Pilgrimage overview
FEBRUARY 16-27, 2024
Led by the Rev Grace Flint
Priest-in-Charge of St Francis Episcopal Church, North Bellmore, NY
At the beginning of John’s Gospel, when people were starting to realize there was something special about a carpenter from Galilee whom we know to be the Son of God, they asked Jesus where he was staying. His response? “Come and see.” That is the very same invitation pilgrims have accepted for thousands of years. Leave the place where you are, go and see, see for yourself the piece of earth where Jesus was born, where he worked and walked, where he was baptized and tempted, where he taught and prayed, and where he was betrayed, crucified, and rose from the dead.
The season of Lent is always an invitation to us to consent to the transformation of walking the pilgrim way with Jesus. This year, I invite you to join me on a special pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The Scripture you have read and know so well will come alive in new and unexpected ways as you experience first-hand the wonder and heartbreak that is the most sacred land for Jewish, Christian, and Muslim people around the world. We will be accompanied by a Palestinian Christian guide, and are working with Lightline Pilgrimages, a Christian tour company that is the preferred partner of the Diocese of Jerusalem.
I hope you will ‘come and see’ with us,
Grace+
Included
- Airfare (for details & restrictions, please download the brochure below)
- All airport departure & passenger taxes
- Hotel Accommodations
- Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
- Entrance fees & local government taxes
- Modern air-conditioned tour buses
Not Included
- Single room supplement
- Travel insurance
- Any item of a personal nature
FLIGHT INFORMATION & INTINERARY
+ Scheduled flights economy class from New York to Tel Aviv on Delta Airlines:
DEPARTURE: February 16
-DL234 -New York / Tel Aviv - 11.45 pm/5.35 pm (Feb 17)
RETURN: February 26
-DL235 -Tel Aviv / New York -11.55 pm/5.15 am (Feb 27)
+ All airport departure & passenger taxes (US & Israel)
+ En Suite accommodation at Christian pilgrim hotels & guest houses
The Pilgerhaus, Tabgha (An exquisite Benedictine pilgrim house)
Bethlehem - Sunrise (A recently opened hotel a short walk from Manger Square)
Jerusalem - Gloria Hotel (Situated within the Old City, by Jaffa Gate)
+ Full board throughout (breakfast, lunch & dinner daily).
+ All entrance fees and local government taxes.
+ State licensed English speaking guides throughout the tour.
+ All touring in modern air-conditioned tour buses.
Day 1: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16
We meet in the evening at JFK Airport to board our overnight flight to Tel Aviv, hoping to be able to sleep as we cross the Atlantic.
Day 2: SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17
We land in Tel Aviv the following evening, where we will be met by our guide and driver, who will take us to our beautiful pilgrim guest house on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, which will be our home for the next three nights.
Day 3: SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 18
Our pilgrimage begins by celebrating the Good News with the local Episcopal community in Nazareth, whom we will join for their Sunday Eucharist. After this service, we will also visit the Basilica of the Annunciation and the Synagogue Church before breaking for lunch. In the afternoon we will visit Mount Tabor, believed by many to be the site of Jesus’ Transfiguration before Peter, James and John.
Day 4: MONDAY, FEBRUARY 19
Today we will devote ourselves to the events of Jesus’ ministry of healing and teaching around the home he chose in Capernaum, on the Sea of Galilee. We will visit Capernaum itself, as well as sites associated with the Beatitudes, the commissioning of Peter, and the feeding of the Five Thousand. We will go out in a boat on the lake, and we will visit the First Century synagogue in Magdala, the home town of ‘the apostle to the apostles’, Mary Magdalene.
Day 5: tuesday, FEBRUARY 20
Our day starts with a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial. From here we go to the Israel Museum, to see a remarkable scale model of Jerusalem at the time of Jesus, and the Shrine of the Book, which relates the story of the Dead Sea Scrolls. After lunch we ascend to Mount Zion, to visit and pray in the Abbey of the Dormition, the room associated with the Last Supper and the Day of Pentecost. Our afternoon closes at the church of St. Peter in Gallicantu, built on what is believed to be the High Priest’s palace, in which Jesus was imprisoned on the last night of his life.
