HOLY LAND ITINERARY

Day 1 USA / TEL AVIV

Tour members are welcomed at an international airport for our departing flight to Tel Aviv via wide body aircraft arriving  the next DAY. Meals served on board the long haul flight.

Day 2:  TEL AVIV / JAFFA /CAESAREA/ HAIFA

Upon arrival in Tel Aviv  we board our motor coach for our first sights of Israel. We will make a stop in Jaffa where St Peter had his vision on the rooftop of the House of Simon the Tanner on the Mediterranean.  We will celebrate our first Holy Mass in the Holy Land.We will stop for a light lunch and then continue to Caesarea on the Mediterranean Sea while viewing the Roman aqua duct and port, Crusaders moat and the famous Roman Theater.  It was in Caesarea that St Paul was imprisoned.We will continue to Haifa and stop for an overview of the 3rd largest city in Israel Transfer to the Stella Maris Pilgrimage Center for dinner and overnight.

Day 3:   MT CARMEL /MT TABOR/ TIBERIAS

We start the day by celebrating Holy Mass at Stella Maris Church and Elijahs cave with breakfast following. We will view the Bahai Gardens.Our guide will take us to a Drouze community for a traditional lunch.We will then drive to Mukhraka, “Horns of the Carmel” home of Prophet Elijah and where Elijah fought the false prophets.We will then drive to Mount Tabor with its spectacular view of the Galilee, where Jesus was transfigured in the presence of Peter, James, and John.  We will visit the Church of the Transfiguration.We drive to the top of Tiberias we have a splendid view of the city and the Sea of Galilee. Arrive in Tiberias Dinner and overnight in Tiberias.  Accommodations will be 4 Stars

Day 4:   SEPPHORIS/ NAZARETH/ GOSPEL TRAIL/ CANA

After breakfast we drive to Sepphoris, the home of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s parents, St Anne and St Joachim. We then drive to Nazareth, the boyhood home of Jesus where we visit the Basilica of the Annunciation .  It is here, in the Church of the Annunciation just behind the altar where you can see the grotto that is the room where Mary said “yes” to the angel of the Lord.  We celebrate Holy Mass here.  Then we visit St. Joseph’s carpentry shop, the home of the holy Family and Mary’s well. We will have lunch in Nazareth.We drive from Nazareth to the Gospel Trail offering the opportunity to discover the cradle of Christianity by experiencing both physically and spiritually the same biblical landscapes and sites of the Galilee where Jesus and his disciples once walked. Continue to Cana, where Jesus performed His first miracle, changing water into wine. The married couples will renew their wedding vows as a lasting remembrance of Cana.Tiberias for dinner and overnight.

Day 5:   SEA OF GALILEE

After breakfast we will take a breathtaking Boat Ride on the Sea of Galilee. We then travel to the Mount of Beatitudes where Jesus proclaimed his Sermon on the Mount. Here we will celebrate todays Holy Mass!  We will continue to Tabgha and visit the traditional site of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes.  Next we visit the Church of the Primacy of Peter on the shores of the Galilee. We will stop for a lunch of St Peters Fish.  A short journey then to Capernaum, the center of Jesus’ ministries, we will see the remains of the ancient Synagogue and the house of Peter.  We will end our day at Magdala, home of Mary Magdalene.Dinner and overnight hotel in Tiberias

Day 6:  JORDAN RIVER/ JERICHO/BETHANY/ JERUSALEM

After breakfast, we check out from our hotel and start on our way to the Holy City of Jerusalem! We will visit the site called Kazer-El-Yehud on the Jordan River. This is the original place where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist.  We will renew our baptismal promises here.We will visit Jericho, one of the oldest cities in the world.  The bible calls Jericho “The City of the Moon” where Joshua conquered Elisha’s spring.  We will visit the Sycamore Tree where Zachariah saw Jesus, Zachariah’s house and tomb. We will have lunch in Jericho.After lunch we will view the foot of Mt Temptation where Jesus was tempted by Satan during his 40 days of fasting in the desert.Drive to Bethany – home of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, and of Simon the Leper.  Here we will celebrate Holy Mass.Drive to the  Pontifical Institute, Notre Dame Center of Jerusalem, for our first dinner and overnight in Jerusalem.

