Corpus Christi in Jerusalem

The Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ has long been one of my favorite solemnities in the Church. I think it probably has to do with my feeling that I was deprived of the Eucharist in a Christian Tradition that so emphasized the Word, that by the time I became Catholic, I was starved for it. This is a theological feast and I love the theology it represents a lot. Because it is a feast day that represents a theology and not an event or a place, it is not celebrated in any grand way by the Christian Communites here in the Holy Land (and by that, I mean it is not given extraordinary attention by the Franciscans who are in charge of the Holy Land shrines.) There was no special Eucharistic procession or extended adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. The Franciscans are really good at celebrating events and places - think Creches and Stations of the Cross - but with theological positions, not so much!

Were I at home, I would celebrate Mass and preach about our doctrinal understanding of the Eucharist. I might provide an opportunity for Adoration and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Today I concelebrated a French Mass with the Dominican Community here at S. Etienne. But during Lunch I had a sense that that was not enough. I'm in Jerusalem - the place where it all started, I should be able to celebrate Corpus Christi in some extraordinary way. Then it occurred to me - I'M IN JERUSALEM, WHERE IT ALL STARTED. Yes, Corpus Christi is a doctrine, but it IS connected to an event and a place - HOLY THURSDAY in the "UPPER ROOM." I should go spend some time in the Upper Room. So I put on my Indiana Jones hat and went in search of the room in which Jesus celebrated that first Eucharist with his disciples.

The problem with playing Indiana Jones around here is that so many people have beaten you to the punch. I did not have to turn a single spade of dirt or dodge a single rolling boulder to find that are two places here in Jerusalem with competing claims to be the rightful owners of the sign "Jesus Christ and his disciples ate their last supper here..." (Or if we were in a country town in the South, a sign that read "First Christian Church" and I mean the really first.) Such competing claims are not that unusual here - Protestants have a lovely garden tomb to compete with the Catholic/Orthodox claim that Jesus was actually buried where the Church of the Holy Sepulcher sits (I'll write more about that ridiculousness later). It all has to do with the selling of souvenirs and bragging rights and is one of the seedier sides of this place. One of the upper room claimants is the Armenian Church of St. Mark in the Armenian section of the Old City. The other is outside the wall on Mt. Zion. Neither is the upper room. Both claim to be on the site of the Upper Room. I am still making peace with the idea that it is okay that there are two places. The at peace side of me says "This is about devotion and it is okay have more than one locus for that devotion." This part of me would try to convince my head that Holy Water in the font at my Church is just as good as Lourdes Water or that Stations of the Cross at my home parish in Tucson, AZ are just a good as Stations of the Cross ON the Via Dolorosa IN Jerusalem. But there is this stubborn, Dominican, distinction seeking, deeply Catholic part of me that says if I am going to have extraordinary devotions on the Feast of Corpus Christi in Jerusalem, I need to know which of these places has the better claim to being the real thing. So I did what every good Dominican would do: I read. First I read articles from four books that I have been using in preparation for my trip and since I arrived here. All dismiss the St. Mark's claim as a johnny-come-lately and point to a much older tradition of the Cenacle ("Upper Room") being located on Mt. Zion. I then read two articles on line (http://www.centuryone.org/apostles.html) and (http://www.christusrex.org/www2/liberation/III-4.html) that helped my skeptical little brain to belive that the Shrine called the Coenaculum (Cenacle or "Upper Room") is on (or at least near) the site of the upper room that we read about in the Gospels:

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, when they sacrificed the
Passover lamb, his disciples said to him, "Where do you want us to go and
prepare for you to eat the Passover?" He sent two of his disciples and
said to them, "Go into the city and a man will meet you, carrying a jar of
water. Follow him. Wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, 'The
Teacher says, "Where is my guest room where I may eat the Passover with my
disciples?" ' Then he will show you a large upper room furnished and ready.
Make the preparations for us there." The disciples then went off, entered
the city, and found it just as he had told them; and they prepared the
Passover. --------Mark 14:12-16 (NAB)

So what is this Upper Room in our tradition? It is thought that the same upper room mentioned in Mark's Gospel as a gathering place for Jesus' last Passover was also the place to which the disciple's repaired after crucifixion fear drove them into hiding. It is thought to be the room whose locked door the resurrected Jesus penetrated in the resurrection appearances in John's Gospel. Therefore it was the place where Thomas made his famous profession of faith. It is thought to be the place where the disciples, still in hiding, gathered to celebrate Pentecost 50 days after Passover and wherein God breathed his Holy Breath on the nascent Church. In tradition, it became the locus for the disciples' activity. Mary took up residence and died nearby (commemorated by the Abbey Church of the Dormition on Zion's hill). In ancient pilgrim witness, it became the site of first a Christian Synagogue and then the Church of Hagia Sion (Holy Zion), sometimes called the "Apostle Church" in reverence of the traditions mentioned above. The Church building that occupied this site was destroyed late in the byzantine or early in the Muslim era. Crusaders discovered the sacred site and reconstructed a building on this site to commemorate the Earliest gathering place of the body of Christ. It is the Crusader era building which survives with the moniker "Coenaculum" and it was there that I was determined to spend my devotional time on Corpus Christi afteroon.

