Our last day was again a rainy one and picture taking was at times somewhat handicapped.  But the two days of rain also served to remind us that for most of the trip we have had great weather.  The rains created flash flooding in the southern areas of the Holy Land, and we were temporarily delayed from a road being closed for a time.  Later we found out that some school children had to be rescued from flooding in an area we had been in just a couple of days before.

Our day started with a visit in Bethany to the home of Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary.  The siblings were good friends of Jesus and all are mentioned in several Gospel stories.  Most famously, Lazarus was raised after death by Jesus.

Their homesite is now a compound with three distinct sections; Christian, Greek Orthodox, and Muslim.  Interestingly enough, Lazarus is an important prophet in the Muslim Religion.

We started our visit to this site with Mass in The Crusader Chapel.  I’ve included these photos by Bob because I wanted to show the space.  I am unerringly drawn to the simple, and of all the incredible churches and chapels where we celebrated Mass on this trip, this was my favorite.  It was stone from top to bottom, and simply adorned with an alter, some candles, a Crucifix, and the necessary chairs and lectern.

My good friend Ruth, (Bob’s wife), doing the readings.  I really loved this little chapel.

Also in the Christian area was a small museum display about the processing of olive oil in the time of Jesus.  These photos show some sections of a wine press from that period.  

On to Jericho, which is more prominently featured in the Old Testament than the New.  But in the life of Jesus, the story of Zacheas, the vertically challenged man who climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus pass by, took place in Jericho.

Also, the area outside of Jericho is where Jesus “went into the wilderness” after being baptized by John.  The photo below shows a Franciscan Monastery up on the side of the Mountain of Temptation where Jesus encountered Satan.

As I was standing outside a store where our group was shopping, a reminder that almost anywhere in the world now, we are never far from an American franchise.

With some adventures with water going over the road, we went to Qumran, the site of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and our very last stop of the trip.

The Essenes were a breakaway Jewish sect that came to the area around Qumran about two hundred years before Christ.  They valued separation from the outside world, ritual bathing and cleanliness, and constant study and writing.  There is evidence that over the centuries they abandoned the site twice.  Once because of natural disaster, and the other being rousted by the Romans.  With the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947 by Bedouins, excavation of the area of Qumran renewed in earnest.

Most of the scrolls were found in the now famous Cave 4, an archeological designation.  They included books of the Old Testament, the Apocrypha, and the sect’s own works.  Some of the scrolls are on display in “The Shrine of the Book” at the Israel Museum.   The museum on the site has a video history and replicas of some of the scrolls and the jars that contained them.

Some of the excavations of  cisterns and ritual baths.

And I took the photo below just because there was thunderous water just pouring down the side of the mountain.  You can see the mists from the crashing water falls.

As is often the case, while I’m finishing these last posts, I’m back at home safe and sound and enjoying a bit of cool weather. 🙂  Coming up, my final post of this trip.

No one would ever accuse me of being a scholar of the Saints. 🙂  That said, I feel compelled to write something (of a tribute) about the impact of this remarkable woman.

Helena was the mother of Constantine.  Those who know their Christian history know that Constantine was the first Emperor of Rome to convert to Christianity.  There seemingly is not complete agreement on who influenced who on the way to both becoming Christian.

Because of her position of prominence as mother of the Emperor, Helena was active and influential in the protection of the Holy Land. We know that she visited “The Holy Places” at least once early in the 4th Century.  With influence and money she made sure that the sites the early Christians of the Holy Land were protecting, and thousands had been pilgrimaging to, were vigorously preserved.  Without her forethought and work, some of the accuracy of site locations might not have survived.  Not only Christians, but the world, owes this woman of history deep gratitude.

Looking ahead at our daily itineraries, I knew I wanted to write about these three things at the same time, even though our visits there were not in this order.  So remnants of this post have been sitting off to the side for some days.

The Gospel story of The Visitation has long been one of my favorites. I’ve always thought that the reason it speaks to me lies in the very early memories of my own fatherhood.  I’m talkin’ real early.  The memories of feeling, and even seeing, the movements of my children in their mother’s womb.

This mosaic depicts Mary making her way up to visit Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, when they were both pregnant.  Elizabeth is the tiny figure in the upper right.  Luke in his Gospel tells of the baby leaping in Elizabeth’s womb the moment she heard Mary’s voice.    You can see the mosaic above the entrance to the church that celebrates the story of The Visitation.

Across a courtyard from the church is another wall of many languages.  I know the Bible passages on these plaques as The Canticle to Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist.  It beautifully foreshadows the role of John and the coming of A Savior.  Some know it as the Benedictus.  All can read it in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter One.

The Judean Hills of southern Jerusalem are where the sites of The Visitation and the birthplace of John the Baptist are.  It is also the area that, in the time of Jesus, was the Road to Emmaus.  The story of this road can also be found in the Gospel of Luke, Chapter 24.

