Holy Thursday at the Church of All Nations & Church of St. Peter Gallicantu

The Church of All Nations, also named the Basilica of the Agony, is located at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem next to the Garden of Gethsemane.

Garden of Gethsemane and adjacent Church of All Nations.

The Church of All Nations is built over the rock on which Jesus is believed to have prayed in agony the night before he was crucified.  The adjacent Garden of Gethsemane has eight ancient olive trees and a place where visitors can sit and contemplate the Atonement of Christ.




The word, Gethsemane, originates from the Hebrew expression "Gat Shemen" which means olive press.  Jesus and His disciples met here regularly and this may have been near an ancient footpath that went past the Church of All Nations to the crest of the Mount of Olives and then toward Bethany, where Jesus was staying with Mary, Martha and Lazarus. 

Matthew 21:17: And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.



The twisted and gnarled olive trees are hundreds of years old.  At the end of the Passover meal which we know as “the Last Supper,” Jesus went with his disciples to Gethsemane, an olive orchard located at the edge of the Kidron Valley.  There He prayed as recorded in Matthew 26:36:

And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane and He saith to His disciples,  "Sit ye here, while I shall pray."

The average life span of an olive tree is about 500 years old but some have been known to live 1,500 years. Hebrew University has estimated that the older trees in this Garden are 1,600 - 1,800 years old.

In 70 AD, the Romans stripped the hill for timber when they camped here. Nevertheless, the Garden of Gethsemane is a peaceful location to visit and the trees that now stand remind of us the place where Jesus came often with his disciples.

While the disciples were asleep, Jesus prayed to God, His Father, and poured out His sorrow while pleading to God to take from him the cup of agony and suffering for the sins of mankind. The next day, Jesus was betrayed to the Romans by Judas Iscariot, then was tried and crucified.

The church pictured below is called the "Church of All Nations" because many countries contributed to its construction. The flags of those nations are represented inside the little domes (12 of them). The first church was built by the Byzantines in the 4th century and was later transformed by the Crusaders into a basilica and then in 1924 a third church was completed.  And . . to reiterate, the Church of All Nations is built over the rock on which Jesus prayed the night before his crucifixion.

The facade is enclosed by a wrought iron fence (usually closed) and stands at the top of a flight of steps.

The facade of the church is supported by a row of pillars and is decorated with a richly-colored triangular mosaic which has become a popular tourist site to take photos. 

In this mosaic, Christ is depicted as the mediator between God and mortal man and behind Him is an angel. On Christ's right (as you look at the mosaic), is a group of grieving people who faithfully look to him. On His left, is another group who represent the wise and powerful.

8 PM, April 13, 2017 - prior the Holy Thursday service.  

Thursday evening we attended a service at the Church of All Nations from 9 - 10:30 PM.  It was estimated that 3,000 people attended from 29 countries. Afterwards, we took the path that Jesus would have taken and walked up to Peter Gallicantu.  

Entrance into the church is through a bronze door decorated with the Tree of Life springing from a cross, symbolizing the torture and death of Jesus that became a miraculous victory. 

We arrived one hour early so we could get inside the Church of All Nations in Jerusalem.

From the program:

"Together with the Mother Church of Jerusalem we have come together at Gethsemane to commemorate the salvific events that took place in this holy place on the eve of Our Lord's passion.

Recalling the three principal moments as narrated by the Gospels, we will be reflecting upon Christ's prediction of Peter's denial and the subsequent fleeing of his disciples, Christ's agony in the garden and finally, his arrest.

A psalm, which will introduce each of the three moments, will put us in the right spirit to accept the appropriate Gospel readings that will follow.

A short period of silence and a concluding prayer will follow the Gospel readings. 

The dome ceilings were spectacular.

A universal prayer and the "Our Father" will conclude our celebration."

In the apse (the semi-vaulted dome),  is a mosaic representing "Christ in Agony being Consoled by an Angel."  In the side apses, are other mosaic representations of episodes in Jesus' passion, such as the "Kiss of Judas"and the "Arrest of Jesus."

Cameras recorded the entire  service.  If you are interested in watching the mass, this is the link:  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Hju2tMJfdo

Because we were in the very back of the church, 
screens were set up so visitors could watch.

