In some churches in the Holy Land (if just old enough) you can find crosses engraved in the walls (no idea how). Each one of them, although silent, bears a story of… the Pilgrim. Yes, those crosses are engraved in the walls by pilgrims who have been coming here since a long time. Each one of them hides a prayer, a story or the difficulties of travel, tears and smiles.
But a lots of pilgrims not only bring their prayers to the Holy Land, they would also like to brink something back home. Something which would stay with them and remind them about this special journey, a symbol. Well, there are many! And beautiful ones!
One of them is the Jerusalem Cross, although characteristic not only of Jerusalem itself, you can find it from Judea up to Galilee – its shoulders are of the same lenght and have a little cross in each of four corners. It symbolizes the five wounds of Jesus (four small crosses are His arms and legs, the big one is his body). But that’s not all! Some necklace versions… open and then the little crosses symbolize the four corners of the world. Means… how the Christianity spread from Jerusalem to all over the world.
Jerusalem Cross
four corners of the world
There is also another symbol very similar to this one – the Bethlehem Star. Would you let her become your compass (or – for some of us – GPS)? It looks a bit like a cross also but in fact it’s a symbol of the Nativity town.
Bethlehem Star
Do you like legends? I don’t know many, but there is one which is omnipresent in the Arabic world – the one about King Salomong and Queen of Saba. Saba was a kingdom which existed a long time before Christ in the region of todays Yemen. Today it doesn’t exist any more but it’s still alive in the peoples imagination. Anyway, the Queen visited King Salomon, who offered her the jewellery of malachite stone! This green or blue stone is definitely something you would love to have to remember about the Holy Land!
And I will try to bring you more details of the legend.
Today in Bethlehem 