Day 3 -Capernaum, Tabgha, Tabor and Cana

Day 3.

Today , no checking out from the hotel ( King Solomon Hotel ) 'coz we are staying tonight too in the same hotel. Relief....!

So after breakfast, got into the bus, headed towards the Mount of Beatitudes.It is here that Jesus gave His Sermon on the Mount.(Matthew 5 - 7 & Luke 6) There were many pilgrims including some Orthodox priests, praying and meditating, both inside the church as well as outside.

The building which was constructed by the noted Italian architect Antonio Barluzzi ( in 1937) is full of numerical symbolism - "the church's octagonal shape depicts the eight beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-10). The seven virtues (justice, charity, prudence, faith, fortitude, hope and temperance) are also depicted by symbols in the pavement around the altar.. Inside the church hangs the cloak from Pope John Paul II's visit in 2000. The Mt. of the Beatitudes is also revered as where Jesus chose 12 of his disciples as apostles (Luke 6:12). The church, with its well groomed gardens are maintained today by Franciscan nuns.

An intriguing fact : the building was commissioned by Benito Mussolini!

The Beatitudes are inscribed on white stones outside in the beautiful garden.We could pray for some time inside the church. A perfect space for prayer and meditation!  

We could also take a stroll around the well- planned garden and could get a good view of the beautiful landscape. No wonder Jesus used to frequent this place in solitude to commune with His Father in heaven, who created the seven seas, and especially “Kinneret, His pride and joy”, ( The word Kinneret in Hebrew is the name for Lake Galilee. It has the meaning “harp”, because of the resemblance of the shape of Lake of Galilee to a harp. Think of the Malayalam  word “ kinnaram”)

Once in the garden Fr. Anub , who was leading our pilgrim group led us to a beautiful prayer session on the steps in the garden.

From there to Capernaum, to see the remains of the first century village of Capernaum,on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinnereth). Among the ruins, we saw Peter’s house, the house in which Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law,and a synagogue in which he taught on the Sabbath. There is a tradition which says that Jesus lived in this house of Peter and Andrew during his ministry at Galilee!It might be the house into which a crippled man was brought down from the roof for Jesus to heal.( (Mark 2:1-12 ) There is an old olive mill and press in this area.

 From there we went to the church of multiplication of loaves in Tabgha,( In ancient times, Tabgha was known as Heptapegon - "Place of the Seven Springs." )  It is here that we saw the  4th century Byzantine mosaic depicting the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish where Jesus fed the five thousand who gathered to hear him preach. In the basket in the mosaic, we can find only four loaves, because the artist wanted us to see the fifth loaf in the Holy Host on the altar.

Next, to the Church of primacy of St. Peter.on the shore of Galilee.

We were blessed to participate in the Holy Mass with a group of Catholic pilgrims from Mumbai at the outdoor chapel, with a mosaic of Pope John Paul II.

 After the Mass we saw the Mensa Christie in the modern chapel, which incorporates a large portion of the stone "table of Christ" (Latin: Mensa Christi) at the altar. This is where Jesus is believed to have served his disciples an early breakfast of fish (grilled  on a fire of coals) when they landed on shore dragging their net full of fish (John 21:9).  In the hollows of the rock we could see some written requests.
There are two statues of Peter here. I was fascinated by the statue of our St. Peter with Jesus. May be Jesus was asking him, "Peter do you love me?" And the miserable gesture of Peter is so well portrayed in that statue!!!

Didn’t I too hear my Lord asking me ,“ Do You Love me????”

Next, march towards the the Lake of Galilee, to touch the sacred waters and to get some pebbles, if possible some shells from the lake.

Then to make a memorable voyage in the sea of Galilee, where our Lord calmed the winds, and on the waves of which He walked. Oh, that was an experience and a half! We sang, we prayed, we even became patriotic of our country by singing the National anthem , as the tricolor went up the pole.

 On deboarding the boat we went to a cozy restaurant to have our lunch with the special grilled “St. Peter Fish”.Yummy….

No, it is not yet time to rest. We are to move upwards to Mount Tabor, the site of Transfiguration. Oh, I'm now very sure that Jesus and His disciples were strong sportsmen...., otherwise how could they  climb  up that mount !Anyway,we hired cabs to go up. And the feel inside the church there and the wait outside were simply overwhelming. I’m sure there really took place some transfiguration within our hearts. Jesus, thank you for Your Presence which I experienced there. Here is where Moses and Elijah came from Abraham’s lap, to visit our Lord. And here is where our Heavenly Father’s voice resounded for His Beloved Son in Whom he was well pleased.

Lord have mercy on me, a sinner.

It was not yet too late. We had time enough to visit the Church at Cana. The Stone vessels, the first miracle of Jesus, the power of Mary’s intercession….., everything could be seen and felt. We renewed our Marriage vows, and got special blessings.

Then of course was the souvenir shop, from where I got the Holy Family plaque in olive wood, and the rosaries.

Thanks Jesus, thank you Mother…

Back to King Solomon’s hotel.

