In the place where almost 2000 years ago a man died and a religion was born, in Jerusalem, stands the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, also known as the “Church of the Resurrection”. What used to be a small elevation, the so-named Mount Gólgotha or Calvary, where Jesus was crucified along with two thieves, is today a religious temple that pays homage to the son of God.
Its construction began in the year 326 AD, when the Roman emperor Constantine the Great ordered the construction of a church in the place that his mother, Elena, had identified as the site where Jesus of Nazareth was crucified and buried.
Considered the most sacred place in Christianity, the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher is located in the heart of the Holy City and is the main center of pilgrimage for Christian faithful. Here Jesus was hung on the cross until he died, here is his tomb and here (they say…) he rose on the third day and went up to sit at the right hand of God the father. It is a place that attracts both religious and curious atheists from all over the world.
Upon entering, the first thing the visitor sees is a pale pink marble tile, the “Anointing Stone”, on which the corpse of Jesus was laid to anoint it with oils before burial and which is venerated by the faithful who pray kneeling before her, they kiss her, rub their handkerchiefs and many cry uncontrollably. Although it looks somewhat deteriorated, I have read somewhere that it is not the original, but for Christians who come here guided by faith, that does not matter.
To the left, in the middle of a rotunda surrounded by columns and under an imposing dome that filters the sun’s rays, is a small marble mausoleum, the Edicule. Inside is the tomb of Jesus, small and modest. A dark and tiny place that only fits two or three people at a time, which causes long queues in which the visitor can spend hours before being able to pray before the place of the resurrection of the Messiah.
When I arrived in the Holy Land a few months ago, even with the country closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, COVID-19, the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, like the rest of the Old City of Jerusalem, was deserted. I walked through it with my wife in the midst of an overwhelming silence, only altered by the discreet steps of the religious who inhabit this sacred place and some mass that was officiated at that time. It was a unique experience having it all to ourselves, but there was no feeling between the holy place and me. I didn’t like what I saw and hardly took any photos.
I’ve been back several times and each time there are more people. And I like that. I really enjoy seeing them passionately live their religiosity. I am definitely passionate about people, not stones.
The Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher is an eclectic building, with stairs that go up and down linking the holy places where the last hours of Jesus passed and, three days later, his still unproven resurrection. To top it off, it’s always under construction. Every time I have returned I have seen everywhere scaffolding, stairs, beams, bags of cement and a thousand other things typical of the constant restoration to which this ancient place seems to be subjected, which has been destroyed and rebuilt on multiple occasions throughout its history. the ages.
Currently the Basilica is guarded by six Christian communities. Greeks, Armenians, Syrians, Ethiopians, Copts and Franciscans live together, but not mixed up, in this chaotic church in which each congregation wears its habits and acts according to its centuries-old traditions. According to what I was told and what I have read, these holy men usually have heated theological or territorial disputes from time to time, which every so often end up with a clean punch and with the police intervening to calm things down.
Any modification, physical or spiritual, that is carried out in the Holy Sepulcher must be endorsed by all these congregations, which often cannot agree. A good example of this is a wooden ladder that has remained in a window for more than 100 years, because as no one remembers which of the branches of Christianity who left it there belonged to, there is no friar who dares to remove it, much less to start a fight with his neighbors for having moved it from its site.
The gate of the Basilica del Santo is closed from the outside, leaving the religious who guard it “locked” inside. For more than 800 years, a Muslim family has been in charge of opening and closing the door of such a holy place. The work is inherited from generation to generation and every day at 5am and 9pm the opening and closing ceremony is held, respectively, in which the person in charge of the shift uses a ladder to secure the door and then returns it to the interior of the room. building through a mini opening.
Yesterday I found out that, with the necessary permissions and I suppose divine approval, you can spend the night inside the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre. The idea scares a little, but at the same time it tempts me. I have a friend who would like to do it, so she wouldn’t be alone. I am not a Christian, but if I have the opportunity I will, because not every night one can spend the night in such a holy place.
***
From hand to hand the truth is passed
And in each hand you will forget
Something true and it will also take
From each hand, the seem
If we walked backwards calendar
Everything would be backwards.
Some say it’s fake
And others repeat that it is true
who entered Jerusalem in the daytime
It is said that his robe was white
that was perched on his eyes
A midday bird.
That was the time of graves
That was flute time
Of merchants, of the Roman Legion
It is said that the mob followed him
That in his simple word
He washed in the morning.
The King of the Jews
the son of men
The Christ, The Nazarene
They called him.
Jerusalem, year zero and changed
luck with what happened
Jerusalem, year zero and Nazareth
And the village of Bethlehem
Jerusalem year zero was the place
Where it happened or where it didn’t.
He was an enemy of the Empire
and friend of the word
He said that everything was for everyone
It is said that he taught the shepherds
to share the sheep
And to beware of the wolves.
So much teaching made noise
In the power of the temples
And in the wood they nailed it hard
It was said that by magician or sorcerer
But if the story is true
It was because he was silent.
The King of the Jews
the son of men
The Christ, The Nazarene
They called him.
Silvio Rodriguez
