Hotel wake-up calls were hit or miss. I set an alarm on my phone and on my watch each night.
We went straight away Monday morning to Cana in Galilee for couples to renew their wedding vows.
Cana church, exterior
Neither Tim nor I had any stake in that and, overwhelmed by the number of people - two other groups also visiting the small church - Tim wanted to hang out just within the walled courtyard. He told me that when he had seen enough, he was capable of walking to the tour bus on his own. I didn't allow that. He learned two things about group travel: (1) the leader takes a head count before leaving an area and (2) the bus never remains where you left it.
Cana church, interior
We went to the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth next and had mass in St. Joseph's Church nearby.
Church of the Annunciation
It was refreshing to keep the church doors open and groups visited while our mass was in progress. But ropes kept them to the back and our tour guide also hushed them. He couldn't hush the call to prayer, however, that began during Father Jim's homily. Fr. Jim couldn't compete with it so he tried to wait it out. But he eventually gave up. It was lunch time anyway.
St. Joseph's Church
We drove to Tanureen for their famous St. Peter's fish, a whole tilapia. Tim had chicken. The woman next to me refused any entrée, making them take it away, eating only hummus and pita bread. Remy treated us to baklava as we scrambled into our whirlwind afternoon tour of four northern places: (1) the Mount of Beatitudes, (2) Tabgha, (3) Primacy of Peter, and (4) Capernaum. It was do-or-die because the following morning we would depart the north altogether for Jordan.
At the Mount of Beatitudes, we were told that we were only the tenth bus of the day. Usually by the mid-afternoon, sixty buses have been through. It's peaceful and quiet, the grounds are well-maintained. When everyone went inside the church, I took Tim up towards the retreat house and an outdoor seating area.
8-sided Church of the Beatitudes
Then we walked towards the water and, by the time we were ready to view the church interior, everyone was out.
"From here one can see virtually all the places in which Jesus lived and worked"
Jerome Murphy-O'Connor
Tour guides make their presentations about a site outside so as to maintain respectful silence inside but at Tabgha, there is no shade. Relying on our wireless audio headsets, we entered and sat down on the plain benches.
Church of the Multiplication (of Loaves and Fishes)
Remy whispered his information to us, keeping a nervous eye to the back of the sanctuary where a Benedictine sister was shushing him repeatedly. He told us about the fire that was set three years ago, a story I remember. I went out of the sanctuary to the courtyard near the koi pond and viewed the reconstructed roof.
At the Primacy of Peter, Remy played the twenty-first chapter of St. John's Gospel from an audio Bible. The level of reflection at a site never exceeded this, a bit of Scripture recitation. Some made for the church, others shed their shoes and rolled up their pants to wade into the Sea. I tried for a clearer picture of my favorite sculpture:
In it, St. Peter is so shattered. If only he could get his mind off himself! He grasps the bottom portion of the Lord's crook. Christ raises his hand in blessing and commission. Tim and I were the first ones back to the bus.
Finally, Capernaum. Our two Franciscans priests wore their brown robes, with short pants underneath, for our day in the Galilee. Many sites displayed this banner:
a major anniversary
A thing I did not know. There were also signs about appropriate attire at these sites:
Despite it being July, modesty knows no season. Most women kept a scarf handy, wrapped around shoulders or draped over knees, as needed. Our group had three women who bucked at covering their shoulders and knees. One, dourly, even veiled her head instead, a misplaced propriety I found bewildering. Capernaum is stricter than the rest. I managed to snap a picture of the very neat church there above the excavations of an ancient dwelling:
Inside the railing at the center is a view through a glass floor into the ancient house. It was nearly "closing time," and the Franciscans on-site were ready to shut it down. Neva took our picture inside the remains of an early synagogue:
I love the basalt stone used everywhere. It's so distinctive.
We went straight away Monday morning to Cana in Galilee for couples to renew their wedding vows.
Neither Tim nor I had any stake in that and, overwhelmed by the number of people - two other groups also visiting the small church - Tim wanted to hang out just within the walled courtyard. He told me that when he had seen enough, he was capable of walking to the tour bus on his own. I didn't allow that. He learned two things about group travel: (1) the leader takes a head count before leaving an area and (2) the bus never remains where you left it.
We went to the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth next and had mass in St. Joseph's Church nearby.
It was refreshing to keep the church doors open and groups visited while our mass was in progress. But ropes kept them to the back and our tour guide also hushed them. He couldn't hush the call to prayer, however, that began during Father Jim's homily. Fr. Jim couldn't compete with it so he tried to wait it out. But he eventually gave up. It was lunch time anyway.
We drove to Tanureen for their famous St. Peter's fish, a whole tilapia. Tim had chicken. The woman next to me refused any entrée, making them take it away, eating only hummus and pita bread. Remy treated us to baklava as we scrambled into our whirlwind afternoon tour of four northern places: (1) the Mount of Beatitudes, (2) Tabgha, (3) Primacy of Peter, and (4) Capernaum. It was do-or-die because the following morning we would depart the north altogether for Jordan.
At the Mount of Beatitudes, we were told that we were only the tenth bus of the day. Usually by the mid-afternoon, sixty buses have been through. It's peaceful and quiet, the grounds are well-maintained. When everyone went inside the church, I took Tim up towards the retreat house and an outdoor seating area.
Then we walked towards the water and, by the time we were ready to view the church interior, everyone was out.
Jerome Murphy-O'Connor
Tour guides make their presentations about a site outside so as to maintain respectful silence inside but at Tabgha, there is no shade. Relying on our wireless audio headsets, we entered and sat down on the plain benches.
Remy whispered his information to us, keeping a nervous eye to the back of the sanctuary where a Benedictine sister was shushing him repeatedly. He told us about the fire that was set three years ago, a story I remember. I went out of the sanctuary to the courtyard near the koi pond and viewed the reconstructed roof.
At the Primacy of Peter, Remy played the twenty-first chapter of St. John's Gospel from an audio Bible. The level of reflection at a site never exceeded this, a bit of Scripture recitation. Some made for the church, others shed their shoes and rolled up their pants to wade into the Sea. I tried for a clearer picture of my favorite sculpture:
In it, St. Peter is so shattered. If only he could get his mind off himself! He grasps the bottom portion of the Lord's crook. Christ raises his hand in blessing and commission. Tim and I were the first ones back to the bus.
Finally, Capernaum. Our two Franciscans priests wore their brown robes, with short pants underneath, for our day in the Galilee. Many sites displayed this banner:
A thing I did not know. There were also signs about appropriate attire at these sites:
Despite it being July, modesty knows no season. Most women kept a scarf handy, wrapped around shoulders or draped over knees, as needed. Our group had three women who bucked at covering their shoulders and knees. One, dourly, even veiled her head instead, a misplaced propriety I found bewildering. Capernaum is stricter than the rest. I managed to snap a picture of the very neat church there above the excavations of an ancient dwelling:
Inside the railing at the center is a view through a glass floor into the ancient house. It was nearly "closing time," and the Franciscans on-site were ready to shut it down. Neva took our picture inside the remains of an early synagogue:
I love the basalt stone used everywhere. It's so distinctive.
"One more tel?"
"Hotel!"
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