A visit to Israel allows us to see what it may have been like while Jesus lived giving us a glimpse of the many holy places built around the events in his life.
The Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth had been built to commemorate the spot where an angel appeared to Mary to announce that she would become the Mother of the Son of God.
Nazareth is a very popular pilgrim site as it is where Jesus had spent His childhood and where He and Mary once lived.
The Church of St. Joseph situated next to the Church of Annunciation is known as the Holy Family’s home. The cave over which the church was built is known as the carpentry workshop of Joseph.
After the angel’s message, Mary came to see her cousin Elizabeth in the place where she and husband Zechariah lived. Here, Mary recited her song of praise, the Magnificat. Elizabeth who was also pregnant with John the Baptist heard Mary’s greeting and upon hearing it, the baby in her womb leapt with joy. The site where this meeting took place is now the Church of Visitation located high on the hillside of the village of Ein Karem. The church courtyard contains ceramic tablets on the walls bearing the verses of the MAGNIFICAT in different languages.
Not too far is the Church of John the Baptist, inside of which is the Grotto of the Benedictus under whose altar is a star marking the place where John the Baptist was born.
Then we come to Bethlehem, the City of David and the birthplace of Jesus, one of the most important places to visit. The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is located over a cave that marks the birthplace. Inside is a sacred Grotto where a silver star overlies the spot where the Baby Jesus is said to have been born.
Adjoining the Church of the Nativity is the Church of St. Catherine of Alexandria.
Within the area are the Chapel of St. Joseph where he was commanded by an angel to flee and take the Holy Family to Egypt and the Chapel of the Innocents commemorating the massacre of the babies upon the order of King Herod.
The Biblical scene where an angel announced to the shepherds the birth of Jesus and saw the Star of Nativity is remembered most during a visit to the Shepherds’ Field located not too far from Bethlehem. Caves used by shepherds as dwellings have been converted into small chapels.
The ministry of Jesus is the period when He started performing miracles and preaching in towns and villages around the Sea of Galilee.
Jesus performed His first miracle of turning water into wine during a wedding feast in Cana and the Church of Miracle had been built on this site where couples now walk down the aisle to renew their marriage vows and to once again make the promise that they first made on their wedding day.
Capernaum or The Town of Jesus served as the headquarters of the Jews where He first met His disciples Peter, Andrew, James, John and Matthew who all worked on the Sea of Galilee.
This is also where the House of St. Peter can be found and the ancient synagogue in which Jesus preached.
The Mount of Beatitudes, overlooking the Sea of Galilee is where Jesus climbed and preached the powerful Sermon on the Mount. The Catholic Church of the Beatitudes now stands in the area where Jesus would have stood as he delivered the sermon.
Near the Mount of Beatitudes is Tabgha, the traditional site of the Miracle of the loaves and fishes where 5,000 men who gathered to see Jesus were fed with just a few loaves of bread and two fish. The table rock where this wonder took place has been the altar inside the Church of the Multiplication. It is also in Tabgha where Jesus, after the resurrection, appeared to His disciples and laid out breakfast of bread and fish for them.
The rock at which they ate is enshrined at the altar of the Church of St. Peter’s Primacy venerated as “Mensa Christi” (Table of Christ). Jesus then appointed Simon Peter to the Office of the Primacy.
Sailing on a wooden pilgrim boat on the Sea of Galilee where Jesus walked on water has become a very popular attraction among Christian pilgrims.
Up on Mt. Tabor, the Basilica of Transfiguration had been built. This is the site where Jesus was said to have spoken to Elijah and Moses and was transfigured before the eyes of Peter, James and John.
The site of one of the most famous of Jesus miracles is the ancient Pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem where Jesus healed a man who had been crippled for 38 years. The remains of the ancient pool is right next to the Church of St. Anne, the birthplace of Mother Mary and the home of her parents Joachim and Anna.
The Mt. of Temptation regarded as the mountain on which Jesus was tempted by the devil for 40 nights can be seen in Jericho, the city of palms and the oldest inhabited town in the world.
Jesus entered Jerusalem riding a donkey taking the road now known as the Palm Sunday Road. Pilgrims walk the Palm Sunday road descending from Mount of Olives passing by Dominus Flevit Church where Jesus was said to have wept over the fate of Jerusalem.
The descent from the Mt. of Olives leads to the Garden of Gethsemane and next to it is the Church of All Nations where Jesus spent His last night in agony before He was arrested. The church is built on the rock on which the Lord was said to have prayed.
Mount Zion is where the last Supper was supposed to have taken place at the Upper Room or Cenacle. Also located on Mt. Zion is the site where Jesus appeared before the High Priest Caiaphas after He was arrested, now known as the Church of St. Peter in Galicantu which used to be the House of Caiaphas. Not only does it commemorate Peter’s denial of Jesus three times but it is also the place where Jesus was believed to have been tortured.
A road called Via Dolorosa in the Old city of Jerusalem is the path that Jesus took while carrying the cross. It starts from where He was condemned to die and ends where He was buried, the Tomb of Jesus inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher….The holiest place in Christendom.
Jesus ascended into heaven 40 days after the Resurrection and it took place at the Mount of Olives. A small chapel, the Ascension Chapel, had been built on the spot where Jesus ascended to heaven to commemorate the event.
A short walk from the Ascension Chapel is the Church of the Pater Noster (Our Father) where Jesus taught the Lord’s Prayer to His Disciples. Various translations of the Lord’s Prayer in different languages and dialects are inscribed on walls around the church.
After Jesus’ crucifixion, Mary lived in what is now known as the Dormition Abbey on Mt. Zion. Although there is no biblical account of Mary’s death and place of burial, it is the traditional site of Mary’s home and death, the place where she was said to have “fallen asleep.”
On the chapel of the Dormition is a carved stone figure of Mary in repose. There have been claims that she was buried in Ephesus probably because she may have spent the last years of her life living in the vicinity of a place currently known as the House of the Virgin Mary.
Making your way through these Holy places, seeing for yourself the things that are associated with God and gaining appreciation of the history of the Land of Jesus is guaranteed to will linger in your memory long after the pilgrimage is over.
But leading people to the Holy Land is quite a rewarding experience.
Abatayo is Holy Land Tour Director and the executive assistant of the president of Wayfair Tours, Inc. located at G/F Don Jacinto Building 141 Salcedo Street, Legazpi Village, Makati City.
