Church of the Holy Sepulchre · The Key Is in Someone Else’s Hands

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is held to be the place where Jesus was crucified, buried and rose again. The mother of the Roman emperor Constantine ordered a church built here, and in the seventeen hundred years since it has been destroyed and rebuilt again and again.

The key of the church has been kept by two Muslim families, and the work of opening the door continues to this day — because the six denominations could not agree to let any one of them hold it.

Inside is an anointing stone worn smooth and bright. The queue of those lighting candles reaches the door. There is no quiet day here.

Historical Mysteries / Jerusalem · Israel / 326