Arrival Sheikh Hussein bridge! Meet and assist

Nazareth, Cana.

Nazareth, Church of the Annunciation which was built at the site where the Mary the Virgin Mary accepted the angel Gabriel’s announcement of her pregnancy with the Son of God.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Cana: Is the village where Jesus performed His First Miracle at a wedding ceremony when He turned Jars of water into the best wines at the request of Hus mother the Blessed Virgin. At the site of the Miracle a church was built called the Wedding Church where many couples visit to renew their wedding vows.

Haifa, Mount Carmel, AL Muraqaba, Elijah’s Cave, Carmelite Monetary, Druze village

Mount Carmel:

Mount Carmel, also known in Arabic as Mount Mar Elias, is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. The range is a UNESCO biosphere reserve

Al Muraqaba /Elijah’s cave/ Elijah confronts the evil king, Ahab, and dares Ahab to a challenge of his deity, Baal, versus the God of Elijah at Mount Carmel. The challenge is to offer sacrifices to their own deities and see which starts a fire to show their divinity. Ahab's prophets pray for hours to Baal but nothing happens.  When it is Elijah's turn he boldly soaks the sacrament with water to display his supreme trust in God to start a fire despite being wet. After Elijah’s victory over the prophets of Baal when he called down fire from heaven, the drought ended. Rain fell, and Elijah retreated to the caves from the evil Queen Jezebel, who had sworn to kill him! The caves are believed to be hiding place from the wrath of the queen.

Carmelite monastery. he Stella Maris Monastery is a Catholic Christian monastery for Discalced Carmelite monks, located on the slopes of Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. The main church inside the Stella Maris Monastery is said to contain the Cave of Elijah, a grotto associated with the prophet Elijah.It is also known as the Monastery of Our Lady of Mount Carmel for monks, to distinguish it from the nearby Monastery of Our Lady of Mount Carmel for nuns, located higher up on Mount Carmel.

Tiberias, its Churches, Mount of Beatitude, Tabgha, Primacy of Peter

Tiberias:

Tiberias is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. Its Old City holds important Jewish and Christian pilgrimage sites including the Tomb of Maimonides and Abulafia (Etz Chaim) Synagogue. The waterfront features the restaurant-lined Promenade, a marina and a fish market. South of the city, Hamat Tiberias National Park is home to famed mineral hot springs dating to antiquity.

Mount of Beatitude: is a hill in Northern Israel on the Korazim Plateau. It is the spot where Jesus is believed to have delivered his famous Sermon on the Mount. which comprised the heart of his teachings. Overlooking the north-western shore of the Sea of Galilee, the mount offers enchanting views of the northern part of the lake and across to the cliffs of the Golan Heights.

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Boat Ride around the Sea of Galilee: Arabic: بحيرة طبريا), also called Lake Tiberias or Kinneret, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth and the second-lowest lake in the world (after the Dead Sea, a Salt Lake), the lake is fed partly by underground springs, but its main source is the Jordan River, which flows through it from north to south and exits the lake at the Degania Dam. Capenaum Is the small village where the Ruins of St. Peter’s House and the ancient synagogue where Jesus did most of His teaching and one of the three town Jesus cursed for not listening to his teachings and refusal to repent.

Kursi Is the village where Jesus healed the two possessed demonic men who came at him out of the tombs and transferred the demons afflicting them to a number of swine, that thereupon rushed down a steep hill and perished.

Chorazin: The ruins are one of the three Galilean cities cursed by Jesus (“Woe to you, Chorazin!”) because their people did not accept his teachings and repent. 

Beitsaida: Is the third ancient village located on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee that Jesus cursed. The village of Jesus disciples Philip, Peter and Andrew. It is identified as the location where Jesus performed some of his most indelible miracles, it is here he led a blind man away from the village, restored his sight, and instructed the man not to re-enter the town nor to tell anyone of the miracle he had performed.

