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Days 8.5 and 9: Exploring Bethlehem, Emmaus, Jaffa, Tel Aviv

After we got back to Bethlehem yesterday we walked down the street to get taxis to take us to a local convent called the Hortus Conclusus. I had never heard of it before this trip, but one of the members of our group belongs to a religious order dedicated to Our Lady of the Garden. Apparently a bishop from Uruguay purchased some very fertile land in a valley near Bethlehem and built a church and convent that he named Hortus Conclusus after a verse from the Song of Songs. The sisters have a beautiful church and garden. They fed us lunch and told us about their work, which is primarily taking care of the land and running a Kindergarten for local children.

Some of us then went on to the Carmelite convent in Bethlehem, which was founded by a saint, Sr. Mariam of Jesus Crucified. She is an Arabic Christian saint with a fascinating story. Too long to tell her but look her up! The Carmelites also have a beautiful church and grounds, and we were able to venerate some of her relics.

From Carmel we quickly walked to the Milk Grotto. This is a place where, according to tradition, the Holy Family hid while fleeing Herod’s slaughter of the Holy Innocents, and while they were there Mary nurses the Baby Jesus and a drop of milk fell to the ground, turning the wall white. The wall is scraped and it is believed that couples or mothers who consume the powder are helped with conceiving or nursing.

After visiting the milk grotto, we popped around the corner for a second visit to the Church of the Nativity. It is much less crowded in the late afternoon and we were able to venerate the place of Jesus’ birth in relative peace.

This morning, we packed up and headed to Emmaus for our closing Mass. The church there is run by French Benedictines who have a beautiful garden.

From Emmaus (P.S. the town is not called Emmaus any more) we got on the bus (mandatory bus shot below) and headed toward Tel Aviv for our last night before flying out.

The rooms were not quite ready for us to check in yet, so we drove up to Jaffa, which is an old town by the Mediterranean with very lively restaurants and markets. Once we got back to Tel Aviv we checked into our hotel and spent the afternoon at the beach.

Fun Fact: There are jellyfish in the Mediterranean (as some in our group discovered the painful way)!

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Day 8: Jerusalem, Part 3

Christos Anesti! Only in Jerusalem can you experience almost all of Holy Week in one day! We started this morning with Stations of the Cross at 5:00 AM through the old city of Jerusalem. Of course, the city has changed much since the time of Jesus, so each station’s location is an approximation of where the events actually happened.

We finished the stations outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and then went inside. Immediately inside the church is the washing stone, where Jesus’ body was prepared for burial. You can go right up to venerate it and it has a very fragrant odor. To the right of the entrance is a steep set of stairs that lead up to Calvary. We went up and were able to touch the stone of Calvary through a small hole under the altar. Because we were there so early, there were hardly any people so it was quiet and we were able to take our time to pray.

When we went downstairs again we saw a lower chapel that commemorates the site where St. Helen found the true cross. There are small crosses carved in the stone on either side of the staircase - one for each person who took a relic of the cross. We also went to a side chapel that has part of the pillar where Jesus was scourged.

After venerating that, it was time for our Mass in the tomb. The Aedicule is a small structure that sits inside the church. We went inside and the doors were closed behind us. Father celebrated Mass on the altar the sits just above the stone slab on which Jesus’ body was placed. We had just enough time for Mass and venerating the slab before our time was up and the next group was scheduled to come in.

After having breakfast (and coffee!) at a local hotel, we went on to the Church of St. Anne, which is built on top of the site where Mary was born and is adjacent to the ruins of the pools of Bethesda.

Then we drove back over to the Temple Mount, where we prayed at the Wailing Wall and saw portions of the Temple destroyed by the Romans. Several Jewish families were celebrating bar mitzvahs so there was a festive air.

Our last official stop for the day was Bethany and the church built to commemorate the raising of Lazarus. We explored Bethlehem in the afternoon so more to come on that later.

Fun Fact: A common meal component in Israel and Palestine is bread with oil and a spice mix that includes hyssop.

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Day 7: Jerusalem, Part 2

We had a quick walking lunch of Jerusalem bagels, which are nothing like American bagels but quite delectable, and then walked to the site of the cenacle. The building there is from the a crusader era but marks the site of the original upper room. Right next door is Dormition Abbey (seen below), which marks the site where Mary was buried. Originally, it and the cenacle were encompassed in one large church. My favorite piece of art in the church was a representation in the crypt of Jesus holding Mary in a reversal of the typical Madonna image where Mary is holding Jesus.

