We walked about 100-150 yards north of the Church of Nations to the Grotto of Gethsemane, where Jesus and his disciples often camped at night. In this grotto, we believe the apostles slept while Jesus prayed.
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Mount of Olives / Agony in the Garden (Gethsemane)
DAY 5: STOP 7
The church of nations represents The 12 nations that helped build the church. Inside the church is the rock on which Jesus prayed and agonized.
Two pics with my rosary on it.
Great panorama inside Church of Nations
Panorama outside of church
This is one of the jubilee locations (year of mercy) decided by the Holy Father Pope Francis where you can earn a plenary indulgence.
Mount of Olives / Dominos Flevit
DAY 5: STOP 6
Dominus Flevit is a Roman Catholic church on the Mount of Olives, opposite the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. The church was designed and constructed between 1953 and 1955 by the Italian architect Antonio Barluzzi and is held in trust by the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land. During construction of the sanctuary, archaeologists uncovered artifacts dating back to the Canaanite period, as well as tombs from the Second Temple and Byzantine eras.
Dominus Flevit, which translates from Latin as "The Lord Wept", was fashioned in the shape of a teardrop to symbolize the tears of Christ. Here, according to the 19th chapter of the Gospel of Luke, Jesus, while riding toward the city of Jerusalem, becomes overwhelmed by the beauty of the Second Temple and predicting its future destruction.
Mount of Olives / Ascension
Acts 1:9-12 states that the Ascension took place on Mount Olivet (the "Mount of Olives", on which the village of Bethany sits).
We went to the Chapel of the Ascension. The Chapel of the Ascension in Jerusalem today is a Christian and Muslim holy site now believed to mark the place where Jesus ascended into heaven. In the small round church/mosque is a stone imprinted with what some claim to be the very footprints of Jesus. Father Peter says this location is considered strong traditional which means likely occurring within a 100 yard radius.
We ran into an Irish family who were visiting the Holy Land to commemorate the recent loss of their 23 year old son. Father Peter was so touched by their story, he invited them to join us for the rest of the day.
Mount of Olives / The Old City Overlok
DAY 5: STOP 5
This is the site of a Jewish cemetery where the faithful have been buried for centuries awaiting the Messiah's return.
Overlooking the walled in Old Jeruselem with the view of Jewish tombs ($25,000 per tiny plot). The view of Jerusalem was stunning. The sound of church bells with the loud broadcast of the Muslim call to prayer was surreal. Looking at the city, we could see the El Aqaa mosque that is the third holiest Muslim site, the Wailing Wall of Jewish holiness and, of course, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Crazy to think the three major religions of the world are crammed in one small site.
We walked down the Palm Sunday Walk about a half mile / 400 foot decline to the Agony in the Garden, the betrayal and arrest of Jesus and a view other amazing sites to be posted later.
Birthplace of John the Baptist / Lunch
DAY 5: STOP 2
STOP 3: Lunch at Ramat Rachel
Church over the site of the birth of John the Baptist
Site of the Visitation
DAY 5: STOP 1
Jeruselem has about 850,000 citizens.
Climb to the Church of the Visitation
We ascended a long stone stairway up to the Church of the Visitation, which is a Franciscan church in Ein Kerem, on the west side of Jerusalem, named after Mary's visit to the summer house of the parents of John the Baptist. Ein Kerem is according to tradition the birthplace of John the Baptist but it is not considered authentic like some of the places that we've visited - it's fair to assume it happened to in close to proximity to this location. The village was a summer house for Zacharias and Elizabeth, parents of John the Baptist. The village was called "city of Juda" in the description of the visit by Luke.
Elizabeth was the cousin of Mary, mother of Jesus. As per Luke, Mary visited Elizabeth when both were pregnant (hence the name - Church of visitation). During the visit, the baby leapt with joy in Elizabeth's womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, knowing Mary that she is about to give birth to the son of God. Mary then stayed with her cousin for 3 months until John was born. The rock found in the lower chapel represents the rock Elizabeth used to hide John the Baptist from Herod's soldiers. The panorama below are various inscriptions of the Magnificat (canticle of Mary) in a number of languages.
We celebrated Mass at the beautiful Franciscan church over the chapel pictured below. The church was rebuilt in 1955 and includes remnants of the crusader church of the Visitation.
Saturday, January 30, 2016
Jeruselem
So Galilee to Jeruselem is South through Samaria and into Judea. Jesus chose the steep rocky road from Jericho to Jerusalem as the setting for his parable about the Good Samaritan. The bible refers to going "up" to Jeruselem because it is at a higher elevation (2,500 feet above sea level). In contrast, Jericho is 846 feet below sea level and known as the lowest place on earth.
We left the West Bank and entered back into Israel - we didn't have a great look at Jeruselem until we came out of a tunnel rising into the city and it was an incredible site when the whole city appeared at once.
We arrived at our hotel aptly called the Christmas hotel. We considered going out that night to the Damascus Gate (one of the 8 main entrances to the old city - highway to Damascus) but Father Peter advised us against it because there was a stabbing near our hotel while we were at dinner.
Jericho
DAY 5: STOP 3
The Mount of Temptation is said to be the hill in the Judaean Desert where Jesus was tempted by the devil. The exact location is unknown. Notice the incredible Greek Orthodox monastery embedded in the side of the mountain about halfway up. The mountain is about 1,200 feet high.