The windows are covered with dark glass to give a dimmed-lighting effect, symbolic of Christ's agony.  
This was to recreate the feeling of the night Christ suffered.

The deep blue dome ceiling simulates a star-studded sky and  mosaics 

along the walls depict events which took place at this site.

On a previous visit to this church, I took this photo below of the enshrined stone that is believed where Jesus spent His last night praying. 

Matthew 26:36:  “And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray.” 

This part of the church is called the presbytery, or the part reserved for the officiating Roman Catholic priest. Here we find a large fragment of the rock where Christ supposedly prayed. It is entirely surrounded by a crown of thorns in wrought iron and a place where visitors are drawn to touch and pray.

When we came to Jerusalem in 1971, we spent an evening in this sanctuary with a Catholic priest who spent an hour describing the events that took place the night before Christ was crucified. It was one night I will never forget and has been etched in my memory as one of my most meaningful experiences in the Holy Land. What I felt that night is often reflected in the Easter music I compose. I am looking forward to writing more Easter and Christmas music when we return home in August.

Rose petals were spread over the rock to symbolize the drops of blood Jesus sweat that night in Gethsemane.

Matthew 26:39:  Jesus “threw himself on the ground” and in his anguish “his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.” 

The three disciples (all fishermen) could not stay awake and then a group of chief priests and elders, led by Judas, came to arrest Jesus.  Judas then betrayed Jesus with a kiss. 

The service started with worshipers singing the cantus:  Gethsemani, Gethsemani, Gethsemani.

Suddenly, I heard a beautiful little voice rising above the adults around me.  I turned around and saw this child!  It was the sweetest thing I've ever experienced!  He was singing the cantus (polyphonic choral music) perfectly in tune. Jeanna Huff , our director's wife from the Jerusalem Center, was sitting in the row in front of the child and his mother was able to record his singing on her phone.  It was adorable!

In the apse (the vaulted semi-dome) in the photo above, is a mosaic representing the agony of Christ while being consoled by an angel. In the side apses are other mosaics which represent the Kiss of Judas and the Arrest of Jesus.

We felt extremely blessed to be among thousands of Christians  celebrating the Son of God in a land of Jews.  

The olive branches (reminiscent of the the garden of Gethsemane)  surround the star-studded sky.

After the service, we exited the church and outside there were thousands more!

The Jerusalem Center students were so excited to experience this event.

It's so cute to see how the students adopt children of the professors as their younger siblings.  Travis is carrying Spencer (age 8 and son of Dr. Esplin) on his shoulders.

The wrought iron gates which enclose the steps leading up to the church were left open to allow the thousands to exit after the service.

We hurried to get ahead of the crowd and walked up the path Christ would have taken to Peter Gallicantu.

Many were carrying candles as they walked up the road which was closed to vehicles.

It's difficult to take good photos as night.

The path leading to the church of St. Peter in Gallicantu from the Church of All Nations is about one mile.  
It's all uphill so it takes a good 20 minutes to walk.

Garth and others taking a little rest before walking to the top.

Students waiting for the others to catch up.

The Church of St Peter in Gallicantu  is built on a hillside and stands on the eastern slope of Mount Zion.  On its roof rises a golden rooster atop a black cross — recalling Christ’s prophesy that Peter would deny Him three times “before the cock crows”. 

The Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu commemorates the apostle Peter's triple denial of Christ his immediate repentance and his reconciliation with Christ after His resurrection.

"Gallicantu" means cockcrow in Latin. In the courtyard, this statue depicts the denial, including the rooster, the woman who questioned Peter and a Roman soldier. Peter denied Jesus and we read in Matthew 26: 69-75:

69 Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said.

70 But he denied it before them all. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

71 Then he went out to the gateway, where another servant girl saw him and said to the people there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.”

72 He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know the man!”

73 After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.”

74 Then he began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!”

Immediately a rooster crowed. 75 Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.

The Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu is a Roman Catholic church built on four different levels: the upper church, middle church, the guard room and the dungeon or prison'er cell. 

