It almost goes without saying that everyone was flying high as they were preparing to leave. One man described his excitement as enough energy to power a small city. Another man kept saying he was having difficulty keeping his feet on the ground. With all that excitement and energy, it promises to be an excellent pilgrimage.
Group Two departed the seminary in a fashion that Jeanne probably never thought was possible: we left early. In fact, we were so early we almost left before the Father Rector could bless us and send us on our way. After a short, spiritual delay, we were safely on our way to O’Hare Airport.
At the airport, we found ourselves caught in massive crowd of people making their way slowly through the security checkpoints. It was amazing to all of us the number of people who were flying on a Thursday evening. Along with all these men and women from all corners of the world, we made it safely to our gates and waited for our flight.
The plane let a few minutes late, and it was full, except for the one empty seat, in the last row, right behind me. The flight itself, went off without a hitch. The service on the Swiss Air flight was excellent, and we arrived in Zurich with only minor cramps and sleep loss.
After arriving in Zurich, Group Two was picked up by the motel shuttle and taken to our rooms for the approximately twelve hour layover. Some of the group, instead of staying at the motel and catching up on sleep, took a fifteen minute train ride into Zurich to do a little exploring.
Zurich is a beautiful city. Set on and around Lake Zurich, the city has both an old and a new world feel. Beautiful medieval churches are paired up with cranes and rising apartments buildings.
Probably the best place to get a view of Zurich is from one of the towers of the Grossmünster (gross=large, münster=cathedral, minister, monastery). Construction of this Romanesque church was begun in 1100, and it was completed about one hundred year later. Eventually, it became the starting point for Huldrych Zwingli’s reform movement.
The towers at the Grossmünster have gone through several reincarnations, with the current Neo-Gothic towers being completed after a fire in 1786. From these towers one can see the whole of Zurich as it rises out of the river valley and climbs the hills surrounding Lake Zurich. It was a beautiful site.
When we returned to the motel, it was nearing time for Mass and dinner. We held Mass in a conference room at the motel. Fr. Baima preached on St. Andrew as the first to be called by Christ, a beautiful homily that he tied into the spirituality of our Eastern brethren.
Group Two arrived in Tel Aviv after a pleasant flight from Zurich. We landed at about 3:45 a.m. local time and were greeted by a fairly empty airport. Contrary to popular belief, we did not see any armed security at the airport. There were many cameras, though, and we had to pass through three or four different checkpoints where they examined our passports. All made it through with more or less hassle.
The bus met us outside the baggage area, and took us to the religious house we will be staying at for the next four weeks. Even though it was still dark on the hour drive from Tel Aviv, we were able to see some of the country. The land and the flora reminded many of the men of some places in Texas and the South West: rocky ground and small, shrubby plants.
When we arrived at the house, we were greeted by most of Group One (a few were still asleep). The good sisters here started breakfast early for us, so we were able to begin the day with a delicious meal. After this, the day was ours until Mass in the evening.
Most of the guys went out into Bethlehem and to the Church of the Nativity at least once. It is a beautiful place! There are two distinct sections to the shrine: the Catholic side and the Orthodox side. Underneath these two churches are the caves with the various grottos. First and foremost is the Cave of the Nativity, where the birth of Christ is traditionally believed to have taken place. A couple centuries after the birth of Christ, St. Jerome also lived in these caves, so his burial site and the burial sites of two of his followers are also in the caves.
There are other churches and shrines in Bethlehem that many have visited. A popular one is the Milk Grotto. This chapel is in honor of the Our Lady, who fed our Lord with her own milk. Many miracles are associated with this chapel and the devotion to our Lady here, most especially for couples who are not able to conceive children. After coming here and praying to Our Lady, over one thousand couples, who had not been able to conceive before, have had babies.
The city of Bethlehem itself is not very large, but it is very different from American cities. The streets here are not straight, and there are few street signs. The most of the shops open up and spill out onto the sidewalks and streets. Most walking is done on the stone streets, which means walking around cars as they try to make their way through too crowded streets.
