Saying happy Easter with flowers

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Our local Franciscan monastery chapel "lovesh chag,"  is all dressed up for the holiday.

Happy Easter to all my reader-friends who celebrate this day! 
Wishing you joy and blessings from Jerusalem and the Jerusalem Hills.
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One more door opened!

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Another impressive place in the German Colony, on Lloyd George Street, is the big convent of the Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo.
Solid, locked gates are always a challenge; but yesterday I gathered my courage and rang the bell of this intriguing place.
No one spoke on the intercom, no one buzzed me in.
I just looked at the top of the ST. CHARLES (GERMAN) HOSPICE gate  and said into space:  "Hello . . . ?"

I tried the door and lo and behold a nun in white was standing there, and she said "Guten Tag."
I asked her about their policy of renting rooms to tourists, in case I have guests in the future.
We went inside to the desk and she gave me a card, told me the rates, and apologized that I could not see the place because renovations are going on now.

Below I offer you information copied from the guest house website.
It is sad to think of the German nuns and monks of Jerusalem having been interned during World War II, here in this convent; but we were a British Mandate then, and the British did what they thought they had to do.

It was in 1893 when the first Sisters came to the Holy Land and opened an infirmary and a dispensary in the German Colony, Jerusalem. These were the beginnings of St. Charles Convent. Apart from nursing the sick and old people, the Sisters took care of orphans and homeless children by offering them shelter and giving them a good education. In 1905 the Sisters could move into their new convent building, the original part of the present St. Charles Convent. In 1934 the first Holy land pilgrims were given accommodation and were offered meals for groups and from this source of income could be financed school, boarding and shelter for poor children.

World War II entailed hard times for the German Convent. All German Sisters in Palestine as well the Benedictines of the Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem were interned in St. Charles Convent. In addition, British officers occupied a number of rooms. After the war, the Sisters took on another work of charity; they offered shelter to German Jews who had survived the Holocaust in concentration camps and had emigrated to Israel.

In the years to come St. Charles Convent saw an ever increasing flow of pilgrims who wanted to visit and worship the Lord in Jerusalem, the heart and origin of our Christian faith. The traditional hospitality of the Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo makes their guests feel at home in the peaceful atmosphere of the house and in the friendly and comfortable rooms. Apart from their various activities the Sisters run a kindergarten and a pre-school class in the building next to the convent.

- 50 Rooms

- Full Board

- Dining Room

- Parking also for Buses

- Soft Drinks

- Chapel

- Elevator

- Garden

- Heating

- TV only in Salons

- Public Telephone

- Payment in Cash

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(A post added to Toby's Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors.)

Church doors, John, and a bench

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A blog-friend from Scandinavia came to visit today!
We walked down to the local monastery.
I took this shot through the church doors (while sitting in the church)  to catch a beautiful wooden bench resting on ancient stones.
(You can enlarge this photo a lot to see details.)

That's John the Baptist on the left with his message, in Hebrew.
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(A post for Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors.)
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The monastery cat

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I was just trying to get a shot of the door to John the Baptist's grotto when this cat jumped from the ledge.

Then she slowly climbed the tall stairs, sniffing as she went.
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(A cat for Camera Critters meme.)

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After the fire, peace

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For Robert's weekly PsalmChallenge at Daily Athens blog, here is Psalm 29.
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Quite often I use Rabbi Benjamin J. Segal's translations.
Much is to be learned from his essay on each psalm.
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Many of the word images in Psalm 29 touch me especially deep today, as the memorial ceremonies are taking place in Israel's military cemeteries. We remember our 2,691 soldiers killed when Egypt and Syria attacked us by surprise on Yom Kippur, 1973. Now, 38 years later, their sons and daughters and even grandchildren stand at the graveside.
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1. A psalm. Of David.
Ascribe to the LORD, O sons of gods, ascribe to the LORD glory and might.

2. Ascribe to the LORD the glory of His name; bow down to the LORD in the majesty of holiness.


3. The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over multitudinous waters.


4. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is majestic.
5. The voice of the LORD breaks cedars; the LORD breaks apart the cedars of Lebanon.
6. He makes them skip like a calf, Lebanon and Sirion, like a young wild ox.

