Day 5: And the Word
became flesh…
…Epiphany Sunday!
6:30 AM: Wake-up
call. Monastery at Mt. Carmel.
7:30 AM: Breakfast.
8:30 AM: Depart Mt.
Carmel/Haifa meaning the “Land of Beauty” to Nazareth a tremendous spot of
significance for our Faith.
GEOGRAPHY: Nazareth
is around 26 miles inland from Mt. Carmel/Haifa. So we head away from the beautiful
Mediterranean Sea. Nazareth is about 500
m above sea level…soon we will go to the Sea of Galilee which will descend to
(-) 200 m below sea level. And
eventually the Dead Sea, which will bring us to the “lowest” place we will have
ever been…that is physically…at (-) 400 m below sea level – the lowest place on
earth.
RELIGION: Tel-Aviv
(day 1): 100% Jew; Haifa (day 3): four religions – Jewish, Christian, Muslim,
Baha’I; and Nazareth (day 5): Only 2
religions – Muslim and Christian.
10 AM: Mass of the
Epiphany. In Nazareth. In the Church of St. Joseph.
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| Church dedicated to St. Joseph - Nazareth Group photo taken after Mass |
11 AM: Crypt under
Church. Excavated by the Franciscan
Order. They discovered that the spot had
been venerated since the 2nd century by Christian’s as the carpenter
shop of St. Joseph. Historical research
tells us that St. Joseph would most likely have been a stonemason. On top of this spot was discovered a
Baptistery with 7 steps leading down into the water.
NEXT: Walked to the
Basilica of the Annunciation. Largest
Basilica Church in the whole country.
The Franciscan excavations discovered three depths of ruins in the current location of the Basilica: 1) A Crusader Wall; 2) A Mosaic; 3) An inscription "Kyrios Maria" in a cave - which means "Hail, Mary" in Greek.
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| "Verbum Caro Hic Factum Est" - The Word was made flesh here. Place of the Annunciation |
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