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After an evening of cantors with the JSO our final day in Jerusalem began on the Mount of Olives at St Mary Magdalene, the always cacophonous Church of All Nations (a.k.a. The Agony) and Gethsemane itself. Fittingly for the Feast of the Holy Name of Mary we then went to the Sepulchre of the Mother of God and venerated the icon of Mary of Jerusalem.

Morning at the early Byzantine monastery of the Holy Cross outside the old city. Possibly built by Constantine  or Justinian. It is said to be built on the site that the tree from which the wood for the cross of Jesus’s crucifixion grew. It is one of the calmest and most prayerful places in Jerusalem. The Georgians relinquished the monastery and it is now in the hands of the Greek Orthodox church. As a contrast after all of that peace and quiet we have tickets for tonight’s cantorial concert with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. Time to swiftly brush up on the Hebrew…