Israel-pt.2

In May of 2023, part of my family and I went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. This post details the second half of our time in Israel. In order to read about the first part of our trip in Israel, in and around the Sea of Galilee, visit this page. To read about out short stay in Jordan, visit this page.

Itinerary

Day 6: Cross border back to Israel, Jericho, Mount of Temptation, Jordan River, Church of St. Lazarus & tomb of St. Lazarus; (night in Jerusalem)

Day 7: Chapel of the Ascension at the Mount of Olives, Church of the Pater Noster, Dominus Flevit, Garden of Gethsemane, Sanctuarum of Gethsemane, Church of the Assumption, Chapel of Shepherd’s Field, gift shop in Bethlehem; (night in Jerusalem)

Day 8: Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, Basilica of the Nativity, Church of Saint John the Baptist, Church of the Visitation; (night in Jerusalem)

Day 9: Dormition Abbey & the Upper Room across from it, Church of St. Peter, St. Anne’s Church, Church of the Flagellation, Via Dolorosa, the western wall, Dead Sea; (partial night in Jerusalem before flying out of Tel Aviv)

To see the full itinerary for our Israel/Jordan pilgrimage, visit p.1 of this series here.

Day 6:

Jerusalem:

While in Jerusalem and the surrounding area, we stayed at ________. This hotel was probably our favorite, food wise at least. They had innumerable options during the breakfast and dinner buffets. My personal favorites were the dates & halva at breakfast and the lamb burgers with hummus & french macaroons at dinner time. This hotel also had a hot tub and swimming pool.

Jericho

While our schedule to did allow for extra time to stop and see the remnants of the wall of Jericho, we were able to see it as we drove by in our bus. This is the same wall that Joshua helped to bring down that once surrounded Jericho, Joshua 6:1-20. The remnants of this wall is something I would definitely like to take more time to see should I ever come back. For our daily mass, we stopped at The Church of the Good Shepherd in Jericho.

We also learned a couple of interesting facts about Jericho from Father Ben. Did you know that Jericho was the city that used to supply incense for the Temple in Jerusalem? Or that Herod at one point had a palace here?

Mount of Temptation

Again, due to our busy schedule and lack of extra time, we were not able to go up the Mount of Temptation, but instead stopped nearby and got out of the bus to take photos from an overlook. This is mountain is thought to be the mountain that the devil took Jesus up to and tempted Him in Matthew 4:1-11. On the mountain, there is a Greek Orthodox monastery that was built in the 1800s. There is also a cable car that goes from the bottom of the mountain up to the monastery; this was donated to the monastery by the U.N.

Jordan River

During our short visit to the Jordan River, Father Ben helped us all to renew our baptismal vows. Even though this is not the exact spot where Jesus was baptized, this was still a neat experience. The spot where John the Baptist baptized Jesus is actually in Jordan, and the place we visited was just built as a commemorative site for this event. The story of Jesus’s baptism is detailed in Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, and Luke 3:21-22. One interesting thing that we learned was that John the Baptist never baptized people in the river itself; he simply stood in the high tide area of the river at high tide. He did this because it would have been too dangerous to go into the river itself.

Church & tomb of St. Lazarus

This church was built near Lazarus’s tomb to commemorate not only when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, but also His other interactions with the family. These stories can be found in the bible in Luke 10:38-42 (Mary & Martha), John 12:1-11 (the anointing in Bethany), & John 11:1-44 (the raising of Lazarus). The inside of the church is decorated with mosaicked versions of Jesus’s interactions with the three siblings.

As you can tell from our itinerary, we visited a lot of churches on this trip and eventually they unfortunately begin to blend together in ones’ mind. One interesting thing that stood out about the Church of St. Lazarus though were that there had once been four different churches built in approximately the same location. The current and 5th church was built in the 1950s. What is neat is that in certain areas of the outside courtyard, you can see pieces of the old mosaicked floors from the two old byzantine churches and parts of the other two churches .

There was also a very cute kitten wandering the premise whilst we were there.

The exact location of Lazarus’s tomb comes not from the bible but from tradition, “first-hand accounts of fourth-century pilgrims”. It may seem a bit strange that the tomb is located in the middle of the town of Bethany, but in fact other tombs have been found nearby, from which we can infer that Lazarus was buried in a cemetery away from the town. The current tomb that stands there dates back to the medieval times. As you descend down the steps to get to the tomb, the room gets smaller and smaller. I would not recommend visiting the tomb of St. Lazarus if you are claustrophobic. To get into the actual tomb area you have to crouch very low and walk a few steps to get into the chamber where the ceiling then opens up again. (This was reminiscent of the inside of one of the pyramids in Egypt)

Day 7:

For day 7, our bus dropped us off at the Chapel of the Ascension on Mount of Olives, then we walked from place to place until we arrived at the Sanctuarum of Gethsemane, where we were then picked up by our bus again.