Finally, in the evening, there was our first community Mass in the Holy Lands. Fr. Dan Sullivan, our pastor in residence, preached this last mass of the liturgical year. He spoke to us of prayer and giving our selves to prayer. It is easy to fall into patterns of prayer, of just saying words or not giving ourselves to prayer, but he called us, even in spite of the exhaustion of travel, not to let our hearts be weighed down by such a spirit. It was a good reminder for this spiritual trip.
The pilgrims gathered for the Welcome and Orientation Session at 4:30 p.m.
today. We were welcomed by our host and introduced to a representative from
Bethlehem University who pointed out that our pilgrimage was beginning during a
historic moment because of the peace talks taking place in Annapolis. Next
Father Sullivan described his role as pastor-in-residence followed by the
pilgrims introducing themselves by providing their name, where they were from
and the diocese they represented. Fr. McIlhone closed the session with a
presentation on the Archaeological Periods of Israel.
Evening Prayer and Mass were celebrated together at 6:15 p.m. In his homily Fr. McIlhone urged us to remain awake and alert not only for the 2nd Coming of Christ but to also remain awake and alert as we prepare for ordination to the deaconate over the next 12 months and then priesthood one year later.
Today’s schedule provided one last day to recover from the jet lag many were experiencing from losing a day during our flight to the Holy Land. Some pilgrims used the day to visit one of the holy sites in Bethlehem like the Church of the Nativity. Others used this opportunity to catch up on some sorely needed rest by napping before classes and pilgrimage tours begin in earnest tomorrow.
Most of us have kicked our jet-lag by this point, though I think being really hungry or tired at weird times will be the norm for at least another week! We started our first day of classes today (‘Ecumenism’ and ‘The Spiritual Pilgrim’). There were over four-hundred Palestinians released from prison today so people have been celebrating by riding around in cars with flags and letting off fireworks. Five times a day the warble and drone of the Muslim call to prayer reverberates throughout the city- I think we’re used to all of them except the first (which is sometime before 5 a.m., though I haven’t yet had the heart to actually look at my alarm clock)- In Arabic, I’m told, they proclaim, "Arise! (Come) to salvation (at Dawn- prayer is better than sleep!)"
We also listened to a great talk tonight from a priest who works toward Ecumenism in the area. He really helped us to better understand some of the basic history concerning the very complicated political situations here, differences between Eastern and Western mindsets, and the need to discard many preconceived notions.
I heard that we left Chicago just in time- my parents tell me a snowstorm shut down O’Hare the night after we left!
Today was a very busy day. We gathered for Mass at the Manger Grotto in the Church of the Nativity. It is right next to the spot where our Lord was born, but Catholics are not allowed to have Mass on the Greek Orthodox altar that is over the place of Christ’s birth. The Manger Grotto is exactly what you think it is: the manger where Jesus was laid in swaddling clothes.
The Mass was a powerful experience. There, in the place where Christ was born, where He became present to all of mankind outside Mary’s womb, there He became present again in the Eucharist. Just as he rested in the manger two thousand years ago, today he rested on the paten and in our bodies.
We were incredibly privileged to have this experience. During the Mass, we saw two or three different groups of pilgrims come through, and each person in those groups had only a few seconds to venerate the spot of Christ’s birth. We had Mass there. God has truly blessed us.
From Mass we walked to Bethlehem University. This university is run by the De La Salle Christian Brothers, and it is an incredible institution. All the students, over two thousand of them, are Palestinians, both Muslim and Christian. They have the opportunity to study in a small variety of fields, including business, nursing, and teaching. We had a chance to see the campus, talk with a few of the students, and even eat with them. One thing is certain, college students are the same the world over.
After class in the afternoon, we went over to the Latin Seminary, on a hill opposite Bethlehem. This seminary trains priests for the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem as well as some seminarians for Eastern Catholic Melkites. After a presentation by the rector, we prayed Evening Prayer with the major seminarians, twenty-seven in all, in three languages: English, Arabic, and Latin. Evening prayer was followed by dinner, where we had the chance to talk with seminarians from Palestine and Jordan. It was another blessed experience. Half the world away, and they really are no different than we who study in the United States. Just as college students are the same the world over, so are seminarians.
