Holy Cross

[Kendall K. Down]

Some years ago I visited the Monastery of the Holy Cross, one of those
pious but fraudulent sites that infest the Holy Land. Looking more like
a fortress than anything, the heavily walled monastery stands just down
the road from the Israeli Knesset. It is built over the very tree from
which the wood to make Jesus' cross was taken.

I entered through a low doorway closed by a thick wooden door and was
surprised to find a single monk in residence, who spoke with a
pronounced American accent. He confirmed that the establishment has
shrunk terribly in recent years. I asked where the tree was and he
indicated a certain direction and then rose as if to accomapny me.

I protested that I was quite capable of walking on my own, but he said
that he dared not allow anyone at all to visit the holy site unattended.
When I raised my eyebrows, he explained that two years previously a
party of Orthodox Jews had arrived, wishing to see the sacred relic.
They were courteously received and allowed to go on their own, as was
the policy at the time. They emerged a short time later, smiled and
departed - and it was some time after that that he went down and
discovered - by smell more than anything - that they had defecated
around and on the relic.

https://premierchristian.news/en/news/article/jerusalem-church-leader-says-israeli-extremists-threaten-christian-presence-in-city?utm_source=Premier%20Christian%20Media&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=12907821_Voice%20of%20hope%2011.1.2022&dm_i=16DQ,7ONQL,RJ6HWW,VBG6Q,1

You will notice that Patriarch Theofilos complains that "Our churches
are regularly desecrated and vandalised. Our clergy are subject to
frequent intimidation."

Please pray for our fellow Christians, facing the same sort of
persecution that the Jews unleashed on the infant church.

God bless,
Kendall K. Down