Chapel of the Ascension on Mount of Olives

This chapel is the place where it is believed that the Ascension took place. The story of Jesus’s ascent to Heaven is detailed in Mark 16:19-20 and Luke 24:50-53. We learned that the hooks on the walls of the outer courtyard are used by the Franciscan monks on the Feast of the Ascension to make tents and thus spend the night at the chapel. Personally, I think it would be really neat to stay here overnight! The chapel itself was originally open-roofed but was changed when the muslims took control of it.

Church of the Pater Noster

This church for the most part is open-air due to the large wall decorations. The walls throughout are decorated with the “Our Father” prayer in multiple languages. We saw the prayer in Spanish, Romanian, Cree, Gaelic, and Brazilian Portuguese, just to name a few. It is believed that this is the site where Jesus taught the Lord’s Prayer, mentioned in Luke 11:1-4. This church is also a part of a nearby Carmelite monastery.

Dominus Flevit

“Dominus Flevit” in Latin or “the Lord wept” in English is believed to be the site where Jesus foresaw the destruction of Jerusalem and the lack of the faith of the Jews. He wept for this reason in Luke 19:41-44. What Jesus foresaw was later realized to be the Jewish revolt in 66 A.D. when the Romans retaliated. The church was built in the 6th century by the Franciscans and is shaped like a teardrop at its corners. In the courtyard of the church there is a wonderful overlook to the Kidron valley and beyond it to the walled City of Jerusalem itself. At a distance from here, you can see St. Stephens Orthodox Church, (it has a red roof). This is where it is believed that St. Stephen was stoned to death in Acts 7:54-60. In addition, you can see the small gold domes of the Russian Orthodox church of Mary Magdalene (reportedly not named after the saint however). Across the Kidron Valley, one is also able to see the Temple Mount. This is where the first temple of Solomon once stood, which was later destroyed by Nebuchadrezzar of the Babylonians (2 Kings 25:1-10)

Garden of Gethsemane & Sanctuarum of Gethsemane

The Garden of Gethsemane is surrounded by a wrought iron fence with a beautiful garden within. This is the place where the other eight Apostles remained when Jesus took three of the others to pray with him (Mark 14:32-33). The Sanctuarum of Gethsemane was built around the rock that is believed to be the place where Jesus threw himself down upon a stone and wept in Mark 14:35-36. We were able to celebrate Mass here and kneel and touch the stone after receiving Communion.

Church of the Assumption

The Church of the Assumption is an Orthodox church near Gethsemane, where Mary (the mother of Jesus) fell into an eternal sleep on Mount Zion and was assumed into heaven. I really enjoyed visiting this church as it was very different than what I am used to. The dark grey stone interior was not painted and it was quite dim inside. Furthermore, there were a plethora of metal chandeliers and candles hanging from the ceiling and as it is an Orthodox church, there are no statues but instead beautifully painted icons.

The Grotto of Gethsemane is a natural grotto located adjacent to the Church of the Assumption. It is believed that this grotto is the site where Jesus was betrayed by Judas and then arrested in Matthew 26:47-56.

Even though Israel is not a muslim country, the people are still quite conservative, especially in churches. When we went into this church, my dad, of all people got dress coded because his shorts came above his knees. They had to give him a shawl to tie around his waist in order to cover his knees upon entering. I would recommend to future visitors of the Holy Land that you only wear clothing that covers both your shoulders and your knees, lest you be barred from entering a church or religious site and miss out; (this goes for men and women alike).

Christmas Hotel: lunch & dinner

We stopped at the Christmas Hotel for lunch on day 7 and then had our farewell dinner here as well on day 8. The food here was only okay and their buffet had many less options than other buffets we had taken part of previously on this pilgrimage; however, it was nice to sit in an air-conditioned dining room as opposed to the outside, in the sun, lunches we had frequently had on this trip.

Chapel of Shepherd’s Field

The Chapel of the Shepherd’s Field is where it is believed that the angels appeared to the shepherds to announce the birth of Jesus, (Luke 2:8-15). The interior of the chapel is decorated with three biblical scenes that revolve around the angels; when the angels appeared to the shepherds, when Jesus was born, and the star guiding the shepherds to where Jesus was born. The chapel was designed by the same man, Antonio Barluzzi, who also designed the Church of St. Lazarus. As you can see in the photo below, he designed it with holes in the ceiling so that it would be reminiscent of shepherds looking to the stars at night. Nearby there is a cave where the shepherds during Jesus’s time would have taken refuge in. This particular grotto has been adapted a bit so that Mass can be said within its walls. These shepherd’s fields are also said to be the same fields as Boaz’s fields in Ruth 2:2-23.

