Birthday, Holy Cross Monastery and Jerusalem Great Synagogue

Birthday

It was a great grace to be able to celebrate my 51^st birthday here in the Land of Jesus, as several people who sent in their best wishes have told me. I am truly grateful to God, the giver of life, for this wonderful gift. God is so loving and gracious towards us. I can celebrate because he loved me into existence and he continues to sustain me with his love. He endowed me with talents, for me to develop so as to become a gift unto others, in his name – to become a means for others to recognize that they are loved by God in an unreserved manner.

I want to thank all those who have sent me their best wishes. I truly appreciate all the manifestations of friendship that I have received. We cannot live alone. We need one another. We need the affection of one another. We need to sustain each other. Heartfelt thanks for your love and for your affection.

I am also seeing the power of the social media. Since I am on my trip, this media has kept me very much in touch with all of you. Through this blog several people could accompany me on my journey. I am not alone. I am on this journey together with you. What a great gift all this is! I would like to learn how to use it more efficiently, without letting it overpower me and take time from other important matters. However, it is a great means of evangelization.

Holy Cross Monastery

Today, together with a priest from Hong Kong, one from Spain and another one from Italy, I went to visit the Holy Cross Monastery. It is a very old monastery, most probably coming from the 7^th century. Today there are Greek Orthodox Monks living there. It is the place where it is said that the tree from which the cross was made grew. And there is a beautiful legend around this tree. The Church has some nice frescoes coming down from the 11^th century. 

The Monastery of the Holy Cross, Jerusalem

I loved a particular fresco of Our Lady with the Child Jesus on the side of the iconostasis. At the back of the Church (kind of a sacristy) there is the place where the tree is said to have been. There are some paintings which relate the story of the tree.

Our Lady with Child: Monastery of the Holy Cross

Let me just narrate it. The story goes back to Abraham, who was well on in years when three staff-carrying angels ventured into his tent. After predicting that Sarah would become pregnant despite her advanced age they continued on their way, leaving their staves behind them.

Spot where it is held that the Lot's Tree was planted

Later, Abraham's nephew Lot, when fleeing Sodom with his daughters, committed the terrible sin of incest (Gen 19, 31-35). He confessed to his uncle, who suggested that Lot plant the staves in Jerusalem as a penance. Should they grow together into a flourishing tree, it would be a sign of God’s forgiveness, he said.

Lot took his task seriously. Each morning he went with his donkey to the Jordan River and, laden with water, he returned to the fertile valley in which he had planted the staves. The devil attempted to prevent Lot from watering the staffs but did not succeed. Eventually they combined into a special triple-crested tree (pine + cypress + cedar).

Much later, this singular tree was chopped down to make beams for Solomon's Temple. But the beams were either too long, too short, or their ends curled up when put into place. Solomon's workers cursed the beams, and cast them aside. According to legend, a thousand years later the ill-fated beams were rediscovered, and used to fashion Jesus’ cross. According to this legend, the Roman Governor who oversaw the conviction of Jesus, ordered the Cross of Christ be made of this cursed wood. He believed that with the variations of its height, Jesus would suffer more and that with his crucifixion on this wood he would be further dishonored.

Paintings narrating the legend -- 1

Paintings narrating the legend - 2

Paintings narrating the legend - 3

Which brings to mind what St Paul says in his letter to the Galatians: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us-- for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree" – in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Gal 3, 13-14).

The Jerusalem Great Synagogue

On our way back to San Salvatore we visited also the Jerusalem Great Synagogue, constructed recently by the donations of many generous Jews from all around the world. It is a spacious, modern and well-equipped place of worship, where the centerpiece remains the veneration of the Word of God.

The Jerusalem Great Synagogue