The End of the Pilgrimage

Before leaving Tiberias, I had to take a photo of this sign outside one of the hotels.



Our main worry over the last week was when or how we would get home.  By Thursday morning, we had been told that our plane in the afternoon should be flying, so we tried to forget about it.  We knew our last day involved quite a lot of travelling.



We had our final Pilgrimage Mass in Capharnum which was further round the Lake of Galilee.  (I have never come across a place that has so many spellings of its name.  It comes from the Greek, Kfer Nahum, meaning Village of Nahum, but no-one seems to know who Nahum was.)

The church is in the shape of a boat and is over the ruins of St Peter's house.  It was explained to us that Peter was a boat-owner rather than working on a fishing boat, so was reasonably wealthy.

This became apparent when we saw the ruins under the floor of the church which show the house to have been built in a circle, with rooms around a central court-yard.

Only yards away is the place of the synagogue where Jesus preached.











The lower white stones which come from the surrounding region are from the 4th century, whereas the black stones are imported and show the synagogue of a later date.

Jesus stayed here with Peter and started His ministry here.  He is said to have put a curse on a number of places and Capharnum was one of them.  The Arabs destroyed the village in about 700AD and it has never been inhabited since then.

We then left Galilee and drove to Haifa where we had our first sighting of the Mediterranean.  What a view!

The Stella Maris Carmelite Monastery in Haifa is a 19th-century monastery located on the slopes of Mount Carmel.  This is a large statue of Stella Maris (Our Lady, Star of the Sea)  looking out over the Mediterranean 

Haifa is the international headquarters for the Baha'i Faith, which began amidst persecution in Persia in the mid-19th century. Baha'is believe in the unity of all religions and believe that messengers of God like Moses, Jesus and Muhammad have been sent at different times in history with doctrines varying to fit changing social needs, but bringing substantially the same message.  They have developed these beautiful gardens here in memory of their founder




Then we are in coaches, making our way to Tel Aviv airport.  As we travel along the new dual carriageway, there were strikingly colourful flowers on a high bank of earth all along one side,  with what looks like a picket fence of about a metre high on the top.  We were told that the fence is metal  and is about 10m high on the other side as this is part of the wall.  We see a village close to where the bank turns away from us.  This is really half a village, the other half is the other side of the wall.  There is no way the Palestinians who live there  can pass from one side to the other without getting special permission

Our farewells to other pilgrims, most of whom come from all over Britain, but others who came from Ireland, Guernsey, Malta and even Australia, takes place at the airport as we are booked on 3 different flights.  Our worries now were whether we would get through the many checks and silly questions on time to board the plane.  In the end, we made it.

There are so many people to thank for such a wonderful experience; the Catenians together with the Deacon, Priests and Bishop, who organised and practised its spirituality, Tangney Tours and Laila Tours who organised the day-to-day practicalities and, especially, our guide who was so knowledgeable about the Bible and the Holy Land, so interesting in the way he outlined the plight of Christians in Palestine and whose friendship will remain with us.

For 10 days, 200 people have lived, prayed and travelled together.  We came to support, bear witness to and pray for the Christians of Palestine.  Our knowledge of their plight has been increased, sometimes with emotional feelings and we all go home with many memories.

What can we do to continue our support now we are home?  A new charity in England & Wales has just been created called "Friends of The Holy Land".  It is based on Parish groups of Friends working together to support the Christian Community in The Holy Land.  To find out more about it, visit their website at www.friendsoftheholyland.org.uk .

I hope you have enjoyed my blog and that it has enlightened you to the situation which prevails for Christians in Palestine.  To finish, I quote part of the prayer we said at the end of the pilgrimage:


We have had the wonderful privilege of walking in the land where Jesus walked and of sharing in the lives of those who live by the Gospel in the Holy Land - "Living Stones".  They are our brothers and sisters in the Community of the Church.  They have shared so much with us - their joys, their sorrows, their sufferings, their hopes and fears.   We have learnt so many things from them.  May our union with them grow ever stronger, through our prayer for them and with them and through our efforts to assist them in their journey.

