Today, we were back on couse with the chronology of Jesus life. We gathered this morning for our class photo, then boarded the bus for Ein Kerem, the traditional site of the Visitation, when Mary came to see Elizabeth, her cousin, who was having a late-in-life pregnancy with John the Baptist, and the two women met, and John the Baptist, leaped in utero at the presence of his Lord. The Bible does not name Ein Kerem as the town in the hill country, but the two churches and the fountain located there, have been pilgrimage sites since the eariest days of pilgrimages.
Not too many yards away in Ein Kerem, is the Church of Saint John the Baptist, which purports to mark the birth place of John the Baptist. No one asked why he would have been born in a different location from his mother's house (where the Visitiation shrine is said to be). Such questions are irrelivant in the Holy Land. It also is a beautiful church with appropriate artwork reflecting Luke's telling of John's Birth and the restoration of Zechariah's vocal abilities. One of the items I will always try to remember is the exhibit of the rock (the very rock) which protected the infant J the B and his mother from the soldiers of Herod, who were killing all babies under two years of age, at the time, by opening up and completely engulfing them. It looks like an ordinary rock.... who knew. If you are not familiar with the story (and I certainly was not) it can be verified in the Gospel of James, also known as the Protoevangelium, the very book which gives us the birth of Mary, her parents names, Anne and Joachim, her growing-upyears, and her post birth gynocological exam!
Next, we were off to Bethlehem, to the Church of the Nativity. This is one of Saint Helena's churches from the fouth century, and while it has been tampered with and rebuilt a couple of times, it is one of the only churches to have remained more or less intact. That is stirring, but also means that it is under almost constant repair. This time we could not even use the main door because there is extensive work being done on the roof (eight million eros worth, our guide told us). Usually, and by that I mean always, the place is packed and the cave/grotto, which is the place where Mary gave birth, and layed baby Jesus in the stone manger about ten feet away is so packed and hot with burning candles, lamps and bodies that any sense of devotion and awe is suplanted by the need to survive. But, because of all the construction, the authorities are allowing only guided tours, which means that huge groups of pilgrims are milling around in Nativity square, waiting for their turn in the holy place. Fortunately, our course director, Rodney Aist has a friend among the Palestinian tour guides who found us rather quickly and ushered us directly to the cript/grotto, and kept all others out for about 15 minutes, giving our group ample opportunity, and space to pray, admire, offer thanks and take pictures with little distraction of fear ofasphyxiation!
As an added bonus, we were able to tour the other caverns and grottos under the complex including the work and living space of Saint Jerome and his monks and admirers. Saint Jerome, in case your soteriology is slipping, was the sith century translator of the Bible from the original ancient languages into Latin and was the standard text for the Roman Church until Vatican II in the last century. In any case, we had to make our way through another wedding in the adjacent church, used for the annual Roman Catholic Mass from Bethlehem which is broadcast all over the world on Christmas eve each year. The wedding party was not really happy with our presence. But apparently, no one gets to tell an official guide where he can go, or not.
Back on the square, we hopped on the bus headed for home, but not before we stopped at a large and very impressing gift shop operated by Palestinian Christians with authentic Palestinian-made goods. It was filled with an impressive selection olive wood carvings and statuary, and of course, the usual Holy Land kitch.
Over all it was an excellent day and a very educational and inspirational experience. The weather is beautiful, a little hot in the daytime, but cool enough in the evenings to suggest that maybe a light jacket would be in order. The food at Saint George's and on the road has been truely excellent, and those of you who dine with me from time to time, know that that means, pretty darn good! I spent some of my bus time today, (there wasn't really that much of it) thinking that I have the makeings of a pretty good Nativity of our Lord in situ program. If so, Advent, or maybe even a fifth Wednesday in December time may be possible.
I'm sorry that I can't seem to include more pictures this time. For some reason, these blog posts seem to fail, today, with pictures attached. I'll try to make some additional picture posts tomorrow.
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