THE HOLY LAND- A Pilgrimage in the Footsteps of Jesus for St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Cleveland Heights

FliGHT INFORMATION & INTINERARY

SCHEDULED FLIGHTS ECONOMY CLASS from Cleveland to Tel Aviv on United Airlines:
DEPARTURE: February 19
-UA1306 -Cleveland /New York -7.12 pm/8.49 pm
-UA90 -New York/Tel Aviv -11:00 pm/4.20 pm (Feb 20)

RETURN: February 28
-UA91 -Tel Avi /New York -11.10 pm/4.25 am (Feb 29)
February 29
-UA735 -New York/Cleveland -6.30 am/8.12 am

(The flights shown above are offered as part of a group ticket, and you should not expect to have the same degree of control over choice of seat, etc, as would be the case on an individually purchased air ticket. Any seating requests advised to Lightline on the booking form/webpage will be transmitted to the airline, but there is no guarantee that the airline will accommodate them. This is beyond Lightline’s control, and we cannot accept any responsibility for decisions made by the airline. All flights and times are subject to change, sometimes at short notice.)

PILGRIMAGE INCLUSIVE TOUR COST - $5895 (SINGLE ROOM SUPPLEMENT $995)
+ All airport departure & passenger taxes (US & Israel)

+ En Suite accommodation at Christian pilgrim hotels & guest houses
Galilee - Pilgerhaus (Benedictine guest house by the Sea of Galilee)
Bethlehem - Sunrise (A recently opened hotel a short walk from Manger Square)
Jerusalem - Ambassador Boutique (A newly renovated hotel close to St. George’s Episcopal Cathedral)

+ Full board throughout (breakfast, lunch & dinner daily).

+ State licensed English speaking guides throughout the tour.

ABSOLUTELY NO HIDDEN COSTS. (The only items NOT included in the tour price are:)
+ Single Room supplement $995.

+ A travel/trip insurance policy is required for participation in this pilgrimage. This must cover you for cancelation before departure, and for medical and emergency transportation requirements while on the pilgrimage. Lightline is an agent for Allianz Global Assistance and we will give you a quotation for a policy when you book for the pilgrimage.

+ Any items of a personal nature.

Day 1: MONDAY, FEBRUARY 19

We meet in the evening at Cleveland Airport for a short flight to Newark, where we change planes and board our overnight flight to Tel Aviv, hoping to be able to sleep as we cross the Atlantic.

Day 2: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20

We land in Tel Aviv the following afternoon, 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: WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21

Our pilgrimage begins in Nazareth, where the Good News began. We will visit the Basilica of the Annunciation and the Synagogue Church, and hope to meet the local Episcopal rector to learn something of the life of his parish. We will also visit Cana, the site of Jesus’ first sign. After a break for lunch we will visit Mount Tabor, believed by many to be the site of Jesus’ Transfiguration before Peter, James and John, before returning to our hotel in time to freshen up for dinner.

Day 4: THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22

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: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23

Leaving the beauty and tranquility of the Galilee, we will journey down the Jordan Valley, stopping at the Roman ruins at Beit Shean. We will renew our Baptismal Covenant at the Jordan River, before carrying on to the ‘little town’ of Bethlehem, situated behind the 27 foot high Separation Wall, where we will sleep for the next two nights.

Day 6: SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24

Today we will learn about the Incarnation in the city in which the Word was made Flesh. We will visit the Church of the Nativity and the Shepherds Fields in nearby Beit Sahour. We will also visit the heart-warming 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.

Day 7: SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25

Our morning begins by joining the local Episcopal community for worship at St George’s Cathedral in east Jerusalem, where we hope to meet the Archbishop and/or Dean. After coffee, we continue to the Western Wall before breaking for lunch. In the afternoon, we will visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, before ending the day at the the Church of the Visitation, where we can sing Magnificat in the place where Mary first gave voice to this hymn of praise.

Day 8: MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26

In the morning we will head to the Mount of Olives, where we will visit the Princess Basma Center, which is one of the most significant and impactful ministries of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem. From here we will visit 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. After lunch we will ascend 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: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27

We will make an early start to ascend the Temple Mount, where we can see (but not enter) the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. We will walk across the Mount to the Lion’s Gate of the City. 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 an optional visit to Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, and then to bathe in the unique waters of the Dead Sea.

Day 10: WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28

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 11: Thursday, february 29

We land at Newark in the early morning, and connect on to Cleveland, where we land just after 8am, ready to share with our family and friends all we have seen and learned in the Land of the Holy One.