AT THE CHURCH SAINT PETER IN GALLICANTU

The roof of St. Peter in Gallicantu Church

Yesterday, we traveled to the church of St Peter Gallicantu, which is located right outside of the walls of the old city of Jerusalem. Gallicantu is the location of two significant things to pray and reflect on. The first is that this is the location where Saint Peter, the chief apostle, denied knowing Christ three times.

St. Peter in Gallicantu Church

The other significant thing is the old cistern, which is, as tradition holds, the location where Jesus was kept overnight after being arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. Inside the cistern prison, we quietly prayed to ourselves Psalm 88. Praying upon these two moments in Christ’s life help us to reflect on our own life and our relationship with Christ.  How do we respond when we feel betrayed by those whom we love dearly, how do we react when we feel imprisoned spiritually, mentally or physically? I leave you with the words of Psalm 88.

The Sacred Pit where Jesus was kept overnight after being arrested

Psalm 88

O Lord, my God, I call for help by day;

    I cry out in the night before thee.

2 Let my prayer come before thee,

    incline thy ear to my cry!

  3 For my soul is full of troubles,

    and my life draws near to Sheol.

4 I am reckoned among those who go down to the Pit;

    I am a man who has no strength,

5 like one forsaken among the dead,

    like the slain that lie in the grave,

like those whom thou dost remember no more,

    for they are cut off from thy hand.

6 Thou hast put me in the depths of the Pit,

    in the regions dark and deep.

7 Thy wrath lies heavy upon me,

    and thou dost overwhelm me with all thy waves.Selah

8 Thou hast caused my companions to shun me;

    thou hast made me a thing of horror to them.

I am shut in so that I cannot escape;

9     my eye grows dim through sorrow.

Every day I call upon thee, O Lord;

    I spread out my hands to thee.

10 Dost thou work wonders for the dead?

    Do the shades rise up to praise thee? Selah

11 Is thy steadfast love declared in the grave,

    or thy faithfulness in Abaddon?

12 Are thy wonders known in the darkness,

    or thy saving help in the land of forgetfulness?

  13 But I, O Lord, cry to thee;

    in the morning my prayer comes before thee.

14 O Lord, why dost thou cast me off?

    Why dost thou hide thy face from me?

15 Afflicted and close to death from my youth up,

    I suffer thy terrors; I am helpless.

16 Thy wrath has swept over me;

    thy dread assaults destroy me.

17 They surround me like a flood all day long;

    they close in upon me together.

18 Thou hast caused lover and friend to shun me;

    my companions are in darkness.