Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Most Latter-Day Saints are more familiar with the Garden Tomb as the place where Christ was crucified and buried. But what they do not know is that almost all of the Christian world (Catholic, Orthodox, Coptic, etc) believe that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the place where Christ was crucified and buried. The church is a large structure in the middle of the old city of Jerusalem. The Via Dolorosa (the way of grief or tears) or the path which Christendom believes Christ carried His cross to Golgotha, leads right to this church. It is an ancient, fascinating structure. You walk inside and it is all dark and slightly depressing. The church has been destroyed and rebuilt several times. Over the centuries, the various Christian sects have fought over it constantly. Today the church is owned by three main sects: Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Armenian Orthodox churches. Surprisingly the Greek Orthodox is in control of most of the building. I think the Greeks inherited all of the old Byzantine monasteries, so that is why they control most of it. The Armenians are the oldest Christian church on the earth, so that probably explains their holdings. The Catholics, on the other hand, are apparently lucky to have any part of the building because of persecution from the other sects and from Muslim rulers. The Franciscan Monks were able to preserve a corner of the church for them. It is a fascinating structure.
Since we have our church meeting on Saturdays, Sundays are free days for us. We are allowed to go out and do any activity we want to on those days. I got a small group of people to go with me on Sunday morning to see some worship meetings in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Because of conflicts with the usage of the building, some of the meetings were really early. So we woke up at 5:30 to attend the Catholic Latin Mass. It was held directly in front of the "Tomb of Jesus" in a huge dome. As the monks and the Catholic priest chanted their mass, the acoustics of the great hall gave me chills. The Catholics had built an organ in their part of the building that was included in their Mass. You could hear the music echo throughout the Church. As the meeting progressed, the morning sun would stream in through different openings in the ceiling and illuminate parts of the tomb. It was so cool to see the different beams of light shining in the dark building. As the Catholic Mass progressed in front of the tomb, the chanting of a Coptic Mass could be heard from the back of the tomb. A few Coptics had gathered there and were holding their service at the same time as the Catholics. As part of both Masses, incense was burned in a small lantern called a "thurible" and one of the priests would walk about the chamber swinging the incense. The Coptic priest carried one that had bells on it that chimed loudly as he walked around. He went right up to where the Catholics were worshiping and walked by them swinging his incense. As he passed, he paused and swung his incense toward the Catholics a few times, as if in an effort to cleanse their part of the building. It was interesting. There was one spot in the Hall where I could watch and hear both services. It was cool and I was amazed that all the different Christian sects could function in such a small space.
After the Catholic and Coptic Masses had finished, the Greek Orthodox arrived with their Patriarch of Jerusalem and began their service in front of the tomb. They own a huge dome and spacious hall that faces the door of the tomb. As their meeting started, I heard some more chanting from behind the tomb and walked back to see the Syrian Orthodox having their service in the place where the Coptics had been. These two meetings were by far my favorite. As part of the Syrian Orthodox service, the priests would get to a certain part of the Mass and put on white robes and hats over their blacks ones. All I could think of as I watched was the temple. Amidst all of this and their durge-like chanting, I could hear the Greek Orthodox monks chanting in the other hall as their Mass progressed.
After seeing these meetings, we went to a different part of the building and watched a small portion of an Ethiopian Orthodox Mass and then finished off the morning by going across the street to the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer to see a Lutheran church service in English. All in all, it was an awesome way to spend my free day and opened my eyes to the broad spectrum of Christianity. They all hold that place (the Church of the Holy Sepulchre) in such reverence and it impressed me. I would see people approach the rock where, it is believed, Christ hung on the Cross and another rock where, it is believed, Christ's body was laid as his body was prepared for burial and upon nearing these places, they would fall to the ground and weep as they touch the stones. That place is to them like our temples are to us. It also gave me a greater understanding of the Great Apostasy and how important it is to understand that doctrine, because it is SO true!
Just as a side note, we finished the day by going to the Western Wall and then through a small gate near there up to the Temple Mount to the Dome of the Rock. So we were able to visit the holiest places on earth for Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all in one day. It was an awesome experience.