The holiest place in Christianity is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Old Jerusalem, built by Constantine in 435 over the site of Christ’s crucifixion on the hill of Golgotha.  Upon entering, you immediately see displayed the Stone of Anointing, a slab of limestone traditionally revered as where Jesus’ body was laid after taken down from the Cross, and prepared for burial by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus.

Christian pilgrims come from all over the world to place their hands on the stone, pray in devotion, and place personal objects on it for sanctification.  The Stone is one of the most sacred objects on Earth to them and with very good reason.

To say that being here to witness this at the Stone of Anointing is a profound experience is a vast understatement.  (Glimpses of Our Breathtaking World #311 photo ©Jack Wheeler)