Bishop Nelson Perez and 50 pilgrims from the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland began a 10-day journey to the Holy Land on Oct. 23. The Catholic Community Foundation coordinated the trip and Deacon Dennis Conrad from St. Christopher Parish in Rocky River will be sending regular updates to share their experiences throughout the pilgrimage. His eighth installment is below.
The pilgrims started the day with Mass and then headed over to the Church of the Dormition. This church is where tradition says Mary “fell asleep.” From there her body and soul were assumed into heaven. The Upper Room, where Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with his apostles, is located steps away from the Church of the Dormition.
Another short walk took us to the Tomb of King David. All of these sites are located on the top of Mount Zion with the House of Caiaphas, the high priest, located just down the mount. It was his house that Jesus was bought after his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. The cistern beneath Caiaphas’ house is where Jesus spent Thursday night before he was bought before Pilate. St. Peter Galicantu Church was built on the site of Caiaphas’ house, and commemorates Peter’s denial of Jesus after Jesus’ arrest. The road next to the house was built by the Romans and remains even today. Jesus would have walked on this road as the temple guards led him to Caiaphas’ house.
Next, the pilgrims jumped ahead in time to the mid-20th century as we visited the Yad Vashem. This museum is a memorial to the more than 6 million Jews who died in the Holocaust.
Throughout our pilgrimage, we have visited many churches which were built over the site of a Crusader Church, which was built over a Byzantine Church. Over the years, Jerusalem was completely destroyed several times and partially destroyed more than 50 times. The stones from the past were used to be part of the walls and buildings placed on top the foundation of the city.
A pilgrim learns that our Catholic faith is similar. We have a strong foundation in the sacred Scriptures and Jesus Christ. We the use the stones (our traditions) of those who came before us (the apostles and their successors) to strengthen our faith and protect us from those who want to destroy us. The experiences of a pilgrimage allow our foundation and traditions to be fortified.