1. King David’s Tomb
 Interestingly, holy places for the Jews still require men and
women to be separated and men had to cover their heads
with paper Yamakas.

2. St. Peter in Galicantu (Crowing
Rooster)
 This is the place where Peter denied knowing Jesus for the third
time.
 This was also the place where Jesus was led up to the house of
Caiaphas, the high priest, who held Jesus in a pit/cave overnight
after interrogating him. We were led down a long path of stairs
to enter the pit area. While the pit is a clean and well lit place
now, it was very easy to imagine how dark, dirty and scary it
must have been for our Lord.
 As we ascended, out of the pit into the garden area of Caiaphas
house, we could see the original set of stairs, which are over
2,000 years old. Jesus took these very steps down from the
Upper Room to get to the Garden of Gethsemane and then was
led up the same steps after being arrested to get to the High
Priest’s palace.

11. Mount Olives and Patre Noster
Shrine
 Next we went to the Patre Noster Shrine which
commemorates the “Our Father” in languages from around
the world.

14. Mount of Olives along the Palm
Sunday Path
 We then walked down the Mount of Olives along the Palm
Sunday path, stopping once at the Church of Dominus Flevit
which means “The Lord Wept” and came to the bottom of the
path right at the Garden of Gethsemane. Along the path,
there was a panoramic view of Jerusalem which gave us a
wide perspective on Jesus’s movements during that last
week of his life.
 (Luke 19:41)

15.  When Jesus wept over Jerusalem this was what he saw.
From this vista point we could easily locate Antonia
Palace, Upper Room, and Church of the Holy Sepulchre

16. Garden of Gethsemane and the
Church of Agony
 This is the site where Jesus spent His last few moments
before He was taken to be crucified
 We arrived in the evening after dinner for a special
opportunity which was only afforded to our group. We had
some private time to sit and meditate in the garden during
twilight, right among the same olive trees that were there
2000 years ago. This was a deeply privileged and moving
time which continued as we entered the church for adoration
at the Church of Agony there at the Garden, which surrounds
the rock Jesus prayed at.

21. Via Dolorosa
 This morning we had to get up very early, at 5:00 am, to begin
our journey through the maze of walkways in old Jerusalem to
the Via Dolorosa. At the beginning of this path is Pilate’s
Fortress where Jesus was condemned to death. From
there, Jesus was forced to carry his own cross to
Golgotha, where he was to be crucified. We journeyed along
the same path. The walkways were made of uneven
cobblestones, periodic stairs and open market places and
shops.
 This is not unlike the experience Jesus had. Our group carried
a large cross that took up to six people to carry at a time through
the Via Dolorosa where we sang and observed the Stations of
the Cross. Talk about bringing a yearly event during the Easter
season to life! One could not help but think about Jesus’
suffering and how Mary must have felt knowing her son was
walking towards his death.

30. Holy Sepulchre
 We ended our journey at the Holy Sepulchre, which is the
Basilica that was built surrounding the place of crucifixion
and the tomb. We had Mass at the closest physically
possible location to the place of crucifixion inside the Roman
sanctuary which is where he was nailed to the cross.

35.  Less than 250 feet away, was the tomb that held Jesus’
body. We were allowed to go through both rooms of the
cave, four at a time and say a quick prayer. As a side note,
Tom and I carried a photo of Jessica throughout our journey
in the Holy Land and placed it upon the place of Jesus’
crucifixion and resurrection. We held hands and said a
prayer of healing and comfort for our sweet, little girl.

36.  Interesting fact:
 The Church is shared by six different dominations, Roman
Catholic, Greek
Orthodox, Assyrian, Armenian, Ethiopian, and Coptic. The
division of these factions is great. For example, the Roman
Catholics control the entrance to the tomb from 8-10:00 am
and then the Greek Orthodoxes take over from 10:00-noon
and so on. Another example is that on the outside of the
church, way up high, is a ladder. This ladder is leaning
against the building on a landing going towards a
window. This ladder has been in this location since
1886. The problem? The ladder is located between two
governing areas of the church i.e. one leg is on the Roman
Catholic side and the other on the Armenian side – thereby
not allowing either side to remove the ladder!

38.  After leaving the Basilica, we took a group picture and this
marked the highlight and pinnacle of the pilgrimage.

39. Western Wall (Wailing Wall)
 Before ending the day’s formal events, we visited the
Western Wall (Wailing Wall) and were given the opportunity
to offer personal prayers. This is done at the wall, with men
divided from women. The wall is the only remaining piece of
the Temple which was destroyed in 70AD.

40. Church of Saint Martha, Mary and
Lazarus
 Today, we went to the Church at the home of Lazarus,
Martha and Mary, and celebrated Mass. The gardens
surrounding the church were very lush and beautiful. The
acoustics in the church were great for hymns but for some
made it hard to hear the liturgy. This is another church built
by Antonio Berlucci last century. There were frescoes
depicting the visit Jesus made to Lazarus’ house with Martha
and Mary, and the raising of Lazarus. After Mass, those who
wished to see the tomb of Lazarus were able to actually go
down into it briefly.

