September 12, 2007

Amber Patterson
Brother Ludlow
Journal Entry
Today was the first day of Arabic for half the students in the center, and the other half will begin Hebrew in about a week. After class this morning, some of us decided to go to St. James’ Monastery in the Armenian section.
When our group arrived at the church they told us to come back in an hour or so if we wanted to go in. We walked around while we waited instead of sitting around in front of the church and found ourselves in the Jewish Quarter. While we were in the Jewish Quarter, we stumbled upon what one man told us was an Ancient Roman marketplace. He offered to take our group on a small tour, about fifty minutes, and told us we could pay him whatever we felt he deserved at the end of the tour. We discussed the prospect and, since we could not go on the tour and go to the St. James’ Monastery and because visiting the chapel was the reason we had gone to the Armenian section in the first place, our group decided to go back to the chapel.
When we arrived at the monastery the priests let us into a small courtyard with a metal gate. We walked through the gate and into the chapel. A sign by the door requested that visitors be covered and not to cross their legs. The chapel was small and dark with incense lamps and a chandelier hanging in the center of the room. Hard, low wooden benches lined the perimeter of the room and, as our eyes adjusted to the dim light, we could see that other students from the Jerusalem Center were already sitting along the wall. We sat in the back right corner just as the service began.
The priests came out and chanted various songs and prayers for, what seemed to me, like a very long time. I struggled to keep my eyes open, not from lack of interest, but because the environment of the chapel was very relaxing. The steadiness of their deep chanting, combined with the heavy incense in the air and the very dim atmosphere brought me to the edge of slumber. As I looked around I noticed others, but not many, struggling to keep their eyes open and their legs uncrossed as well. When the priests had finished and had exited, we were allowed to explore the chapel and take pictures.
As we were leaving we ran into a man from Utah. One of the priests offered to show us a few extra areas of the monastery so we followed him. The man from Utah came with our group and, as we were walking through the plaza, announced that his son attended BYU and was single. No one had any idea how to respond to that statement so we simply looked at each other and didn’t say anything.
The Priest showed us the tree to which tradition says Jesus was tied before being taken to Annas to be tried. Afterwards he showed us a sculpture of Mary and Jesus and talked a little about the Orthodox beliefs on the matter. Soon afterwards, we walked back through the Old City to the center and, some studied and prepared for our field trip the next day while others socialized.