The Church of the Holy Sepulcher and Resurrection
Archbishop Nikon (Rklitsky)
The Church of the Holy Sepulcher and Resurrection of the Lord in
Jerusalem, where we headed immediately after a reception with His
Beatitude, Patriarch Benedict, on March 18/31, 1964, located close
to the Patriarchal headquarters, is the principal holy site in the
Holy Land and the mother of all Orthodox churches. Upon the
consecration of any new Orthodox church, wherever it is built, the
service of the Dedication of the Temple of the Resurrection of
Christ at Jerusalem, dated in our service books on September 13, the
eve of the Exaltation of the Lord’s Cross, is served. And every one
of our altar tables, upon consecration, has laid within it those
same material symbols of Christ’s suffering that we see in the
Church of the Resurrection.
The spot on which the Church of the Resurrection was
built was, before Christ’s time, located outside of the city and was
considered the lot of the dead ‒ the "valley of dead bodies." It was
a natural cliff, reminiscent in its shape of a human forehead or
skull, which is why the Jews called it Golgotha, i.e. the place of
the skull. After the Crucifixion here of our Lord Jesus Christ and
His Resurrection, this previously shameful place became a Christian
holy site, just as the cross, previously a shameful method of
execution, became a symbol of Christian victory. In 130, the pagan
Emperor Hadrian, having destroyed Christian Jerusalem, built a
temple to Venus on the place of the Crucifixion, and a temple to
Jupiter on the place of the Resurrection. In the 4th century, St.
Helen, in addition to the many churches she had built, erected the
magnificent Church of the Resurrection, which included within itself
the holy sites of the Lord’s Crucifixion and Resurrection. In 614,
the church built by St. Helen was razed to its foundations by the
Persian conqueror Khosrau II. Shortly after this, Patriarch Modestus
had four churches built on the site – one to the Resurrection, one
on Golgotha, one on the site of the finding of the True Cross, and
one to the Mother of God. Finally, in 1130, the Crusaders united
these holy sites under one roof, a single building that incorporates
various styles – Roman, Franco-Arabic, and others. The best icons in
the church, precious lamps, bells, and serving vessels were almost
all donated from Russia. The exterior of the church resembles a
castle. It is buttressed from almost every side by various Christian
and Muslim buildings, out of the midst of which its two cupolas –
one larger, one smaller – are barely visible. The entrance into the
church is comprised of two large, iron doors, one of which is always
closed, and the second of which only ever has one half open, through
which the relatively large number of the faithful and tourists from
the countries of the world enter and exit the church.
The doors once held a mosaic icon of the Mother of God,
which inspired St. Mary of Egypt to her unbelievable and superhuman
spiritual labors. This icon crumbled with time, and its stones were
gathered and taken by the faithful. Two signs are inscribed in
Arabic on the doors: "O pilgrim, taste thy true desire. Enter into
the joy of thy Lord, into the luminous heaven, the Mother of
Churches," and the other, "Ye strangers, enter into the courtyards
of the Lord, into the tomb of Life, where grace abideth and blessed
light prevaileth." Unfortunately, nobody notices or reads these
inscriptions, but it is with these same feelings that many of the
faithful cross the church’s threshold.
After many years of decay, the church is currently
being renovated and it covered in scaffolding. Our architect and
engineer T.S. Denke, who labored much on the Mount of Olives to
renovate our famous belltower and other buildings thereon, observed
that the renovation of the Church of the Resurrection is being
carried out thoroughly; complicated braces and supports allow old
stones within the walls themselves to be replaced, and the work is
being done almost entirely by hand. The work is expected to continue
for many years, and requires great financial support. It was with
great joy that I presented His Beatitude, the Patriarch, with a
humble donation toward this holy undertaking on behalf of our
Russian people.
The first holy site which we had a chance to venerate
was the Stone of Anointing. It is a rectangular sheet of marble,
yellow-rose in color, located under a gold canopy and surrounded by
large candlestands and unextinguished matte-colored lamps. The
marble covers the spot, the stone on which St. Joseph of Arimathea
and Nicodemus prepared the Pure Body of the Savior for burial after
His having been removed from the Cross; they anointed Him with myrrh
and wrapped Him in burial clothes. Carved around the outside of the
marble sheet is an inscription in Greek: "The noble Joseph, taking
down Thy most pure Body from the Tree, wrapped it in clean linen and
sweet spices and laid it in a new tomb." To the left of the Stone of
Anointing is a circular marble slab with a latticework cover. This
is the Station of the Holy Women (or the "Place of sorrow"), where
the Mother of God stood, surrounded by the holy women and St. John
the Theologian, when the Body of the Savior was removed from the
Cross.