From there we walked to St. Peter in Gallicantu, built over the site of Caiaphas’ house where Jesus was held for part of the night before He died and where Peter denied Him three times. We went into the cistern where He was kept and saw the ruins of the 1st century courtyard and the stairs leading down into the Kidron Valley.

Our last stop of the day was the City of David, the oldest part of Jerusalem. We walked through the tunnel of Hezekiah, which connected a water source with the old city so that water could be obtained even during a siege. Half of us walked through a dry tunnel that dates to the Canaanite times (so roughly 1800 BC) and the other half walked through water in a tunnel that dates to the 6th or 7th century before Christ. The wet tunnel comes out at the Pool of Siloam, where Jesus sent the blind man to wash out his eyes.

Fun Fact: There is a local legend that drinking olive oil every day makes you live longer!

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Day 7: Jerusalem, Part 1

We got an earlier start today than our other days because we were finally going into Jerusalem. We started with Mass at the Basilica of Agony, where we actually got to touch the rock were Jesus suffered the Agony in the garden. The olive trees in the adjoining garden are among the oldest trees in the world.

From there, we went to the top of the Mount of Olives, where the Pater Noster Church is located. Inside and out, it has plaques of the Our Father written in over 160 languages. We visited the cave where Jesus taught the apostles the Our Father, about the end times, and most likely ascended to heaven.

Further down the hill is part of the Palm Sunday road that Jesus took into the city, and about halfway down the hill is the Dominus Flevit Church, where Jesus wept over Jerusalem. It has excellent views of the old city spanning from Bethlehem on the left to the Temple Mount. There is a garden with a couple of the trees that have the kind of thorns from which Jesus’ crown was made.

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Day 6: Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Today we finally got to go to the Church of the Nativity, where it is Christmas all year! It is a Greek Orthodox Church, but right next door is the Latin church of St. Catherine, where we celebrated Mass below in the cave where St. Jerome lived while translating the Bible.

After Mass we made our way next door to join the queue to enter the grotto of the Nativity, where we were able to kneel and kiss the spot where Jesus was born as well as venerate the site of the manger.

We also stopped by the shepherd’s fields and visited a chapel and a church dedicated to the shepherds who were the first to hear the news of the Messiah’s birth. We sang Christmas carols at both locations!

From there we drove into Jerusalem to Ein Karem and visited the birthplace of St. John the Baptist. The church is currently being restored so, unfortunately for us, the interior was covered in scaffolding. However, we could still see that the entire church was covered with beautiful blue and white tiles. There is also a lovely crusader-era chapel attached to the main church.

Just up the road (literally - we climbed quite the flight of stairs complete with a handy warning sign not to fall down) is the Church of the Visitation. It is surrounded by a beautiful garden with tiled presentations of the Magnificat in many languages. The lower church holds a stone that, according to tradition, hid St. John the Baptist during the massacre of the Holy Innocents. The upper church is decorated with beautiful frescoes.

Fun Facts: St. George is the patron saint of Palestinian Christians. Also, there is no Starbucks here, but there are plenty of knock-offs.

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Day 5: Jericho, Jordan River, Qumran, Dead Sea, Valley of the Shadow of Death

We began our day with a drive from Bethlehem to Jericho, where we celebrated Mass at a church dedicated to the Good Shepherd. It has the only crucifix I think I have ever seen with the shoulder wound of Christ (a wound He received from carrying the cross on His shoulder).

Close by is Mount Temptation, where Jesus fasted and was tempted by the devil (it’s the one to the left with the antenna on top, not the one with the wall at the summit). We stopped at a shop that sold many local items, including camel leather goods, dates, sycamore nuts, and pottery.

From there we proceeded to the Jordan River to the site that was most likely that where John the Baptist baptized Jesus. Father led us in renewing our baptismal promises.

Our next stop was Qumran, where the Dead Sea scrolls containing the Old Testament were found in the 1940’s.

After lunching there, we proceeded on to the Dead Sea, where we followed instructions to smear the mud on, wait 15 minutes and then go float to wash it off. It really does leave one’s skin feeling incredibly soft and you really can float effortlessly!

Our last stop of the day was the Valley of the Shadow of Death. It contains an ancient road that connects Jericho to Jerusalem. The spot we got out to look at has St. George’s monastery to the right and Jerusalem can be seen to the left. It was from this point that the Jews would have begun chanting the Psalms of Ascent as they began their final approach to the city.

