As our time in the Holy Land draws near, we have had an exceptional day today. The pilgrims had an audience with His Holiness Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem. On behalf of His Grace Bishop Maxim and the pilgrims, Father Blasko expressed gratitude to His Holiness for this blessed opportunity to meet with him and receive his holy blessing. Having in mind the significance of the role of the Patriarch of Jerusalem as the guardian of the Holy Sepulchre, Father Blasko asked for his prayers for all of us most especially for the suffering Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija which will always remain the Serbian Jerusalem. As a small token of our appreciation, the newest edition of the Orthodox Study Bible with both the Old and New Testaments was given to His Holiness. In his remarks, His Holiness Patriarch Theophilos reminded us of the significance of the holy places in the holy land emphasizing that everything that we saw and venerated is true and original and could not be denied by anyone in the world. He appealed to us to be witnesses of the authentic Orthodox Christian faith by sharing our experience with others upon our return to America. His Holiness presented Father Blasko with a gift of a pectoral cross.
Before wandering through the narrow streets of the colorful, busy Arab bazaar, we paid a preparatory visit to the Holy Sepulchre Church, where we would all come for the midnight liturgy.
Outside the main door, many were kissing a crack in one of the columns that has a story connected with the difficulty of the Armenian and Greek Orthodox Churches sharing this great holy place. At one time, in the 14th century, the Armenians locked out the Greek Orthodox Patriarch with the faithful outside the church in order to attempt to recieve the Holy Fire by themselves which comes from Heaven every year on Pascha. After hours of waiting, the Greek Patriarch and the faithful prayed outside the church, and as a result, the Holy Fire appeared and cracked one of the pillars of the entrance of the church which is still visible as a sign of this miracle.
Just outside the Holy Sepulchre church, we visited the three old chapels of St. Jacob, the Forty Martyrs, and the Myrrhbearers.