In a previous entry, I posted photos of the dungeon but I think it is meaningful to review, especially since this is Holy Thursday. The only access to the dungeon was through a shaft or hole from above, so Christ or prisoners would have been lowered down by means of a rope harness. In the dungeon, were holes in the stone to fasten a prisoner's hands and feet when he was flogged.   The photo below was taken when we visited the Shroud of Turim Exhibit at the Notre Dame Hotel, Jerusalem.  

To flog someone means to whip as punishment or torture. According to the Bible, Jesus received 39 lashes. This was in accord with the maximum amount of lashes allowed by Jewish law. The number was based on the theory that 39 was the maximum amount of lashes that a person could endure without dying. 

Bowls carved in the floor are believed to have contained salt and vinegar to further aggravate the pain or to disinfect the wounds.  A visit to this place certainly offers a very sobering insight into where Christ spent the night before He was crucified.

A small chapel inside St. Peter of Gallicantu.

Only on Holy Thursday, visitors are allowed to walk down these steps which are usually closed off.

Beside the Church of St Peter in Gallicantu, excavations found a stepped street which in ancient times would have descended from Mount Zion to the Kidron Valley.  These stone steps were certainly in use at the time of Christ and coins found along these steps verified the time period so we know it they was a common walkway.  On the evening of His arrest, Christ probably walked down these with His disciples on their way from the Last Supper to the garden at Gethsemane.  

Some years ago, Lawrence Lee, one of my lyricists and I wrote a song entitled, "That Night in Gethsemane."  When Larry wrote the lyrics, he said he was thinking of the number of times we choose “to drink our own bitter cup” without exercising faith that Jesus has already taken this cup for us. All He asks is that we recognize His act in the Garden and on Calvary and to “Come Unto Him.”  (This song along with "Why Weepest Thou?" can be found at the HolySheetMusic.com website.

We walked down the steps to an area where we could sit and meditate.  It was an especially beautiful evening and we  sang "I Stand All Amazed."

Photo:  Haley and Courtney.  Haley is the granddaughter of Parley Belnap, previous Tabernacle organist and one of my organ instructors.  

We left the area and walked back up the steps steps leading to the House of Caiaphas. The House of Caiaphas (or Palace of Caiaphas) was the place where the High Priest of Israel resided as mentioned in the Bible. It was here that Jesus was questioned before the Council in Jerusalem and tried informally.  In the courts of this palace, was also the place where Peter denied Jesus.

Candles were placed to light the way and Christians sat contemplating that this could actually be one of the places where Jesus walked.  This place felt special and when walking these steps, I felt so grateful to have the opportunity to visit here.  

As we walked down to where the buses would pick us up, we saw many Jewish people.  All day Thursday, Jewish gathered at the Wailing Wall (or Western Wall) to receive Priestly blessings.  

Empty buses were lined up waiting to drive up the hill.

By the time we walked back, it was midnight and we were grateful buses were waiting to pick us up. Despite our exhaustion, it was an especially memorable evening and one we will never forget. 

In summary: Christ’s sacrifice was perfect.  He loved everyone including the sinners and those who sinned against him. He loved his Father in Heaven and wasn't bitter after shedding his own blood. He paid the price for each of us through His Atonement.

From LDS.org:  The Atonement is the sacrifice Jesus Christ made to help us overcome sin, adversity, and death. Jesus’s atoning sacrifice took place in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross at Calvary. He paid the price for our sins, took upon Himself death, and was resurrected. The Atonement is the supreme expression of the love of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

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"Easter and Passover is a time when we give thanks for our blessings . . . among them: freedom, peace and the promise of eternal life."  — Ronald Reagan

Pope Francis greets the faithful as he holds Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square on April 20, 2014 in Vatican City, Vatican.

“We are told to let our light shine, and if it does, we won’t need to tell anybody it does. Lighthouses don’t fire cannons to call attention to their shining - they just shine.”— Dwight L. Moody

“Our lord has written the promise of resurrection, not in books alone but in every leaf of springtime.” — Martin Luther

“I believe in Christ, like I believe in the sun - not because I can see it, but by it I can see everything else.” — C.S. Lewis

HAPPY EASTER to our dear friends and family around the world!