route of the Stations winds through the Arab heart of the Old City until it reaches the place where Jesus was nailed to the cross, crucified, died and was buried. Two thousand years ago, this was outside the city wall, but the place has since become incorporated into what is now the Old City, and the last five of the Stations are all in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Pilgrims can now visit the new wing of the Terra Sancta Museum in Jerusalem’s Old City. This museum, on the Via Dolorosa, has a vast collection of archaeological findings that date back to the origins of Christianity and New Testament Times. The multimedia section is available in Italian, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Polish, Arabic and Hebrew.
admit...that the Jesus whom Christians adore was born in this cave” (Contra Celsum 51). The biblical roots of Bethlehem go back to the time of the Patriarchs, indicated by Rachel’s Tomb on the outskirts of the town. In the nearby Shepherds’ Fields (at Beit Sahour), the angel proclaimed to the shepherds the birth of Jesus (Luke. 2:8-20) in the manger in Bethlehem (Luke 2:4-7). The Basilica of the Nativity, virtually unchanged since the fourth century, stands over the birth grotto. This year, a fragment of wood believed to have formed part of Jesus’ manger has been returned to Bethlehem after more than 1,400 years in Europe. The wooden relic, believed to have been part of the manger where Jesus was born, was sent by St. Sophronius, the patriarch
The Garden Tomb - or Gordon’s Calvary Towards the end of the 19th Century, the Governor of Palestine, General Gordon of Khartoum, became convinced that he had come upon Golgotha from the window of his study, having looked out at a piece of rock that was shaped like a skull: The rock and the surrounding land, just outside Jerusalem’s Old City, were purchased by the Church of England, and excavations that took place revealed the presence of a 1st-century tomb, The site, now maintained by the Garden Tomb Trust, is kept in beautiful condition and offers free guided tours. The Garden Tomb, which many Protestant denominations accept as Golgotha, is a quiet and special place to visit, and whether or not you accept it as the true site, it is an excellent spot for one to imagine how Jesus’ burial site may have seemed. Bethlehem
of Jerusalem, to Pope Theodore I in the 640s, around the time of the Muslim conquest of the Holy Land. Pope Francis ordered the return of the thumb-sized relic from Rome’s Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore as a gift. It was briefly put on display in Jerusalem before continuing its journey to Bethlehem to coincide with the start of Christmas celebrations there. The relic, encased in an ornate stand, was welcomed to Bethlehem by a procession of marching bands and taken to the Church of St Catherine, next to the Church of the Nativity where tradition says Jesus was born.
Just south of Jerusalem lies the city of Bethlehem, birthplace of Jesus and also of King David (now in the territory of the Palestinian Authority (P.A.)). As early as 248 AD, Origen, the Christian theologian, wrote of his visit here: “In Bethlehem you are shown the cave where He was born, and, within the cave, the manger where He was wrapped in swaddling clothes. These things that they show you are common knowledge in the district, even among those who do not share our faith. They
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