Gift shop in Bethlehem

Our group was taken to a souvenir store that had olive wood carvings, jewelry, keychains, t-shirts, etc. While it was neat to see some of the items they had to sell, most of the items were way over priced and were quite expensive. I would highly recommend that you either keep an eye out as you visit places for items you may want to purchase or specifically go to a local market to find items to purchase. One area I enjoyed was the market area of Old Jerusalem, where tourists can find plenty of things to take home.

Day 8:

Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre

Out of all the places we visited on this pilgrimage, this was probably my favorite. The Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre is shared in custody by the Roman Catholic Church, Greek Orthodox Church, and the Armenian Apostolic Church. There are so many beautiful and neat things to see. At one of the entrances, you can see and touch the stone upon which Jesus was laid to prepare him for burial. Then upstairs, you have the opportunity to touch the hole/rock in which the cross that Jesus was hung upon, was erected (rock of Golgotha). Aside from the alter over this particular spot, there is an alter adjacent to this, and this is where we celebrated Mass for the day.

St. Helen, (the mother of Constantine, who legalized Christianity around 312 A.D.), was the one to find the remnents of the crucifix. In 135 A.D. Emperor Hadrian buried the three crosses from Golgotha under a statue of Jupiter (Roman form of the Greek god Zeus). When St. Helen came to visit, she found the crosses, but was at a loss for the knowledge as to which cross was which. A sick woman was exposed to the first two crosses with no change, but upon contact with the third she was healed. This is the cross that is taken to be the crucifix upon which Jesus was hung. St. Helen built three churches in the Holy Land, the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, the Church of the Nativity, and the Church of the Pater Noster (which I mentioned earlier). She built the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre in the 4th century, but in the 600s it was destroyed by the Persians, and was later rebuilt by the Crusaders.

Next we stood in line for under an hour to wait our turn to go into the tomb of Jesus. There are two chambers and the second one contains the stone slab upon which Jesus’s body was lain. We went in in groups of four and had about a total of 20 seconds to kneel before the stone before we were ushered out for the next group to come in. The original tomb of Jesus was burned and then buried by the Romans. St. Helen rebuilt the tomb, which stands isolated in the middle of the basilica, using the the original stone. (The references to Jesus being laid in the tomb come from Matthew 27:59-60, Mark 15:46, and Luke 23:53.)

In addition to all this fascinating information, we also learned that every night they allow 15 Roman Catholics to stay in the Holy Sepulchre overnight!!! If I ever come back to Israel, I think this would be at the top of my list.

Basilica of the Nativity

Underneath the Basilica of the Nativity is where the “Grotto of the Nativity” is located. This is the place where Mary gave birth to Jesus. We waited in line for over two hours to be able to see and briefly touch the spot where Jesus was born. This in part took so long due to the allowance of letting select groups cut to the front of the line. Because everyone had been waiting for so long some of the groups definitely got a bit antsy, so much so that I was pushed down a few steps by a group of Italians who were not eager to wait their turn.

Just like the last basilica, this one too is shared in the same three ways of ownership; however this one is located in Palestine. The country of Israel does not advise visiting this part of the country as there is still a heated debate between those who believe they have ownership of the land. There are walls and checkpoints with armed soldiers that you have to cross in order to enter or leave region of Palestine. Even inside the Basilica of the Nativity, there were armed Palestinian soldiers.

Casa Nova: Franciscan Hall Restaurant

The “Hall Restaurant” is located near the Basilica of the Nativity and is run by the Franciscans. This was the first restaurant we went to that has actual gluten-free food. My father and I were served gluten-free spaghetti and it was actually pretty good. Instead of the buffet style that we had grown accustomed to, we were individually served the several courses of this meal.

Church of St. John the Baptist in Ain Karem

While this church was under quite a bit of construction, we were able to visit and see the inside of this beautiful church. The inside of the church is decorated with blue and white tiling while the outside courtyard has the Canticle of Zachariah (Luke 1:68-79) written upon the walls in many languages. The church is built around a grotto that encompasses the spot where it is believed that Saint John the Baptist was born (Luke 1:57).