Cana, Nazareth and Mount Tabor

It was a wonderful sight to see nearly 100 couples renewing their marriage vows at Cana.  In our parish, we do it every year, but it was apparent that for some people it was the first time they had renewed them.

Most of the discussion about the Marriage Feast at Cana, was about the shape of the pots that the water was in.  We saw a pot which has been found and dated to around the date of Christ just like the round pot on the right of this picture.  Afterwards, we all went across the road to try the present day wine of Cana.

From Cana we drove onto Nazareth, which is one of the largest cities in the Holy Land.  Here we attended mass at the Basilica of the Annunciation.  Like a number of the churches we have been to, this is an early 20th Century church built on the remains of Byzantine and Crusader churches, which were built over the sites of biblical events.  Around the church, there are Marian paintings or mosaics denoting other Marian sites, like this one of Walsingham.

Nearby we entered the Church of St Joseph which has been built where Joseph's house and carpentry workshop were.

This painting shows the betrothal of Mary and Joseph

This is one of the panels of the beautiful bronze doors

On our schedule it said we were going to the synagogue next.  The building we entered said "synagogue" over the door, but was in fact a church.  Apparently there are no Jews living in Nazareth.

Our journey continued across the valley to Mount Tabor.  To get to the top we had to transfer to mini-buses to go up the zig-zag road.  This is where the Transfiguration took place.

There are fantastic coloured glass windows in the church.

The views all around are wonderful.

Now we are packing, hoping our planes take us home tomorrow.  We still have a visit to Capernaum to look forward to before leaving the Holy Land.  We will all be sorry to leave such a wonderful place.  It is a place of extremes; some places you visit are prayerful and relaxing, yet we are in a country that is still at war, not usually with weapons of war but with attitude and domination.  The 3 monotheistic religions are all to be found here and people often live side by side with each other, but most of the provocation is on religious lines.  


 It has been deeply moving to meet some of the Christian community and to hear their stories of frustration and fear, but to hear of their hope for the future is inspiring.  

Sea of Galilee

The temperature has been over 30C these last few days. We had mass outside at the church of the Primacy of Peter under an awning which was lovely.

This was the view we had at mass.

We moved on to the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes. This stone lying under the altar is where the miracle of the feeding of the 5000 took place. We were reminded that in hat the crowd was much larger.

A boat was discovered at the bottom of the Sea of Galilee which was dated at around the time of Jesus. Now a family has constructed similar boats for pilgrims to go out into the sea. We were on a boat called Noah. We were given a demonstration of fishing in the way that Peter and the other fishermen would have used followed by some Israeli music.

For lunch today, we were delighted to have Peter’s fish which comes from the Sea of Galilee. It was delicious but some people were put off because the fishes still had their heads on.

The Convent of the Beatitudes is an idyllic place. It is next to the Sea of Galilee and has beautiful gardens

Yesterday we should have gone to the Baptismal place of Jesus, but unfortunately it had been shut but were able to go today. Here people can renew or make their baptismal vows by going into the Jordan. Unfortunately it has become a commercial enterprise. You are only able to enter the water in a long white garment, which has to be hired. They then sell you a video of your baptism.

I thought the traffic in Weybridge was bad enough, but Tiberias is even worse. It may have been because today is Israeli Independence Day and is a holiday. Last night there were fireworks in celebration.

Everyone has been watching the news to find out whether we will be travelling back to the UK on Thursday. We have been told by the Travel Agent that no-one really knows what is happening and that they are looking at alternatives.

River Jordan

Today has been a leisurely day and it was needed as we do not seem to have stopped for a minute before today.   That is not a criticism as I know it would not have been possible to have visited so many interesting places nor to have met so many inspiring people.

