Remember the pilgrimage my company (JesCom) led in 2008? Well, we are doing another pilgrimage in October this year, this time in the Holy Land in Israel. Led by His Excellency Bishop Chito Tagle, the pilgrimage will be a different take on the usual Holy Land pilgrimage as it features Via Lucis or Way of the Light. Highlights of the trip are Mount Nebo, Tiberias, Nazareth, Sepphoris, Mount Tabor, Cana, Mount Carmel, Capernaum, Sea of Galilee, Mount of Beatitudes, Jordan River, Tabgha, Jericho, Dead Sea, Qumran, Ein Karem, Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Emmaus.
Below is the itinerary:
Departure Date:
OCTOBER 24, 2011
I T I N E R A R Y:
24OCT (Mon). MANILA – DUBAI – AMMAN – MOUNT NEBO – SHEIKH HUSSEIN –TIBERIAS.
Fly to Dubai at midnight and on arrival take the connecting flight to Amman. Arrive in Amman Airport in the morning. After immigration and customs formalities, board your coach and proceed to Mount Nebo. Visit the Sanctuary at Nebo, the memorial of Moses and the presumed site of his death and burial place, and a center for pilgrimages since earliest Christian times. Drive to the border of Sheikh Hussein into Israel. Meet your local guide and check in at your hotel in Tiberias. (D)
25OCT (Tue). TIBERIAS – NAZARETH – SEPPHORIS – MOUNT TABOR – TIBERIAS.
Leave for Nazareth, the place where Jesus spent His childhood. Visit the Basilica of Annunciation, built on the site of the house of Mary and Joseph, where the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary announcing the birth of Jesus. Visit St. Joseph’s Church, site of St. Joseph’s workshop and the dwelling place of the Holy Family.
Continue to the ruins of the city of Sepphoris, located 6 km northwest of Nazareth on a hill rising above the Bet Netofah Valley. It was the administrative center of the Lower Galilee from the time of the Second Temple to the 4th century. According to an early-church tradition, it was here that Mary was born and the place her parents lived. At the foot of the ancient city, a Crusader church was built in the 12th century dedicated to Sts. Anne and Joachim, Mary’s parents. The Church is in ruins today and only the eastern wall of the sanctuary survives.
Drive to Mount Tabor, site of the transfiguration of Jesus. Visit the Church of the Transfiguration, one of the most beautiful churches in the Holy Land. This church, built over the medieval remains of an earlier building, commemorates the New Testament story from Matthew 17:1-9, where Jesus is recognized as the Son of God in the company of Moses, Elijah and three of his disciples. (B,D)
26OCT (Wed). TIBERIAS – CANA – MOUNT CARMEL – CAPERNAUM SEA OF GALILEE (Boat Ride) – TIBERIAS.
Proceed to Cana, where Jesus performed miracles. His first miracle at a wedding feast, by changing water into wine; and the healing of the royal official’s son who was near death. Here, married couples will have the opportunity to renew their marriage vows at the Church of the First Miracle.
On to visit Mount Carmel passing through the summit of the northern most edge of the Carmel range. Its name is derived from the Hebrew “Karem El” which means vineyards of God. Visit the Stella Maris Church of the Carmelite Monastery. Under the High Altar, one can find the Cave of Elijah, held by Christian tradition as the place where the prophet lived.
Visit Capernaum, the place where Jesus made His first disciples from among the humble local fishermen. Here, Jesus taught in the Synagogue, cured the sick and performed many miracles. Visit and celebrate the Holy Mass at the Church of St. Peter, which was built over the ruins of the house of St. Peter. Take a boat ride crossing the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus miraculously walked on the water. (B,D)
27OCT (Thu). TIBERIAS – MOUNT OF BEATITUDES –JORDAN RIVER – TABGHA -– TIBERIAS.
This morning, proceed to the Mount of Beatitudes to see the panoramic view from the top where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount. Stop at the Jordan River where St. John baptized Jesus. Here, you will have the opportunity to renew your baptismal vows at Yardenit. Visit Tabgha, the site where Jesus performed many miracles. Visit the Church of the Primacy of Peter, the site of the third appearance of Jesus to His disciples after His resurrection. Here, Jesus prepared a meal for His disciples on what is known as Mensa Christi. Nearby is the Church of the Multiplication of Loaves and Fish, built over the site where Jesus fed five thousand people with five loaves and two fish. (B,D)
28OCT (Fri). TIBERIAS – JERICHO – DEAD SEA – QUMRAN – JERUSALEM.
