St. James Greek Orthodox Cathedral

Priest in front of the baroque altar of St. James Greek Orthodox Church

The largest Christian denomination in the Holy Land is the Greek Orthodox, whose Patriarch claims direct descent from St. James, the first Bishop of Jerusalem. Yesterday I worshiped in St. James Cathedral, which is just to the left of the entrance of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. It was an uplifting experience for me, a Presbyterian unfamiliar with the Orthodox rite. The two-hour service was in Arabic, mostly sung and chanted except for the homily.

There were many icons, and artificial roses surrounded the center one of the Virgin and Child.

By the end of the service the church was packed, with about 30 men in front and 100 women and children  behind.

Reading from jewel-covered Bible

Unlike the Greek Catholic Church I attended during Holy Week, here there was only one procession around the church. The priest read from a jewel-covered Bible, and had jewels on the gold cross around his neck. At certain points in the service he kissed another hand-held cross. The most unusual experience for me was the mode of receiving  the Eucharist. The priest had a long-handled silver spoon, which he filled with a mixture of the crumbled Host and wine from a chalice and flipped it into the open mouth of each worshiper, even a one-year-old child in arms.An elder held a large red napkin under the worshiper's chin. Then we picked up a piece of  bead from a basket.

Painting of St George in St. James Church

After the service there was a memorial service for a man who had died six months ago and another who had died a year ago. There were readings by family members and special cakes with white frosting on which the priest scratched the sign of a cross at the end of the ceremony.

Yesterday afternoon we gave a briefing on EAPPI and the problems of East Jerusalem to a group of French Catholics who are here for an alternative study tour.

Speaking to French group

Mohammed al-Kurd

We took them to the house of Nabeel al-Kurd in Sheikh Jarrah, the front part of which is occupied by Israeli settlers (see previous blogs). Nabeel was not there, but his 14-year-old son Mohammed articulately explained the background of the community's problem and the current situation. He told the French visitors that he has been slapped by settlers, and his father and a neighbor have been bitten by their attack dogs. But the police arrest the Palestinians, not the settlers. "Everybody in the neighborhood has been arrested except me," he said. Mohammed tells his story in the documentary "My Neighbourhood," which he showed in the United States last year. You can see the 25-minute film at this link: http://www.justvision.org/myneighbourhood/watch.