I made my way across the Old City, entering in the Muslim Quarter at the Damascus Gate. I entered the Jewish Quarter via the Cardo and exited to the South via the Zion Gate and came out onto the Plaza on Mt. Zion, just outside the Abbey Church of the Dormition of Mary. I followed the directions I had been given (it’s kind hard to find and not well marked) and made my way up the stairs above the small synagogue called he Tomb of David (archaeologist discount this erroneous claim as coming from the early Christian miscalculation of the location of David’s necropolis – which we now know to be East of Mt Zion across the Tyropeoan Valley in what is rightfully identified as “The City of David.”) Up the stairs and across a small foyer and roof path, I was standing in the Upper Room.

First impression: definitely not first century, but I already had read enough to know that. It is clearly a 13th or 14th Century Gothic room with three bays. This delighted me; I love Gothic architecture. And this room could have been the refectory or chapter room of any French monastery. It has been beautifully maintained (or renovated?). I am not surprised; it was used as a Turkish mosque for nearly 500 years. In fact, if you look at the picture of me in the room, I am standing in the mihrab – the structure in a Mosque that indicates the East for praying Muslims. It is a beautiful space. When I arrived, there was a polish tour guide with a small group of pilgrims on one end of the room. I took up residence on a bench on the other side of the room and began to unpack my Bible. My intention was to spend my time here in quiet reflection on the four Scriptural accounts of the institution of the Eucharist (1 Corinthians 11 and the three Synoptic Gospel), the Bread of Life discourse in John 6 and the account of the Washing of the Disciples' feet in John's Passion. On the whole, this, combined with Mass in the morning and some time before the exposed Blessed Sacrament later in the day would be a fitting observance of Corpus Christi in Jerusalem.

What I had not counted on was the popularity of this spot for pilgrims and tourists. So my first experience was not one of quiet reflection. Only moments after I parked myself on my little bench to be quiet, hundreds of pilgrims poured through the doors of the Cenacle speaking every conceivable language! My quiet reflection of Corpus Christi turned into an experience of Pentecost! I ended up spending more than two hours in the Cenacle. In between pilgrim groups and their guides, I got some long periods of silence and opportunity to complete my reflections. It was glorious!

My new Scripture insight today came from the end of the Bread of Life discourse. In that Discourse, Jesus insists that his flesh is real food and his blood is real drink. Our Sacramental understanding of the Eucharist is rooted more in this text than anywhere else. If we eat his body and drink his blood, we have eternal life. If we do not, we "have no life in us." The saying was hard for some of Jesus' disciples and we are told that they returned to their former way of life because of this teaching. In his discussion with his disciples afterwards, Jesus asks them if they too are tempted to leave, and Peter responds famously: "Lord, to whom else would we go, you have the words of everlasting life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the holy one of God." The insight is this. Jesus has just been giving the most concrete explanation of our Sacramental faith that we have in his recorded teachings. But when the disciples are asked about it, Peter responds with a statement about WORD! As with the Emmaus story in Luke's Gospel, this points to the importance of rooting sacrament in word and vice versa. Our faith is formed by both realities: we must celebrate the sacraments with deep devotion to all they teach us about our history and the life of the Lord. But we must also be rooted deeply in his Word (in HIM as THE Word!). Such rootedness in both Word and Sacrament will lead us to the same profession of faith Peter gives: "Lord, we have come to believe and are convinced the you are the Holy One of God!"

This insight points even more to the importance of the study I am undertaking here in Jerusalem. I love the Word, but study leads us deeper and deeper into that Word, which points to the beauty and necessity of the Sacraments. Today, I worship the Body of Christ in Word and Sacrament!

After two hours in the Cenacle, I took some photos and headed out. I decided to stop in and see if the Abbey Church of the Dormition was open. It was and I was so happy that I went in. It is a modern, round Church (built in 1900). In both the upper Church and the crypt of the Church, there are beautiful artworks dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and her Dormition. There are exquisite mosaic works throughout. I have included a couple of photos (top: Mary's Resting Place, and bottom: Our Lady of Guadalupe (yes, she is even here!) here, but you can see all the myriad of photos I took at Picasa: http://picasaweb.google.com/FrBart/Jerusalem2009.

I only spent a short time here praying and then headed back across the City for my second stop at the Wailing Wall and some time before the Blessed Sacrament at the Church of Our Lady of the Spasm (sometime, I am going to find out what that name refers to!), where they have perpetual adoration.

My Corpus Christi in Jerusalem was wonderful! My studies of the archaeological evidence, lead me to a great devotional space and understanding. My reflections on Scripture gave me a new insight into the connection between Sacrament and Word.

I am becoming more comfortable getting my way around the maze of streets in the Old City, and the Blessings just keep on coming!