle
holders, after thousands of pilgrims visited throughout the previous
day. Occasionally a small number of devoted pilgrims help them with the
cleanup and are permitted to stay and pray inside the church all night.
The early morning mass is a tradition associated with monastic life,
said Father Eugenio Alliata, professor of Christian Archaeology at
the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem. "Mostly monks and
religious people want to pray not only all the day, but also all the
night, or part of the day or part of the night. It is part of the
desire to pray without ceasing because prayers to God must be given
all the time, day and night," Alliata said.
Father Fergus Clarke, the guardian for the Franciscan community inside
the Holy Sepulcher, said the night prayers require a certain amount
of personal sacrifice, but also bring greater spiritual fulfillment.
"That's a wonderful vocation ... to be able to do something like that,
to know that while people are sleeping, others are praying," he said.
The night liturgies inside the Holy Sepulcher are regulated by a
consolidated tradition: The Greek-Orthodox start to celebrate mass
inside Jesus' Tomb at 12:30 a.m., before handing over to the Armenians
and then the Franciscans. The Greek Orthodox liturgy at the tomb is
the longest, lasting for about three and a half hours; the Armenians
then take over for an hour and a half and the Franciscans for another
half hour.
The night service is subject to some variations. On the feast of
Saint Matthias on the morning of May 14, for example, Catholics lead
a procession to Jesus' tomb during the Greek Orthodox liturgy.
Sounds collided with one another that night. The celestial voices of
Armenian priests rose from their wing of the Church as the sound of
a Franciscan pipe organ came from the opposite direction.
Competing for attention is nothing new in the ancient church. The three
main denominations that share the church jealously guard their turf,
and an air of mistrust lingers as each group makes sure no one else
crosses into their space.
While the Tomb of Jesus and the main passages of the Holy Sepulcher
are considered common spaces, the three main religious communities
each own a part of the church: The Chapel of Saint Helen, near the
place where Jesus' cross is said to have been found, belongs to the
Armenians; the Greek-Orthodox Church has ownership over the largest
part of the church, including the Altar of the Calvary, where Jesus's
cross was raised; the Franciscans own the Chapel of the Crucifixion
where Jesus was crucified, along with the northern part of the Church,
where according to tradition Jesus appeared to his mother.
The church was first built by Roman Emperor Constantine in 325,
at the site where the tomb of Jesus was believed to have been found.
Constantine's structure was destroyed in 1009 by Muslim Caliph
al-Hakim. A 12th century restoration by the Crusaders gave the Holy
Sepulcher its current appearance.
Life inside the Holy Sepulcher is regulated by a complex maze of
norms that are often subject to different interpretations, said Father
Samuel Aghoyan, the Armenian Superior of the Holy Sepulcher. At times,
tensions have even spilled over into violence, with monks pushing
and punching each other.
"We keep almost awake at night here to see that things are done
properly, on time, that no one will trespass the other's right by
doing things that he's not supposed to do," said Father Samuel. "So
we have to be careful and watch what we do or what they do."