To the right of the Stone of Anointing is a marble
staircase leading to Golgotha, which at the current time resembles
something of a church, divided into two parts, north and south. Each
part contains an altar table for the celebration of the Liturgy. The
north part belongs to the Greeks. Below a tall, Greek Orthodox altar
table, which stands on four columns and is surrounded by precious
lamps, is a marble opening, silver-plated and the width of several
human hands. This is the place on which the Cross of the Lord was
raised. In the Catholic part is the spot on which the Lord was
nailed to the Cross. Kneeling under the Greek altar table, one can
insert his hand into that holiest of openings and share the feeling
experienced by the Apostle Thomas: "Reach hither thy finger, and
behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my
side: and be not faithless, but believing" (John 20:27).
Descending from Golgotha, we enter into the Church of
the Resurrection itself, located in the center of the whole church.
The Church of the Resurrection, which is fairly spacious, is the
cathedral church of the Jerusalem Patriarchate and is built in the
usual custom of Orthodox churches. It was in this church on the
night of March 30/April 12 that we attended Matins in the altar,
which was served by the Greek clergy under the direction of the
Greek Bishop Chrysanthos, who then celebrated Liturgy on the Tomb of
Christ. The Greek choir, comprised of young monks and novices, sang
inspiredly.
The corridor between Golgotha and the Church of the
Resurrection is abutted by several chapels, each dedicated to an
event that took place on Great Friday.
The Chapel of the Derision or of the Crown of Thorns
– this is the spot where the Lord, upon arriving at the place of His
Crucifixion, suffered mockery at the hands of the Roman soldiers,
who vented their hatred for the Jews on Him, as well as the hatred
of the Jews who participated in the Crucifixion themselves. Their
hatred was so great that Crucifixion was not sufficient for them;
they needed to mock and deride the Divine Sufferer. This concept is
impressed upon this chapel. From there a staircase descends into the
Chapel of St. Helen. This
is a large cave with two altars – the one on the left in memory of
the penitent thief, and the one on the right in memory of St. Helen,
Equal-of-the-Apostles. Below the right apse is an underground
chapel: "The Chapel of the
Invention of the Cross" – the spot where the Life-Giving Cross
of Christ was found. During Christ the Savior’s Crucifixion, this
spot was an abandoned cistern into which the Lord’s Cross and the
two thieves’ crosses were thrown from Golgotha, and where they lay
for over 300 years under piles of garbage and rubble.
The third chapel –
The Chapel of the Division of
Robes ‒ marks the spot where the Roman soldiers divided the
Lord’s garments and cast lots for his outer garments, sewn by the
Mother of God for Her Son, as was prophesied by the Prophet David:
"They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture"
(Psalm 21:19). The fourth chapel –
The Chapel of St. Longinus the
Centurion, the commander of the Roman garrison, who upon
Christ’s Crucifixion believed on Him and cried out, "Truly this was
the Son of God! (Matthew 27:54). At the insistence of the Jews, the
centurion Longinus was beheaded for this as punishment. The fifth
chapel is The Chapel of the
Bonds. Here is a stone slab with openings for one’s legs, in
which the Savior’s legs were bound with iron chains. The sixth
chapel is The Prison of Christ.
According to Tradition, this is where the Savior was held with the
two thieves while the soldiers prepared the instruments of
execution. The Mother of God stayed here when they took Her Son to
be executed, and She lost all feeling when She saw Her Son raised up
on the Cross. The seventh chapel is
The Arches of the Virgin Mary.
This is where, according to Tradition, the Mother of God remained
after the Lord’s burial and during His stay in the tomb; it is here
that the Lord appeared to the Mother of God after His Resurrection
from the dead. According to Tradition, here the Patriarch Macarius
and St. Helen performed the miracle of resurrecting the dead man by
touching the three crosses to him. Here too are the remnants of the
columns to which the Lord was chained during His flagellation.
In addition to these chapels is the Catholic
Church of Mary Magdalene,
where according to Tradition the Lord appear to Mary Magdalene after
His Resurrection. This church is very well adorned. Some of the
chapels belong to the Armenians, Syrians, and Copts, who perform
their divine services therein.
Returning to Golgotha, one must also note that, under
the north altar of Golgotha, the part belonging to the Greeks, are
the chapels of Adam and St. John the Baptist. According to
Tradition, it was on this spot that Noah the Patriarch buried the
bones of Adam, and the blood of the Savior, running down from
Golgotha, bedewed the skull of Adam. Here too is the burial place of
the king and high priest Melchizedek, Christ the Savior’s antitype
and the founder of the Holy City of Jerusalem.