In the morning, check out of your hotel. Drive to Tabgha and celebrate the Holy Mass at Dalmanutha, traditionally the site where Jesus sighed for mankind. It is a place of meditation marked with a great cross facing the peaceful waters of the Sea of Galilee. Continue to the Jordan Riff Valley of Jericho, one of the oldest walled cities in history. At the time of Exodus, Jericho was the point of entry of the Israelites (under the leadership of Joshua) into the Promised Land. View the Mount of Temptation, where Jesus was led by the Spirit on a forty-day retreat after His baptism and prior to His public ministry. Proceed to the Dead Sea, the lowest spot on earth. Its water is too salty that no living organism can thrive in it and one can literally float without even trying. It is also known to heal one of his skin problems. Take a dip in the water before heading for the golden city of Jerusalem. Enroute, stop at Qumran where in 1947 a number of ancient manuscripts known as the Dead Sea Scrolls where found in nearby caves. (B,D)
29OCT (Sat). JERUSALEM – BETHLEHEM – JERUSALEM.
Head for the picturesque hillside village of Ein Karem, meaning “the spring in the vineyard.” Visit the Church of St. John the Baptist, built on the traditional home of Zacharias and Elizabeth. Inside is the Crypt which houses the Grotto of the Benedictus, considered to be the place where John was born. Outside the Church, you will find the “Benedictus” translated in several languages. Up on the slopes of a rocky hill lies the Church of the Visitation or Church of the Magnificat, where Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth, an eventful meeting of the Mother of God and the mother of John the Precursor. In front of the Church is a wall with the “Magnificat” written in more than forty languages.
Leave for the holy town of Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus. Visit the Shepherd’s Field where now stands the modern church of the Sanctuary of the Shepherds. Visit the Basilica of the Nativity where you can find the Grotto of the Nativity and the Altar of Christ’s Birth. A silver star marks the traditional place where Jesus was born. See the Chapel of St. Jerome, formerly a cave where he translated the Holy Bible to Latin, known as the “Vulgate”. Return to Jerusalem. (B,D)
30OCT (Sun). JERUSALEM.
Enter the Old City of Jerusalem and visit the Church of St. Anne, traditional site of the house of Mary’s parents, St. Anne and St. Joachim. Walk to the Pool of Bethesda where Jesus cured the paralytic.
Visit the Church of the Pater Noster, built over the grotto where Jesus assembled His disciples and taught them the Lord’s Prayer. Here, you will find the Lord’s Prayer translated into more than 60 languages. Next to it is the Church of the Ascension, where according to tradition, Jesus ascended to heaven. Walk through the Palm Sunday Road to arrive at the Church of the Dominus Flevit, the spot where Jesus contemplated on the city of Jerusalem and lamented its future destruction, hence the name of the church which means, “the Lord wept”. On to the Church of All Nations or Church of the Agony. Proceed to the sacred Garden of Gethsemane for an intercessory prayer. It was in this garden where Jesus and His disciples often retired to meditate and pray and where Jesus spent His last night before He was arrested. Visit the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu which was built to commemorate the triple denial and repentance of Peter. This was originally the house of Caiphas where you can still see the prison cells and the pit where Jesus was probably kept. (B,D)
31OCT (Mon). JERUSALEM.
Take an early morning breakfast. Enter the Old City of Jerusalem and trace the Via Dolorosa (14-Stations of the Cross) to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre which was built over the site of the Calvary and the Tomb. The church also houses under its roof “the place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull” as well as the 10th to the 14th stations of the Via Dolorosa. Proceed to Mount Zion to visit the Church of the Dormition Abbey, traditional site of Mary’s assumption to heaven. See the Coenaculum or the Upper Room, the place where Jesus and His disciples ate the Last Supper and where the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist was instituted. This was also the site where the Pentecost took place. See the Wailing Wall, also known as the Western Wall, where Jews all over the world gather to commemorate the destruction of the first and second temple and pray for Israel’s restoration. (B,D)
01NOV (Tue). JERUSALEM – SHEIKH HUSSEIN – AMMAN – DUBAI.
Leave for the village of Emmaus (Abu Gosh), first settled over 6,000 years ago. In the biblical period, it was known as Kiryat Ye’arim, and was a ceremonial center where the Ark of the Covenant was placed. During the Crusader Period (about 1,000 years ago), the village was ascribed as the place where Jesus revealed himself after His resurrection – that is, Emmaus – and the Benedictine Monastery was built. Visit the Monastère de la Résurrection, one of the most beautiful buildings preserved from the Crusader Period, and can still be visited. Depart for the Sheikh Hussein Border and transfer directly to Amman Airport for your flight to Dubai. (B)
02NOV (Wed). DUBAI – MANILA.
In the early morning, take the connecting flight back to Manila in mid-afternoon.
For more information please call Executive Resources 853-8581; 521-4156. Please tell them that you were led to them by Pinay Traveller or by JesCom.
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