Our pilgrimage begins today as we depart on our flight to Israel. Meals and drinks served aloft.

After arrival at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, our immersion in ancient Israel where Christ walked begins. We will be met by our guide who will guide us through the Holy Land and make the scripture come alive as we follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Travel to the Mediterranean coastal city of Netanya for dinner and overnight. (D) – Overnight Netanya

Set out for a morning drive along the Mediterranean Coast to Caesarea, the capital of the Roman Procurators of Judea where St. Peter preached, and where St. Paul was imprisoned for two years. We will visit the Roman Theater and the Crusader’s Moat and see the stunning architecture and art of the Byzantine Churches. This afternoon we will enter the port city of Haifa to ascend Mt. Carmel, the sacred mountain where the Prophet Elijah contested 450 prophets of Baal proclaiming “The Lord, He is God,” and Elisha, his disciple, took refuge. We will visit Stella Maris, the church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary as Star of the Sea, located near the cave in which Elijah lived. We then continue along our way to our hotel in Tiberias, our home base for the next three nights. (B, D) Mass – Overnight Galilee

Enjoy a scenic morning boat ride across the Sea of Galilee, the setting of so many moments in Christ’s life. We will visit the Church of Peter’s Primacy on the shores of Galilee. A rock at the center of the Church is believed to be the actual table where the apostles ate breakfast with Christ after His Resurrection. It is where Peter’s role as the Vicar of Christ was further established as Christ asked him to “Feed my sheep,” (John 21:16) We continue to Capernaum the center of Jesus’s three-year public ministry where he called his first disciples, Peter, Andrew, James, John and Matthew. Here Christ healed Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever, brought a child back to life, cured a leper, healed the centurion’s servant, and cast out a demon from a young boy. After Mass we will visit the synagogue where Jesus taught. At Tabgha, we ponder the site where Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes to feed more than 5,000 people. Finally, in Bethsaida we visit the home of Andrew and Peter and marvel at the humble beginnings of two of the greatest disciples, and then drive to Magdala, birthplace of Mary Magdalene, known as “the Apostle to the Apostles” where we will visit the chapel and surrounding ruins. (B, D) Mass – Overnight Galilee

We drive to Cana in Galilee to pray where Jesus performed his first miracle, at the request of his mother, Mary, turning the water into wine. The Catholic Church points to this miracle as establishing the Sacrament of Marriage. If you wish, you may renew your wedding vows here as a lasting remembrance of this holy site. Afterwards, travel a short distance to Nazareth, the childhood home of Jesus. Visit the Church of the Annunciation that holds the Cave of the Annunciation just behind the altar. This is the actual room where Gabriel appeared to Mary and “The Word was made flesh.” (John 1:14.). See St. Joseph’s Carpentry Shop, where the foster father of Jesus worked and Mary’s Well, where the Virgin Mary drew water with her son for their daily living. We will take our last excursion of the day to the summit of Mt. Tabor, the site of the Transfiguration and the culminating point of Christ’s public life. Christ revealed his divinity here to three of his apostles as he spoke with the prophets Moses and Elijah. It is also the second time and place where God told people from Heaven that Christ was his beloved Son to whom they should listen. (Matthew 17:5) (B, D) Mass – Overnight Galilee

This morning we celebrate Mass at the Mt. of Beatitudes, where Christ gave his famous Sermon on the Mount, followed by a Holy Hour along the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Depart this region and travel south towards Jordan, stopping at Kursi, where Jesus met a possessed man and miraculously cast out a legion of demons into the herd of swine (Luke 8:26). Continue to the Sheikh Hussein Bridge where we will cross from Israel into Jordan and drive to Tel Mar Elias near Ajloun where we will visit the archaeological site and ruins of Byzantine churches, believed to be the birthplace of the prophet Elijah. Close by is Anjara and Our Lady of the Mountain Church, where tradition says Jesus and his mother Mary stopped with his disciples and rested in a cave when they traveled between Jerusalem and Galilee. Today this cave is a holy place for pilgrims – the site of a miracle validated by the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, in which a statue of Our Lady of Anjara wept tears of blood in 2010. Continue on to Amman, the capital of Jordan, and proceed to our hotel for check-in. (B, D) Mass – Overnight Amman