Gennesaret: Jesus used to sail across the lake and lands at Ginosar (Gennesaret). Always a crowd would gather, wanting Jesus to cure their ills. Jesus let the afflicted people touch the fringe of his cloak, and they were healed. The Jesus Boat or Galilee Boat is the name given to an ancient fishing boat discovered in the Sea of Galilee and now on display at the Yigal Allon Museum at Kibbutz Ginosar on the edge of the Sea of Galilee.

Magdala: was an ancient Jewish city on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, 5 km north of Tiberias. Some historical geographers may refer to Tarichaea, literally: "the place of processing fish." It is believed to be the birthplace of Mary Magdalene.

Baptism in Jordan River: Both areas in Jordan and the West Bank take their names from the river. The river has a major significance in Judaism and Christianity, the Jews believe that the Israelites crossed it into the Promised Land. Christians believe that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in it.

Jericho, Dead Sea Area, Jerusalem

Jericho: Means (City of palms”) It is known to be the oldest town on earth, where the Israelites supposedly brought down its walls with a great shout and trumpet blasts when they entered the Promised Land. Also, here Jesus healed Bartimaeus, the blind beggar, and dined with Zacchaeus, the rich tax collector. And both Cleopatra and Herod the Great coveted this lush oasis. Water from Jericho’s powerful perennial spring provides irrigation for abundant fruit, flowers and spices.                                     

The Tree of Zacchaeus is a Sycamore tree which is over 2000 years old and is located in the City Centre of Jericho. This is the tree Zacchaeus climbed when Jesus was passing through the town to see him as he was a very short man and couldn’t see over the heads of the crowds. Also, it is the place where Jesus cured Bartimaeus the beggar from blindness.

Ein Gedi, Dead Sea for swim: the site is famous for its hot springs and Spa’s, Dead Sea beaches for swimming.

Mount of Temptation: with a gravity-defying Greek Orthodox monastery clinging to its sheer face, is regarded as the mountain on which Christ was tempted three times by the devil during his 40-day fast. to prove his divinity by demonstrating his supernatural powers. Unlike some Greek Orthodox monasteries, the Monastery of the Temptation allows women visitors as well as men. The mountain is also known as Mount Quarantania and Jebel Quarantul. Both names arise from a mispronunciation of the Latin word Quarantined, meaning 40, the number of days in Christ’s fast. This period of fasting became the model for the practice of Lent in Christian churches.

Jerusalem & Bethlehem, Beit Sahour

Bethlehem:                                                                                                                                                                                                            

Church of the Nativity: is one of the major Christians sites is the cave of Jesus birth. In 326 Constantine and his mother Helena built the church over the grotto, which we know now as the church of nativity.

St. Catherine Church is located in the northern part adjacent to the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem. It works as a parish church in Bethlehem and Franciscan monastery. There is a complex of caves underneath the church. It was dedicated in 1347 to St. Catherine of Alexandria. This is the church where the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem celebrates Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.

St. Jerome’s Cave: is two-room cave which lies underneath the Church of St. Catherine St on the right-hand side of the nave, steps lead down to a complex of subterranean chambers. The first cave on the left at the bottom of the stairs is identified as the Chapel of the Holy Innocents. This is said to be the burial place of infants killed by King Herod in his attempt to eliminate the newborn “King of the Jews At the end, on the right, are the rooms where Jerome lived and spent 30 years translating the Scriptures from Hebrew and Greek into Latin. The adjacent caves have been identified as the burial places of Jerome (whose remains were later taken to Rome).

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Milk Grotto: is the place where the Holy Family found refuge during the Massacre of the Innocents, before they could flee to Egypt. The name is derived from the story that a "drop of milk" of the Virgin Mary fell on the floor of the cave and changed its colour to white. There are three different caves, which are visited by some in hope of healing infertile couples, the shrine being a place where prayers for children are miraculously answered.

