Homeward Bound

We hope you have enjoyed being on pilgrimage with us!

With a 7 am flight from Tel Aviv its an early wake up call  (2 am) so we can get to Tel Aviv.  We're eating breakfast on the bus even.

We have a long layover (6 hours) this time in London.  I am temped to visit my friend, the Queen, but we'll probably wander the terminal instead.

We had a wonderful evening together as a group for the last time.  At the beginning of the trip, we each received a Christ friend to pray for and we had to reveal them and say what we learned about them during the trip.

We received certificates from the Cusodia Terra Sancta so we're offically graduates of this pilgrimage.

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Walking with Jesus

Our first stop was in Abu Ghosh to see the Benedictine Monastery.  Abu Ghosh is one of at least three places which claim to be the biblical Emmaus.  It doesn't really matter if its the right one or not because the resurrected Jesus is everywhere.

It's a wonderful biblical story and an appropriate one for this pilgrimage.  The grounds at the monastery were very lush.

A large fig tree

The town was formed around a spring which can still be found n the crypt of the church.  The Ark of the Covenant was here in the time of King David.  During the Byzantine era they built cisterns to hold the water from the spring and the town flourished.   The church was constructed during the crusades when they wanted to have a place dedicated to the Emmaus story.  The church architecture and frescoes are a combination of Eastern rite and Western rite making it unique.

The church is known as St. Mary of the Resurrection.  It has wonderful frescoes but you will notice that some of them have been damaged and most of the faces have been removed.  This occurred when the Muslims took over the area.  Instead of destroying the church, the just removed the images.

The Crucifixion.  The cross with Jesus in the center was removed.

The Dormition of Mary

The Spring

Crypt Alter

 We then traveled to Ein Karem the home of John the Baptist.

Grapes

Canticle of Zechariah

Our first stop was the Church of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist which has the Canticle of Zechariah in different languages in the courtyards.  We have recited this many times during our pilgrimage.

The church itself is undergoing renovation

This is the crypt where John the Baptist was born.

Ida

Mary's spring

Chapel

Our final stop was at the Church of the Visitation set on the side of a large hill which was the vineyard of Elizabeth and Zechariah.

Berry Tree

Stairs

Stairs

And more stairs

Church of the Visitation

Rosary

The Magnificat in many languages

Mural shows Mary's journey from Nazareth

We prayed the Magnificat on the site it was first said.

Visiting this church completes our tour of Antonio Barluzzi churches.   Inside the church its richly decorated in mural

The Visitation

Zechariah giving thanks

The rock

To the right is the rock where Elizabeth hid John the Baptist during the time when Herod ordered babies to be killed just after Jesus birth.

The Spring where the Visitation
occurred

Mosaic floor

Before leaving on the trip I asked my good friend, Sister Esther Marie Hart, IHM to pray for us on this pilgrimage.   The artwork features many people in the bible, but for some reason the image to the left caught my eye.

It was no coincidence that I should see this at the last place we would be visiting on this pilgrimage.











We had Mass outdoors at a small altar next to the church

Zechariah

Mary and Elizabeth

We had lunch with Lois and Kevin at the Allegro Bistro in the hotel

A gigantic burger

Tonight we have a farewell dinner in Bethlehem.  As pilgrims we have bonded together as a group in the last 10 days so I am going to miss them but as I said at the outset, we both feel very blessed to have been able to make this incredible journey walking in the footsteps of Jesus.