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.

The Passion of Christ

We got up at 4 today so that we could do the Via Dolorosa before Mass at 7:30.  If you saw the pictures of the shops, the Via Dolorosa is on those same streets so it was more meaningful doing it before the stores opened.

Entering through the
Lion's Gate\

Garden

Chapel of the Flagelation

Ecce Homo arch

Ist Station

2nd Station

Walking

III Station

IV Station

V Station

Where Jesus touched the wall

VI Station

VII Station

Holy Sepulchre

VIII Station

IX Station

 The remaining stations are in the church, but we did them outside.

XI Station Jesus is  nailed to the cross

XII Station  Jesus is Crucified

Stone of Calvary

Underneath the altar you are able to reach down and touch the stone where the cross stood.

The Stone of Annointing has an aromatic smell since annointing oil is poured on it each day.  Pilgrims not only touch it but place objects on it to be blessed.  Anything we are bringing back for people has been placed on this stone as well as the tomb.

Stone of Annointing

Stone of Annointing

This photo is of the Chapel of Adam.  Its directly below the site of the Crucifixion on Calvary.. The stone is cracked from the earthquake which happened on Good Friday and blood poured down the crack to Adam's tomb.














These crosses were carved into the walls by
 pilgrims years ago.  Some of these markings helped St. Helena locate the cross.

St. Helena Chapel

A piece of the pillar where Jesus
was scoured

The Edicule which holds the tomb

They set up for Mass in front of the Edicule and Father King was the celebrant.  Mass was in English and Latin.  The Franciscans provided the music

Tombs of Joseph of Aramathia and Nicodemus

Ancient Altar

We then headed back to the hotel for breakfast.  Omlettes today.


Back on the road, we went to St. Ann's church, the birthplace of the Blessed Mother.

Zion Gate

St. Ann's Church

Mother and Child

The church has wonderful acoustics, so we put them to the test.

Mural in lower level

Birth place

Crown

 The next series of pictures are the ruins of Bethesda pools and the Crusader era church built over them.

We went back along the Via Dolorosa through the Muslim Quarter headed toward the Western Wall.  We stopped back at Ecce Homo to see the archeological find underneath the streets of modern day Jerusalem.

Roman soldiers carved games into the stone

The street is more than 2,000 years old

We enjoyed our experience at the Western wall and we are so grateful that the Jewish people allowed us to visit their holiest of sites.  It was both prayerful and festive with many Bar Mitzvah celebrations.  I was happy for the young men and their families.

My prayers

Holy cards for my parents

I placed this note and the holy cards for my parents into the wall.





Ida was in the women's section
















She placed a prayer from her friend Barbara and a holy card for Sister Kathleen who is following the blog in heaven.  On the front her petition was for the Sisters of Mercy community and on the back was our family members.
'

Dear Sister Fatima, Sister Marianne and the other sisters of Mercy, we're praying for you.  We're also praying for my friends who are Sisters of Mercy, especially Sister Esther and Sister Maureen.

The video below was a celebration we were able to watch outside of the Western Wall area.  This should give you an idea of what the atmosphere was like.

We had lunch at the Wine & Cheese restaurant on the roof of the hotel. Great views.

What do you think of my kippah!









Tonight we traveled back to the Church of All Nations and the Garden of Gathsemane for a Holy Hour.  We were there with two other groups and it was a special grace to return.  The evening ended with a Eucharistic procession around the garden.

Our hotel

Tomorrow is our last day here because we will be leaving very early on Saturday.  If you've read this blog, thanks for being part of our pilgrimage.  Will you please say a prayer for our safe return home.