Upon arrival at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, make your way to the baggage claim area and collect your luggage.  Proceed to the Arrival’s Hall, where you will be greeted by your tour guide and/or driver.  Transfer to your hotel in Tel Aviv to check-in.  Enjoy dinner at the hotel before retiring for the evening.

Visit the Saint Peter Church in Jaffa where the apostle received visions from God to welcome Gentiles into the Church.  Continue north to Haifa, located on Mt. Carmel, tour the mountain range and take the incline up along the mountain.  Make a visit to the Carmelite Shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and pray at the cave where Elijah the prophet took refuge.  Have prayers at the Cave and an opportunity to be invested in the Brown Scapular.  Continue to Nazareth for lunch, followed by a visit to the Church of the Annunciation.  Walk down to the Grotto, where the remains of the house of the Blessed Mother are visible.  Here is where the Angel of the Lord announced the good news to Mary.  Visit the museum and archaeological site where you can see the remains of Nazareth at the time of Christ, as well as the workshop of St. Joseph – which is now known as St. Joseph’s Church.  Celebrate Mass, and then continue to Cana.  It was here that Jesus performed His first miracle, changing water into wine.  During your visit to the Wedding Church, married couples will have the chance to participate in the ceremony and renew their wedding vows.  From there, we continue to the Sea of Galilee, for dinner and overnight.

This morning we take a boat ride on the beautiful Sea of Galilee (Luke 5:1).  Then we visit Capernaum, the fishing town where Jesus lived and launched His ministry that was to change our lives and the world.  In Capernaum we see the Synagogue where Jesus taught (Mark 1:21-29) and gave the sermon on the Bread of Life.  We continue to the Mount of Beatitudes, where Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount (Luke 6:20-49).  Then to Tabgha, where Jesus fed the crowd of 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish (Luke 9:10-17).  Nearby is St. Peter’s Primacy, where Peter confirmed his love of Jesus (John 21) and it was in this place that Jesus anointed Peter to lead His Church and was to become the first Pope.  (John 21:9).  Continue to visit the birthplace of Mary Magdalene in Magdala.  During the time of Jesus, this village was a prosperous fishing village that exported fish and garum, a fish sauce reduction popular in Roman cooking.

End the day with a stop at the Valley of the Doves.  This is located at the foot of the steep cliffs of Mt. Arbel and was part of the ancient Via Maris trade route linking Mesopotamia and Egypt.  This route also linked Nazareth to the Sea of Galilee and would have been the path that Jesus walked when travelling between the two places.  Today the valley is still undeveloped and we can imagine Jesus walking along this ancient way and resting by the stream.

Return to the hotel for dinner and an overnight.

After breakfast, drive to the site of the Transfiguration, Mount Tabor (Matthew 17:1-50).  At this site, you will have some time to reflect on Christ’s Divinity.  Celebrate Mass at the Basilica of the Transfiguration and then continue south towards the Jordan Valley, to the oldest inhabited city in the world, Jericho (Joshua 6:12-25).  In Jericho, you view the exact location, the Mount of Temptation, where the Devil tempted Jesus during His forty-day fast (Luke 4:1).  Following time for Prayer and the renewal of our baptismal promises at the Jordan River, continue to Jerusalem to check-in to your hotel for dinner and overnight.

This morning we visit the Israel Museum to see the model replica of Jerusalem as it was in the time of Christ and the Shrine of the Book which houses the Dead Sea Scrolls.  Then to Ein Karem, the village where John the Baptist was born to visit the Church that bears his name.  Later drive to Bethlehem to visit the fields where the Angel appeared to the shepherds to proclaim the birth of Jesus Christ, (Luke 2:8).  We enter the caves where shepherds took shelter in ancient times and see the soot marks of the fires they lit to keep warm.  Continue to Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity.  We enter the Church through the door of humility and proceed down to the Grotto of the Nativity, which marks the place of Our Savior’s birth (Matthew 2:1-18).  Beneath the altar, there is a silver star and a Latin inscription that states:  HIC DE VIRGINE MARIA JESUS CHRISTUS NATUS (Here Jesus Christ was born to the Virgin Mary).  Following Mass in Bethlehem return to the hotel in Jerusalem for dinner and overnight.  If time permits observe the Franciscan procession in the Holy Sepulchre at 5pm.

After breakfast, we will make our way to the Mount of Olives where you will be able to take in the beautiful, panoramic view of Jerusalem. Historically, the Mount of Olives was a mandatory transit point for Jesus during many iconic moments.  Visit the Pater Noster Shrine where Jesus taught His disciples the Lord’s Prayer (Pater Noster) (Luke 11:1-4).  You will have the opportunity to stop at Dominus Flevit which is the Church that commemorates where Jesus wept for Jerusalem (Luke 19:41).  We walk down the Palm Sunday tour to Gethsemane, a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives.  Jesus brought His disciples here to pray the night before He was crucified (Luke 22:29-53).  The Garden still contains trees with roots that date back to the time of Jesus.  Your next stop, the Church of All Nations, built over the “Rock of Agony”.  This is where Jesus prayed alone on the night of His arrest.  Throughout this time, you are invited to remain in prayer and to reflect on Christ’s agony that He experienced.  You will have the opportunity to visit the Western Wall, which is the last remnant of the Jewish Temple after it was destroyed in 70 A.D.  Continue with a visit to the house of the High Priest Caiaphas (Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu).  This Church commemorates where Jesus was examined and eventually imprisoned before the Council in Jerusalem.  It also commemorates Peter’s Denial of Christ (John 18:15-18), Peter’s repentance, and Jesus’ forgiveness of Peter.  You will also visit the Upper Room on Mt. Zion.  The Upper Room is where Jesus and His disciples celebrated the Last Supper (Matthew 26:17-30) and where Jesus appeared to His disciples after His Death and Resurrection (Mark 16:14).  In addition, visit the nearby Benedictine Church of the Dormition.  Tradition tells us that this Church is where Mary, the Mother of Jesus, “fell asleep”.  At the end of this prayerful day, return to your hotel for dinner and overnight.

In the morning travel to the area of ancient Emmaus, where Jesus walked with two of His disciples and taught them along the way.  In the grounds of the Church of the Arc of the Covenant enjoy a morning retreat and Mass at the Emmaus site, followed by a box lunch on the site.  Then drive to Bethany, the site where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead which foreshadows His own Resurrection (John 11:38-44).  Return to the hotel for dinner and overnight.

Very early this morning we walk together in prayerful procession along the Via Dolorosa (The Way of the Cross).  We start at the Antonia Fortress, where Jesus was condemned to death by Pontius Pilate (John 18:28 – 19:16) and receives His cross.  We end at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, which marks the place of the Crucifixion & Resurrection, (Luke 23:26-33).  After Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher we return to the hotel for breakfast.  Later we revisit the Old City to see the Church of St. Anne’s, the traditional birthplace of the Virgin Mary.  Nearby is the Pool of Bethesda, where Jesus healed the crippled man (John 5:1-9).  End the day with a visit to the Western Wall, which is the last remnant of the Jewish Temple destroyed in 70 A.D.

After an early breakfast and heartfelt farewells, transfer to the Tel Aviv airport for return flights home.  On the way group will stop to visit the Benedictine Monastery in Abu Gosh where Jesus met His disciples after the Resurrection.

*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.