One thing that struck me about the seminary and the Catholic churches in the Holy Land: they are only able to be open by our generosity. The Good Friday Collection that goes to the support of the Holy Land is vital to their survival. Without it, Catholics might not have a presence in the Holy Land. It really is an eye-opener to see how the money that we give is put to such important use here.
Today started out with a brisk 8 am departure with our new guide, a wonderful Palestinian woman from Bethlehem. We walked all around the old part of Bethlehem. It was a real blessing to have already been here for several days before the tour, because it meant that we already had our bearings somewhat and could concentrate on the history she taught us.
Bethlehem was fixed up a lot for the Jubilee in 2000 and Pope John Paul II’s visit that year. Our guide showed us some of the repairs and renovations that were made in preparation for both. Then we went through some of the older lanes and alleys in the oldest part of the town. Even here most of the buildings only date back 100 years or so. Bethlehem in ancient times was known as a city of caves because of the abundant natural caves that people used as homes and stables. Jesus was born in a stable, and very likely a cave stable.
After visiting one of the older renovated homes that now houses a renewal and renovation organization, we went on past and through Manger square to the Milk Grotto. This is the place where early tradition tells us that Mary stopped to nurse the Baby Jesus as the Holy Family fled for Egypt. Several drops of her breast milk fell to the ground, imbuing the chalky white soil and rock with healing power by her intercession. To this day many, couples experience healing of their infertility after visiting this site. Recently a perpetual adoration chapel was added on the grounds, with religious sisters who perpetually adore there. We were given a nice tour of the grotto and surrounding chapels by a friendly Franciscan. Since the 14th century, the Franciscans (OFM) have been entrusted with the custody of the Holy Land by the Pope. Specifically, they help care for the holy sites, pilgrims, and the local Catholic community.
Finally, we headed for the center of it all here in Bethlehem, the Church of the Nativity. This is a very special and unusual church, not only because it lies over the cave where Jesus was born. It also escaped the near-universal destruction of Christian holy sites and churches by the Persians in 614. As a result, there are mosaics from the 4th century, and the main body of the church dates from the 6th century! Very few churches in the Holy Land remain intact from this early period. The Church of the Nativity is now in the care of the Greek Orthodox.
After some discussion of this ancient church, and visiting once again the cave of the Nativity, we continued on to see Saint Catherine’s parish right next door. This is the Latin Rite church, and is run by the aforementioned Franciscans. We briefly visited the caves that connect it to the cave of the Nativity, where it is believe that St. Jerome lived and translated the Scriptures from Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek into Latin – the Vulgate translation that has served the Church down through the centuries until now. It was very rewarding to learn more about all these sites that most of us had already visited for prayer.
We trickled back to Betharram for dinner (the large midday meal). After classes on Ecumenism and Spiritual Pilgrimage, we had evening prayer and Mass, then supper and a free evening. A busy and blessed day! Come Lord Jesus!
This morning we left Betharram by bus and traveled into the desert to visit Mar Saba. Shortly before the road became narrow with hairpin curves on the steep hills we boarded smaller buses better equipped to navigate the rugged terrain. We were fortunate that we were able to enter and tour the Greek Orthodox Monastery there which is located along the Kidron Valley. Across the valley we saw the cave where St. Sabba and the early monks lived before the monastery was built.
On our way back to Bethlehem we stopped in Shepherd’s Field and celebrated Mass in a chapel located in one of the many caves in the area. Our guide told us that some caves are located on top of another while others are side by side. In the later layouts one cave was used as the barn while the other was used as living quarters by the shepherds. Sometimes there was only one large cave in which one side was used as the barn while the other served as the living quarters.
Our journey into the desert gave us a sense of what it might have been like for the Desert Mothers and Desert Fathers. In his homily Fr. Baima talked about how monks were required to live in community as Cenobites before they could become hermits. As I listened I remembered Deacon Damian’s homily back at the seminary and how St. Benedict said a monk could not become a hermit until he had successfully lived in community. As seminarians we are in a certain sense cenobites preparing to live as hermits as many of us will be living by ourselves in a rectory.
