OSMTH® - Knights Templar - SMOTJ®
ORDO SUPREMUS MILITARIS TEMPLI HIEROSOLYMITANI®
A UK Registered International Charity
A
non-governmental organization (NGO) non-profit, voluntary Christian group organised on a
local, national and international level
The Magistral Grand Priory of The Holy Lands
(Notre Dame, Saint Mary of Magdalene)
Official OSMTH Pilgrimage to the Holy Land
November 2006
With the
present unrest in the Holy Lands, we are praying that peace may come to all, and
the Magistral Grand Priory of the Holy Lands (Notre Dame, St. Mary of Magdalene) is presently arranging
a Pilgrimage for Templar brothers and sisters wishing to visit the Holy Land in
a stance of peace and brotherly love. If you are interested in joining our
Pilgrimage, please email admin@ordotempli.org
Our
Pilgrimage will start at the Annunciation and end with the Resurrection. Reading
our programme will show although it is an active Pilgrimage, it can be made
suitable for wheelchair users.
In recognition of such commitment and Christian support, The Magistral Grand Priory has commissioned the strike of a limited edition 2004 OSMTH Pilgrimage Medal to mark this very special Templar visit to the Holy Land and available only to those members or guests undertaking the full 8 days pilgrimage.
Day
1: Pilgrims meet at Gatwick South Terminal
for an early check-in after which there will be an opportunity to meet some of
our fellow Pilgrims in the Airport Chapel. Our flight to Israel takes
approximately four and a half hours and we lose two hours due to the time
change. At Tel Aviv airport a coach, driver and guide will meet us. The journey
to Tiberius takes just over two hours and we arrive in time for a late dinner.
Day
2:
The
theme of our Pilgrimage is Christ’s Life, death and resurrection and our first
visit and OSMTH Templar prayer is in Nazareth, the Church of the Annunciation
built over Mary's house. We celebrate the Mass within the remains of the 5th
century Byzantine Church now forming the Sanctuary. Afterwards, we visit the
upper part of the Church then across the courtyard to the House of Joseph, then
to the synagogue where Christ taught. Finally, a short visit to the
Convent of The Little Sisters of Jesus and Charles de Foucauld for a prayer in
their simple but beautiful Chapel.
After
a lunch stop, we visit Mount Tabor where we travel up the zigzag road to the
beautiful Church. After admiring the tremendous views of the surrounding plains,
and listening to the Gospel reading of Christ’s Transfiguration, we visit the
Franciscan Hospice and repository. Then to Cana where Jesus performed His first
miracle changing water into wine at the wedding feast. It is an opportunity for
us to renew and celebrate our own Marriage and Vocational vows.
Day
3:
We spend today around the Sea of Galilee. Our first visit will be to the
Mount of Beatitudes with it’s marvelous Italian church. Then to Tabgha, the
scene of the miracle of the loaves and fishes where we will celebrate prayers on
the Sea shore. In the church we will find the famous 4th century mosaic that has
been incorporated in the beautiful reconstruction of the Byzantine Basilica. A
short ride away is the church of the Primacy of Peter which is built over the
Rock where Christ called Peter to be the rock of His Church. At Capernaum we
remember Christ's Galilean ministry for it was here that it was centred and it
was here that he called Peter, Matthew and Andrew. We see the remains of the
Synagogue where He taught and House of Peter, the first Christian Church.
For lunch by the Sea of Galilee, most Pilgrims try the famous St. Peter's
Fish.
Our
afternoon starts with a boat ride across the Sea in a replica Galilean fishing
boat. We stop away from the shore for a few moments for prayer, and then
continue to the En Kev Kibbutz
where we will take their ‘road train’ for a guided tour hearing something
about modern Israel. It is then by coach to the Yardenit Baptismal site on the
River Jordan where we may renew our vows and remember Christ's own Baptism by
John.
Day
4 : An
early start today, heading off for Jerusalem and the second half of our
Pilgrimage. Jericho, is a good place to stop on our way south through the Jordan
Valley. Shops, fruit, refreshments abound. We hear the story of Zacchaeus
climbing the sycamore tree and from a suitable view point we look up at the
Quruntul Monastery on the mountain side and commemorate Christ's forty days in
the desert.
