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DAY 01: BEGINNING OUR
PILGRIMAGE. Depart North America via
jet service. Dinner and breakfast will be
served on board.
DAY 02: INTO THE LAND OF THE BIBLE.
Upon arrival in the afternoon, you will be met by our representative who
will assist you with formalities. A luxury motor coach will transfer you
to your hotel in Tel Aviv for overnight.
DAY 03: ALL THE PAST YEARS WITH
HISTORY. Morning departure to Caesarea Martima
in the Plains of Sharon to visit the ruins of the
Crusader's City, surrounded by a moat and a
city wall enclosing the ruins of the Roman City. Visit the Roman Theater
and proceed along the shores of the
 Mediterranean
to Haifa. Visit Mount Carmel and the Shrine of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.
Visit the Cave of the Prophet Elijah. Proceed to Nazareth where we visit
the Basilica of the Annunciation enclosing the remains of the House of
Joachim and Ann and the site where the Angel Gabriel appeared to the
Virgin Mary to announce that she was to become the Mother of God. Mass
is celebrated here followed by a visit to the Home of the Holy Family,
St. Joseph's workshop, Mary's Well and the Synagogue where Jesus
preached. Continue to Cana, where Christ performed his first miracle,
the Transformation of Water into Wine, and where any married couples can
renew their marriage vows. Proceed to your hotel in Tiberias.
DAY 04: THE SEA OF GALILEE AND
UPPER GALILEE. In the morning, we cross the
Sea of Galilee by boat from Tiberias to Capernaum, now in ruins but once
a thriving town where Peter lived and where much of the public ministry
of Christ took place. See the Church of the Primacy of Peter, where
Christ taught the Eight Beatitudes to his Disciples. Mass will be
celebrated at the Mount of Beatitudes. Continue to the ruins of Magdala
where Mary Magdalene lived. In the afternoon, drive to the Golan
Heights, overlooking Upper Galilee. Visit Tel Dan and the Banias
(Caesarea Philippi). Cross the River Jordan via Jacob's Daughters Bridge
and return to your hotel.
DAY 05: ALONG THE JORDAN VALLEY.
After breakfast, we leave Tiberias and drive to the top of Mt. Tabor,
the site of the Transfiguration where Mass will be celebrated. Continue
to Megiddo, Armageddon, a very important point on the Via Maris
connecting Egypt and Damascus. It is a city that has witnessed many wars
and suffered much destruction throughout the different periods of time.
Proceed through Samaria, to Dothan where Joseph was sold to the
Egyptians by his brothers, to Sebastia, the capital of Samaria and on to
visit Jacob's Well, which lies in the valley between Mt. Ebal and Mt.
Gerizim. Drive to Shiloh to view the site where the Tabernacle was
erected following Joshua's conquest of Canaan. This site of ancient
pilgrimage was where that Hannah prayed for a son, and Samuel served Eli
the priest. Continue to Bethel where Abraham built an altar and Jacob
dreamed of the ladder ascending to heaven. Continue to Jerusalem via
Beroth and Tel El Ful. Overnight in Jerusalem.
DAY 06: JERUSALEM AND BETHLEHEM.
Drive to Bethlehem. Visit the Basilica of the Nativity, built over the
site of the birthplace of Christ where Mass will be celebrated. Visit
the Cave where Christ was born and it is the occasion to
sing the traditional Christmas Hymns. A visit is made to the Chapel of
St. Jerome, who lived here for many years and translated the Bible into
Latin. The nearby Church of St. Catherine is the venue for the midnight
Mass that is broadcast all over the World from Bethlehem on Christmas
Eve. Continue to the Shepherds field, recalling the "great throng of the
heavenly hosts" who appeared to the Shepherds and told them of the birth
of the Savior. In the afternoon, visit Ein Karem, the place of the
Visitation where Our Lady came to visit her cousin Elizabeth. View the
plaques with the Magnificat in most languages of the World. Visit the
parish church of St. John the Baptist, and the Grotto of his birth.
Return to your hotel.
DAY 07: MOUNTAINS OF JERUSALEM.
Drive to the Mount of Olives and visit the Church of the Ascension, the
spot where Christ ascended into Heaven; the Pater Noster Church
commemorating Christ's teaching of the Our Father to his disciples;
Dominus Flevit, the spot where Christ wept over Jerusalem and onwards to
Gethsemane Nations which houses the Rock of the Agony of Christ on Holy
Thursday; in this Church is a beautiful mosaic donated by the United
States. Celebrate Mass at the Church of All Nations. Visit the Cave of
the betrayal of Jesus and the Tomb of Our Lady. This afternoon tour the
Old City of Jerusalem, visiting the Chapel of Flagellation, the chapel
of Condemnation and the Lithostrotos, the site of the Antonia Fortress
where Julius Caesar resided at the time of Christ and where Christ was
tried and condemned to death. Beginning the way of the Cross here, join
the walk along the Via Dolorosa led by the Franciscans - ending at the
Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher, built over the site of the Crucifixion
and the Tomb. Visit Calvary and the Tomb of Our Lord followed by a short
tour of the Basilica.
DAY 08: JERUSALEM.
This morning visit the Church of St. Ann, built on the site of
birthplace of Our Lady where Mass will be celebrated. Continue to the
Pool of Bethesda, where Christ healed the paralytic. Visit the Temple
area, the spot where the original temple was built and which was the
scene of many episodes from the life of Christ, such as the expulsion of
the money changers. Here now stands the Dome of the Rock, the third
holiest spot in the world for the Moslem faith. Visit the El Aksa Mosque
and then the Wailing Wall which is the most sacred spot in the world for
the Jews. In the afternoon proceed to the Shrine of the Book, enclosing
the Dead Sea Scrolls. Continue to Mount Zion, visiting the room of the
Last Supper, Church of the Dormition and then visit the Church of St.
Peter in Gallicantu built on the sire of the house of Caiphas that
encloses the dungeon where Christ was kept on Holy Thursday night and
where Peter denied Christ thrice.
DAY 09: THE WILDERNESS OF JUDEA.
Early morning Mass at the Basilica on the Holy Sepulcher. After
breakfast, drive to Bethany and visit the new Church, built on the site
of the house of Mary and Martha. Visit the Tomb of Lazarus. We proceed
through the Judean Wilderness to Jericho stopping at the site of Inn of
the Good Samaritan. Visit Elijah's Fountain and the ancient city of
Jericho from which you can view the Mount of Temptation, where Jesus
fasted for forty days and forty nights. Continue along the shores of the
Dead Sea to Ein Gedi where a precipitous cliff, filled with caves, rises
some 2,000 feet. Time is allowed for a float on the Dead Sea. Proceed to
visit Qumran, where a shepherd boy discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls in
1947, before returning to Jerusalem. Dinner and overnight at our hotel.
DAY 10: TEL AVIV / NORTH AMERICA. After breakfast we depart for the Ben Gurion airport for our return
flight to North America. The end of our most enjoyable journey. |