(Enlarge the photo to appreciate the flames.)

7. The voice of the LORD forks as flames of fire.

8. The voice of the LORD convulses the wilderness; the LORD convulses the wilderness of Kadesh.

9. The voice of the LORD causes deer to calve and lays bare forests, while in His temple, everything says "Glory!"
10. The LORD sat enthroned at the Flood; the LORD sits enthroned, king forever.

11. May the LORD grant might to His people; may the LORD bless His people with peace.
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א מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד הָבוּ לַיהוָה בְּנֵי אֵלִים הָבוּ לַיהוָה כָּבוֹד וָעֹז

ב הָבוּ לַיהוָה כְּבוֹד שְׁמוֹ הִשְׁתַּחֲווּ לַיהוָה בְּהַדְרַת-קֹדֶשׁ

ג קוֹל יְהוָה עַל-הַמָּיִם אֵל-הַכָּבוֹד הִרְעִים יְהוָה עַל-מַיִם רַבִּים

ד קוֹל-יְהוָה בַּכֹּחַ קוֹל יְהוָה בֶּהָדָר

ה קוֹל יְהוָה שֹׁבֵר אֲרָזִים וַיְשַׁבֵּר יְהוָה אֶת-אַרְזֵי הַלְּבָנוֹן

ו וַיַּרְקִידֵם כְּמוֹ-עֵגֶל לְבָנוֹן וְשִׂרְיֹן כְּמוֹ בֶן-רְאֵמִים

ז קוֹל-יְהוָה חֹצֵב לַהֲבוֹת אֵשׁ

ח קוֹל יְהוָה יָחִיל מִדְבָּר יָחִיל יְהוָה מִדְבַּר קָדֵשׁ

ט קוֹל יְהוָה יְחוֹלֵל אַיָּלוֹת וַיֶּחֱשֹׂף יְעָרוֹת

וּבְהֵיכָלוֹ כֻּלּוֹ אֹמֵר כָּבוֹד

י יְהוָה לַמַּבּוּל יָשָׁב וַיֵּשֶׁב יְהוָה מֶלֶךְ לְעוֹלָם

יא יְהוָה עֹז לְעַמּוֹ יִתֵּן יְהוָה יְבָרֵךְ אֶת-עַמּוֹ בַשָּׁלוֹם

Photos are of the 2009 fire on our local monastery's grounds.
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Green door with a grate

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Here's a strong and serious door for Monday Doorways meme.

In this close-up of the monastery's sign you can see some reflection of the Israeli Arab town of Abu Ghosh.
Just outside the monastery wall is a mosque and minaret; sometimes the muezzin's call mingles with the Latin + French Mass being sung in the church.

The little door of the grate was open and the lush greenery of palm trees and gardens was visible inside.
The church was built by the Crusaders over a spring in the 12th century.

The Olivetan Benedictines have a double monastery; the men's and the women's monasteries are within the same walled compound, and each has its own superior.
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Enlarge the photo and see a nun carrying a tall musical instrument into the modern monastic enclosure.
Pictures of her playing that Senegalese kora or bridge-harp are in an earlier post.
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More pictures inside and outside the church are here.
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UPDATE: I just learned that That's MyWorld is being continued in the form of Our World Tuesday. Thanks to hosts Arija, Gattina, Lady Fi, Sylvia, and Sandy for giving it new life after founder Klaus, z"l, died. He would be happy to know that.
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The world behind the gate

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A rare photo of the gate open. ( A car had just driven out and the automatic gate was sliding shut.)
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The people door is to the right.
You must press the button on the pillar and hope a Sister will answer on the intercom.
Then you must hope that the Russian-speaking nun will understand that you want to come in and walk around.
If you are answered with a buzzer, lean on that heavy door fast!
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Suddenly you will be quite alone in another world that feels like a 19th century Russian village.
But it is the huge monastic grounds of the Russian Orthodox Gornensky Convent on the edge of Ein Kerem.
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At Louis la Vache's new Monday Doorways meme you can see all kinds of entrances, and you are welcome to contribute a photo of a favorite door of yours too.
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A grotto with a door

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For Monday Doorways meme here is a peek into the grotto in which John the Baptist may have lived.
Enlarge the photo and see Elisabeth and her son John painted on the wall.

