"I am reckoned among those who go down to the pit"

Today we visited the Church of St. Peter Gallicantu, a church on the eastern slope of Mount Zion in Jerusalem. The word ‘Gallicantu’ means “the crow of the rooster,” and the church is centered around the theme of Peter’s threefold denial of Jesus. The church building itself is beautiful. Also of interest, it is built over the spot where Caiaphas’ house was which would mean that this is where Christ was held before being taken to Pilate.And that is where our day began: in the dungeon where Christ was held. A small and dark pit, carved into the bedrock, a hand-hewn cavity in the bones of the mountain. There we huddled as one of our brothers prayed Psalm 88.

From the darkness we ascended to the church, where we had mass. After our thanksgiving was prayed, we burst forth into the sunlight to explore the grounds. There was an ancient Roman road, a model of what the city would have looked like during the Byzantine period, and of course, the inevitable gift shop.I suppose there is some lesson or thread of reflection that can be pulled from this experience. Perhaps the movement from pit to liturgy to the world, or maybe the difference between darkness and light, or maybe even the creeping influence of materialism. Or maybe the reflection could simply be silence.