EOHSJ Holy Land Pilgrimage

25/07/2021

“The hand of the Lord feeds us…”

06/03/2021

A year ago today, we were at The Latin Patriarchate receiving our Pilgrim Shells...

01/03/2021

The clouds from the summit of Mt. Tabor...”This is my beloved Son, listen to Him!”

02/01/2021

More from The Holy Land on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God...

https://youtu.be/wHSMwNLglL8

Photos of Mary taken from our 2020 pilgrimage to The Holy Land in honor or the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, January 1, 2021.Music: Canticle of Mary by S...

31/12/2020

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

https://youtu.be/sgP3fB4c_CU

Photos of The Basilica of The Annunciation and the Church of The Nativity taken by my wife and me during our pilgrimage to the Holy Land in early 2020 as the...

11/12/2020

A song for advent set to images from the photos we took on our pilgrimage...
https://youtu.be/qoe1tAzAucs

A song for Advent and the Christmas Season...vocals & guitar by yours truly.All photos were taken by Kathy and me from our pilgrimage to The Holy Land in ear...

18/05/2020

Click on "More" above to see the photo albums =>
On the Album page - click on the words "See All" to open the remaining 25 Albums instead of trying to view the Contact Sheet of pix...

18/04/2020

Treasury revealed...

01/04/2020

See the photo albums for the sites we visited and where we prayed
On the Album page - click on the words "See All" to open the remaining 25 Albums instead of trying to view the Contact Sheet of pix...

01/04/2020

March 5, 2020 - Our trip was altered because of the global pandemic of Novel Coronavirus of 2019, renamed as COVID-19. During the morning in Bethlehem, we learned that parts of our pilgrimage was cancelled because of the growing number of infected travelers coming from Italy and Germany, starting with the visit to the Caritas Baby Hospital. The hospital is located next door to Bethlehem Nativity Souvenirs where we were shopping at. I was close enough to take photos of the building but not permitted to visit. Next cancelled was our lunch visit at Bethlehem University - they prepared the food for our lunch but then they had to send home all the students and staff and close the campus.

We later learned that our flight home was cancelled as Lufthansa was committed to the repatriation of German citizens leaving the region. This meant that we were either leaving for home earlier than March 10th or staying later, all determined by when we could get a flight home without having to be quarantined in Israel, Europe or at O'Hare Airport.

After meetings with George's travel at The Dan Hotel and at The Christmas Hotel, we determined that our itinerary needed to be refocused on visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Mass at the Church of All Nations (Basilica of the Agony) and the Latin Patriarchate, if possible. Aside from finding a flight home, these were the last visits we needed to finish for our pilgrimage...that is what we accomplished as we learned that we would be returning to Chicago by Swiss Air via Zurich!

01/04/2020

March 6, 2020 - Our visit to the Latin Patriarchate where we received our Pilgrim Shells and Parchment Certificates.

01/04/2020

March 6, 2020 - We had Mass at the Church of All Nations, aka The Basilica of the Agony at the Garden of Gethsemane - the rock where Jesus prayed for the Father's will to be done. The Mass was shared with pilgrims from Ireland and I acclaimed the Gospel for the last time. Afterward, we prayed another decade of the rosary for the first of the Sorrowful Mysteries, the Agony of Jesus in the Garden.

01/04/2020

The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is where we prayed the Rosaries for the Crucifixion (the 5th Sorrowful Mystery) and the Resurrection (the 1st Glorious Mystery) - This place held many shrines as we sought out the hole atop Calvary where the cross was mounted (photos of us kneeling), the slab in the ante-chamber where Christ was laid (no photos allowed) and the slab in the forward chamber where Jesus was anointed in oil and wrapped in linen.

01/04/2020

We celebrated Christmas Mass in the cave of St. Jerome beneath the Church of the Nativity, where we also prayed a decade of the rosary for the third Joyful Mystery, the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ. The rock where the Manger stood and a relic of the original Manger is located at this church.

01/04/2020

We visited the 10,000-year-old ruins at Tel Jericho, then we went to Good Shepherd Church to celebrate Mass.

01/04/2020

It is from the Spring of Elijah in Jordan where John the Baptist was baptizing by the River Jordan where we prayed another decade of the rosary for the first Luminous Mystery, The Baptism in the Jordan. It is here where we also renewed our Baptismal Promises.

01/04/2020

Built by the Nabateans around the 5th century B.C., this is the place that was a major stopping point between the Dromedary Caravans from all parts of Asia into Jerusalem...the Magi would have stopped here on the way to pay homage to Jesus. It is from this region that Phasaelis, princess of Nabatea (Petra) and the first wife of Herod Antipas (Tetrarch during the time of Jesus ministry), came from. She fled back to this kingdom when she learned that Herod Antipas intended to divorce and marry Herodias, mother of Salome who asked for John the Baptist's head on a silver platter.