Israel for Ida

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

This posting describes the rest of our day on Thursday, June 27 After our break, we'll visit additional holy sites in Jerusalem before traveling to Bethany in the afternoon.  In the evening we return to the Church of All Nations (Basilica of Agony) for a holy hour as we near the end of this pilgrimage. Church Exterior Back near the Lion's Gate just north of the Temple Mount in the Muslim Quarter is the Church of St. Anne.  This church marks the traditional home of Jesus grandparents, Anne and Joachim, and is the birthplace of the mother of Jesus.  So you don't get confused, the Lion's Gate also is known as the Sheep's gate or St. Stephen's gate. Church Interior This is a Crusader era church built between 1131 and 1138AD replacing a previous Byzantine era church that was built nearby around 450 AD.  Unlike other churches, the Crusader era church was not destroyed in the 1187 conquest of Jerusalem because the Muslims converted it into an Islamic la

Today's itinerary is broken into two postings.  Our day begins with a visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.   Since this church is shared by 6 denominations and it can get very crowded. Our visit is very very early in the morning since if everything goes well, Father King is actually scheduled to say Mass for us inside the tomb of Jesus.  The tomb only holds a small number of people so he is required to say Mass in 22 minutes to make room for the next group. Our route to the Church is the  Via Dolorosa  which is Latin for Painful Way.   They don't know the exact route of Jesus to his Crucifixion, but the tradition of the Way of the Cross has been followed by pilgrims for a long time although originally there were not stations along the way.  The route starts near the Lion's Gate in the Muslim Quarter and goes from the Antonia Fortress to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a distance of about 2,000 ft.  The Antonia Fortress (built by Herod the Great and named for Marc