Beit Sahour: Shepherds Field: Is a village 2 Km East of Bethlehem. It Is the place where the Angel of the Lord appeared to the Shepherds and informed them about the birth of Jesus in a cave in Bethlehem.

Shopping :Optional

Jerusalem, Mount of Olives, Mount Zion

Jerusalem the Old City:  Enter through St. Stephen’s gate to the Church of St. Anne: the origin of the church’s name is identified by being the home of Anne (Hannah) and Joachim, the parents of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus.

Pools of Bethesda: Behind the church are the remains of ancient pools, a Roman temple and churches. The pools have been identified as the Pool of Bethesda where Jesus healed a crippled man by speaking to him. During the Roman Period this site was the location of a temple to Asclepius, the Roman god of healing. A church was built over the ruins of the temple and the pool in the 5th century, and today we can see the great arches that supported the floors.

Via Dolorosa: The Via Dolorosa Latin for "Way of Grief," "Way of Sorrow," "Way of Suffering" or simply "Painful Way” is a processional route in the Old City of Jerusalem, believed to be the path that Jesus walked on the way to his crucifixion. The winding route from the Antonia Fortress west to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre—a distance of about 600 metres (2,000 feet). It is marked by nine Stations of the Cross; the remaining five stations being inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre: On the top of the hill in Jerusalem known as Golgotha stands the holiest Christian shrine in the Old City, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre – the site of Christ’s crucifixion, burial and resurrection.

Jerusalem: Mount of Olive: It is named so for the olive groves that once covered its slopes. It stands 300ft above the city of Jerusalem. Several key events in the life of Jesus, took place on the Mount of Olives it is where Jesus often went there to pray and went down the mountain on his triumphal entry to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday also it is the place from which Jesus ascended to heaven.

Jerusalem: Mount of Olives and it’s Churches 

Dominus Flevit Church: or the little teardrop church, located halfway down the western slope of the Mount of Olives, the incident in which Jesus wept over the future fate of Jerusalem, it occurred during Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on the first Palm Sunday, when crowds threw their cloaks on the road in front of him and shouted, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of Lord” Looking down on the city, Jesus wept over it as he prophesied its future destruction. Enemies would “set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side . . . crush you to the ground . . . and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognise the time of your visitation from God. “Within 40 years, in AD 70, Jesus’ prophesy was fulfilled. Roman legions besieged Jerusalem and, after six months of fighting, burnt the Temple and levelled the city.

Pater Noster Church:  Is where Jesus Christ’s taught the Lord’s Prayer to his disciples. On walls around the church and its vaulted cloister, translations of the Lord’s Prayer in 140 languages are inscribed on colourful ceramic plaques.

Garden of Gethsemane/Church of all Nations/Church of agony: The tranquil garden has magnificent ancient olive trees that are dated back to approximately 2,000 years ago, still producing olives today. It is the place where Jesus prayed on the night of His betrayal and arrest with His disciples, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. Jesus despair in Gethsemane was so deep that He sweat drops of blood. Sitting at the foot of the Mount of Olives, within the grounds of the Church of all Nations also known Church of Agony. 

Church of the Ascension: is a shrine located on the Mount of Olives on the site   believed to be the earthly spot where Jesus ascended into Heaven after his resurrection. It houses a slab of stone believed to contain one of his footprints.

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Mount Zion: 

Dormition Abby is one of the three earliest churches in Jerusalem and was regarded as the mother of all Churches. The site is where Virgin died or rather “fell asleep “as the name suggests.

St. Peter in Gallicantu/ the church of the Cockcrow/Caiaphas house: where St. Peters denied Jesus three times on the eve of His arrest. Below the church is the dungeon where Jesus was detained the night of his arrest.  

Upper Room “Cenacle”: the room is located on top of Mount Zion, where Jesus had shared the meal the Last Supper with his disciples the night before he died and During this meal he instituted the Eucharist which is the most momentous events of the Christian faith. The descending of the Holy Spirit, at Pentecost, which is recognized as marking the birth of the Christian Church.

Departure