As everyone was in the same hotel last night, it was decided that we would have mass in one of their conference rooms.  It was a special mass for the intentions of the pilgrims.  We all put pieces of paper with our personal intentions on to the altar.  The Bishop was the main celebrant with the other 4 chaplains.  After the mass, he told us that the clergy had been inspired by us pilgrims and that we had enhanced their pilgrimage.  He was supposed to have gone home after a couple of days, so has been trapped here with us because of the ash from the volcano.  I think he is hoping to get back as he is supposed to be at a conference.   We are hoping that we will still be able to get away on Thursday.

We went to see Zaccharias’s tree.  Our first thought was that surely it could not be the same tree that he climbed to see Jesus, as that would mean it was well over 2000 years old, but as you can see they have shown that it is.  Next comment was that it did not look like a sycamore tree but apparently it is a different variety from the one we know.  Looking down the road I tried to imagine Jesus walking along the road towards us.

We visited Elijah’s Spring

the Mount of Temptation 

and ruins of the Old City of Jericho.

Whilst we were having lunch, a man came in with a yobel horn and started blowing it.  I can quite imagine it blowing the walls of Jericho down as it nearly burst my eardrums!

Then we passed from Palestine into Israel and followed the river Jordan as far as Tiberius on the Sea of Galilee.  Whereas the landscape had been arid with little greenery, this latter part was more green and agricultural.

Tonight , as we are at the sea of Galilee, we were delighted that there was fish available for dinner.  When we asked what it was we were disappointed to find that it was cod which had certainly not  come out of the local water!

Jericho

We attended mass in an amalgamation of Arabic and English at the Parish Church of Our Lady of Fatima that we visited last week when we had visited the school next door.  The Parish Priest was the main celebrant and one of our priests gave the sermon, translated into Arabic after each bit by the Parish Priest.  They had chosen hymns that were known in both countries.  After the mass, we joined the parishioners in the church hall where the kids were showing their Technology Projects.

We met a couple and their little boy George who had lived in Gaza.  The husband's brother had been shot so they decided to leave Gaza.  Two years ago they got the opportunity to come to Bethlehem.  I asked them whether they were able to get jobs here.  She said it was easier for her as she was a teacher, but her husband had owned a jewellery job and was now working in a jewellery factory.  Since speaking to them, I have been told that a new law was passed on Tuesday which could effectively deport anyone living here who has come from Gaza.  Officially, if you have papers you are ok, but most of the papers are held by the Israeli authority.

Having left Bethlehem we drove through the wilderness to our hotel outside Jericho.  It was lovely to get away from the cities.  Whereas our previous hotels have been Franciscan pilgrimage hotels, this is an large international one with swimming pool etc, so all 200 of us are together for the first and last time.

This afternoon we went "swimming" in the dead sea.  Actually it is impossible to swim, just float.  the most difficult thing is getting vertical again.

Then we went to Qumran where the dead sea scrolls were found.  We saw an interesting film about the site then our guide took us round and explained each part.  These are replicas of the pots that the scrolls were found in.  Below is one of the caves the scrolls were found in.

We have had the same guide throughout - he is wonderful;  he goes out of his way to make sure everything works well and his knowledge of history, religion and politics is phenomenal and to top it all, he is a really nice man.

I have not mentioned food at all.  It has been very good, but every meal someone says "What's the betting we have chicken?"  Though last night we had lamb which was delicious.

Abu Ghosh

Yesterdays blog did not get posted until today because the wifi was down in the Hotel.

When writing about the students at the University, I mentioned one who had to come through the wall.  Today we had that experience (not as bad as hers but it took about 45mins.).  Firstly, the first guards insisted that the driver got out and he had to answer various questions.  Then we got the second lot of guards and 2 of them got onto the coach with guns and told us to show them our passports.  Just imagine having to go through that and worse every day.  I really should not have taken this photo, but as you can see, we were quite a distance away.

Abu Ghosh  area has the Birth of John the Baptist and the Visitation churches.

Tomb of John the Baptist

|Finally, we went to The Crusader Church and  Monastery where one of the nuns told us about its history and what they do.  It was an idyllic site, onw that would wonderful to stay at.  (They do have a couple of guest houses!)

