Ein Karim and Emmaus

After breakfast this morning, we head to Ein Karem, an old village that was once outside of Jerusalem, but now is incorporated into the city.  Ein Karem is the home of John the Baptist.

On the way to Ein Karem is Mary's Spring, the location of a well where Mary stopped to drink on her way to visit her cousin Elizabeth.  Today, the water is not potable.  They are looking to redevelop it, but its not been done yet.


Luke tells the story of the birth of John the Baptist starting with the appearance of the angel Gabriel to John's father, Zechariah.  The angel told him:

"Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John.  And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of [the] Lord. He will drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.17He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers toward children and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord.”

Church of the Nativity of St. John

Six months after greeting Zechariah, the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary in the Annunciation and she learned that her cousin was expecting.   Zechariah's wife, Elizabeth, was an older cousin of Mary, the mother of Jesus.  When Mary heard that Elizabeth was expecting, she went to visit her and upon hearing Mary's voice, Luke tells us that the infant, John, in Elizabeth's womb lept for joy.  Elizabeth said to Mary, "Most blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb."

In Ein Karem, Zechariah and Elizabeth had two houses, their usual residence in the valley and a summer home high on the mountain where it was cooler.   The Catholic church in town, is known as the Church of the Nativity of St. John.  Most of the present church was built around the 11th century with parts of it dating to an earlier period.   The Church was renovated after a long period of dormancy in 1920 with the help of the Spanish royalty.  There is a cave underneath it which dates to the period around when John would have lived.  Around the exterior of the church in 24 different languages is the Canticle of Zekariah or Benedictus from Luke's gospel.

• 1 (brown): Cave of John the Baptist's birth^[
• 2 (yellow): Crusader church (11th-12th century), representing the base of the current church
• 3 (red): Byzantine-period chapel with tombs and mosaic inscription metioning martyrs (5th century)
• 4 (red): Byzantine-period chapel (7th century)
• 5 (brown): Jewish ritual bath or mikveh (1st century)
• 6 & 7 (green): Crusader halls (12th century)

Altar

Canticle of Zechariah

Location of John's Birth

Entrance to the Cave

Church of the Visitation

Mary's visit to Elizabeth - The Visitation - is commemorated in the Church of the Visitation built on a hillside where their summer home was located.  The current church designed by our friend, Antonio Barluzzi was built beginning in 1938 and completed in 1955.  It preserves the remains of earlier Byzantine and Crusader churches built on the site.  The Franciscans were able to purchase the property back in 1679, but it took more than 200 years before they could start any reconstruction and that began with the lower church.

There is a mosaic of the Visitation on the exterior and on the wall adjacent to the wall are ceramic tablets with the Canticle of Mary or Magnificat in 42 languages.    Just inside the lower church is a rock behind which Elizabeth is said to have hidden John when Herod was killing young children so hoping that one of them was the Messiah that the Maji told him about.   The lower church preserves mosaics fro earlier churches and has a barrel roof.  The interior is decorated with frescos about John the Baptist.  There is a well here which is where the Visitation took place.

Altar

Well in the Lower Church

The upper church is dedicated to Mary and features depictions of titles given to Mary.   One depiction is of the Battle of Lepano in 1571 where a Christian fleet defeated the Ottoman fleet with the help of Mary according to those in the battle.  This victory is commemorated today with the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. If the area was still under Ottoman rule that would have never been depicted.

Rock to hide the baby

Frescos

We will also visit Emmaus. The Emmaus story comes from Luke 24 in which he describes a post resurrection of Jesus to two disciples. The two disciples were sad about the death of Jesus, and confused by reports that his body is missing. They were walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus. They encounter a stranger who listens to their concerns, then gives them a lesson that makes their “hearts burn within them”.

Finally, as they share the evening meal, he breaks bread and they recognize him. By then the risen Christ has disappeared from their sight, and they immediately hurry back to Jerusalem.

The actual location of Emmaus has been lost over the years and there are several towns which make the claim, so I am not sure which one we are going to.

Our group has a farewell dinner tonight at Cheers (the less famous one in Bethlehem).   We then crash so we are ready for a long day tomorrow traveling home.