Today we visited Haifa, Nazareth and Cana of Galilee.
Hail Mary full of Grace the Lord is with thee! Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb for thou hast born the Savior of our souls!
Today the one born of Mary truly blessed our souls!
Though weary from traveling and with far too little sleep we were at least together as a pilgrim group visiting and praying at many places.
Certainly today’s highlights were visiting the Roman Catholic Basilica of the Annunciation and the Orthodox church of Saint Gabriel and the well where Mary received the greeting from the Archangel.
As we approached the Orthodox Holy site it seemed that everything changed.
There was a Romanian pilgrim group with many nuns old and young. Greeting them I found none to speak English but still received a warm greeting.
Inside it took a moment for my eyes to focus but then I saw the iconostasis, the icon stands and the Festal Icon of the Annunciation. Next the candles for offering came into view and I, with the candles in hand, thankfully referenced the
icons and said prayers.
The next thing I noticed was another group of Romanians singing the Holy God at the well beautifully and reverently.
After all settled down I and our small group were able to go to the well where I intoned the troparia: Today is the beginning of our salvation the revelation of the eternal mystery, the Son of God becomes the son of the Virgin as Gabriel announces the coming of Grace; together with him let us cry to the Theotokos: rejoice O Full of Grace, the Lord is with thee.
The caretaker blessed us with containers of Holy Oil, Holy Water and a few small icon cards for St. George Church but more so with his quietness, humility and Expression of love.
Some pictures below:
Overlooking Nazareth from the Mount of Precipice.
The house of Mary.
The entrance to Mary’s Well
Icon above the Well
Mary’s Well.
No comments:
Post a Comment