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Pilgrimages
 

Below is information about our next scheduled pilgrimages. We will also be happy to organize a special, customized pilgrimage for your small group or family [usually 12-16 persons].

 
  • Small group of pilgrims

  • English speaking guides

  • Private rooms with bath in religious guesthouse or hostel

  • All meals and all standard gratuities included in price

  • Encounter with local Christians

  • Spiritual director: Monsignor Labib Kobti

  • Leader: Dr. Claudia Devaux (805) 544-9088 Pacific time

  • Co-leader: Lorin Peters in October (510) 207-6720

 

Reading the Bible in the Land of the Bible

 

Bible stories take on a whole new meaning when you actually visit the places where the ancients walked and worshipped. With a small group—limited to 16 pilgrims and two leaders—you will visit the Basilica commemorating the Annunciation and travel to Ein Karem where Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth. You will place yourself in Shepherd’s Field by Bethlehem and say a prayer in the 4th-century Church of the Nativity that St. Helena had constructed over the cave where Jesus was born. You will stand on the shores of Galilee to see fish jumping out of the water and remember that Jesus called on Peter to be a fisher of men. You will walk along the Via Dolorosa and gaze at Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives.

 

You will also visit Old Testament sites that will bring to life Abraham’s worship of the one God,  his grandson Jacob’s struggle with God, Moses’ wandering through the wilderness, Ruth’s journey from Moab to Bethlehem with her mother-in-law Naomi, and Job’s suffering.

 

Tying the Old Testament and the New Testament together, you will visit the archeological site at Petra, recently named one of the new “Seven Wonders of the World,” where the Nabateans controlled the spice trade from 200 BC to 200 AD. That is the place where the Magi would have procured frankincense, and it was the homeland of the Arabs present at Pentecost. At the conclusion of our pilgrimage, you will have the opportunity to renew your baptismal promises at the Jordan River site where the early Christians recalled the baptism of the Lord.

 

Encouraging Local Christians

 

The number of Holy Land Christians is decreasing. One of our goals is to bring hope to the descendants of the first Christians by visiting them and praying with them. We stay in Christian hostels to bring income to their families and to support their ministries. And so as pilgrims, we travel not only to be fed, but to follow Christ's exhortation, "Feed my sheep."

 

Holy Land Christians live and practice their faith on both sides of the Jordan River. We will go to Bethany beyond the Jordan where Jesus was baptized, we will visit Christians in their homes, churches, schools, and shops. West of the Jordan, we will spend one night in Nazareth, the place where Jesus spent his childhood, and several nights in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, which is in the West Bank. In Jordan, we will be the guests of Our Lady of Peace Center.

 

Next Scheduled Pilgrimage

October 3-19, 2010

 

 

 
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Holy Land Institute is a ministry of St. Thomas More Church of San Francisco

 
 
 

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