Courtney McGrailOne of our Limerick readers, Susan Frawley, shares her experience of a pilgrimage to the Holy Land
Susan Frawley
In the early hours of a Saturday morning, a group of pilgrims left the carpark of Our Lady Queen of Peace Church, Janesboro in Limerick with our Spiritual Director, Fr Pat O’Sullivan to embark on a journey that will stay with us for the rest of our lives. We began our pilgrimage to the Holy Land. On arrival in Tel Aviv airport, 10 other pilgrims from around the country joined our group.
During our time in the Holy Land, we followed in the footsteps of Jesus and discovered this unique and spiritual land with visits to Tiberius, Nazareth, Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Our first stop was Bethlehem, here we visited the birth place of Jesus and the Milk Grotto – where Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus took refuge from King Herod’s soldiers while fleeing to Egypt.
We also visited the Shepherds Fields, where traditionally it is said that the Angels of the Lord visited the shepherds to inform them of the birth of the baby Jesus.
Our next wonderful experience was Jerusalem. We visited Dominus Flevit Church where it is said Jesus wept over Jerusalem. It is a small Franciscan church in the shape of a tear located on the upper western slope of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. We visited the place where Jesus taught his disciples the Our Father.
We saw the Our Father written in every language including the Ár n-Athair.
We walked and carried the cross through the Via Dolorosa, also known at the Path of Sorrow. The road starts where Jesus was tried, convicted and condemned to be crucified. We walked to the place where Jesus was crucified on the Hill of Golgotha. There stands the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Known as the holiest place in the Christian world, the church stands on the site where Jesus was crucified and the tomb in which he was buried. Here in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre Fr Pat O’Sullivan celebrated the liturgy with us. How privileged were we?
We saw the room where Jesus had his Last Supper with his disciples. We also visited the Garden of Gethsemane.
After our three nights stay in Bethlehem we drove through the desert to Tiberius. Here we had a most beautiful Mass on the Mount of Beatitudes. During the homily, led by Fr Pat we shared together our own meanings of the Beatitudes. We had a most beautiful boat trip on the Sea of Galilee where, just like Jesus and his disciples, we too cast out our fishing nets. We went to Tabgha where we visited the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fish, where Jesus fed 5,000 from five loaves of bread and two fish. We saw the ruins of Capernaum where Jesus lived during his ministry. We visited Cana in Galilee where those among us who are married renewed our wedding vows. We also saw the Church of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor.
Nazareth was another place we visited. Here we saw the Basilica of the Annunciation, where we had a beautiful Mass for healing. We visited St Joseph’s workshop, the house of the Holy Family and Mary’s well, where it is believed Mary fetched water for her daily living.
It was a most breathtaking trip. We laughed, we cried and we prayed together. We had the most inspiring, inspirational and thought provoking liturgies every day. We returned with a great richness in our hearts for the living Church that we encountered. It was a most wonderful experience to be in the place where Jesus walked, to have the privilege to touch the place where he was born, where he died and where he rose from the dead. We are blessed and privileged to have visited the Holy Land.