DAY 1: DEPART USA  

Depart for Holy Land (Tel-Aviv) with complimentary meals and beverages served onboard your international flight. 

DAY 2: ARRIVE TEL AVIV - NAZARETH

On arrival in Tel Aviv, we will meet our private assistant in the airport and continue to be met by our guide and bus driver who will accompany us during our pilgrimage. Proceed to our hotel in Nazareth

DAY 3: MT. TABOR - CANA - NAZARETH

After breakfast, we will drive to the site of the Transfiguration, Mount Tabor (Matthew 17:1-50). At this site you will have some time to reflect on Christ’s Humanity and Divinity. Our next stop is at Cana of Galilee to visit the Wedding Church where Jesus performed the first of his signs, changing water to wine (Mass with renewal of wedding vows for couples). We drive back to Nazareth for lunch. We will experience the town where Mary once lived and where Jesus lived as a child (Matthew 2:23). While in Nazareth, we will visit the Church of the Annunciation which includes the Church of St Joseph (it’s from 1914-21 built over Byzantine ruins) which tradition identifies it with the workshop of Joseph and the house of the Holy Family. We will continue with a visit of the Church of the Incarnation, viewing at the Grotto the remains of the house of the Blessed Virgin where the Angel appeared and announced the good news. Following the Pilgrims path, we visit the Synagogue Church and Mary’s Well where often the Virgin Mary would have walked to draw water from the spring. Option: (Meeting with Vicar of Nazareth). Dinner and overnight at your hotel in Nazareth.

DAY 4: TIBERIAS - BEATITUDES - TABGHA - CAPERANUM- SEA OF GALILEE

This morning after breakfast at the hotel, we drive to the Sea of Galilee to visit the Mt. of Beatitudes where our Lord gave the Sermon on the Mount (Luke 6:20-49). We celebrate a Mass upon arrival. We continue to the Mount of Tabgha to see the splendid mosaic of the loaves and fishes, where Jesus fed the crowd of 5,000 people from five loaves of bread and two fish (Luke 9:10-17). Also, in Tabgha is St. Peter’s Primacy where Jesus bestowed church leadership upon Peter (John 21:9). We continue to Capernaum to see the house of St. Peter and the Synagogue where our Lord preached. You will have an opportunity to try the St. Peter’s fish for lunch in Magdala, where we also visit the site, one of today’s highlights is a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee (Luke 5:1). We will also see the “Jesus Boat” a 2000-year-old boat found at the shores of Magdala. We drive back to Nazareth.

Dinner and overnight at your hotel in Nazareth

DAY 5: NAZARETH – NABLUS - TAYBEH 

 

This morning, we drive south Samaria to visit in Nablus the Jacob’s well and to visit the ruins of the old Sebastia. Time for lunch. We continue our drive to Taybeh one of few Christian towns in Palestine. We visit and meet the parish, visit the school and the Latin Patriarchate elderly house. We will all visit the Taybeh Brewery is a brewery founded in 1994 in the, by Nadim Khoury and his brother David members of the local Palestinian Christian community. It is considered to be the first Palestinian brewery and the first microbrewery in the whole Middle East.

Dinner and overnight in Taybeh 

DAY 6: JERICHO - MOUNT OF TEMPTATION - DEAD SEA

Today: After breakfast, you will drive along the Jordan Valley south to Kasr El-Yahud, Jesus’ baptismal site on the River Jordan (Matthew 3:13-17). After some time at the Jordan River we continue to the oldest inhabited city in the world, Jericho (Joshua 6:12-25). In Jericho, you view the exact location, the Mount of Temptation, where the Devil tempted Jesus during his forty-day fast (Luke 4:1). Drive to Dead Sea, for a Float. afterward, we drive to Jerusalem. Mass at Good Shepherd in Jericho.

Dinner and overnight at your hotel in Jerusalem.

DAY 7: BETHLEHEM

This morning, we drive to Bethlehem visiting the place of birth of our Lord, The Basilica of the Nativity. We will visit the Grotto of Nativity and the Church of St. Catherine where the Midnight Mass is celebrated and the Caves of St. Joseph and St. Jerome underneath the church. Visit Shepherd’s Fields, where the Angels appeared to the shepherds who were watching over their flocks during the night.

Lunch and Visit to Bethlehem University, also visit to the Seminary of the Latin Patriarchate of Beit Jala.

(Holy Mass at the Nativity Church)

Dinner and overnight at your hotel in Jerusalem.

DAY 8: MOUNT OF OLIVES

After breakfast, we drive to the top of Mt. Olives for a panoramic view of Jerusalem for a better understanding of its geography and some of the key sites surrounding the area. Visit the Church of Pater Noster where Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, and then we walk on the Palm Sunday road to the Church of Dominus Flevit, where our Lord wept over the city. Continue our walk on the Palm Sunday road to the Garden of Gethsemane. At Gethsemane is the Rock of Agony where Jesus uttered His last prayer. Spend some time in reflection and meditation inside the church.(Holy Mass in the Garden of Gethsemane)

Overnight at your hotel in Jerusalem.

DAY 9: JERUSALEM - EMMAUS - MOUNT ZION - UPPER ROOM  

In the morning, we drive to Emmaus El Qubeibeh, One of Christ’s appearances after the Resurrection took place in Emmaus, to two of his disciples, Simeon and Cleophas, who recognised the Master after Jesus had broken bread with them. 

This afternoon, go on Mount Zion to visit the Church of the Dormition commemorating our Blessed Mother falling asleep. Next, we go to visit the Cenacle / Upper Room, the place of the Last Supper and Pentecost. We also visit the Church of Saint Peter in Gallicantu. The house of the high priest of the Jews Caiaphas where Jesus was imprisoned for the night and where Peter denied our Lord.

Mass at the Latin Patriarchate Cathedral.

Visit of the Latin Patriarchate and meeting with the Patriarch or one of the Bishops.

DAY 10: JERUSALEM: THE PASSION OF JESUS LAST HOURS 

Today: Early this morning, we plan to attend the Mass in the Holy Tomb at the church of Holy Sepulcher with a Solemn Entry.After Mass, we return and continue to visit the Old city Jerusalem, the Western Wall, Dome of the Rock and El-Aqsa Mosque On to St. Anne’s Churchand the Pools of Bethesda. We continue to the Judgment Hall known as the Antonia Fortress where He was led to be condemned to death by Pontius Pilate. At that place, we start walking the Via Dolorosa through the markets of the Old City praying the Stations of the Cross, we reflect on the greatness of His sacrifice, stopping at each of the fourteen stations of the cross until we reach the Church of Holy Sepulchre. Visit Calvary and the empty Tomb of our Lord and the different sections of the church.

Dinner and overnight at your hotel in Jerusalem.

DAY 11: RETURN TO USA

This morning depart from Tel-Aviv for flight back to the USA.