And here we stand inside his cave and look out past the open door.
The Jerusalem Hills are round about.

The Franciscan monastery and church are built over the grotto.
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Do pigeons take a shower?

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I've heard of birdbaths but never bird SHOWERS!

Doesn't it look like the second pigeon is standing under the spewing water?

This rather slimy fountain is in a monastery fishpond.
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Shalom to all the Camera Critters folks.
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Spiderdama in the Jerusalem Hills!

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Blog-friend visitors, all the way from Norway!
Spiderdama and Spiderdan flew to Israel with the whole family!
And they were brave enough to drive in Passover holiday traffic to come visit me.
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Levi tested the bench in the grotto where John the Baptist might have lived.

Petter drank the living waters flowing from a spring inside the mountain.
St. John might have baptized with this water.
In Arabic it is called Ain el Habis, the spring of the hermit.
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Here by the monastery fish pond you can see them all--
Tania, Dan, Malin, Petter, and Levi.
The kids are so bright and pleasant, and their English is great.
It was a pleasure to meet the family for the first, and hopefully not the last, time.
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Tania and Dan like to climb cliffs and walls.
At my request they even started "bouldering" up the rusticated stones of a 900-year-old Crusader house! You HAVE TO see that photo!
It and many more great pictures of Israel, Norway, Russia, and now even the Jerusalem Hills, are over at Tania's blog, Spiderdama.
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Shalom and thanks to my new friends!
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A Senegalese bridge-harp in a French monastery in Abu Ghosh

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(Enlarge to see the strings!)

When this Benedictine accompanies her singing sisters and brothers on the kora, which sounds almost like a harp, the liturgy sounds heavenly.
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The dim light within the 12th century Crusader church is enough to create shadows for Shadow Shot Sunday.
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The kora is from Senegal.

It has been a traditional instrument in the hands of the griot (~ bard) for centuries.

A calabash gourd is cut in half and covered with cow skin.

Over the bridge and up to the long neck are stretched 21 strings made of fishing line.

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Hear a little of its sound at coraconnection.com/sounds/konte1.mp3 .
The modern French Benedictine contribution to the kora (or cora) is mentioned in the History section of the Wikipedia article.

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Binding

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The Western Churches are celebrating Epiphany today in Israel.
I went to Abu Ghosh to observe the beautiful prayer service at Saint Mary of the Resurrection Abbey.
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And guess what!
Their Book of the Gospels (which I showed you last week) now has a new binding.

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But inside, the lovingly illuminated pages painted and written by the freres and the soeurs of the community are still the same.
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Epiphany marks the night when the three Magi arrived at the humble birthplace of Jesus.
This page shows even their camel and horse kneeling before the baby!
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This is my favorite page.

Enlarge the photo and you will see monastic communities from all over the Hills of Jerusalem ( Hills of Judea), actual nuns and monks of our own day and age, 2011, are walking toward the manger.

I know some of the people by name!

What a great idea, to make the Book of the Gospels span two millennia in such a way.

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In previous posts: Epiphany at Abu Ghosh 2007, and T.S. Eliot's poem "The Journey of the Magi".

Gallery images and more about the Gospel Book at the abbey's website.
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Feeling welcome at St. Stephen's Monastery

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Many cities in the world have an Open House weekend once a year.

Jerusalem had her Houses From Within weekend last month with over a hundred significant sites open to the public free of charge, some with guided tours.
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But no one anticipated the huge turnout at St. Etienne/St. Stephen's Monastery, home to the prestigious École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem!

Curious Israelis crowded into the basilica, filling every pew and even the monks' choir stalls.

Many had to stand. Or we sat on the floor.

Who ever heard of such a thing?!

