Holy Land has District showcase

On a Christian pilgrimage with her church group, Kristin Toorop looks up to Calvary, and her eyes open wide.

She listens as tour guide Gloria Harrington tells the story of where Christ was crucified, with Mary Magdalene kneeling at his feet.

“I’m sure you recognize the scene of Jesus on the cross, between two thieves,” Ms. Harrington says, before leading the group to take a closer look. “Let’s go up to Calvary.”

But this is not the sacred Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, where Christian tradition says Jesus was crucified and resurrected. Rather, it’s a replica of Calvary, hidden in a leafy neighborhood in Washington.

For nearly 112 years, Mount St. Sepulchre in the District has been home to a Franciscan monastery and its Memorial Church of the Holy Sepulcher - complete with replicas of Jesus’ tomb and other holy sites. About 25,000 people visit each year to see its shrines representing the holiest places in Christianity.

During her first visit this month, Ms. Toorop, a 43-year-old accountant from Philadelphia, said she was more than impressed.

“To be honest, I think this place is better than the National Cathedral,” she said, walking through the Byzantine-style church located across town from the well-known Episcopal cathedral that often hosts presidents and national events.

“This place is more spiritual,” Ms. Toorop said. “I feel closer to Jesus and to his story and to the pain and suffering he went through because there’s these relics here.”

Her pilgrimage to the church with a busload of parishioners from Nativity of Our Lord Church in Warminster, Pa., came on the same day the Franciscan Order celebrated a remarkable moment - its 800th anniversary. The order was founded by St. Francis of Assisi, who traveled to Rome in 1209 to ask the pope’s approval.

“They wanted to live the Gospel as literally as they could,” said the Rev. Jeremy Harrington, who heads the Washington monastery. That includes a simple life, serving others, with no real worldly possessions of their own.

Hundreds of friars have passed through the D.C. monastery over time, often in preparation to serve in the Holy Land, where Franciscans serve as the Catholic Church’s chief custodians of the holiest sites. It’s also the place where Good Friday collections from all U.S. Catholic churches are sent before the Vatican distributes the money to support the Franciscans’ work.

In the Holy Land, they try to foster peace and reconciliation among Muslims, Jews and other groups, Father Harrington said. They also strive to make the Gospel accessible to people in the tradition of St. Francis.

The priest, 77, dressed in the friar’s traditional brown robe, serves as guardian and commissary of the monastery. He’s one of 20 who live there full time, celebrating Mass twice daily and meeting together for morning and evening prayer. Other priests stay for shorter periods while studying at nearby Catholic University of America.

“We are the supply line for the friars in the Holy Land,” Father Harrington said. “We recruit men to become Franciscans and go to serve there. We support them emotionally, spiritually and financially.”

Their church is filled with intricate works of art and the unique scale replicas of various sites.

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