Today - November 1st - All Saints Day - the ninth day of our Holy Land Pilgrimage. The official pilgrimage tour now concluded - today a free day - a day to process - to share - to enjoy a much slower pace - to revisit the Old City - at our own pace. For most of us - we began the day with Holy Mass - a special blessing at Father Matt's request - Baligh was able to arrange an unscheduled Mass - again - at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
At 8:00 AM the courtyard at Holy Sepulcher - very empty
A quick visit to Calvary - one last time - the site of Crucifixion
Holy Sepulcher Art Work
Holy Mass this morning - now yards - not feet away from the Tomb - again a special blessing to be able to celebrate Holy Mass in this special place.
Preparing For Holy Mass
Reading the Hebrew Scripture
Reading From the New Testament
Proclaiming the Gospel
Father Matt's Homily
Holy Eucharist
Saints in Training
Saints in Training
Following Holy Mass we returned to the hotel to pack our bags and check out. Leaving our bags under the watchful eyes of the hotel staff we left to walk back to the Old City where we once again visited the places where time was previously limited. We talked with locals - visited the numerous shops - looked for last minute gifts for those at home - ate lunch and finally returned to the hotel where we met our bus for our trip from Jerusalem to the airport at Tel Aviv. Check in at the airport was very tedious - the security team at Tel Aviv - very thorough. Finally at 10:00 PM we were able to board our international flight to New York - a flight that would last some 12+ hours.
Praying Our Way Through Israel
Deacon Dale