We had classes this morning and a free afternoon after one very full week- a good chance to catch our breathe, reflect on our experiences thus far, and hopefully shake off this cold that’s been going around the house! I think most of us will be finding our own supper tonight (which could be anything from the shwarma lamb meat wraps they sell on the street to the Oriental restaurant Sister found yesterday).
Yesterday we went to Mar Sabba ("St. Sabba")- an 8 mile bus ride. We quickly found ourselves out in the desert- our bus had curtained windows and swaying fringes and made some nervous on the steep and narrow switchbacks
Beautiful countryside- but beautiful in context, and not photogenic-! The low mountains look as though they were formed by giants trapped under bedsheets punching up with their fists and knees, and they aren't the barren beige that comes through in pictures but rather colored with arid cremes and tans- except for the slate shadows which lie cupped into the hollows or else slide over the landscape following under their swift moving clouds.
Mar Sabba is an Orthodox monastery built into a mountain; a maze of balconies and stairways and courtyards and domes cling to the cliffside many stories tall. Usually the disappointing thing about interesting places like that is that they're much too small- but you could've explored this place for weeks and days and still discovered new passages and niches. As is, we weren't even there for half an hour-! Looking across the ravine we could see the facing cliff wall honeycombed with hermitage caves where the monks would have lived. At one point more than 500 monks lived in that stone hillside!
Walking into the dimly lit church, much bigger than expected, every surface was covered with icons and paintings of the saints. In a glass coffin lay the embalmed body of St. Sabba, wearing his priestly vestments. In his homily at the Shepherd's field, Fr. Baima pointed out the Benedictine Tradition which later came about: that monks would first have to show that they were able to live in the community in a fruitful manner. Only once they had thus proved themselves would they be permitted to live on their own in hermitages called "Lauras" (which means "the narrow way").
Tomorrow is our day-long celebration of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception- the feast day of our seminary!
T
oday is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception is patroness of Mundelein Seminary, the United States, and several other countries.
Today we took a break from our normal busy schedule to have a day of prayer. After chanting Morning prayer, we had brief talk by Fr. Dan Sullivan on the Immaculate Conception. This was followed by a time for spiritual reading, reflection, and prayer, which led up to Mass. After lunch, Fr. Baima exposed the Blessed Sacrament for adoration for a few hours. This time of prayer began with the communal recitation of the rosary in the various languages represented in the group: Swahili, Vietnamese, Togalog, Polish, Spanish, and English. During the time of Adoration, there was also an opportunity to receive the Sacrament of Penance. The day of prayer closed with communal Evening Prayer and Benediction.
For a few hours today, Fr. McIlhone and Sr. Kathleen were not with us. They received a call last night from the Missionaries of Charity, who did not have a priest to say Mass in their chapel. Thankfully, God has given us plenty of priests so that we can share with them, and the sisters were able to have Mass in their house.
Today we had the beautiful opportunity to celebrate Mass with the parish community at St. Catherine’s Parish, right next to the Church of the Nativity. Mass was in Arabic, the language of the Arab Christians. It is really a bit of a revelation to hear the Mass, the Gospel in Arabic and to realize that Arab doesn’t necessarily equal Moslem. While this is certainly overwhelmingly true statistically, it totally ignores the hundreds of thousands of Arabic-speaking Christians in the Middle East and North Africa. While we didn’t understand much more than "Amin" at the end of the prayers, it was a joy to share in the Eucharist with our Palestinian brothers and sisters. There were also at least 4 or 5 different orders of religious sisters present, including Blessed Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity and the Bridgetines with their characteristic crown with 5 red dots on it representing the 5 wounds of Christ.
After Mass the Franciscan pastor had a brief conference for us on parish life at St. Catherine’s, via an American Franciscan and a woman from the 3rd Order Franciscans who works at the parish. It was interesting to hear them communicate amongst themselves and with us in Arabic, Italian, and English. Father Pastor gave us all some chocolate covered cherries as we departed!
