VIA DOLOROSA e SANTO SEPULCRO em Jerusalem! Como está a terra santa na QUARENTEN4?

Shalom and welcome back to the Israel channel with Aline! And today we are going to visit one of the most important places in Jerusalem; a place that changed the history of humanity, we are going to walk together the Via Dolorosa and the Holy Sepulchre, but not as a normal day, I want to show you how these places look like today, with everything that is happening, what is open, what is not, what is being done in a preventive way; so we are going to visit the Via Dolorosa and the Holy Sepulchre, in a way that I and probably you have never seen! And of course, among the preventive measures, the mask is mandatory, I wear it all the time, I take it off only when I am alone to talk to you, and then I put it back on. And this is where it all began, we are standing where two thousand years ago stood the great Fortress of Antonia, and this is where Jesus will be judged and condemned by the Roman Governor named Pontius Pilate. This blue door here behind me, was the entrance to the church, here inside it is the first and the second station of the Via Dolorosa, the first, the place of Jesus’ flagellation and the second the place of the receiving of the Cross. And as you can see, at the moment it is closed and now we are going to follow the way through the fourteen stations of the Via Dolorosa. But what is the Via dolorosa? It’s also called Via Crucis or Stations of the Cross, it’s the path Jesus took carrying the cross, from the place of trial and condemnation, to the place of crucifixion and sepulcher; we’re going to do it all together now, here is the entrance to the convent of the Sisters of Zion which at the moment is closed, but normally you can go in and go down and see the archeological excavations; remains of the original Fortress of Antonia, and also part of the original Via Dolorosa street. It is a very different feeling to see this street so empty, on a normal day there are thousands of people passing by here; there are groups of pilgrims coming and going, we even see people carrying crosses, here are dozens, if not hundreds of stores that sell from religious items, food, drinks, souvenirs, and we arrive today and we see practically nobody here We have now arrived at the decisive moment of the path, here it is divided; if we follow here we will arrive at the Garden of the Tomb, but the way we will take today is the way to the Holy Sepulcher; for those who also want to know the Garden of the Tomb there is another video, I will leave it up here for you. Practically all the sidewalk of the Via Dolorosa is new, with the exception of this little stretch here that we are walking now; that is from the time of the original Jesus. And we have just arrived here in front of the third station of the Via Dolorosa, that is the place of the first of the three falls of Jesus, and next door the fourth station, which is the place where Jesus will meet his mother Mary. As you can see, all the churches on the Via Dolorosa are closed with the exception of the Holy Sepulchre which is where we are going. Following the way we see some stores open, but they are more for the local population since there are practically no tourists, and cars pass by on the Via Dolorosa. Here we can already see the fifth station of the Via Dolorosa, the place where Simon Cireneus will help Jesus to carry the cross. And this stone that you can see here is older than the rest of the church, it is from the time of Jesus and the tradition says that this is the mark of Jesus’ hand, and on normal days there are lines here to touch the stone. And now there’s a good climb here on the Via Dolorosa, and look here a group of tourists passing also on our right. And we are now in front of the sixth station, which is the station of Veronica. And I think she deserves much more credit than she gets, she was a woman who alone two thousand years ago in front of all the Roman soldiers, knowing all the risk she was taking, she takes off the scarf that covered her hair, which was already a scandal for the time; she goes up to Jesus, who is a condemned man of Roman Justice, And she goes and wipes Jesus’ face with sweat, blood and tears. And for Veronica’s courage, she received here the sixth station. And here in front of us, the seventh station of the Via Dolorosa, the site of the second of Jesus’ falls, and we will continue going up to the eighth. As I said before, many of the local people’s services are open, and we can see here a hairdresser’s shop that is open. And well hidden here is the eighth station, the place where the women of Jerusalem will weep for Jesus. And now we have to turn around and go back the way we came, the Via Dolorosa makes a little zig zag here, so we’re going to go back, but then we’re going to turn right. [Background music] Up to now the whole way we came, it was inside the Muslim quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, and now you can see the landscape changes a little bit and we enter the Christian quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, and in the background you can see a dome with a cross, this is already the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and guys, watch until the end because there is a surprise for you at the end of the video! Here is the ninth station of the Via Dolorosa; the place of the last of Jesus’ falls, and from the tenth station on they are already inside the Holy Sepulchre. The Via Dolorosa passes through this church, which is an Ethiopian Orthodox church folks, did you know it existed? And since the Via Dolorosa goes inside the church, luckily for us, the church was not closed, and when we come out of the church, we are facing the Church of the Holy Sepulcher; the most important church in the Christian world! [Background instrumental music] And we are now going up the stairs that go up to Calvary, and you can see how worn out they are from hundreds of years of pilgrims passing by. And here are stations ten and eleven of the Via Dolorosa, but the most important one is this one which is the twelfth station, and the place of the crucifixion itself. On a normal day, there is a line that can take anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour to get in and touch the stone, and see the church empty, to the point that we were even able to film the stone for you here. And coming down from Calvary, we see the Unction stone; the place where Jesus’ body was washed and prepared before being taken to the sepulcher. And here, at last, is the Holy Sepulchre, the place of Jesus’ burial and resurrection. and because of the current situation, alcohol gel. The sepulcher itself is closed for visitors, but we got a super special authorization to be able to enter, and not only that, to film. Guys, in all these years of being a guide in Israel, it is the first time that I am allowed to film inside the Sepulcher, so it is a very rare image to get! And on this stone the body of Jesus was placed on Friday and on Sunday only the shroud was found. But the church at no time stopped, even during the two months that it was closed, inside the church live priests, both Catholic and Orthodox. And they continue to do the services, even without the pilgrims here. So, folks, it is always good to remember that the faith of Jerusalem never stops. Despite all the complications that the world is going through right now, seeing the church services continuing here make us feel a little more optimistic about the future. [Ring of Bells] [Songs and prayers] Peace and good, dear brothers. I greet you with great pleasure from the Basilica of the Resurrection, the Holy Sepulcher in the city of Jerusalem. I am Friar Salvador Rosas, a member of the Franciscan community living in this holy place. During these last months, our life inside the Basilica has not changed much, our rhythm of prayer and our Holy Masses have remained practically intact. But the absence of pilgrims and visitors in this place is striking because of the p@ndemic. But we go forward in prayer, faith, and trust in our God. God grant that soon we will be able to see each other here, for now, I give you my blessing: “The Lord be with you today and always, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.” I hope you enjoyed today’s video, if you liked it, don’t forget to like it and comment here below on the next place you want to visit, subscribe to the channel, a kiss and see you next time!