In one Shabbat afternoon alone, about a thousand Jews came to see and hear (and that's not counting the morning tours and open house)!
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One lone man stood in front of the throng and without a microphone explained this place, his home. He somehow made himself heard, and he also make himself understood and appreciated.

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Thank you for your gracious guidance, Fr. Jean-Michel de Tarragon, O.P. [Order of Preachers, i.e. Dominicans], priest, friar, scholar, teacher, photographer, and the in-charge of a huge old photo archive from glass plates.
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I see on the Internet that yesterday the Catholic Church had a day to honor men and women religious, those called to the vowed life, the monks and nuns of the cloistered and contemplative vocation. Pro Orantibus Day (For Those Who Pray).

God bless all the monastics, of whatever kind, in every country.

This post is for "That's My World," and I must say, without these Brothers and Sisters our world would be a poorer place.

In case you missed Frere Jean-Michel's guided tour, you can enjoy a 12-minute video walk through St. Stephen's and the Ecole here.

Great photos and info in French here.

And other posts and links are under my label "Ecole Biblique."

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Rhodesian Ridgebacks

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Shalom Camera-Critters friends.

Have you ever seen a Rhodesian Ridgeback?

Strangely enough, the dog is characterized by a ridge of hair along its back running in the opposite direction to the rest of its coat.

I had never even heard of a Rhodesian Ridgeback until these three lively puppies were piled on my lap by the neighbors.

The breed began in Rhodesia (today Zimbabwe).

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Wikipedia says

"The breed's history dates back to early in the 18th century, when the first European settlers found dogs domesticated by Khoi-khoi tribes with the hair on the spine turned forward. In the late 19th century, big game hunters needed a hunting dog that was tough, resistant to disease, and intelligent enough to avoid crocodiles and snakes, but brave and fast enough to face a lion. Also important was a tick-repellent smooth coat and tight paw pads to protect against thorns and rough terrain."
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Fortunately Israel no longer has lions roaming wild.

But we used to!

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You will enjoy looking at the BibleWalks.com page about the Dir Hijla/Gerassimos monastery near the Dead Sea.

There is a statue of a lion there and many icons and paintings of a lion and St. Gerassimos with the Mountains of Judea behind them.

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The legend says that the Abbot encountered a lion roaring with pain near the Jordan River. He removed a thorn from the lion's paw.

The lion was so thankful that he became tame and joined the community.

In the Greek Orthodox art he is often depicted with a donkey and a camel, his friends from the monastery.

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Monastic reflections

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Colored glass window reflected in the black marble floor tiles.

Just outside the entrance to the church of our local Franciscan monastery.

Enlarge and see reflections in the seat of the bench too (at least in the parts where pants and skirts have removed the dust).

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To see more of the surprising world of reflections, visit James' meme, Weekend Reflections.

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An enclosed garden in the middle of new Jerusalem

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Come, step through the (almost always locked) little door in the big gate, enter a hidden garden.

The monastery wall separates you from busy Agron Street, the big hotels, and modern Jerusalem.

The church was built from the 1880s until 1927.

The convent, school, guest hostel, and church belong to the Catholic Arab women's order called the Congregation of the Rosary Sisters.

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More about them in my earlier post.

Sit in the shade of an old olive tree

and enjoy the lovingly-tended gardens.

A scarecrow in a keffiyeh guards the sisters' vegetable garden!

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Hope you enjoyed today's visit in the secret garden for That's My World Tuesday.

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A flying peacock!

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When my American friends were visiting, we rented a car and circled the Sea of Galilee.

Here you can see the blue of the sea behind the Monastery of the Twelve Apostles (popularly know as the Greek Orthodox Capernaum).
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But there is something even better than this photo's donkey that I want to show you for Camera-Critters Sunday.

As we walked in the monastery grounds, I heard the shrill cry of a peacock.
It looked like he was getting ready to jump off the roof so I quickly raised the camera!

Ta-daa! Have you ever seen a peacock flying?!?

He was gliding right toward me!

The monks seem to like birds. There was an aviary.

And many peacocks and peahens were roaming and hunting for food all over the lush gardens.

The birds must see thousands of pilgrims and tourists every week, so they are people-friendly.

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