After that we had the day to ourselves. Some of us did reading, others played cards or wandered around town for shopping or sight-seeing. One of the true blessings of our pilgrimage so far has been the more relaxed pace. Every day we have time for our homework, prayer, or just walking the town. The markets in particular are a great place to walk through, taking in the kaleidoscope of colors and noises. It really helps to absorb the atmosphere of modern-day Bethlehem, and to get a little better sense of what Jesus’ Bethlehem might have been like.
The Second Sunday of Advent already come and gone! Come Lord Jesus!
Today we had a field trip and visited three sites. It is the first time we have passed through one of the many checkpoints here since our arrival. Our first stop was at Solomon’s Pool. It was probably elaborate and beautiful in its time
.Continuing our trip
we stopped in Hebron to visit the burial sites of the Patriarchs. We were able to view the memorials over the sites where Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah and Jacob are buried. The actual tombs are about 20 meters below the memorials. We were fortunate in that we were able to visit both the Jewish and the Moslem side of the holy site. It was our first experience of seeing the division and strife between the Jews and the Moslems as the sites are divided by a wall yet we could hear the Jews praying on the other side of the wall while we were visiting the mosque.Our last stop was at
Herodian National Park. The palace used to house Herod’s administrative offices is located there. Riding in the bus it looked and felt like we were driving to the top of a volcano. Herod used the natural terrain to camouflage the palace.
Two classes and a lecture in house today. I was on dish duty this morning, always fun! We have three nuns and a head cook who kindly make our food and even do our laundry! There are two older sisters (from Sri Lanka, I think) and a younger one (who’s all business!). They’ve introduced to us, all sorts of Mid-Eastern food here: humus, cheeses, cucumbers and other vegetables for which Bethlehem is known, ‘rice pasta’, and very tasty soups with unfamiliar ingredients. Back at Mundelein we don’t have a kitchen- but here with the schedule as it is everyone takes a turn doing dishes at a meal about once every three days. Laughing and talking over this simple household chore makes it feel a lot more like homey and domestic here, and makes the community feel a lot more like a family. We’re very grateful to the sisters for their practical and needed ministry to us- without which we would be unable to have the time and energy to visit and experience the Holy Sites (in order that we might bring what we learn back with us to the people in each of our Dioceses across the States and the world: think of how many people these sisters are effecting just by washing dishes!)
Life around the house is settling into a pattern- Bethlehem’s streets clear out come nightfall and most people [including us] stay at home. It’s not small here, though certainly tighter quarters than Mundelein. There’s usually a couple groups playing cards in the lounge by the classroom, a pot of mint tea being made, a group crowded in uncomfortable wicker chairs at the end of the hall trying to get Internet reception on their laptops, and other people scattered about: down the stairs, some of us praying or playing music in the chapel to the left, others tucked away in their rooms reading. Outside you might find a seminarian sitting in the courtyard patio between buildings (trying to make friends with the 2 rather elusive cats)- Into the next building you’d see tall arched ceilings and would walk past the dinner bell and the hallway to our dining room to get to the wide, stone spiral staircase on the left with plants on its steps. Upstairs it’s always dark and quiet- sometimes the doorway to the ornamented private chapel is open (for the 4 or 5 Italian speaking priests and brothers who live here). At the end of the hall is a small library mostly filled with French books- there’s a sort of balcony giving access to the highest bookshelves, and an angular staircase with cuts across to the door which accesses the rooftop. (I usually find my own hideaway sitting on those stairs) Through the door and up uneven narrow stairs, yet another seminarian sits on the roof and says his prayers while overlooking Bethlehem.
Christmas is coming soon! Weird not to have snow, but no complaints! We’ll be missing everyone back home. For many, including myself, it will be the first Christmas without family. Maybe that’s why it’s so important to us to try and make a home of sorts here!
Until next time-
This Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
was a very busy day for us. As part of the feast, some of the brothers held a celebration at 6 a.m. in the chapel. It had to be early in part because breakfast was at 6:30 so we could be ready to leave for a busy day.
