Jesus in Galilee, part I (Monday & Tuesday)

I was unwilling to pay for internet access this week at our Holiday Inn in Tiberias, nor did I have much time to write, even if I were, so I am going cover this past week in a couple of installments.

We began Monday as usual: Mass with Lauds followed by breakfast. Our first stop was Bet Alpha, which is known for a mosaic floor of 6th century AD synagogue. Compared to the other mosaics we have seen, I have to admit these were underwhelming. The main part of the floor is almost completely intact and shows an Ark of the Law, a complete depiction of the signs of the zodiac and the four seasons and the sacrifice of Isaac. That it is that complete and as well preserved as it is, is impressive to be sure sure. The style in which it was rendered is almost comical: it looks like a mosaic version of children's drawings. While I am no artist myself, if I had been paying for this floor, I would have demanded a refund! I tried to take some pictures of the floor, but they did not turn out particularly well.

Our next stop was Nazareth. We began our time with the Sisters of Nazareth. A sister showed us their church (which was being worked on, so it was very dusty) and the ruins beneath it, which range from the 1st to 12th centuries AD. The highlight of that visit was seeing a 1st century tomb that actually had a round stone which covered its entrance. (Bart and I kept singing or humming "Roll Away the Stone.") You can see me in the entrance of that tomb (as usual, blinking.)

On our way to the Basilica of the Annunciation and the Church of St. Joseph, we stopped a synagogue, where pilgrims recall Jesus teaching in the synagogue in his "hometown" (Mt 13:54 & Lk 4:16). The basilica is an unfortunate 1960's "cutting edge" design built on the Crusader (12th century) footprint with some striking and beautiful elements, but which is not especially beautiful on the whole. The church is surrounded by a courtyard on two sides with depictions of Our Lady from all over the world, much like the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. It is a split level church. The focus of the lower church is the grotto of the Annunciation. It invites one to reflect on the humble circumstances of our Lord's birth by its simple elegance. There is an inscription on the altar from the Creed in Latin with one small addition that startled me: Verbum Carno Hic Factum Est. The Word become flesh here! The grotto does not pretend to be the spot where Gabriel spoke with Mary, yet it still speaks to the particularity and locality of the Incarnation, that it occurred in space and time and therefore in history. That alone made the visit worthwhile to me. The upper church has more images of Our Lady like those in the courtyard. The sanctuary is separated from the nave by a large whole, looking to the grotto below. The fresco in the apse is of Jesus introducing his stepfather Joseph (I think) to heaven. The church of St. Joseph is a simple church that could easily be missed in the grandiosity of the basilica. I found a little hidden treasure in the grotto beneath the main part of the church: a stained glass window depicting Mary & Joseph's wedding. I can't remember ever seeing that artistically represented before. We were so engaged in conversation (or whatever) that we drove through the little town of Cana without even realizing it. When we realized our error (when we came to road to Tiberias, where we stayed) we decided to get it tomorrow and call it a day. After a very nice dinner, we started a Tiberias tradition: nightly Scrabble contests. In case you're wondering, the final tally was: Fr. Gregory 2, Fr. Bart 2 and Fr. Steven 1, even though I went out three games in a row!

Tuesday began with Mass at the Church of the Transfiguration atop Mt. Tabor. Although we left Tiberias in plenty of time, we got caught in a traffic jam and were almost late for the time Fr. Gregory had reserved for us. It is one of the prettiest churches served by the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land. There are two sanctuaries: a large, main one above, and a small, more intimate "grotto" below. The smaller one, where we celebrated Mass, is particularly lovely. It was my turn to be the principle celebrant, but I didn't get the time I had hoped for to recollect myself before Mass. Nevertheless, there were several times during the Mass that I was moved to tears. There is nothing I can point to (a part of the reading, a word or phrase in a prayer, etc.) that was a trigger: the place just overwhelmed me. I am very grateful to have had that experience in that there. Maybe at some point in the future, I will come to understand what moved me, or maybe not.

Next up were the ruins of Sepphoris, an important city in the history of Galilee. When we arrived we saw what looked to be several groups of Hebrew-speaking teenagers excavating the site, as well as a group of British tourists. To date, it is the only active excavation we've encountered; we have seen indications that work was being done in other places, this was the first place we saw people doing it. In the remains of the main street, one can still see the grooves of wagon wheels in the smoothed stones. Like many places (a surprising number to me!), there was remains of mosaics, especially in the synagogue and the Citadel on top of the hill. An interesting feature of the Citadel is that when the Crusader rebuilt it, they "reused" Roman sarcophagi as cornerstones.

Our next visit was Cana. It took us a while to actually find the church that commemorates the miracle at Cana (Jn. 2:1-11). In a bit of pastoral flashback (or foreshadowing), there was a wedding rehearsal going on when we arrived. It is a small, modest church. We shared a number of wedding stories. There are a couple of gift shops that sell (wait for it, wait for it)... wine. There are no vineyards in the area, as one shopkeeper explained to us, so it has to be brought in from other areas. Again, not surprisingly, the special bottles are labeled for weddings, wedding anniversaries, etc. We even saw special certificates for couples who had renewed their wedding vows in the little church. Beneath the church there is a large stone vessel, a suggestion of what may have contained the water that Our Lord Jesus turned into wine that day. Let's just say that given that quantity, the party could have easily continued on for that week.

Our last visit on Tuesday was inspired by Fr. Steven's love of military history: the Horns of Hattin. It is not a common site on the tourist circuit, evidenced by the fact that is quite tricky to even gets to the dirt road, which quickly becomes impassible for a car or bus, that leads to the southern end of the summit! It was here that Saladin decisively defeated the Crusaders on July 4, 1187. As you can see, it affords magnificent views, especially toward the Sea of Galilee. Continuing our "Mad Dog & Englishmen" tradition, we hiked to the Horns between midday and midafternoon. The walk up the hill was made easier, yeah even pleasant, by a strong wind. Fr. Steven thoroughly enjoyed himself and we shared in it by his enthusiasm.