Day 7: BETHLEHEM/ JERUSALEM

After breakfast we will start our day in Bethlehem. We will celebrate Holy mass at the Church of St Catherine.  We will visit the Grotto of St. Jerome, the Greek Orthodox Church and the Milk Grotto. We then will enter the Church of the Nativity, the very place Jesus was born.  We then visit the milk grotto and the cave in Shepherd’s Field and view the Fields of Boaz. We will have a lunch break then in route to Jerusalem we will view the Tomb of Rachel.Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem.

Day 8: JERUSALEM / MT ZION

After breakfast we drive to the top of the Mount of Olives for a panoramic view of Jerusalem, a magnificent vantage point of the Holy City.  We visit the Church of Pater Noster and the Chapel of Ascension, and then we walk down Palm Sunday Road to Dominus Flevit Chapel where Jesus wept over Jerusalem.We proceed to the Garden of Gethsemane and the Church of All Nations where Jesus endured his Agony. (Here we will celebrate Holy  Mass)Lunch will flollow.  We will then enter the Zion Gate of the Old City and visit the Upper Room where the Last Supper took place, the tomb of King David, and Dormition Abbey where Our Lady was assumed to Heaven.Walk the Cardo and the remains of Nehemiah’s Wall on way back to the hotel. Dinner and overnight hotel in Jerusalem

Day 9:  JERUSALEM OLD CITY

A very early start today with a walk along the Via Dolorosa before the city awakes.Enter the city via Lion’s gate; walk through the streets of Old Jerusalem to the Judgment Gate and the Tomb of Jesus in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where we pray on top of the Rock of Calvary and inside the Lord’s tomb. We celebrate Holy Mass.Back to the hotel for breakfastDrive back to Jerusalem Old City to visit Pilate’s Judgment Hall, the Chapel of the Flagellation, Lithostrotos and the Arch of Ecco Homo and the Convent of the Sisters of Zion. We will have a light lunch in the old city and then visit the Western Wall and the view the Dome of the Rock.  The rest of the afternoon is at leisure.Dinner and overnight hotel in Jerusalem.

Day 10:  JERUSALEM/EIN KAREM/ ABU GHOSH

This morning after breakfast we drive to visit the Church of St. Peter of Gallicantu  (The Cock Crows) where Jesus was held in the house of the high priest Caiaphas, the stone pit where it is believed that Jesus was held, and the sacred staircase.  Here we celebrate Holy MassLunch will follow.   After lunch we drive to Ein Karem, birthplace of John the Baptist and Church of the Visitation where Mary uttered the words of the Magnificat.  We then drive to visit the Church of Notre Dame de L’Alliance (Our Lady of the Arc of the Covenant.) built in 1924, at Abu Ghosh.  We will also visit the Crusaders Church where Jesus met the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.Dinner and overnight at hotel in Jerusalem.

Day 11:    FREE DAY IN JERUSALEM / OPTIONAL TOUR TO THE DEAD SEA

We will celebrate mass in the chapel at the Notre Dame Center then have breakfast.  Enjoy a free day in Jerusalem, to relax, walk the city on your own and do last shops!OROptional tour: After mass and  breakfast we drive south to the Judean Wilderness where John the Baptist preached and where Jesus fasted for 40 days and nights.  We continue to Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered.  We drive to Masada, the dramatic mountain fortress built by Herod the Great where the Jews made their last stand against the Romans in the Great Revolt.Lunch Break.Free time at The Dead Sea, the lowest, saltiest body of water on Earth.  Called the Salt Sea, or Eastern Sea of the Bible.Drive back to Jerusalem for our farewell dinner at the hotel.

Day 12:    TEL AVIV / USA

Transfer to Tel Aviv international Airport for our departure flight back to the USA.Today we arrive home with unforgettable memories, knowing we have walked in the footsteps of Jesus, His Blessed Mother, and the early Christians.  The  Holy Rosary, Holy Scripture, and the Holy Mass will have new meaning for us after this incredible pilgrimage.