When I first went back and looked at this picture I thought, now where is this?  I realized eventually it was the passage leading down to the site of the birthplace of John.  I also realized it was representative of many of the old staircases we made our way down to the holy and historic sites.  They are all well below what is today’s street level.

The cavelike site of the Birthplace of John the Baptist.

These two photos are from the site of the Shepard’s Fields outside Bethlehem. The Angel of the Lord appeared to them, announcing to these lowly men of their day, the birth of A Savior and telling them to “go and see”.

If I remember right, this church is Armenian.  When there is not some service taking place there are often different groups taking turns signing Christmas Carols, which we happily joined in on.

A little taste of what Bethlehem looks like today in the area of The Church of the Nativity.  Below is the entrance to The Church.  Tradition has it the size of this entrance is so all who enter bow before The Lord.  More pragmatic people say it’s small because the original gate was filled in to prevent the irreverent types from riding their horses into church.  I’m a fan of both ideas.

Inside is probably not what one would expect.  Sections of the church and sanctuary are curtained off because excavation of the church site is ongoing.  Very recently some mosaic floors were discovered and the work to uncover them is taking place.  One can only imagine how they might incorporate this discovery into the present day church.  And always, the people, all wanting to visit “the manger scene” of their heads.  Our guides both told us after that this was a fairly calm day at this site.

Jesus was born in a stable where the livestock were kept.  In His time, the stables were the protective caves on the property.  Even today, caves are everywhere in The Holy Land.  The manger was one of the troughs where the feed was put.  The passage stairs down to the birthplace of Jesus are particularly narrow and low.  The reward, ……., well, …….  To write about it is to relive it, which by itself is amazing.

And only feet away, practical thought about the cave makes this the likely spot of the manger that the newborn Jesus was laid in.  I know it’s an easy thing for me to say, but I have to say it anyway; everyone whose a Christian should try to come to The Holy Land.  I could never express adequately how glad I am that I did.  In no small part because of the invitation and urging of some great friends.

I am so doggone well I can’t describe, and hope you all are too.  The Peace fo Christ to you.

At the risk of being overly flip while writing about Mount Tabor,  Jesus, and at three of his Disciples, had one heck of hike to get to the top of this baby.

Mount Tabor is the site of The Transfiguration.  Mathew, Mark, and Luke all wrote an account of it in their Gospels.  Jesus was bathed in light with Moses and Elijah in the presence of Peter, James, and John.

The ruins on Mount Tabor are both Byzantine and Roman, and the church is Crusader.  We were able to have Mass in the church while we were here.  To say that the places where we have been able to celebrate Mass on this trip have been special would be a monumental understatement.

The view from atop Mount Tabor.

This day we were in the Palestinian West Bank and had a fantastic traditional Palestinian lunch in Samaria.  A man was offering camel rides outside the restaurant, however his version of hospitality was not freely given.  🙂

This was another of my catch up posts and I have one more of those to do before writing about our last day.  I am well and hope you all are too.

After a chance to eat and dry out a little, we travelled back for more opportunity to tour and see Old Jerusalem.  Before entering the Lionsgate, we passed the Muslim cemetery that we had seen from across the Kidron Valley while on the Mount of Olives.

Our first stop was St. Anne’s Church.  So there are two traditions, (read that beliefs, or schools of thought), about the actual birthplace of Mary.  One is that she was born in the little area of Sepphoris, which was near Nazareth where she and Joseph made their home.  The other is commemorated at the site of this church.  St. Anne was Mary’s mother.

This little grotto, which as usual is well below the level of the church, features this icon of the birth of Mary, commemorating the spot.

Outside, on the church grounds, are two interesting spots.  One is this little garden which I think is one of the most beautiful little spots I saw in the entire old city.   And the other is this excavation site.

This site features archeological levels from both the Byzantine and Roman eras, and is believed to be near the area of the Pools of Bethesda, which even the pagans believed had healing powers.  The Gospel story of Jesus healing the paralytic took place at these pools.  Jesus met the man as he was trying to crawl his way to the pools.  Back then it was believed that in order to be healed by the pools, you had to be among the first ones to enter on any day.  Having encountered Jesus, he didn’t have to make it into the pools.

Here are just a few street scenes from the Old City.  We had walked this first one hours earlier in the dark and rain.  Then, a couple of different market streets.  I know the first one is in the Muslim Quarter, and I think the other is near the edge of the Jewish Quarter.

The other two quarters are the Christian Quarter and the Armenian Quarter.

