On to Nazareth…
DAY 6: SUNDAY 10 FEBRUARY - VIA NAZARETH TO THE SEA OF GALILEE. Theme: The Formative Years of Jesus We farewell Bethlehem this morning and journey directly north to Nazareth, the town of Jesus’ childhood.
The first photo above is of a beautiful sunrise over the hills of Bethlehem that greeted us as we departed. The second is a panorama of the port city of Haifa on the Mediterranian Sea about 2 hours later. There in the middle of the photo are the famous Bahai Gardens (see the detail in the third shot). A bit further down is a church dedicated to Mary, Star of the Sea (Stella Maris in Latin). Under this church is a grotto where Elijah is said to have lived (last photo); hence the images of the Prophet taken up in a fiery chariot to Heaven in a dome detail (photo 8) and in the stained-glass window (photo 9).
Firstly we enter inside the Basilica of the Annunciation where a traditional cave becomes the focal point as we ponder Mary’s response “Let it be done to me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38).
Arriving in Nazareth, this Basilica of the Annunication is set way up high on a hill…and it is huge! The building was designed by a famous Italian architect in the middle of last century. Inside is the grotto where the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary (photos 5-6). As usual, it looks nothing like it appeared in the time of Mary, with a huge, multi level basilica built up all around it with lots of side altars for visiting priests to celebrate Masses. I have concelebrated Mass in this main altar (just in front of the grotto) on my previous trip to the Holy Land with Fr. Michael Glastetter and our families. Within the actual grotto is a tiny altar with a plaque that says "The Word Became Flesh" in Latin (7). These are shots looking up to the dome (8-9) and shots of the ceiling (10) which the architect designed in triangles that can be read as A's and M's for "Ave Maria" or "Hail Mary" in English, the first words of the Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary. I loved the colors and design of the windows (11-12). Along the inside of the Basilica are images of Mary donated from ifferent countries all over the world. This image is one of my favorites (13) a mosaic from Japan; the white of Jesus' clothes are made up of actual pearls!
Then we visit we will visit the nearby Church of St Joseph before raveling on to the village of Cana, where Jesus, at the request of His Mother, performed his first miracle transforming the water into wine at the wedding feast (Jn 2:1-11). Here, we celebrate Mass and married couples may take the opportunity to renew their wedding vows.
The Church of St. Joseph is right up the hill from that of the Annunciation. We walked up to it. It is not as big, but has much to admire, such as this image of the Holy Family on the fascade (3); a lovely painting within of Jesus working with his foster father (4); a modern stained glass window of the marriage of Joseph and Mary (5); and an older window of the death of St. Joseph (6). This diagram (7) shows how the church is built over an ancient Nazareth home, traditionally thought to be the house of St. Joseph (8).
And then we went on to Cana, nearby, to celebrate Mass and renew wedding vows. This is the church where Jesus performed his first miracle, as depicted in this modern work there (10).