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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 Herzlia 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. 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 which has witnessed many
wars and suffered many destructions throughout the different periods of
time. We proceed through the Jordan Valley / 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
continuing to Jerusalem. Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem.
DAY 06: TIBERIAS / MADABA / MT.
NEBO / PETRA. Today we
 depart
Tiberias via the Northern Bridge and cross into Jordan. We visit Madaba
and then continue to Mt. Nebo. Then, on to Petra "The Rose Red City -
Half as Old as Time". Dinner and overnight at our hotel.
DAY 07: PETRA / DEAD SEA. This morning after breakfast, we visit Petra. This ancient Edomite and
Nabatean capital is an amazing city of prophecy. See this spectacular
"City of the Dead" with its famed gorge, ancient street, temples,
dwelling places and tombs carved from the solid rock. Arrive at El Ji
Post and continue the one-mile journey on horseback, or walk, passing
through the famous SIQ (natural gorge) and arrive at the "Treasury".
Visit the ancient theater. In the Nabatean Judgment Hall, Place Tombs,
famous Urn Temple and the Roman amphitheater. Those willing to climb may
view the monastery, Jebel Harun (Mountain of Aaron), supposed to be the
burial place of Aaron. Horseback journey back to El Ji Post. Continue
our return to Israel via the Allenby Bridge. Travel to the Dead Sea, the
lowest point on earth, where we will spend the night at our resort
hotel. Dinner and overnight at our hotel.
DAY 08: THE DEAD SEA / THE QUMRAN
CAVES / THE VILLAGE OF THE ESSENES / JERICHO / OLD JERICHO / THE MT. OF
TEMPTATION / BETHANY / JERUSALEM. A beautiful
new road takes us south along the shores of the Dead Sea to Qumran,
where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. Visit the remains of the
Community Center of the Essenes and the Caves of the Scrolls. We will
continue on the Jericho Road viewing the Inn of the Good Samaritan (Luke
10:25-37) and the Judean wilderness. Then we visit Bethany, the home of
Mary, Martha and Lazarus (John 11:1-46). Continue to ancient Jericho
where the walls came tumbling down (I Kings 17:1-6 and II Kings 2:19-22)
and a commanding view of the Mt. of Temptation (Matt. 4:1-11) and
Elisha's Fountain. Dinner and overnight at our hotel in Jerusalem.
DAY 09: 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. This
evening we request a meeting with his Beatitude, Michel Sabbah, the
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem. Return to our hotel.
DAY 10: MOUNTAINS OF JERUSALEM. This morning 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. Mass at the Basilica on the
Holy Sepulcher. Visit Calvary and the Tomb of Our Lord followed by a
short tour of the Basilica. This afternoon we 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. Visit the Cave of
the betrayal of Jesus and the Tomb of Our Lady. Dinner and overnight at
our hotel.
DAY 11: 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 moneychangers. 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 that 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 12: 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. |