46. Qumran and Dead Sea Scrolls
 After lunch, we visited Qumran to hear about the Dead Sea
scrolls. It was scorching hot. Less than half an hour from
Jerusalem, this is smack dab in the middle of the desert and
it was 104◦ F. It was hard to believe that anyone would
choose to live in such an environment, but the Essenes
did. In 1947, a shepherd accidentally found the cisterns
which contained the scrolls – a truly remarkable find which
contained fragments from each of the Old Testament books
(except Esther) and many other documents.

47. Dead Sea
 The Dead Sea marks the lowest point on the planet. The water
is so salty that no living thing can survive. Ok, Tom is making
this sound boring! The Dead Sea was super fun! We walked
through a rocky, muddy shore out into the water. Yes, I even
went in! There were warning signs everywhere saying you
could only float on your back and not to submerge your head,
accidently swallow water or get the water into your eyes. If you
did you need to seek medical attention immediately. They were
not kidding; the life guard continually called out to warn
people. Tom and I got into the water and got about out to our
knees. Being as cautious as we are, we immediately sat down
and our legs shot out from underneath us and we began to
float. It was the weirdest thing. You could barely bring your legs
back underneath you! Father Brendan had a group of us
floating at the same time and decided that it would be fun to do
synchronized swimming by sticking our legs all up in the air at
the same time – right then left - Super fun and light hearted!

49. Jericho
 Our last visit of the day was a drive through Jericho. We
stopped at place that was thought to be the area where the
Sycamore tree that Zacchaeus climbed was located. I was a
bit bummed that we didn’t get a chance to get out of the bus
for my picture since Zacchaeus has been one of favorite
people in the Bible. Why? I cannot tell you but I remember
the song well and actually sang it for the whole bus!

Zacchaeus was a wee little man,
a wee little man was he;
He climbed up in the Sycamore tree
for the Lord he wanted to see .
And Jesus said “Zacchaeus, you come down!”
For I am going to your house today;
I am going to your house today

51. Emmaus
 The final stop of the pilgrimage portion of our trip was in
Emmaus, where we stopped at a monastery and
church. Emmaus is at the end of the road along which the
risen Christ was encountered, but not immediately
identified, by two disciples within a week after the
resurrection. It was in the breaking of the bread that they
recognized Jesus.
 Father Brendan’s words at the church added a poignant and
powerful punctuation to our spiritual journey during our
pilgrimage. He left us with words to remember about Christ
meeting the two disciples right where they were and the
importance for us to do the same as we share the
recollections and lessons from our journey with our friends
and acquaintances back home.

54.  A particular painting, in the church which was clearly aging
and in need of restoration, caught my attention as the image
of Christ was clearly obscured, offering a visible metaphor for
the two disciples’ lack of recognition on the Emmaus road.

55. Other Interesting Points 

56.  Our hotel view and food in Galilee

57.  Our hotel in Jerusalem

58. Israeli/Palestinian
 The history that our tour guide, Johnny, gave us explained in ways that
we could relate to about the factors that led to and are going on
between Israel and the Palestinian state. In order to complete this
journey, we had to drive in and out of the West Bank, through
checkpoints, and into the region where you can actually see a massive
wall erected by the Israeli government which is reminiscent of pictures
we’ve seen of the Berlin wall. These walls surround Palestinian areas
that have been known for their anti-Israeli actions and the holy city of
Bethlehem falls under this category.
 Our guide described it as “Swiss Cheese.” Israel has declared the West
Bank as Israeli territory and therefore currently has control of this
recognized Palestinian area. Due to the walls, the Israeli government
completely controls who can leave the area. Many students have not
been granted permission to continue to attend school in the nearby city
of Jerusalem. Also, Jerusalem is the location of medical services for
which these people also have to ask permission from the government to
exit Bethlehem.
 I think we were all intrigued as we crossed over into the West Bank and
into Bethlehem this morning; however, there was a lot more tension this
evening as we returned and had to cross over the border. The Israeli
soldiers entered our bus with automatic weapons checking for
Bethlehem citizens.

62.  Sadly, this situation has caused many of the Christian
families to flee the Holy Land of Bethlehem. There is no
industry for these people and we were strongly encouraged
not to buy souvenirs from the Arab people.

63.  The Israeli police are abundant and well armed.

64.  Common signage outside of Holy places

65. Mediterranean Sea
 Port of Joppa, city of Jaffa our last night before heading
home. Must return to the Mediterranean Sea!

66. The People of Israel

67.  Families sitting next to the walls surrounding Jerusalem

68.  The Muslim entrance into Jerusalem

69.  The Friar in-charge of the Garden of Gethsemane

70.  Corner market places

73. Laurie’s quirks –
Doors, Gates and Plants
of Israel

94. Thank you for sharing in our
pilgrimage to the Holy Land!