PILGRIMAGE TO THE HOLY LAND 2008

PILGRIMAGE TO THE HOLY LAND

Hosted by

 The Reverend George F. Woodward

St. Edmund’s Church

Monday, June 30—Saturday, July 12-2008

SUNDAY JUNE 29TH

DAY ONE

DEPART U.S.A

We are on our way to the Holy Land.

MON, JUNE 30, DAY 2:

ARRIVE TEL AVIV / TRANSFER TO JERUSALEM 

05:25       On Arrival you will be met by your  guide and proceed to St. George's College in Jerusalem.

                Walk down to the Damascus Gate to get the feel for the distance and our surroundings.

19:00       Dinner at  Papa Andrea

                Overnight at Saint George’s Guest House

                Tel:++972-2-6264704

                Fax:++972-2-6264703

TUE, JULY 1, DAY 3:

MOUNT SCOPUS; MOUNT OF OLIVES; GETHSEMANE; CITY OF DAVID; ST. PETER'S IN GALLICANTU

07:00       Breakfast

08:15       We begin with a panoramic view from and Mt. Scopus, then we walk the Palm Sunday road down the Mt. Of Olives to the Garden of Gethsemane with it sancient olive trees and the Church of all Nations,  view the City of David. Hezekiah had a tunnel built through solid rock to carry waters from the Gihon Spring to the Pool of Siloam. Jesus healed a blind man who was washed in this pool (John 9:7-11). Drive around the old City of Jerusalem.

13:00       Lunch at the Pasha Restaurant

14:30       Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu. This church was built over the palace of the High Priest Caiaphas, where Peter denied Jesus three times.

19:00       Dinner  with Bishop Suhail Dawani

WED, JULY 2, DAY 4:

OLD CITY / WESTERN WALL / EL-AKSA MOSQUE / SHRINE OF THE BOOK / SECOND TEMPLE MODEL 

07:00       Breakfast              

08:00       Today begins with a walking tour of the of the Old City of Jerusalem, 

starting at the Western Wall (Wailing Wall) where the faithful Jews cry their petitions to God. We continue to the Temple area of Mt. Moriah. We visit the El Aksa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock which is built on the ancient site of Solomon’s Temple (Genesis 22:9-14) and over the Rock of Sacrifice where Abraham offered Issac (Genesis 22) .Visit to St. Anne’s Church and the pools of Bethesda (John 5).

13:00       Lunch

14:30       We go to the Israeli Museum and the Shrine of the Book, where the Dead Sea Scrolls are housed, will also visit a scale model of the Old City of Jerusalem, describing the city more as it would have been during Jesus’ time.

19:00       Dinner  and overnight at Guest House

                Guest Speaker:   Contemporary Issues— An Israeli Perspective                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

THU, JULY 3, DAY 5:

SHEPHERD’S FIELD / BETHLEHEM 

07:00       Breakfast

08:00       This morning we start by visiting the Shepherd’s Field  "And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night" (Luke 2.8)

09:30       We depart for Bethlehem to visit the Church of the Nativity. The Church of the Nativity is located in Manger Square.   The Church contains a room where Jerome worked on the Latin Vulgate Bible.

12:00       Lunch at the Bethlehem University.

                Return to Jerusalem. 

19:00       Dinner  and overnight at Guest House

20:00       Guest speaker: Contemporary Issues—A Palestinian

                Perspective .

FRI, JULY 4,  DAY 6:

WAHAT AL-SALAAM / MT. CARMEL /  CHURCH OF THE ANNUNCIATION

08:30       Depart Jerusalem for Wahat Al-Salaam , (Oasis of Peace)

                A unique community in which Jews and Arabs have

                 chosen to live side –by-side in a reality of peaceful

                co-existence.

13:00       Lunch at Neve Shalom

14:00       Depart to Muhraqa where the Carmelite Monastery of  St. Elijah marks the site of this holy prophet’s triumph over the false prophets of Ba’al (1 Kings 18).

17:00       Church of the Annunciation, the traditional site of the Angel Gabriel’s appearance to Mary, telling her she would conceive Jesus, the Emmanuel.

