Post 7 : Day 4 and Day 5 Bethlehem , Israel

Post 7 : Day 4 and Day 5 Bethlehem , Israel

A large number of Grottos, Shrines and Churches were visited in these two days. I was falling in love with Jerusalem to the extent where I could live there for the rest of my lives in escape from worldly worries in wait of deliverance.

We were staying at the 7 Arches hotel with a heavenly view of the holy city of Jerusalem, wind piercing my skin leaving my nose cold and face numb. After every exhaustive day I would still freshen up and sit down on benches under olive trees completely wrapped up in layers of clothing looking at the amazing lights of the city singing devotional songs and saying short prayers before heading to the elaborate buffet.

As a disclaimer I would like to apologize in advance for not justifying the virtue and worth of each of these below mentioned churches. I wanted to mention all and not skip even one, Lack of information, time and a few other such technical constraints make me limit myself to these. For further information on any of the below mentioned especially photographs can be given on request J

To start with 

    1)The Tomb of Mother Mary

After offering prayers at the Church of All Nations at Gethsemane we walked to the Tomb of Mother Mary at the foot hills of Mount of Olives. This church is believed to be the death place and tomb of Mother Mary even though there is no mention of the same in the bible.

As I have mentioned many a times, I have no words to give gratitude to the number of times Mother Mary has defended me from the fury of the Lord for my little slip ups in life. The church is in the shape of a cross and a flight of 47 steps lead to the old dark Tomb of my much loved Mother. My heart sank! But this most graceful woman has a Grotto of her husband St. Joseph and her parents within the shrine. The crypt is very similar to that of her son in the Holy Sepulchre (read about it below).One by one we entered the crypt and offered our gratitude to her. It had stain glass lamps, old rustic walls, strong scent of incense, and thick smoke from bunch of candles lit up.

         

Lamps at Mother Mary's Church

Mother Mary's Church

Painting inside Tomb of Mother Mary

Stairway to Tomb of Mother Mary

 2) Church of the shepherd’s field  – Beit Sahour

              There was an extremely bright happy vibe about this church. This is where the Angels’ declared the Birth of Jesus to the Shepherd. The custody of the church is with the Franciscan and Greek orthodox order of churches. The field of Ruth was also nearby. This is where Naomi and Ruth came to stay and later Ruth married Boaz.

There was a small underground cave with a Crib set up with a holy angelic baby Jesus.

Beit Sahour

Painting inside the Church at shepherd's Field

  3)Church of Nativity – Birthplace of Jesus Christ

We were all charged up for a marathon here as it was the busiest church /tourist spot in Israel. Thanks to all the grace we were leading the long queue. We were in this church with old restored paintings, dusty dark lamp shades in glass and a narrow stairs leading to a cellar with a 14 spoke stars marking the birthplace of Jesus. We almost got about a minute to bless our rosaries and souvenirs from Israel. 

14 Spoke Star marking birthplace of Jesus

Church of Christ's Birthplace

A Priest at the Church in Prayers

4)Church of St Catherine – We walked to the beautiful modern church of St. Catherine where a mass was in progress. A narrow stairs led to the church of St. Jerome.

St. Catherine's church

     5)St Jerome’s church – The same church also has the grottos 0f St Jerome. St Jerome’s statue in the courtyard stands tall on a skull holding the holy bible. St. Jerome is said to have translated the holy bible into Latin so that we could all read it in our own languages today. When King Herod wanted all the children below the age of two to be murdered, the bodies were disposed in this cave cellar.

We prayed for all children, their health, orphans, ones forced into prostitution, separated from parents, Handicapped, suffering from several diseases.

A musician

A rosary store

5)Church of Milk grotto- A short walk from the church of Nativity is the milk grotto in white limestone cave. The short walk had rows of rosary makers and vendors. When Joseph was travelling to Egypt it is believe that mother Mary nursed baby Jesus and a drop of the milk fell on the rock and it turned into white. We could also buy a powder from this shrine for women to be given the fortune to be mothers.

Here we prayed for all women who had their eggs, wanted them fertilised by the best sperms, had the sperms but couldn’t  get it fertilized, who had gone through many hours of labour to bring life to earth, mothers who protected their off springs from the evil of the world till their last breath.

 6)King David’s Tomb – King David’s tomb can be entered from two different sides. Men from one side, and women from the other. We had a quick moment of silence.

Walls of Palestine

Walls of Palestine

The last church was the Holy Sepulchre the Death place of Chirst , the Walk and Way of the Cross which changed my life.