Nativity and the University

Greek Orthodox Chapel in the Church of the Nativity

We had mass today in St Catherine's church which is a modern church attached to the Church of the Nativity   We went into the Nativity Church but the queues went right round the church, about 8 people deep to get into the grotto of the Birth of Jesus, so unfortunately we did not get to see it.

Mosaic under the floor

When I looked at the schedule for today I saw the visit to the University for 90mins and wondered whether to go.  Was I surprised!  It is run by the De La Salle brothers and has a very caring ethos.  Though it is a Catholic University, 70 % of the students are Moslem and 70% are girls.  They do not have accommodation at the University but some students stay in houses near by.

The tour started in this beautiful chapel where we were introduced to the Vice Chancellor and the Publicity officer, both of whom were Brothers.  We were told about a girl who had been able to come to the university, against all the odds, from Gaza.  She knew she would not be able to see her family for a long time.  Towards the end of her final year she did have the opportunity to go home.  Sadly when she tried to return the soldiers stopped her and for a few hours took her into custody.  Then they hand-cuffed her and deported her back to Gaza.  The University have been pleading her case, as has an Israeli organisation which  is against the persecution of the Palestinians, but to no avail, her appeal was rejected.  The Vice Chancellor said that they could have just awarded her the degree as it was only a few weeks before the end of her course, but were worried that the circumstances would be found out later in her career and that it would cause her problems.  They arranged for teachers in Gaza to complete the course and examinations with her and they were delighted to be able to have a ceremony in Gaza especially for her to award her her degree.

We watched a film (I have purchased a copy) publicising the University which was excellent.  One of the boys interviewed was worried because all of his books were destroyed because his house had been destroyed.  He needed the books to finish his course and he had nowhere to live but was hopeful.  Afterwards we had a few students who answered our questions.  One girl lived in Jerusalem so had to come through t "The Wall" every day in both directions.  Sometimes it could take her hours to get through but she said "but I always make it eventually"!

Later we went to the Milk Grotto.  It is thought that Mary, Joseph and the baby got out of the grotto with all the animals to this grotto, as it would be safer.  At this grotto small bags of the white surface of the walls is given to women who are having problems conceiving - it is alleged that there have been hundreds of babies born after their moths drank this powder in liquid.

On the Road to Bethlehem

Today, there were highs and lows.  We started with mass at the Con-Cathedral in the Patriarchate of Jerusalem (No I haven't made a mistake, it really was "con-").  The main celebrant was the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, together with the Bishop, 4 priests and a deacon who are on the pilgrimage).  What a lovely man!  He was explaining the problems that the Christians were having because Israel has built this high fence separating the Jews from both the Christians and the Muslims.  There are now only 10,000 Christians left in Jerusalem out of a population of about 1,000,000.  When some sell their houses before emigrating temporarily, he said you knew they would never come back.  Our guide has also talked about this - he is a Latin catholic too.
We left Jerusalem to go to Bethlehem and very soon we could see the fence, which at this crossing point is metal and very high.  We were warned not to get out our cameras as it is a military area and as it would cause problems which would result in delays.  Further on our guide pointed out a hill which was covered in new houses and flats.  Only Jews were allowed to buy these even though it was Palestinian land.  When we got to Bethlehem we saw another development.  This time it was not on the Jewish side, but none of them were selling because the wall was just behind it was barbed wire,so it was quite likely that the fence might be moved in front of it, which would mean the Palestinians would have to sell .
We then went into a Catholic school and was addressed by the Principal. in the beautiful Church of Our Lady of Fatima.

Then the kids came out for break and we chatted to them.  They were just like the kids back at home.

We had lunch is the biggest restaurant I have ever seen - there are about 200 of us and we didn't fill half of it.

We went out to the Shepherd's field where some archaeology is going on.  They don't really know where exactly the shepherds were as they roamed around.  This was a Christmas scene in a cave similar to where they would have sheltered.  

There is a fairly new church there which is built to resemble a tent which has some lovely murals on the theme of the shepherds.

Lastly, we had some time to look at olive wood produce at a co-operative.