Church of the Visitation in Ain Karem

This church was built where is is believed that Elizabeth came out to greet Mary upon her arrival with words akin to “who am I that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Luke 1:43) and in turn Mary’s response with the Magnificat “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord…” (Luke 1:46-55). Within the outer courtyard, like the churches of The Our Father and St. John the Baptist, there are many tiled inscriptions in different languages, here though it was the Magnificat. While it is a bit of a walk up the hill to visit this church, it is definitely worth seeing, especially the beautiful large paintings upstairs.

Day 9

The upper room on Mount Zion

The “upper room” dates back to the 13th c. where 14 Franciscan friars were killed when the muslims evicted the Franciscans. The “upper room” is a place that Franciscans were martyred and expelled by the muslims. Christians are still allowed in the upper room, but the lower part is very restricted. Only the Masses for Pentecost and the Feast of the Eucharist are allowed to be held here and those participating on these select days need a police escort. (It was too crowded to get a good photo)

Church of St. Peter (in Gallicantu on Mount Zion)

This church was built in “Gallicantu” (which means “cock’s crow” in Latin), on the area were it is believed that Peter denied Jesus three times after Jesus was arrested; it also happens to be the place of the house of Caiaphas. The story of Peter’s denial can be found in all four gospels, Luke 22:54-65, Matthew 26:69-75, John 18:16-18 & 25-27, and Mark 14:66-72. Moreover, this is also the location of the dirt path that Jesus walked along while carrying the cross.

St. Anne’s Church

St. Anne’s Church is located in Bethesda. When the Crusaders came to this region in the 12th century, they found the ruins of a byzantine church named St. Mary’s. They then preceded to build their own church adjacent to the ruins and to name it St. Anne’s after Mary’s mother. It is believed that this might be the location where the angel Gabriel appeared to the childless couple Anne and Joachim to tell them that they would have a child. The church is currently owned and run by the French government.

Church of the Flagellation & Via Dolorosa

This church is built over where Jesus was whipped and held in prison overnight after his arrest, John 19:1. Via Dolorosa, or “sorrowful way”, represents the path through the Old City of Jerusalem that Jesus would have taken whilst carrying His cross. It starts from this church and winds through Jerusalem ending at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The route of the walk goes through normal streets and for each Station of the Cross you will be able to find a large dinner plate sized marker on a nearby wall. Along the way there are also a few chapels dedicated to certain Stations of the Cross. This is a very popular part of most pilgrimages to Jerusalem so it is usually very packed in those narrow streets.

The Western Wall

The Western Wall, also known as “the wailing wall”, is the only remaining structure from the Jewish temple that stood during Jesus’s time. The tradition is to write your prayer requests on the tiniest scrap of paper and then roll or fold them up really small and tuck them into a crevice of the wall. You them say a prayer touching the wall and then back away from it without turning around.

Side note: Upon our return flight, as I was watching movies on the plane, I realized that this wall is featured in part of the opening scene of the 2017 “Murder on the Orient Express” movie.

Dead Sea

The dead sea is the lowest point on earth at 1,412 ft (430 meters) below sea level. We were originally supposed to take our trip to the dead sea two days previously; however, due to the amount of traffic, the trip was postponed. We later found our that the reason for the standstill on the highway was because of a forest fire with suspected arson.

We only had about an hour from the time we got off the bus to the time we had to be back on the bus, and this was not enough time in my opinion. First we had to find a spot in the overly crowded changing rooms to change, then we had to do some fast walking to actually get down to the dead sea, we had our time in the dead sea, then had to speed walk back up the hill, wait in line for a shower, change, and get back on the bus.

The place that we went to was overly crowded and they had a very small area of the dead sea roped off that you weren’t allowed to go beyond. It was also very shallow, when standing it came just above my knees. Even though the water wasn’t deep, it was a lot of fun to float on my back without having to tread water. There is no sandy beach, just mud and salt. Even though it is a bit painful to walk on the salt as it’s a bunch of large salt rocks, I would not recommend wearing shoes in the water as you might lose them to the mud.

What I found most interesting is that you are not allowed to actually swim in the dead sea. There are actual sign and lifeguards keeping watch over people to make sure no one goes onto their stomachs in the water. Another thing is that if you accidentally take a gulp of the water, you need to seek out medical care immediately because the water can cause your throat to swell and then you to suffocate. It is also possible to blind yourself by getting the water in your eyes. I would advise researching to find a different less crowded and muddy area if you plan to visit the dead sea.

All in all, I really enjoyed this opportunity to go with part of my family to go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land! This is not a place that I will just be crossing off my bucket list, but one that I would like to come back to as there are so many things we did not get a chance to see. Also, a special thank you to my father, to whom most of these photos belong to.