This morning we will depart Amman and visit Bethany beyond the Jordan, the Baptismal Site of our Lord (on the Jordanian side of the river.) Renew your baptismal vows in the very river where Christ was baptized by John the Baptist. (Mark 1:9) Ponder how the children of Israel crossed the River Jordan opposite Jericho when they came to the Promised Land. These are the waters the prophet Elijah divided and crossed with Elisha and which Naaman the Syrian dipped in seven times to cure his leprosy. Pilgrims come every year to immerse themselves in these holy waters. Drive south to Mt. Nebo where Moses viewed the Promised Land, but was not permitted to enter, due to his disobedience (Deut 34). Drive to Madaba, a Byzantine center of master mosaics, to see the oldest surviving map of the Holy Land. Pass through Machaerus, site of the Fortress of Herod the Great. It was here that John the Baptist was imprisoned and later beheaded (Matthew 14). Continue our descent into the magnificent Petra, one of the Seven Wonders of the World and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. (B, D) Mass – Overnight Petra

This morning will be spent exploring the “Red Rose City” of Petra which is literally carved into the sides of a deep gorge. Riding on horseback (the horseback ride is optional, and no riding experience is required) between the 100-foot cliffs we will see a remarkable sight: temples, tombs, and dwellings chiseled right into the limestone walls. We’ll be awed as we view the masterpieces of the Treasury, the Monastery, the Triumphal Arch and the Roman Amphitheater. It was just outside of Petra where Moses struck the rock to bring forth water (Numb 20). After our tour of Petra, we will travel north, passing by the burial place of Aaron, brother of Moses and first High Priest of the Israelites. Cross the Allenby Bridge from Jordan back into Israel and drive a short distance to Jerusalem for check-in at our hotel, our home base for the next three nights. (B, D) Mass – Overnight Jerusalem

We begin this morning at one of the most joyous sites connected to the Holy Night Christ was born – the church located in the Shepherd’s Fields in Bethlehem, marking the spot where the shepherds heard the chorus of angels proclaiming Jesus’ birth. In the city of Bethlehem, meaning “House of Bread,” we visit the Nativity Church that sits above the traditional Grotto of Jesus’ Birth. Ponder the Manger, Grotto of St. Jerome and the Church of St. Catherine, the parish church for Bethlehem’s Catholics. We will visit the Milk Grotto Chapel, a place where many couples pray for the Virgin Mary’s intercession to conceive a child. This afternoon, drive to the top of the Mount of Olives for a panoramic view of Jerusalem and visit two churches located on the mount: The Church of the Pater Noster where Jesus taught his disciples how to pray the “Our Father” and the Ascension Chapel, the site where Jesus ascended into Heaven. Descend the mount on the path Christ walked on the “Palm Sunday Road” to Dominus Flevit, where Christ wept over Jerusalem and her future destruction. Then enter the Garden of Gethsemane where Christ had his agony and was betrayed. Here we have Mass in the Church of All Nations at the Rock of Agony, the very rock Christ prayed at and sweated blood before he was to be crucified. After time for private prayer, we will return to our hotel. (B, D) Mass – Overnight Jerusalem

We start the morning at the Tomb of Our Lord in the Holy Sepulchre Church with Mass, followed by time for private prayer and reflection. After a late breakfast at our hotel, we will go to the Temple Area of the Old City to visit the Wailing Wall, a solemn site for the Jewish people and where prayers are inserted between the stones and view the Temple Mount featuring the Dome of the Rock and El Aqsa Mosque. While in the Old City, visit the Church of St. Anne, where the Blessed Virgin Mary was born. Next to this site is the Pool of Bethesda, where Jesus healed the paralytic man. This afternoon we travel to Mt. Zion, where Christ celebrated the Last Supper in the Upper Room. Together we will then journey to the Church of the Dormition, the traditional site where Mary was assumed into heaven. Our final stop is at one of the most striking churches in Jerusalem –St. Peter in Gallicantu– that hosts a wide array of art styles. A golden rooster sits atop it recalling the place where Peter denied Jesus three times (Matthew 26). It was the palace of the high priest Caiaphas, where Jesus was brought to jail after his arrest and kept in the dungeon that sits underneath the Church. (B, D) Mass – Overnight Jerusalem

This morning we will check-out from our hotel after breakfast. Then we will walk the Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and have the opportunity to climb the steps up to Mt. Calvary to pray at the site of the Crucifixion. Venerate the site where Jesus body was anointed, the tomb where was buried and rose from the dead and the Chapel of St. Helena where she found the true cross. In the afternoon, we drive to Ein Karem, one of the most beautiful sites in the New City of Jerusalem where St. John the Baptist was born. Pray at the Visitation Church where Mary proclaimed her service to God in her Magnificat prayer. This evening we enjoy a traditional Middle Eastern farewell dinner before transferring to the airport in Tel Aviv to catch our late evening return flight home. (B, D)

Our time pondering the wonder and awe of the Holy Land comes to an end as we depart Tel Aviv at 1AM on our return flight home.