Board your overnight flight for the start of your returning journey to Tel Aviv, with complimentary meals and beverages served on board.

Upon arrival in Tel Aviv, you will make your way to Baggage Claim and to the Arrivals Hall where you will be met by your Guide/Driver and transferred to your hotel on the Mediterranean coast. Dinner will be served at the hotel.

After breakfast, we will travel north to Haifa to visit Stella Maris, a Carmelite Monastery with the Madonna of Mount Carmel. After enjoying the view of the bay of Acco, we will drive to Mukhraka and visit the Monastery that commemorates Elijah confronting the prophets of Baal. Continue to the Sea of Galilee to visit the fascinating new excavations at Magdala. We will end the day at the very spot where the Jordan River flows from the Sea of Galilee, leaving time to reflect on the Baptism at the Jordan River (There will also be time for you to renew your Baptism). Check in to your hotel by the lake before a delicious dinner and a restful overnight.

After breakfast, we will drive to Nazareth, the site of Mary’s home and the town where Jesus lived as a child. In Nazareth, we will celebrate Mass in the Basilica of the Annunciation, followed by a visit to the Church of St. Joseph and Mary’s Well. Also see Nazareth Village, a careful recreation of what a Galilean village would have been like at the time of Jesus. We will continue with a visit to Cana where Jesus performed His first public miracle at the request of His mother Mary [John 2:1-11]. We will then return to visit the Franciscan chapel for those who wish to perform the renewal of their wedding vows. Next, we will make our way back to Tiberias, with a stop at Mount Arbel to take in a beautiful panoramic view of the Sea of Galilee region where Jesus started His ministry. We will end the day with a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee before returning to the hotel for dinner and overnight.

Your day starts at the Mount of Beatitudes, the scene of Jesus’ great Sermon on the Mount. A short drive away is Capernaum, where Jesus launched his Ministry; see the synagogue which dates to the time of Jesus, and the church built over the site of Peter’s home. We will be able to celebrate Mass in this special place. In the afternoon, we will drive up to the Golan Heights to visit ancient towns that were featured in Christ’s life around the lake. Among the towns included is Kursia, where Jesus healed the two men possessed by demons [Mark 5:1-20], Bethsada, and Korazim. The day will come to a close with dinner and a restful overnight at your hotel.

This morning after breakfast we will drive to Mount Tabor, the site of the Transfiguration. We will have time to reflect on Christ’s Humanity and Divinity – a good preparation for our journey back to Jerusalem, where Jesus was to suffer the Crucifixion and Rise on the third day. Mass will be celebrated here at the Basilica designed to represent 3 tents. Continue south through Samaria, a land rich in Old Testament history. Near Jenin is the Church built over the cave to which the 10 lepers healed by Jesus had been banished. Continue to Sebastia to see this fascinating site that is rarely visited. Under Herod, it was a major city, as evidenced by the impressive remains. It is here that Salome danced for Herod and asked for the head of John the Baptist as a reward. The Byzantines built a large Basilica and monastery in his memory. Drive through the valley between the twin peaks of Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, known in the Old Testament as Mount Blessing and Mount Cursing. Stop at Jacob’s Well, hewn out of solid rock over 100 feet deep. As it is manually dug out, it is most certainly the same well mentioned in the Gospel of John. The water at the bottom of the well is fed by flowing water, which is why the ancients gave it the name “Living Water.” It is at this well that Jesus met the Samaritan woman and said to her: “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Many pilgrims today like to drink from this well. We will continue toward Jerusalem, passing Shiloh, where the Ark of Covenant was kept. We will journey through the beautiful Levonah Valley, referred to in Judges as the Valley of the Dancers. Finally, we will arrive in Jerusalem and check in to our hotel for dinner and an overnight.

After breakfast, we will drive to Bethlehem to see the caves at the Shepherd’s Field. The caves have soot marks from the fires that shepherds lit to keep warm while watching over their flocks. Then we will continue to Bethlehem, beginning at Manger Square which stands in front of one of the oldest Christian churches: the Church of the Nativity. Enter the Church and go down to the Grotto of the Nativity which marks the spot of Jesus’ birth. Beneath the Altar, there is a silver star with the Latin inscription: HIC DE VIRGINE MARIA JESUS CHRISTUS NATUS (Here Jesus Christ was born to the Virgin Mary.) In the afternoon, drive through the Judean Wilderness to view the Desert Monasteries of Mar Saba, St. George in Wadi Kelt, and the Monastery on the side of Mount Temptation. It is in this desert that Jesus fasted for 40 days and where thousands of hermit monks lived in the wilderness during the early years of Christianity. The day will come to a close as we return to our hotel for dinner and an overnight stay.

Today we will explore Jerusalem. At the steps of the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount, ponder the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, the Finding of Jesus at the Temple, and the Healing of the Blind Man at the Temple. You will be able to marvel at the Western Wall of the Temple Mount. Visit the Davidson Center where you will learn how, during the time of Jesus, daily life in Jerusalem revolved around the Temple rituals. We will continue to visit the new City of David excavation, the heart of Biblical Jerusalem, and the Pool of Siloam. We will walk through the alleyways of the Old City and stop at two of the oldest churches in Christendom: St. Mark’s Assyrian Orthodox Church and St. James Armenian Orthodox Church. The day will come to a close as we head to the hotel for dinner and a restful overnight.

This morning will consist of a visit to the Mount of Olives to take in the panoramic view of Jerusalem. While at Gethsemane we will reflect on Jesus’ final night. The Garden contains beautiful trees whose roots date back to the time of Jesus. Visit the Church of All Nations to pray at the Rock of Agony – a section of bedrock identified as the place where Jesus prayed alone in the garden on the night of His arrest. Nearby is the unusual underground Church of the Tomb of Mary. Then we will journey up to Mount Zion to visit the Upper Room and the Church of Peter in Gallicantu. We will end the day with a visit to the David Citadel to enjoy the stunning views over the Old City and see the fascinating museum of Jerusalem. The day will come to a close with dinner and an overnight.

This morning we start very early, as we make our way to the Via Dolorosa (The Way of the Cross) at the Antonia Fortress, where Jesus was condemned to death by Pontius Pilate. From there He was taken through the city to be crucified. The Stations of the Cross lead through the markets of the Old City to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Here is the site of Calvary and the Tomb of Christ. We will celebrate Mass in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. In the afternoon, we will visit Abou Ghosh – most likely the site of Emmaus – where Jesus appeared to the two Disciples after the Resurrection. Here we will visit the lovely Crusader church and meditate in the beautiful gardens tended by the nuns. Drive through the Valley of Elah, mentioned in the Old Testament as where the events of Samson & Delilah and David & Goliath took place. The Valley is also home to the Monastery of Beit Jimal, which dates to the 5th century and is the burial place of St. Stephen. The day will come to a close as we return to the hotel for dinner and an overnight.

After a meaningful and inspiring journey through the Holy Land, you will transfer to the airport for your return flights home.

*206 Tours Disclaimer:
Occasionally local religious and national holidays, weather, traffic conditions and other events may necessitate changes in the sequence of events or the missing of certain events/places. Though every effort will be made to follow the itinerary, it should be considered as an indication, rather than a contract of events and places to be visited.