We
continue to the mountain of Masada and the Dead Sea. Masada has two great
stories. First, that of Herod the Great & his tremendous palace. Second the
story of the five year Roman siege of the 900 Jewish Zealots who preferred to
die by their own hand, as free men, rather than become pagan slaves. We take a
cable car to the top with our guide. Afterwards, lunch and a couple of relaxed
hours by the Dead Sea at the Ein Gedi private. As well as bathing, we can cake
ourselves in the famous, black Dead Sea mud and take the hot sulphur health
baths.
Qumran is
a little south and the site of an ancient Jewish religious community whose
members spent much of their time copying the Gospels and who left us The Dead
Sea Scrolls! We will find a suitable spot in the Desert for an open air prayer
to remember Christ’s time in the desert. On the road to Jerusalem we find the
Inn of the Good Samaritan. Typical, and the sort of place Jesus had in mind when
He gave us this parable. With its well and its Bedouin welcome it is a good
place to pause and hear the story. We arrive at our Jerusalem hotel in time for
our evening meal. For the
energetic, an evening stroll will
take us to the walls of the Old City and perhaps the Western (Wailing) Wall.
Day
5:
Our day begins with a coach ride to the
top of the Mount of Olives where we visit the Paternoster Church. Around the
Church and garden we find the Prayer in ceramics in every language under the
sun! The Mount of Olives lies across the Kidron Valley from the Eastern Wall of
the Old City and gives us one of the most spectacular views. The Golden Gate,
the Temple Mount, the Golden Dome, the Dome of the Holy Sepulchre. From here we
really understand why Jesus wept over Jerusalem and we remember that at Mass in
the Church of Dominus Flevit. At the foot of the Mount, down the steep hill, we
come to the Garden of Gethsemane and the Church of All Nations.
Our coach
takes us to Mount Zion on the south side of the Old City.
First we visit St. Peter in Gallicantu built over the prison cell in
which Christ was lowered for the night. Along side the Church we see the Holy
Steps, which led up to the High Priests' House. Here we remember Peter's denial
of Christ. At the top of Mount Sion we visit David's Tomb and
The Upper Room of the Last Supper and finally The Dormition Abbey
honouring Mary's 'Falling Asleep'.
Then by
coach to Bethlehem with a stop at a self service restaurant where we may
purchase lunch before we visit Manger Square, The Church of the Nativity. One of
our most precious moments in Israel is the moment spent in the Grotto of
Nativity. Finally we visit the Shepherds Field.
Day
6:
We enter the Old City at The Damascus
Gate to go to the Crusader Church of St. Anne for our Mass. Afterwards visit the
Pools of Bethesda where the lame man who could not get to the water was cured by
Jesus. From here to the Western (Wailing) Wall of the Temple Mount where Christ
was a frequent visitor. The ramp takes us up on to the Mount and to the El Aksa
Mosque and the Golden Dome of the Rock over the Rock of Mount Moriah where
Abraham was preparing to sacrifice his son Isaac. Providing we do not intrude on
the Moslem Prayers, we may go into the Mosques.
Day
7:
Today we enter the Old City by Herod’s
Gate and make our way to the Sion Convent for an early Mass. Here stands the
Ecce Homo Arch. Here they cried "Crucify him". Here we stand on the
Roman pavement where Christ was scourged, crowned with thorns and condemned to
Death. Here we commence to follow the Via Dolorosa, through the narrow streets
and markets. Our Way of the Cross and our Pilgrimage comes to it’s glorious
end in The Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre built over both Calvary and the Tomb
where we commemorate Christ’s death and His Resurrection.
Afternoon
at leisure.
Day
8: After
packing and loading our luggage onto the coach we drive to the Hess Promenade
Panorama to make our farewell prayer and to take a last look at Jerusalem.
We continue to Abu Gosh where we commemorate Christ’s meeting with the
disciples on the road to Emmaus after His Resurrection. After our last group
Prayer & lunch near by, we continue to Ben Gurion Airport at Tel Aviv for an
early evening flight from Israel back to Gatwick.
Non
nobis, Domine, non nobis, sed Nomini Tuo
da gloriam!
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Non nobis, Domine, non nobis, sed Nomini Tua da gloriam!
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