19:00       Dinner and Overnight at the Sisters of Nazareth 

                Tel: ++972-4-6554304

                Fax: ++972-4-6460741

SAT, JULY 5, DAY 7:

MT. ARBEL / JORDAN RIVER / BOAT RIDE / MT. OF

BEATITUDES / CAPERNUM

07:00       Breakfast

08:00       Depart to Mt. Arbel for a great view over looking the Sea of Galilee and the Golan Heights, also we will have a close look at Wadi Hammam most probably the way Jesus would have walked from Nazareth to Capernaum.

 10:00      Visit the at Yardenit

                "In those days Jesus came down from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John at the Jordan" (Mark 1.9)               

11:00       Boat ride on the Sea of Galilee—

                Visit the Ancient Boat at Kibbutz Ginnossar

13:00       Lunch (Tanureen Restaurant)

14:00       Mount of Beatitudes, where we read and meditate on the Sermon on the Mount. (Matthew 5)

15:00       Capernaum, where Jesus lived during his  Galilean

                ministry. [Matt. 4:13].

16:00       Eucharist at Dalmanutha

19:00       Dinner at Saint Margaret’s with Episcopal Clergy and youth.

                Overnight at the Sisters of Nazareth. 

SUN, JULY 6, DAY 8:

ST.PAUL’S CHURCH / SHEFA-AMR /  DRUZE

COMMUNITY / EXPERIENCE THE CO-EXISTANCE OF THE THREE RELIGIONS

07:00       Breakfast

08:00       Depart for Shfar-Amr

09:30       Eucharist at St. Paul’s Church in Shefar-Amr

12:30       Lunch in Shefa-Amr

14:00       Explore the excavated site of Sephoris and its beautifully preserved mosais, once the center of Roman administration and Jewish scholarship in the 1st century A.D.

19:00       Dinner and overnight at the Sisters of Nazareth

MON, JULY 7, DAY 9:

MT. TABOR / JERICHO / JUDEAN DESERT 

07:30       Breakfast

08:30       Depart for

09:00       Mt. Tabor and the Basilica of the Transfiguration

                ‘And he was transfigured before them and his garments became glistening …’ (Mark 9.2)

13:00       Lunch (Al-Rawda Restaurant)

14:00       Wadi Kelt to View the spectacular hanging Monastery of St. George of Kosiba. Monastery is a living reminder of the 5th and 6th centuries when the was home to 20,000 monks and nuns over 200 monasteries.

19:00       Dinner  and overnight at St. George's Guest House.

TUE, JULY 8, DAY 10:

RAMALLAH / TAYBEH

07:00       Breakfast

08:30       We depart to Ramallah (Visit St. Andrew’s Church,

                Evangelical school, vocational school, housing projest0

                Meeting with the Mayor (Janet …..)

13:00       Lunch in Taybeh (Kan Zaman Restaurant)

15:00       Visit the  Brewery in the , also the ceramic factory that makes the Peace dove.

                Meet Fr. Raed Abu-Sahleyah

19:00       Dinner

WED, JULY 9, DAY 11:

FREE DAY IN JERUSALEM 

08-09       Late  Breakfast

                Option 1.               

                A free day , shop, re-visit favorite sites in Jerusalem or to visit the dramatic desert site of Masada, a fortified palace of Herod the Great which saw heavy fighting between Jewish rebels and Roman soldiers in 73 A.D. You may also wish to visit Yad Vashem site of the Holocaust Memorial, David’s Citadel and David’s Tower.

                Option 2.

                Join your guide on a walk to the Armenian quarter where we will be able to observe the Armenian Vespers.

19:00       Dinner  and overnight at Guest House

THU, JULY 10, DAY 12:

THE WAY OF SORROWS (VIA DOLOROSA)

05:30       Breakfast

06:15       Way of the Cross

                And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “ Eloi, Eloi, Lama sabachtani “ which means “ My God My God Why have you forsaken me” (Mark 15.34)

Silent Reflection at the Empty Tomb

                FREE AFTERNOON

19:00       Dinner at Guest House

                Overnight at

FRI, JULY 11, DAY 13:

EMMAUS / ABU-GHOSH

08:00       Breakfast

09:30       Depart for Abu Gosh

10:00       Eucharist at Abu  Ghosh in the

                FREE AFTERNOON

17:30       Farewell dinner  (Christmas Hotel)

19:00       Transfer to Ben Gurion Airport       

SAT, JULY 12,  DAY 14:

RETURN TO USA