Entering Jericho (means city of palms), which is said to be the oldest city on earth. The Israelites supposedly brought down its walls with a great shout and trumpet blasts.
Here Jesus healed Bartimaeus, the blind beggar, and dined with Zacchaeus, the rich tax collector. And both Cleopotra and Herod coveted this place as an oasis - however I don't see the oasis part but I hear spring is amazing with abundant flowers, fruit and and spices. Jericho was settled in 9000 BC.
Jericho was on a normal route from Galilee to Jeruselem through Samaria and Jesus passed through it several times.
We stopped at the centuries-old sycamore tree symbolic of the tax collector Zacchaeus, too short to see over the crowd, climbed a sycamore in order to see Jesus (Luke 19:4)
Lunch in Jericho below. We sat next to a Palestinian Muslim family. The dad was smoking hookah and they had a 13 month old girl who kept smiling and waving at us. I guess hate is learned and not born. We don't care about our differences until we are spoiled by adult prejudices.
Below are pics from an amazing store in Jericho - ceramics, Hebron glass, tear jars and many other beautiful crafts. Our driver Ahmed is a Palistinean Muslim who has driven Father Peter and his tours for 28 years. He keeps us safe and only lets us shop and legitimate businesses.
Magdela Project
DAY 5: STOP 2
Our last visit in Galilee was to the Magdala Project - a site accidentally discovered by Rev. Juan M. Solana, it was the spiritual equivalent of striking oil. When he set out to develop a resort for Christian pilgrims in Galilee, he unearthed a holy site: the presumed hometown of Mary Magdalene and an ancient synagogue where experts say Jesus may well have taught. The project was blessed by Pope Francis when he visited the Holy Land. What is so incredible about this is they discovered the original synagogue. Almost all other holy sites are built on and layered over by the Byzantines and Crusaders. However, due to problems with landslides it was never built on so the original was in tact with some remnants of frescoes and mosaics.
Above the synagogue is a church funded by the Legionnaires. The altar is a boat and the walls in the atrium devoted to women of the church are painted with colors that were chemically matched with the frescoes discovered.
Check out and Mass
DAY 5: STOP 1
Checked out of the amazing Scot's hotel and walked to mass in Tiberias at St. Peter's Parish.
Boat ride - Sea of Galilee
We took a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee which was amazing. We learned how to fish Apostle style. We did some Jewish dancing thanks to our boat crew. We read Gospel passages about Jesus claiming the sea- it was extremely calm and serene for us. Our crew even hoisted an American flag and played our national anthem.
Golan Heights
DAY 3: STOP 6
That's me with Father Peter - more on him later. Panoramic photo of the gorgeous Sea of Galilee below:
Golan Heights is Israel’s mountainous northern region, is one of the most beautiful and most traveled parts of the country. We stopped at the summit of Mount Bental which offers beautiful panoramic view of the whole area.
The ride down on our huge bus had harrowing turns and switchbacks - fun for all except those with motion sickness LOL!
Lunch - St. Peter's Fish
DAY 3: STOP 5
Tried St. Peter's fish for lunch - not that great but the glass of dry white wine was.
This fish is basically Tilapia according to Wikipedia
Tilapia were one of the three main types of fish caught in Biblical times from the Sea of Galilee. At that time they were called musht, or commonly now even "St. Peter's fish". The name "St. Peter's fish" comes from the story in the Gospel of Matthewabout the apostle Peter catching a fish that carried a coin in its mouth, though the passage does not name the fish.[4] While the name also applies to Zeus faber, a marine fish not found in the area, a few tilapia species (Sarotherodon galilaeus galilaeus and others) are found in the Sea of Galilee, where the author of the Gospel of Matthew recounts the event took place. These species have been the target of small-scale artisanal fisheries in the area for thousands of years.[5][6]
Multiplication of Loaves / Bay of Parables
DAY 3: STOP 4
Funny thing about this stop is most of us thought we were stopping for lunch and were starving - I guess that is fitting!
Next we took a short ride to the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes (sad to say it suffered damage after arson in last couple of years) - it is located in Tabgha also on NW shore of SofG (a lot happened here haha) - it commemorates the miraculous feeding of the five thousand as described in Mark 6 just before He walks on water.
Mount Tabor (Transfiguration)
At the summit, we first gathered in an old crusader chapel.
I loved that the Gospel that was read when we celebrated mass over the very site of the Transfiguration a few words were changed.
“After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.” is the regular verse but in the Gospel text above and only at this location it says not "a high mountain" but "this" mountain.
Capernaum / House of Peter
DAY 3: STOP 3 - off to Capernaum - known as Jesus' own town also on NW shore of Sea of Galilee and home of Apostles Peter, Andrew, James, John and Matthew. Capernaum was the center of Jesus' ministry in Galilee and where he performed 8 miracles.
Below is more of the homes around Peter's house and a synagogue built over a first century synagogue that burned - one - this is where Jesus taught.
Finally we took a small retreat on the rocks one the shore of the Sea of Galilee
We had mass over the site of Peters house where Jesus lived and it was incredible and surreal and hard to wrap the brain around. I was standing in Mass and could see the altar, the Sea of Galilee and below the glass floor into the home of Peter which included a rough opening that served as a doorway- literally the spot Peter and Jesus entered and left the house. We know this is Peter's house because over 130 descriptions of Peter and Jesus were found here plus it's the only home in the area that had many layers built around it over the years as a sort of shrine.
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