The prominent site in the Jewish Quarter is the Western Wall, what used to be called the Wailing Wall.  It’s the Western Wall because it was the western wall of the original Temple Mount, the Holy of Holies, where the Arc of the Covenant was housed.  Because the site of the Temple Mount has been in the hands of the Muslims for many generations, (remember the Dome of the Rock from an earlier post?), the Western Wall is the closest spot to the Holy of Holies, that Jews can come to and pray.  It also famously features many notes stuck in the cracks that are the prayer intentions of countless pilgrims from over the years.  Who knows how many years the oldest note has been there.  It’s one of the things I meditated about while there.  I also left my own prayer intention as well as one requested by some friends.

Across the square from the Western Wall is this soup kitchen sponsored by a family from New York.  I didn’t realize until later that some rebar from a construction site in front of it obliterated the view of the name of the family.

We were “let off the leash” by our tour guide for some free time in the afternoon.  I took off on my own little solo walkabout, to “see stuff” and find some falafel and Arab coffee.  Later, I reunited with some of our group to tour the archeological tunnels under the Western Wall.

These are some of the oldest and largest stones that have been uncovered.  They look “brand new” because they’ve only been exposed for a relatively short period time.  No photo could do justice to how massive these stones are.  It’s amazing to think about them being quarried, shaped, and moved all without the benefit of modern machinery.

Along the way we were at the oldest gate that’s been uncovered from the excavations.  And below, a sign that tells about the gate.  When you look closely, you can see on the left is a section of the arch, and next to that, what centuries of old rubble looks like from the destruction of the Temple Mount.

Here are some notes placed in the wall.  While these tunnels are open only to people taking the tour, Jews are allowed to come down here and pray, and little alcoves have been cut out in the rock for them to do that.

This gives you a little taste of what some of the excavation tunnels look like.  A claustrophobic person would not be happy down here.

Eventually you get to the spot where the lowest courses of the wall meet the incline of the mountain.  When I took these pictures I was standing on the street that ran along the wall of the Temple Mount in the time of Jesus.

And lastly, some beginning quarry work that is more than two thousand years old.  For those of you who have been reading me for awhile, you know this kind of stuff is right in my wheelhouse.  I’m so glad I chose to use some of my free time to go on this tour.

Our blurry eyed little band of pilgrims got up at 4 AM and made its way into the Old City.  It was rainy, and it was cold and windy, but we were ready to do The Stations of the Cross on the walk Jesus had to make to Golgotha to be brutally executed.

As they are prayed today, The Stations of the Cross is a Catholic prayer tradition that goes back over three hundred years.  But the history that brought The Stations to its current form began in the 12th Century after Jerusalem fell to Saladin.  You can Wiki The Stations of the Cross and read the complete history, but the essential point is that the Stations are meant to imitate the walk that  pilgrims from all over the world have been taking on the streets of Jerusalem for centuries.  Of course the streets today are not exactly as they were back in the time of Jesus, but we know the exact spot where Jesus was condemned to death by a reluctant Pilot, and the exact spot where Jesus was crucified, so today’s Via Delorosa evokes all of the emotions one might expect and then some.

Speaking of pilgrims, back to our little soggy group.  The early hour was to allow for doing this walk before the streets of the Old City took on their daily crowded chaos.  Even so, by the time we got to The Church of the Holy Sepulcher, it was both crowded and chaotic.

The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is erected over both the spot where Jesus was crucified and the site of his tomb, which surprisingly, are not that far apart.  Both are now inside The Old City, but back in the time of Jesus they were outside the city walls.

Our group was able to have a private Mass right on Golgotha.  Even with the distractions of chanting going on elsewhere in the church, and people walking around, I will not forget how amazing that felt.

There is an altar that sits over the spot where Jesus was buried.  This Chapel covers the altar.  It’s a lot smaller than it looks in this picture, and it has a door on two opposite sides to accommodate the ever present territorial squabbles of different denominations.  We were not able to go inside.  While we were there, the Franciscans were on one side and the Coptics were on the other, each trying to make the loudest “joyful noise unto the Lord”.  Ironically, with all that going on, there are still “guards” walking around saying, shush, no talking.  Go figure. 🙂

The tomb itself was destroyed by the Romans, but other tombs just like it are right there because it was a cemetery.  Gospel readers will remember that Joseph of Arimathea, a follower of Jesus, had tombs nearby, and gave one to Mary, John, and the others present, so they could bury Jesus.  The last Stations depict Jesus being taken down from The Cross and his body being prepared and placed in The Tomb.  Remembering that these people were all Jews, this all had to be done with some haste, because it was Friday and the start of the Sabbath was fast approaching.

The dark, the cold and rain, the tricky walking on the wet streets, and of course the emotions, all made it seem like we had lived a whole day by the time we made our way back to our hotel to get dry and have breakfast.  And it was barely past eight in the morning.  Later, we would make our way back into the Old City, in the daylight this time.  More on that coming up.

We are nearing the end of our pilgrimage.  In a couple of more days we will be back in the cold and snow.  But until then, I am well and hope you all are too.  The Peace of Christ to you all.