We have just arrived this evening at the center which is in Ain Karem a short distance from Jerusalem. This is a mini retreat till Sunday morning when we will depart for the pilgrimage to Galilee. This was the place where King David kept the Ark of the Covenant untill it was safe to bring it into Jerusalem.
Today was a walking tour in the old city of Jerusalem early in the morning at 6:45 a.m. We had a guided tour of the tunnel of the West Wall (which people generally refer as the wailing wall. It was fascinating the underground tour as this is the West side of the temple square wall and what people see on the surface is just part of the wall as much of it is underground. The Jewish people only have a small section that we know as the Western Wall as this is in the Muslim section of the Old City with houses built up over most of the wall.
Our next stop was the Temple Square that is controlled by the Palestinians where the Dome of the Rock is built on the Jewish temple. The Dome is a mosque and as of the year 2000 only Muslims are allowed into it. It was amazing to see how large the temple square was as there is another mosque in the square besides the Dome.
After leaving the Temple Square we spent a bit of time at the Western Wall which is an amazing site to see. The woman go into the museum that we toured earlier to a point underground that is closest to where the temple would have been as they cannot touch the Western Wall as only men and boys are allowed in the area.
We than went to visit the Pool of Bethesda and the Basilica of St. Anne as this was her birth place. After visiting the ruins outside we celebrated mass in the Basilica. At 1:00 p.m. we headed back hungry after our walking tour.
Some pictures are attached of the sights today. Until next time Fr. Mike
Excellent Pictures. All sounds wonderful
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