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Saturday, March
3: New York departure
We board our transatlantic flight from JFK at 5pm —dinner and breakfast served during the flight.
Sunday, March 4: CDG - Tel Aviv – Tiberias
Transfer for our flight to Tel Aviv —upon arriving at Tel Aviv we are met by our Catholic guide and our journey in the “Footsteps of Jesus” begins. We travel through the Galilean hills; descend below sea level to Tiberias, nestled on the Sea of Galilee. Dinner and a good night sleep by the lake.
Monday, March 5: Cana - Nazareth - Mount Tabor – Tiberias
After breakfast we depart for the little village of Cana, where Jesus performed his first miracle at the wedding feast. We continue on to Nazareth where Mary learned from the Angel Gabriel that she would miraculously conceive a son, named Jesus,
”And the Word was made flesh”. Visit the Basilica of the Annunciation, St. Joseph’s workshop, the town where Jesus played as a child and Mary’s Well. We ascend by taxis to Mount Tabor, the Mount of the
Transfiguration: “here shone the Glory of God”. We return to our hotel in Tiberias for dinner and a good night sleep.
Tuesday, March 6: Sea of Galilee - Capernaum- Tabgha- Upper Galilee- Caesarea Philipi
After breakfast, we will literally follow the “Footsteps of Jesus” as we begin with a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum where Jesus did most of His preaching; we also visit a church built upon the site St. Peter’s home and the ruins of the synagogue that had being built in the time of Jesus. Onto Tabgha, site of the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes; see the Church of the Multiplication with its beautiful 5th century fish mosaic and the Church of the Primacy, the
Mensa Christi, the site where after His Resurrection, Jesus met with his disciples and told Peter to
“Feed my lambs; feed my sheep” (John 21:9). We ascend to the Mount of Beatitudes with a panoramic vista of the Sea of Galilee, site of the “Sermon on the Mount”:
“Blessed are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven”
(Matthew 5:1-3). We continue to the Upper Galilee to Caesarea Philippi, the northern limit of Jesus’ ministry. It is here that St. Peter proclaimed Jesus as Christ and where Jesus answered him “You are the Rock and upon this rock I will build my Church”. We return to our hotel in Tiberias for dinner and a good night sleep.
Wednesday, March 7: Mount Carmel - Caesarea - Joppa- Jerusalem
After breakfast we leave Tiberias with our luggage for Mount Carmel and visit
Stella Maris, the Carmelite Monastery with Our Lady of Mount Carmel (where the Carmelite Order was started), and Elijah’s cave marks the site of the Holy Prophet’s triumph over the false prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18: 1-40). We travel along the Mediterranean to the Roman Port of Caesarea, where the Romans held St. Paul prisoner before sailing to Rome for trial and execution. We travel to the restored ancient port of Joppa (Jaffa) from where Jonah set sail and where St. Peter raised Tabitha from the dead. We make a visit the House of Simon the Tanner where Peter lived (Acts 9: 43). It is also here that the Centurion, Cornelius, was shown to send for St. Peter (Acts 10). We continue to Jerusalem for dinner and night.
Thursday, March 8: Bethlehem - Ein Karem – Jerusalem
After breakfast we travel to the Bethlehem “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2,11), and where everyday is Christmas. We visit the Church of the Nativity that stands upon the site where Jesus was born, There you can see the Holy Manger and the Silver Star with the Latin Inscription :
“Hic de Maria Virgine Jeus Christus Natus est” —we visit the “Milk Grotto”, or, the Shepherd’s field (the spot where shepherds kept watch on that Night when Christ was born (Luke 2). On our way back to Jerusalem we stop at Ein Karem birthplace of St. John the Baptist — we also visit the Church of the Visitation, home of St. Elizabeth and where the Blessed Virgin Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth and proclaimed the
Magnificat. Before returning to the hotel in Jerusalem we will visit the Model City which depicts Jerusalem in the 1st Century in the time of Jesus, so we can understand the actual city of Jerusalem in the time of Jesus. Dinner and night in Jerusalem.
Friday, March 9: Jerusalem - The Passion of Jesus Last Hours- Mount of Olives - Ascension - Palm Sunday road - Garden of Gethsemane and more
After breakfast we drive to Beth Page for a view of the Holy City from the Mount of Olives. We visit the Church of the
Pater Noster where Christ taught the Lord’s Prayer, the Church of the Ascension where 40 days after His Resurrection He ascended into Heaven, then we follow the Palm Sunday Road, the road Jesus followed on His way to Jerusalem, stopping at the Chapel of
Dominus Flevit where Our Lord wept and shed a tear for the city of Jerusalem (Luke 19:37-42). We then proceed to the Garden of Gethsemane and the Rock of Agony where Jesus prayed His last prayer before his arrest:
“Father, if Thou wilt, remove this chalice from me; but yet not my will, but Thine be done" (Luke 22-42).
We will continue to Mount Sion to visit the Room of the Last Supper and the Church of the Dormition where the Blessed Virgin Mary fell into eternal sleep. We also visit the church of St. Peter
Gallicantu, church built on the site of the house of the High Priest, Caiphas, where Jesus spent the night. On this site Peter denied Jesus three times. We return to the hotel for dinner and a good night sleep.
Saturday, March 10: Jerusalem - The Old City - Dome of the Rock - St. Anne Church - Pool of Bethesda - Good Friday with
Via Crucis and the Death of Our Lord”
After breakfast our bus will transfer us to the Dung Gate in the Old City to visit the Dome of the Rock (place where Abraham sacrificed his son Ishmael) —we continue to see the pool of Bethseda where Jesus Christ healed a man who was crippled for 38 years. The Church of St. Anne built over the crypt venerated as the birthplace of Mary and home of her parents, St. Joachim and St. Anne.
We retrace the last steps of Jesus as we carry our cross along the Via Dolorosa through the markets of the Old City praying the Stations of the Cross, reflecting on the greatness of His sacrifice to arrive at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where we pray and kiss the ground where the Cross of Our Saviour hung. We then return to the hotel for dinner and a good night rest.
Sunday, March 11: Bethany - Jericho - Dead Sea Scrolls
After breakfast we drive to Bethany, to visit the house of Mary, Martha and Lazarus and the tomb of Lazarus —we continue our journey to Jericho (the oldest city in the world) where Jesus fasted 40 days and 40 nights before beginning his public ministry, and view the Mount of Temptations. You can have your picture taken in front of the Sycamore tree, afterwards we continue down to the lowest place on earth, the Dead Sea (also the site of Sodom and Gomorrah), at 1300 feet below sea level, —then we will visit Qumram, the place where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found with more than 900 pieces in 30 caves. We return to Jerusalem for a good dinner and a good night rest.
Monday, March 12: Jerusalem - Tel Aviv- Return flight
This morning after breakfast we bring our luggage down —before heading to the airport we take a drive to the New City of Jerusalem to visit the Shrine of the Book where the Dead Sea Scrolls are exposed —we continue on to the Benedictine Monastery of Mary in Abu Gosh (Kirayt Yearim used to be a residence of the Ark of the Covenant. It was there that the Ark of the Covenant was kept for 20 years, before being moved by David to Jerusalem. After lunch we transfer to the airport for our departure at 5:00 pm for our return flight via Paris where we lay over.
We leave the Holy Land with heavy hearts and cherished memories. We have seen the life of Christ, His Birth, Passion and Resurrection, filling our heart and soul with the spirit of Christ in our lives.
Tuesday, March 13 : Paris CDG airport – JFK in New York
Early breakfast —transfer to the airport for our return flight at 8:00am arriving at JFK at 10:30am local time.
Au revoir! —Bon voyage!
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