An amazing historical video for St. George's Day!

.

 City Daily Photo group is having a Theme Day on the subject of England's St. George's Day, which is today.
See how other bloggers illustrated the day at the CDP website.

St. George's Cathedral may be the closest thing we have to an old English church in Jerusalem.

Dedicated in 1898, the Cathedral of St. George the Martyr, mother church of the Anglican/Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, is home to both an Arabic-speaking and an English-speaking congregation.

It is on Nablus Road in east Jerusalem.

Enlarge the photo and see what's atop the bell tower.  : )

The  interior of the church is in my earlier posts about the organ and about the British symbols; and there's one about the attached guesthouse.
.

But what I really really want you to see is this amazing little  96-year-old movie of British General Allenby walking into the Old City through  Jaffa Gate to the stairs of the Citadel on December 11, 1917!
.

There he accepted the Turkish surrender of Jerusalem, ending 400 years of Ottoman rule in the Holy Land.

At the 1 minute mark you even see Lawrence of Arabia! 

Then the troops marched down Jaffa Street in the New City. 

The music of the video is the rousing hymn  sung in England especially on St. George's Day:

"And did those feet in ancient time" also called "Jerusalem" --which is an amazing story in itself! 

See the words here.   

Did Jesus really set foot in England?! 

.
.
(Linking to Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors meme.)
.

Everybody clap and sing

.
For PsalmChallenge, hosted by Robert Geiss in Athens, here is Psalm 47.
.
For the leader. Of the Korahites. A psalm.

2. All peoples, clap hands, shout to God with the sound of joyous praise.

3. For the LORD is Most High, awesome, a great king above all the earth.

4. He subjects peoples beneath us, setting nations beneath our feet.

5. He chooses for us our heritage, the Splendor-of-Jacob, whom He loved. Selah.

6. God has risen high, amidst shouting; the LORD, amidst the blasts of the horn.

7. Sing, to God, sing; sing, to our king, sing;

8. for the king of all the earth is God; sing a hymn.

9. God has become king above the nations; God has sat upon His holy throne.

10. The princes of the peoples have gathered, the people of Abraham’s God; for God’s are the guardians of the earth. He has been raised very high.

.
Rabbi Benjamin Segal's translation is literal, he says, "to allow readers to appreciate repeated metaphors."
.
Photos:
1. A Christian group from abroad in praise at the Western Wall Plaza.
2. A busker playing the didgeridoo, Mamilla Mall, Jerusalem.
3. Sunday's hymn numbers (for the Arabic-speaking congregation), St. George's Cathedral.
4. From the Psalms series of windows at Hechal Shlomo.
.

Mixed memes

.

With all the holidays and special events to blog about of late, I've gotten behind in the memes.
This may not be kosher, but I'm going to group three in the same post--for Shadow Shot Sunday, Weekend Reflections, and Camera-Critters.
.

At the Garden of Gethsemane, next to the old olive trees.
Doesn't it look like stick-figure people are joining hands and . . . and what?
.

Another scene from St. George's Anglican Cathedral, the church we saw in yesterday's post.
The Order of St. John of Jerusalem, or the Knights Hospitaller, was founded during Crusader times and functions as a humanitarian organization till today.
.

These birds feel at home in the (British) Jerusalem War Cemetery on Mt. Scopus.
Seen at the recent ANZAC Day commemoration.
.
Wishing you all a good weekend.
.
Update: Mayday, mayday! I just realized tomorrow is May 1 and we need a City Daily Photo Theme Day post too. About mailboxes.
.

The wedding and a legend about Jerusalem

Shalom visitors from inSPIREd Sunday.  This is a vintage post for you in honor of yesterday's April 23rd  St. George's Day.  For more about St. George's Cathedral in Jerusalem see more posts.

Mazal tov to the newlyweds Prince William and Kate!
Yes, I watched the ceremony and loved it.
Nothing like a church wedding, especially if it is in Westminster Cathedral!
.

St. George's (Anglican) Cathedral may be the closest thing we have to an old English church in Jerusalem.

.

Enlarge the photo above to read how this British coat of arms ended up on the church wall.

The ancient Madaba map of Jerusalem on a kneeling cushion.

Under the lion at the end of a pew,  the Hebrew says "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem."
.
Today I saw the almost 2,000 guests in Westminster Cathedral really getting into the singing of "Jerusalem" with words by William Blake. Apparently it is the "unofficial anthem" of England.
.
Hear it played and see the words on YouTube.
.
I learned this from Wikipedia:

"The poem ['And did those feet in ancient time'] was inspired by the apocryphal story that a young Jesus, accompanied by his uncle Joseph of Arimathea, travelled to the area that is now England and visited Glastonbury.
The legend is linked to an idea in the Book of Revelation (3:12 and 21:2) describing a Second Coming, wherein Jesus establishes a new Jerusalem.
The Christian church in general, and the English Church in particular, used Jerusalem as a metaphor for Heaven, a place of universal love and peace.
.
In the most common interpretation of the poem, Blake implies that a visit of Jesus would briefly create heaven in England, in contrast to the 'dark Satanic Mills' of the Industrial Revolution. Analysts note that Blake asks four questions rather than stating a visit to be true.
According to this view, the poem says that there may, or may not, have been a divine visit, when there was briefly heaven in England.
But that was then; now, we are faced with the challenge of creating such a country once again."
. . .

Through the looking glass

.

A peace pole in Arabic and Hebrew in the outdoor cafe garden courtyard of the Pilgrim Guesthouse.
With reflections for James' Weekend Reflections.

.

Offering hospitality since 1923, the guesthouse is attached to St. George's Cathedral, which was dedicated in 1899.
The cathedral, on Nablus Road in east Jerusalem, is the seat of the Bishop of the Anglican (Episcopal) Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East.
.

And from the inside you can look out the window through a mirror (or something like that).
Enlarge it to see the birds carved in the old frame of the mirror.
.
Shabbat shalom.
.

Cathedral organ mirrors

.
Two mirrors are needed for the organist because he sits with his back to the choir, minister, and congregation.
People and pews are reflected here, and they are going into James' Weekend Reflections meme.
.

A different view in the mirrors, gotten by my scrunching down to pedal level.

.

The organ was built by the Rieger Company of Austria which specializes in constructing organs requiring minimal service, for places with wide variations in temperature and humidity.

.

Dedicated in 1898, the Cathedral of St. George the Martyr, mother church of the Anglican/Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, is home to both an Arabic-speaking and an English-speaking congregation.

It is on Nablus Road in east Jerusalem.

.

A few Friday clouds

.
In honor of SkyWatch Friday, last Friday Jerusalem skies actually, finally, had some nice big clouds.
Still no rain (since last spring), but at least we had clouds to block the hot sun.
It is in the mid 30s C, that's the low 90sF, still.
.
I always smile to see modern communication equipment on top of very old buildings, like here atop the former St. John ophthalmic hospital on Hebron Street.
Today it is the Mt. Zion Hotel.

Or the two satellite dishes way up on the hundred year old bell tower of the (Anglican) Cathedral of St. George the Martyr.

The tower was built separate from the church to limit potential damage from earthquakes.

Today the structure contains staff housing.

.