Our trip took us first through Jerusalem where we picked up our guide. As we drove through, we got our first taste of what awaits us as various sites were pointed out to us from afar. It was a quick trip through Jerusalem, though, for we were on our way to the Dead Sea area and various sites there.
Our first stop was the ruins of the fortress on Masada, at the southern end of the Dead Sea. This fort, situated on a flat hill that overlooks the Dead Sea, was first built by Herod the Great before the birth of Christ. It was eventually captured by Zealots during the Jewish revolt in the A.D. 66. This was the last Zealot stronghold to be captured by the Romans in 74, after a year siege. The history given us by Josephus tells a very gruesome tale of mass suicide by the defenders on the eve of their capture by the Romans. They felt it was better to die free than to be captured and made slaves by the Romans. About half the group got a small feel for what life must have been like when we walked down the mountain on the snake path. Life here, especially in the summer, could be very rough.
From Masada, we went a little north the nature reserve at Ein Gedi. It is a very beautiful valley through with a stream flows. Life here flourishes in contrast to much of the surrounding Dead Sea area. This park provides some beautiful trails for all day hikes, though we only went in a short distance. Some of the men are thinking of coming back later in the pilgrimage to explore this area more. Somewhere in this area are the caves where the story recounted in 1 Samuel 24 happened.
Leaving Ein Gedi, we traveled back north a little more and came to the caves of Qumran. After a substantial lunch, we heard some about the Essene community here at Qumran, who were probably killed by the army that went to capture Masada in A.D. 73. We were not able to actually visit any of the eleven caves, but we could get some very good pictures of Cave 4. In these caves were found fragments of various books of the Bible, all of them in Hebrew, as well as various community documents. This find is important because the earliest Hebrew text we had was the Masoretic text from the tenth and eleventh century. These first century fragments show that the text preserved by the Masoretes was accurate.
From Qumran, we made a short trip to a beach on the Dead Sea where several of us took a float. The water is so dense because the dissolved salts from the Jordan River and other tributaries are not able to pass out to the oceans. The Dead Sea is the lowest point on the surface of the earth, about 300 meters (over 1000 feet) below sea level. The mud at the bottom contains high concentrations of these salts, and is used in beauty care products. Many of us tried the mud first hand, and we found it quite amazing how smoother and softer our skin felt.
Today was more of a routine day… classes in the morning then a presentation. In the morning we had Ecumenism with Fr. Baima, and Spiritual Pilgrim with Sr. Kathleen. Then in the afternoon we had a presentation from a local Moslem professor, the same one who spoke to us on Tuesday. He is a real character! It is nice to have the chance to ask someone questions about Islam who can answer from the inside. The time we had wasn’t nearly enough... we went over time both today and on Tuesday. Today was more question and answer, and we had a good discussion. In particular, he explained the concept of jihad, and we asked some tough questions about violence and Islam. He pointed to the presence of violence in Christian history, as well as explaining his own understanding. While this doesn’t actually address the issue within Islam, it does point to the need to be a little humble about the Christian world’s living out of Jesus’ teaching. Our own history is certainly not free from the manipulation of religion by those seeking political or economic ends. In the end, we were left with the question about whether Islam would enter into dialogue with the West and the Enlightenment. In some ways, this is still a very live issue within Christianity… how to engage the growing tide of secularism. We seem to be in the midst of this. The presentation today was a rich opportunity to learn a little more.
One of the real blessings of this pilgrimage is the rhythm between excursions and days like today. It is exciting to be out and about seeing the sites, hiking, etc. However, the mental energy to really engage and absorb this seems to be limited. Too steady a diet often leads to a sort of burnout, where the eyes glaze over and the visit to the each succeeding site just sort of floats by. By interspersing excursions with more routine days, we are able to recharge, process, and then enter into the next adventure with spirit, mind and body refreshed. Given that we are here for almost three months, this is really crucial. Spiritual and mental stamina are required. This way we can appropriate, absorb, and bring home the greatest depth and variety of fruits from this pilgrimage.