Marie de Nazareth
To Jesus, through Mary
The extraordinary Church of the Holy Sepulcher, also called the Church of the Resurrection, is accessible from the Jerusalem marketplace. It is home to various Christian rites (Coptic, Syrian, Byzantine, Roman, etc., which are all protected by the status quo for holy sites). It has withstood many centuries and contains both the place of the Crucifixion and the place of the Resurrection of the Lord.
The four Gospels all speak about Golgotha:
“They came to a place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull)” (Mt 27:33).
“They brought Him to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull)” (Mk 15:22).
“When they came to the place which is called The Skull, there they crucified Him” (Lk 23:33).
“So they took Jesus, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the place of a skull, which is called in Hebrew Golgotha” (Jn 19:17).
“The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city” (Jn 19:20).
“Standing by the cross of Jesus [was] His mother” (Jn 19:25).
“Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb” (Jn 19:41, cf. Mt 27:59 and Lk 23:33).
The earthquake of 1927 incurred grave damages to the church. Its restoration, begun in 1960, has provided the opportunity to deepen our knowledge of the history and topography of this place at the time of Christ.
Various archaeological digs were opened in different spots throughout the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Thanks to these digs, we know that the terrain around the garden of Golgotha served as a stone quarry from the 8th to the 1st century before Christ.
“The archaeological results show that the tomb of Jesus was hewn in a pilaster (a rocky pillar, a massive boulder) isolated from this quarry. The owner (Joseph of Arimathea at the time of the Crucifixion) had begun to prepare a family tomb in this projecting rock. This new tomb had a low entrance (one almost had to kneel down to be able to enter through it), which was closed by a large stone slab. Beyond this narrow passage was a vestibule leading to the funerary chamber. There, a single bench had been hewn on the north side of the funerary chamber (on the right side for those entering).
“It is probable that Joseph of Arimathea had the intention of finishing the family tomb by carving out two more benches on the east and south sides. But the events of Holy Week overturned all his projects. It is in this funeral chamber and on this bench that the Body of Our Lord Jesus was laid. It is from this tomb and behind this “large stone” that victory over death was proclaimed, thanks to the Resurrection of Jesus. Today the tomb is completely covered in marble.”
When the Emperor Constantine organized the construction of a “house of prayer” on this site, the terrain had to be leveled and Jesus’ tomb was completely isolated.
When the Jewish Bar Kokhba revolt was subdued by the Romans, Jerusalem was completely razed to the ground. To prevent any more resistance from the Jewish nation, Hadrian wanted to build a new city, which would eliminate all memories of the past. He called this new city “Elia Capitolina”: “Elia” in his own honor and “Capitolina” because she was destined to possess a capitol or a mountain topped with a temple for the Roman gods. The most extensive account is given to us by the historian Eusebius of Caesarea (265-340): [1]
“Behold this grotto of salvation, which the atheists and enemies had wanted to make disappear from the eyes of men, believing foolishly that in this way they would hide the truth. Also, with great effort, they had poured out earth brought from elsewhere and had covered the whole place; then they had raised it up and paved it over with stones, thus hiding the divine grotto under a great platform. Then, as if that was not enough, on this site they erected a tomb truly fatal for souls, in building a shadowy shelter for the lascivious divinity Aphrodite, and in offering there abominable libations on impure and cursed altars. They thought that only in this way and not otherwise, they would have realized their project, that is, hiding the grotto of salvation under the most execrable filth.”
But a Christian community composed only of pagan-Christians (that is, not of Jewish origins) continued to live in Jerusalem under the shepherding of the bishop Mark and his successors. Their presence assured the continuity necessary for later identifying the holy places. While these Christians were able to pass down the identification of the holy places, they were not able to prevent pagan temples from being constructed on their ruins.
In 325, during the Council of Nicaea, the bishop Macarius asked the Emperor Constantine to destroy the pagan temples constructed on the Christian holy places in the city. The Emperor Constantine granted his request, as recorded by Eusebius of Caesarea: [2]
“The Emperor Constantine commanded that very deep excavations should be made in the earth and that the excavated earth should be transported to a faraway and secluded place, because it had been soiled by the sacrifices offered to demons. […]
“When everything had been taken away, object after object, the ground level finally appeared. And, beyond all hope, behold what also appeared: everything remained of the venerable and very holy testimony of the Resurrection which saved us. The grotto above all was found physically intact, that very place that was the site of the Savior’s Resurrection; after having been hidden in the shadows, she came back to the light; to all those who had come to see her, she clearly displayed the history of the marvels realized here, attesting to the Resurrection of the Savior in a deeper manner than any words. […]
“Constantine had wished that the tomb of the Savior would remain undecorated on the inside, because no human decoration would ever be able to embellish this rock which had been the witness to the Resurrection of the Christ. By contrast, the exterior of the Tomb was covered with precious ornaments. The tomb was lit by light from the openings in the magnificent and very large dome which was constructed to contain it.”
From the basilica of Constantine composed of three parts (the Triportico courtyard, the Martyrium basilica, and the Anastasis rotunda), nothing remains today except the Anastasis rotunda, which has been renovated many times. The rest of the construction (including the south entrance, the Catholicon at the center, the ambulatory, and the underground chapel of St. Helena) is a work of the Crusades (1141).
The sultans – those of Cairo, and then, after 1517, those of Constantinople – had disposed of the rights of the various religious communities according to their own wishes, until the recognizing of the status quo (in 1757 and 1852), which is an “order of iron” regulating even to the present day the manner in which the diverse communities live together.
The Franciscans, the Greek Orthodox Christians, and the Coptics each have their place of worship at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. On the roof of the church is an Ethiopian Coptic convent which is a replica of African village huts.
The earthquake in 1927 incurred great damages to the monument; restorations began in 1960. On January 4th, 1964, Pope Paul VI visited the sanctuary and spoke with the Greek Orthodox patriarch Benediktos about the restoration project: “It is truly rich in symbolism, the fact that, despite the weight of history and numerous difficulties, Christians, sadly divided, are working together to restore this temple which they themselves constructed when they were united, while their divisions have brought about their decadence.”
“But God raised Him up, having loosed the pangs of death, for it was not possible for Him to be held by it” (Acts 2:24).
“We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Rom 6:4).
Synthesis by Francoise Breynaert and the Marie de Nazareth Team
About the Franciscan Custodia Sanctae Terrae, online
About the Passion of Christ, in the Marian Encyclopedia
And His Resurrection, in the Marian Encyclopedia
About the Passion of Christ in art, in the Marian Encyclopedia
About the Resurrection of Christ in art, in the Marian Encyclopedia
About the Marian presence in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, in the Marian Encyclopedia
[1] Eusebius of Caesarea, Life of Constantine III.XXVI
[2] Eusubius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History, III, XXV-XXVIII