Pater Noster Church – site of church built under instructions of Helena mother of Constantine .... Also Convent Cloisters where translations of the Lord’s Prayer are on the walls
Pater Noster – Lord’s Prayer in Doric (Dialect of the NE of Scotland)
Dominus Flevit Church – Jesus Wept – The church built in 1955 by Italian Architect Antonio Barluzzi, is in the shape of a tear drop.
View of Jerusalem from Dominus Flevit Church
Jewish cemetery on the slopes of Mt of Olives ... Facing Golden Gate through which Messiah will enter the city ... And thereafter the people will be judged ... Those buried her want to be among the first to be judged ... and include, somewhat ironically, some would say, Robert Maxwell
Garden of Gathsemane (from the Hebrew words "gat shemanim" or olive press) ... Many of the trees thought to be 800-900 years old, but because of the way the trees grow, the roots are thought to be older still ...
Church of all nations at Garden of Gathsemane
Church of all Nations. Rock – where Jesus is said to have prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane
Entering through Herod’s Gate on the way to Pool of Bethesda
Arch at Pool of Bethesda – on top of this and several others a church was built, effectively hiding the pools.
St Anne’s church – (supposed location of the home of Anne and Joachim – parents of Mary – The church has an amazing acoustic
Ecce Homo – Behold the Man (one part of the triumphal arch built by Herod inside the church)
The other side of the arch remains in Via Doloroso
The Via Dolorosa (Latin for "Way of Grief") The 14 stations of the cross ends up at the Holy Sepulchre 8-9 not a detour ... It’s just that the way is now blocked and so you have to double back ...
Entrance to the Holy Sepulchre ... The church is divided amongst the six oldest Christian Denominations – RC, Armenian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Egyptian Coptic, Ethiopian, and Syrian Orthodox ...
Ladder at window of Holy Sepulchre – don’t know who owns it, so it remains, because for anything to be done it needs the agreement of all the denominations who are responsible for the church. The keys are held by a Muslim family, and have been passed down through the generations.
Edicule ... Tomb housed inside ...
Dome above the Edicule ........ Which houses the tomb
Gordon’s Garden Tomb ... eroding after 100 years ... Useful illustration
1 st century tomb
Inside the tomb
At the Western Wall on the Thursday evening – young conscripts taking their oath
City at night – the souq in the Muslim Quarter ... End of day One
Young boy carrying bread in early morning around 6 am
As it is seen today, the Western Wall measures about 160 feet (50 metres) long and about 60 feet (20 metres) high; the wall, however, extends much deeper into the earth. Visitors to the wall have long followed the practice of wedging small slips of paper upon which prayers are written into the crack between the stones
Western Wall ...
Western Wall – Men’s Section
Women and Men’s sections separated – people spoke and took photos... Men’s section larger because it was an obligation for men to pray, while it was an option for women.
Church of St Peter in Gallicantu ... Built on the area where tradition puts Caiaphas’ house
Dungeon discovered underneath Church of St Peter in Gallicantu ... Would be where prisoners were held and questioned ...
Dungeon discovered underneath Church of St Peter in Gallicantu ... Guards stood on the steps lowered a rope, hauled up the prisoner ... He was asked questions and dropped back down again ...
Benedictus – at Church of St John
Many young men and women are in the army and carry guns – this sign at the Israel Museum makes you aware of this
Model of Jerusalem on the eve of the destruction – 70 AD – at Israel Museum
Shrine of the Book – contrast of Sons of the Light and Sons of the Darkness – at Israel Museum
Visit to Jeel al-Amal (Generation of Hope) Boys Home and Lazarus Girls Home - "In which language does a child cry?“ Asked the founder Alice Sahhar a Palestinian Christian who set up the home, that takes in mostly Pelestinian Muslims.
Also moments of lightness ... All local buses and tour buses wait for their passengers here.
Herod’s Desert Palace Fortress at Herodion
View from the slopes of the fortress – Herod’s lake, gardens and accommodation for soldiers
Inside the Fortess – Eastern Tower – 18 m in diameter
One of the cisterns below the fortress
Grotto of the Nativity
Crusader painting in the Basilica (11 th c) Byzantine mosaics (5 th c)
The Mount of Temptation Monastery stands precariously on a clifftop overlooking the ancient city of Jericho, one of the lowest cities in the world, in the Jordan Rift Valley. The monastery is built on the site where, according to the New Testament, Jesus Christ was tempted by the devil during a period of fasting... Also hermit caves
View from near the top – what the devil would have shown Jesus from the Mt of Temptation ... the kingdoms of the world and all their glory ... Matthew (4:8-10).
Also in the area of Jericho ... Bedouin ...
Sycamore tree in Jericho ... Zecheaus
Sepphoris – being built and developed around the time Jesus was growing up – Nazareth 5 miles away (at that time a town of 200 – therefore it’s possible that work would be found here for tradesmen like carpenters)
Ongoing archaeological dig at Sepphoris
Crusader citadel at Sepphoris
Nazareth village – living museum showing how it would have looked in Jesus day – Olive press (top) Synagogue (bottom) living area of a home (right side)
Church of the Annunciation ... The original Church of the Annunciation was founded around the same time as the Church of the Nativity (the birthplace) and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (the tomb)... commissioned by Emperor Constantine , who had directed his mother, Helena, to found churches commemorating important events in Jesus Christ's life ...
Inside the church of the Annunciation is another earlier 4 th century church, built over what is by tradition said to be Mary’s home ... Where she was visited by the angel Gabriel ...
Some of the stained glass windows in the Church of the Annunciation
Pictures of Madonna and child cover the outside walls and are from all over the world
Jesus Galilean base ...
Peter’s house ... At Capernaum, there are the remains of an octagonal church which was built in the fifth century (Byzantine period), and remained in use until the 7th century... In 1968, archaeologists re-discovered the remains of a much earlier church underneath the 5th century church... This earlier church had been built around what was originally a private house... One room of the house showed signs that it had been used as a meeting place from very early in the Christian era - during the second half of the first century... From the earliest times, followers of Jesus Christ believed that this house was the home of Simon Peter ... A modern Franciscan church has been built over the earlier remains.
Synagogue – white stone from a later period than the time Jesus lived – but the black stone below, which is the local stone, dates from the time of Jesus – this therefore could be the road on which he walked ... And the temple in which he taught ...
Capernaum homes around the Synagogue ...
Communion by the Sea of Galilee
Time for reflection down by the edge of the Sea of Galilee
Church of the loaves and fishes ... Area where Jesus is said to have fed the multitudes ...
Church of the loaves and fishes ... Area where Jesus is said to have fed the multitudes ... Rock ... and mosaic ...
Church of the Loaves and Fishes
Mensa Christi – Table of Christ – on the shore of the Sea of Galilee – Jesus’ Table
Mensa Christi – Table of Christ – where he ate with the disciples after the resurrection
Lunch – St Peter’s fish – at the Convent of the Beatitudes
Church of the Beatitudes
Dome of the Church of the Beatitudes ... Which are on stained glass windows below the dome
View from the gardens of the Church of the Beatitudes – overlooking the Sea of Galilee ...
On the Sea of Galilee
Time once more to listen, pray, reflect and sing ...
