Thursday, February 12th

Another beautiful day in the Holy Land. We were blessed with sunny, clear weather. We began our day in the Old City of Jerusalem visiting the Western Wall, a sacred sight for the Jewish people.




We then went to visit the Haram es-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary), formerly the Temple Mount. It is here that we saw the Dome of the Rock.



We visited the Church of St. Anne and then left the Old City to visit the Church of All Nations in the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives. .





After a brief stop at the tomb of David on Mt. Zion, we headed toward Bethlehem. After a lunch of falafel and shawerma, we went to the Church of the Nativity where we celebrated Mass in the Cave of St. Jerome. We celebrated a little bit of Christmas commemorating the gift of Jesus becoming one of us and living among us.





At Shepherd's Field we recalled the message of the angels and the response of the shepherds who went to venerate the Baby Jesus.





Tomorrow is our free day. Some plan to be part of an organized tour to the Israel Museum and Ein Karem, the hometown of John the Baptist. Others plan to go off in smaller groups to savor the richness of Jersualem.