Day 6: wednesday, FEBRUARY 21
Today we will discover more about the Incarnation and the abundant life it offers the world. In addition to visiting the Shepherds’ Fields and the Church of the Nativity, we will also visit two wonderful Christian institutions in this ‘little town’. The first is the St. Vincent Orphanage/ Creche, which is the only Christian orphanage in the West Bank, and which provides love and support for around fifty abandoned children. We will also visit Bethlehem University, and learn of its excellent work with young adults in the region.
Day 7: thursday, FEBRUARY 22
Our morning begins with a visit to the city of Hebron, one of the most important Palestinian cities in the southern West Bank. Here we will visit the Tombs of the Patriarchs, and get a clear sense of the impact of the Occupation on the life of this historic place. After lunch we will visit Bethany before descending the Mount of Olives visiting the churches which celebrate Jesus’ triumphal entry on Palm Sunday, the giving of the Lord’s Prayer and Jesus weeping over Jerusalem. Finally we come to the Garden of Gethsemane and the Church of the Agony, where we recall Jesus’ betrayal and arrest. From here we make our way to our hotel in the Christian Quarter of the Old City, which will be our home for the remainder of our pilgrimage.
Day 8: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23
Our day starts with a visit to the Western Wall, the holiest site in the world for Jews. From here we go to the Israel Museum, to see a remarkable scale model of Jerusalem at the time of Jesus, and the Shrine of the Book, which relates the story of the Dead Sea Scrolls. After lunch we ascend to Mount Zion, to visit and pray in the Abbey of the Dormition, the room associated with the Last Supper and the Day of Pentecost. Our afternoon closes at the church of St. Peter in Gallicantu, built on what is believed to be the High Priest’s palace, in which Jesus was imprisoned on the last night of his life.
Day 9: SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24
This morning will be spent in the heart of the Old City, which we will enter through the Lion’s Gate. From here we come to St. Anne’s church and the pools of Bethesda, after which we make our way to the Ecce Homo Convent, and after celebrating the Eucharist, we will walk prayerfully along the Via Dolorosa, until we come to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and remember Christ’s death and burial. After lunch, there will be free time to explore the Old City on your own, spend time in prayer, or indulge in shopping!
Day 10: SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25
Our day begins by joining the Episcopal community at St George’s Cathedral in East Jerusalem – the Mother Church of the diocese. After worshipping with our brother and sister Episcopalians, we hope to have a little time with the Archbishop or one of his staff before making a visit to the Western Wall, the holiest site in the world for Jews? After lunch we make the short drive to the town of Ein Karem, where we will visit the synagogue at the Hadassah Hospital containing Marc Chagall’s extraordinary stained glass window depicting the twelve sons of Jacob. Our day comes to a close at the Church of the Visitation, where we can sing Magnificat in the place where Mary first gave voice to this hymn of praise.
Day 11: Monday, FEBRUARY 25
This morning we will journey seven miles out of Jerusalem, retracing the possible steps of two disciples who wearily walked to the village of Emmaus while in conversation with someone they did not recognize at first. At the village of Abu Ghosh we will have a chance to celebrate the Resurrection and recall Luke’s wonderful story. From here we drive to the coast to visit the ruins of the once great city of Caesarea Maritima. After a lunch by the shore of the Mediterranean, we will explore this site, and remember the inspiring stories from Acts of when Peter visits Cornelius and of Paul speaking to the Governor Festus before being sent to Rome. With these heroic stories from Acts ringing in our ears, we come finally to Jaffa for a final dinner together as a pilgrim group, before making our way to the airport ready to fly back to the United States.
Day 12: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27
We land at JFK in the early morning, ready to share with our family and friends all we have seen and learned in the Land of the Holy One.
