Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu--Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday

Oh! Peter!

and the cock crows.

And the denial.

It pierces my heart.

For all the times I denied him.

And will deny.

Jesus telling Peter 
that he will deny him three times.

The Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu
perhaps on the site of the house of Caiaphas
where they brought Jesus.

The steps lead from Mount Zion 
back down to the Kidron Valley.
Believed to be steps from the time of Jesus 
and ones he may have walked on that Thursday.

Steps that Jesus trod

Steps leading to the House of Caiphas (Seetheholyland.net)

Beside the Church of St Peter in Gallicantu, excavations have brought to light a stepped street which in ancient times would have descended from Mount Zion to the Kidron Valley.

These stone steps were certainly in use at the time of Christ. On the evening of his arrest, he probably descended them with his disciples on their way from the Last Supper to Gethsemane.

And, even if the House of Caiphas was situated further up Mount Zion than the present church, it would have been by this route that Jesus was brought under guard to the high priest’s house.

The Church of St Peter in Gallicantu illustrates the tumultuous history of religious sites in the Holy Land: A major church built here in 457 was damaged in 529 during the Samaritan Revolt and destroyed in 614 by the Persians. It was rebuilt around 628 and destroyed in 1009 by the mad Caliph Hakim. Rebuilt around 1100 by the Crusaders, it was destroyed in 1219 by the Turks. Then a chapel was built, but it was destroyed around 1300. 

The present church was completed in 1932.

And in HIS steps 

we still struggle to walk today.