11 Day Holy Land with Petra
Day 01: USA / ISRAEL. Tour members will gather at the ticket counter at the airport two hours prior to the departure to for our flight to Israel. Dinner and breakfast will be served in flight.
Day 02: TEL AVIV. Upon arrival, we will be met and transferred to our beautiful hotel in a Tel Aviv suburb where the thrilling journey of following in the footsteps of Jesus will begin. Dinner will be served at our hotel. Weather permitting, we suggest a walk after dinner on the beach.
Day 03: ALL THE PAST YEARS WITH HISTORY. Morning departure to Caesarea Martima in the Plains of Sharon to visit the ruins of the Crusader's City, surrounded by a moat and a city wall enclosing the ruins of the Roman City. Visit the Roman Theater and proceed along the shores of the Mediterranean to Haifa. Visit Mount Carmel and the Shrine of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Visit the Cave of the Prophet Elijah. Proceed to Nazareth where we visit the Basilica of the Annunciation enclosing the remains of the House of Joachim and Ann and the site where the Angel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary to announce that she was to become the Mother of God. Mass is celebrated here followed by a visit to the Home of the Holy Family, St. Joseph's workshop, Mary's Well and the Synagoguewhere Jesus preached. Continue to Cana, where Christ performed his first miracle, the Transformation of Water into Wine, and where any married couples can renew their marriage vows. Proceed to your hotel in Tiberias.
DAY 04: THE SEA OF GALILEE AND UPPER GALILEE. In the morning, we cross the Sea of Galilee by boat from Tiberias to Capernaum, now in ruins but once a thriving town where Peter lived and where much of the public ministry of Christ took place. See the Church of the Primacy of Peter, where Christ taught the Eight Beatitudes to his Disciples. Mass will be celebrated at the Mount of Beatitudes. Continue to the ruins of Magdala where Mary Magdalene lived. View Mt. Arbel. In the afternoon, drive to the Golan Heights, overlooking Upper Galilee. Cross the River Jordan via Jacob's Daughters Bridge and continue to Pilgrim’s Park for renewal of baptismal vows in the River Jordan. Return to your hotel for dinner and overnight.
DAY 05: TIBERIAS / JERASH / MT. NEBO / PETRA. Today we depart Tiberias via the Sheik Hussein Bridge and cross into Jordan. We continue to Jerash, then Mt. Nebo, and then on to Petra "The Rose Red City - Half as Old as Time". Dinner and overnight at our hotel.
DAY 06: PETRA / JERUSALEM. This morning after breakfast, we visit Petra. This ancient Edomite and Nabatean capital is an amazing city of prophecy. See this spectacular "City of the Dead" with its famed gorge, ancient street, temples, dwelling places and tombs carved from the solid rock. Arrive at El Ji Post and continue the one-mile journey on horseback, or walk, passing through the famous SIQ (natural gorge) and arrive at the "Treasury". Visit the ancient theater. In the Nabatean Judgment Hall, Place Tombs, famous Urn Temple and the Roman amphitheater. Those willing to climb may view the monastery, Jebel Harun (Mountain of Aaron), supposed to be the burial place of Aaron. Horseback journey back to El Ji Post. Continue to Jerusalem via the Southern Bridge into Israel. Dinner and overnight at our hotel.
DAY 07: JERUSALEM AND BETHLEHEM. Drive to Bethlehem. Visit the Basilica of the Nativity, built over the site of the birthplace of Christ where Mass will be celebrated. Visit the Cave where Christ was born and it is the occasion to sing the traditional Christmas Hymns. A visit is made to the Chapel of St. Jerome, who lived here for many years and translated the Bible into Latin. The nearby Church of St. Catherine is the venue for the midnight Mass which is broadcast all over the World from Bethlehem on Christmas Eve. Continue to the Shepherds field, recalling the "great throng of the heavenly hosts" who appeared to the Shepherds and told them of the birth of the Savior. In the afternoon, visit Ein Karem, the place of the Visitation where Our Lady came to visit her cousin Elizabeth. View the plaques with the Magnificat inmost languages of the World. Visit the parish church of St. John the Baptist, and the Grotto of his birth. Return to your hotel.
DAY 08: MOUNTAINS OF JERUSALEM. Drive to the Mount of Olives and visit the Church of the Ascension, the spot where Christ ascended into Heaven; the Pater Noster Church commemorating Christ's teaching of the Our Father to his disciples; Dominus Flevit, the spot where Christ wept over Jerusalem and onwards to Gethsemane and the Church of All Nations which houses the Rock of the Agony of Christ on Holy Thursday. In this Church is a beautiful mosaic donated by the United States. Visit the Cave of the betrayal of Jesus and the Tomb of Our Lady. Celebrate Mass at the Church of All Nations. This afternoon tour the Old City of Jerusalem, visiting the Chapel of Flagellation, the chapel of Condemnation and the Lithostrotos, the site of the Antonia Fortress where Julius Caesar resided at the time of Christ and where Christ was tried and condemned to death. Beginning the way of the Cross here, join the walk along the Via Dolorosa led by the Franciscans - ending at the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, built over the site of the Crucifixion and the Tomb. Visit Calvary and the Tomb of Our Lord followed by a short tour of the Basilica.
DAY 09: THE WILDERNESS OF JUDEA. Early morning Mass at the Basilica on the Holy Sepulchure. After breakfast, drive to Bethany and visit the new Church, built on the site of the house of Mary and Martha. Visit the Tomb of Lazarus. We proceed through the Judean Wilderness to Jericho stopping at the site of Inn of the Good Samaritan. Visit Elijah's Fountain and the ancient city of Jericho from which you can view the Mount of Temptation, where Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights. Continue along the shores of the Dead Sea to Ein Gedi where a precipitous cliff, filled with caves, rises some 2,000 feet. Time is allowed for a float on the Dead Sea. Proceed to visit Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered by a shepherd boy in 1947, before returning to Jerusalem. Dinner and overnight at our hotel.
DAY 10: JERUSALEM / Airport. This morning visit the Church of St. Anne, built on the site of birthplace of Anne (Hanna), the mother of Our Lady, where Mass will be celebrated. Continue to the Pool of Bethesda, where Christ healed the paralytic. Visit the Temple area, the spot where the original temple was built and which was the scene of many episodes from the life of Christ, such as the expulsion of the money changers. Here now stands the Dome of the Rock, the third holiest spot in the world for the Moslem faith. Visit the El Aksa Mosque and then the Wailing Wall which is the most sacred spot in the world for the Jews. In the afternoon proceed to the Shrine of the Book, enclosing the Dead Sea Scrolls. Continue to Mount Zion, visiting the room of the Last Supper, Church of the Dormition and then visit the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu built on the sire of the house of Caiphas which encloses the dungeon where Christ was kept on Holy Thursday night and where Peter denied Christ thrice. Stop for dinner at a local restaurant before we drive to the airport for our flight home.
DAY 11: Arrive NORTH AMERICA. Arrive North America and continue home - the end of our most memorable pilgrimage.