Fun Fact: Archaeologists know from the design of Herod’s palaces that he was very short in stature.

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Day 4: Mount Carmel, Muhraqa, Caesarea Maritima

We checked out of our hotel in Nazareth this morning and took the bus to Mt. Carmel, where we were able to celebrate Mass and then pray in Elijah’s cave. We continued on to Muhraqa, which is also the site of a monastery built where Elijah fought the prophets of Ba’al. The grounds of the monastery contain beautiful gardens, including a cedar of Lebanon tree. We had lunch and then proceeded on the Caesarea Maritima, which is a well-preserved town on the coast. It consists of architecture from both the first century and the crusader era, but we visited the first century side of the town. There was a large amphitheater, a palace built by Herod where St. Paul was held in captivity before he set off for Rome, and a hippodrome where, according to the historian Eusebius, thousands of Christians were martyred during the persecutions.

Mount Carmel - Stella Maris Monastery

Muhraqa-Statue of Elijah, Elijah’s Altar, a Cedar of Lebanon

Caesarea Maritima

Fun Fact: the first cross that appeared as a symbol for Christianity was called the “Saint Helen’s Cross” and can be seen on the capital above.

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Day 3: Sea of Galilee Region, Part 2

After lunch we continued on to Capernaum. This site has the most intact 1st century architecture we have seen so far. Parts of St. Peter’s house are preserved below a church, and the ruins of a fourth century synagogue sit on top of the darker foundation of the very synagogue that Jesus taught in. Not far away is the church of Peter’s Primacy on the shore, where Peter confesses his love to Jesus three times after the Resurrection. This church contains a stone named “Mensa Christi,” or the table of Christ, where Jesus and His disciples ate a breakfast of fish when He appeared to them after the Resurrection. We ended the day with an unplanned visit to the Valley of Doves, which contains an ancient road that travelers used to get from Nazareth to the sea and actually extends all the way to Egypt. It is in a valley surrounded by high peaks with caves that the Jewish zealots hid in. It is called the Valley of Doves because it was here that poor pilgrims to the Temple could stop to buy doves for sacrifice before they arrived in Jerusalem, where prices were much higher. As an aside, the valley also happens to look like the canyon from the beginning of “Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade.” After dinner, we went to a candlelit rosary procession at the Basilica of the Annunciation.

Fun fact: St. John the Baptist’s honey would have been a kind made from dates, not the kind produced by bees.

St. Peter’s House

Capernaum Synagogue

St. Peter

Church of the Primacy of Peter

Valley of the Doves

Rosary Procession

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Day 3, Sea of Galilee Region, Part 1

We began our day with a drive to the Sea of Galilee. There, we saw the remains of a boat from the time of Jesus and took a boat ride on the lake. From there we proceeded to the Mount of Beatitudes, where we celebrated Mass and took in the beautiful scenery. Just down the mount on the shore is the site of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes miracle. We visited the church there, which has some beautiful mosaics and alabaster windows, and houses the rock in which Jesus performed the miracle (under the altar). Having witnessed the site of miraculous multiplication of fishes, we went on to a lunch of humanly multiplied fishes. This fried delight is known as “St. Peter’s fish” (tilapia in layman’s terms) and is traditionally eaten whole.

Sea of Galilee

Mount of Beatitudes

Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes

Lunch!

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Day 2: Nazareth, Cana, Mt. Tabor

We started the day with Mass at the Basilica of the Annunciation, and then visited St. Joseph’s church and the well from which Mary would have drawn water. There is a spring there to this day, and a Greek aorthodox church is built on the site. We continued on to Cana and then stopped for a lunch of falafel and shawarma. Our last stop of the day was Mt. Tabor, which sits a dizzying 1800 feet above sea level. Fun fact: Arabic coffee has cardamom in it!

Basilica of the Annunciation

St. Joseph’s Church

Mary’s Well

Cana

Mt. Tabor

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Day 1: Arrival, Nazareth

We arrived in Tel Aviv and took a bus to Nazareth. Before we checked in to our hotel, the guide took us to Mt. Precipice, which has stunning views of the surrounding countryside. From there we could see Mt. Tabor, the city of Nazareth, the valley of Armageddon, and far away Mt. Carmel. After checking in, we did a little exploring before our itinerary begins in earnest tomorrow. Fun fact: Nazareth has lots of cats!