Crossing Sheik Hussain Bridge to Nazareth, Day 2

Day 2 We checked out from the hotel , after breakfast. Then proceeded straight to Sheik Hussain Bridge to cross the border. After completing customs & emigration formalities ( it took some time ) we entered Israel. Our guide Hakeem was waiting for us , we boarded the bus, went straight to the restaurant for a much needed lunch. Then straight away to Nazareth, the boyhood town of Jesus. First towards   St.Gabriel's Church The Church of St. Gabriel is the Orthodox counterpart to the Catholic Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth. According to Orthodox tradition, the Virgin Mary first received the news from Gabriel that she would bear the Savior while she was out fetching water. The Orthodox Church of St. Gabriel is therefore located over the spring that fed Mary's Well, is the traditional place where Mary fetched water for her household. We could pray at the well, light candles, and of course drank a cup of water from the spring. If you need , you can also collect water in a bottle. Only thing, remember to carry a small bottle with you. Okay, next we we went to the Catholic Basilica of Annunciation .The Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth is a modern Catholic church built over the remains of Byzantine and Crusader churches. It incorporates the cave in which the Virgin Mary received the news from Gabriel that she would give birth to Jesus. The site has been a pilgrimage destination since earliest times and remains an important stop for Holy Land pilgrims today.Since we were already late to reach, we could not enter St. Joseph's workshop. But still, I managed to touch the door and prayed to St. Joseph. The sun was already setting, the doors of the church closing, and our guide Hakeem explained to us the the meaning of the Jerusalem Cross on the front door. The five  (four small crosses around a big cross) crosses in the Jerusalem Cross stands for the five wounds of Jesus. As we were listening to that, suddenly the church bells began to ring in three groups of three chimes with a pause in between each group, followed by 9 consecutive strokes ...., yes the "Angelus Domini", (shortened as " Angelus"). That was a moment of mystery for me. Just imagine  the grace I received, to be able to pray the Angelus at that moment, standing at the gate of the Basilica of the Annunciation! I remembered the painting "The Angelus" by Millet at that moment. A rare moment indeed, it was for me,and it will remain with me,  much more vividly than a photograph! Then, after the counting of heads by our tour leaders we proceeded to Cana , to buy wine from the wine shop.Instead of wine, I bought a few souvenirs, especially the only one  "comfort-holding Cross" I could purchase in spite of my search for it in all of Israel. Day 2 is over.

Day 1 Madaba and Mount Nebo

Day1

We boarded the Kuwait Airways flight from Cochin airport,and  from Kuwait we flew to Amman. After the formalities, which took quite some time, we boarded the bus waiting for us , went straight to the restaurant to have a sumptuous meal, after which we started our real pilgrimage. 

(At the Restaurant..., water is expensive, $1 for a bottle of water. But Sprite or coke is free. Strange!!) 

Straight to Madaba.

 We visited Madaba, in Jordan, known as the city of Mosaics, because of its  superb, historically significant Byzantine era mosaics.There, we first visited the Greek Orthodox St.George's Church,famous for the mosaic map on its floor.Unearthed in 1864, the mosaic was once a clear map with 157 captions (in Greek) of all major Biblical sites from Lebanon to Egypt. The mosaic was constructed AD 560 & once contained more than 2 million pieces, only 1/3 of the whole now survives.

  After that we went to Mount Nebo, the place from where God showed Moses the Promised Land, Cana, the land of milk and honey. We really could get a panoramic view of Cana from atop the Mount Nebo.As you know, Moses was punished by God for his little moment of pride, so he could not enter the Promised Land. It was Joshua who finally took the Israelites to Cana.The Bible says that Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land, but could only glimpse it from Mount Nebo, because he struck the rock with his rod instead of speaking to the rock to bring forth water, as God had commanded (Numbers 20:12-24). .It is believed that Moses was buried somewhere near Mount Nebo, or was taken up to Heaven from there.......???No one till date knows of the real site where he was buried.

Another interesting sight there is the serpentine cross sculpture, symbolic of the bronze serpent created by Moses in the wilderness ( Numbers 21 :4 - 9 ) and the cross upon which Jesus was crucified (John 3:14). ) . And this symbolic bronze serpent on the pole also resembles the medical  symbol - the rod of Aesculapius, the ancient mythical god of medicine.The serpentine cross sculpture (the Brazen Serpent Monument) atop Mount Nebo was created by Italian artist  Giovanni Fantoni         
In fact I was so relieved to see the resemblance. Now we can think of Christ on the Cross when we see the medical symbol!!Those who look on Him on the Cross will be healed.

We also visited a sort of Mosaic factory, where men and women sat at tables making mosaics with their hands.( How can it be called a "factory", I wonder!) It takes about three to four months to complete a a small piece of mosaic, they told us. Some of the women were even handicapped. I admire their patience!

I managed to pick up a few tiny stones ( both dark gray and white) from that Holy Ground. 

After the mind boggling visual feast, our bus took us to the hotel for the overnight stay. 

There was a Jordanian shop at the lobby of the hotel. The friendly Muslim shop keeper made us buy a few souvenirs.

Itinerarium Ella...

Egeria or Aetheria (often called Sylvia) was a Gallaeci or Gallic woman who made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land about 381–384 A.D. She wrote an account of her journey in a long letter to a circle of women at home which survives in fragmentary form in a later copy. This may have been the first formal writing by a woman. Possibly a member of a religious order, Egeria made a leisurely pilgrimage to the Holy Land and wrote down her observations in a book called Itinerarium Egeriae, Peregrinatio Aetheriae, or the Travels, somewhere between the fourth and seventh centuries.
(Courtesy ;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egeria_%28pilgrim%2)

Later in 14th century,Geoffrey Chaucer wrote in Caterbury Tales:

For in their hearts doth Nature stir them so
Then people long on pilgrimage to go
And palmers to be seeking foreign strands
To distant shrines renowned in sundry lands. 

So here I am, in 21st century trying to jot down my teeny weeny experiences of my ten day pilgrimage to the Holy Land.While Egeria walked miles on her journey , eating only to maintain her strength and endurance, and trying to keep her blisters from festering, I went on my dream journey, eating as much as my appetite could afford, walking just a few miles, that too with my feet safe within walking shoes. Still, it was a pilgrimage for an ordinary person like me. I would like to write about it here,