Tabgha
Mount of Beatitudes
Our morning commenced with a visit to the traditional site of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5: 1-12) on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee. In the 4th Century, a Byzantine church was built near the current site. The current church was built in the 1930s by the Franciscans, who look after many sacred sites in the Holy Land.
The area is a natural amphitheatre and it is thought that Jesus would have spoken to the people from the flat area at the bottom of the hill, allowing the echoes created in the natural environment to travel up to the gathered crowd.
'When Jesus had come down from the hill with the apostles, he stood on a level place with a large number of his disciples.'(Luke 6:17)
Where's ....Jenni?
The inside of the dome with windows naming each of the Beatitudes.
The view down the hill towards the Sea of Galilee
We celebrated Mass outdoors under one of the beautiful trees on the top of the hill.
Church of Multiplication
Our next stop at Tabgha was venerated by the Judeo-Christians of Caparnaum, from the time of Jesus to around 350AD, as the site of a rock on which Jesus is said to have laid the bread and fish before he fed the five thousand. (Mark 6:30-44)
An interesting point to note was at the time only men were counted, not women and children, so the 5000 refers only to men.
The basalt rock was the very centre of the first church built at this site around 350AD by a Jewish nobleman from Tiberias.
A Byzantine church, with a beautiful mosaic floor, was built around 480AD and the rock, reduced in size was placed under the altar. The church was destroyed by the Persian invaders in 614AD but the mosaic was excavated in the 1930s and the ancient basilica was reconstructed, on its original foundations, in the early 1980s.
Items are placed by a nun on the holy rock for blessing.
A deep baptismal font for immersion found in the grounds of the church. Four people could be baptised at the same time.
Nazareth Village
Nazareth Village, a recreation of the town and village life of Nazareth at the time of Jesus, was fascinating. Here we encountered farm land, not as we know it, but terraced land on which livestock grazed and an original wine press. Other structures were reconstructed from what is known of the time. It was the biblical times version of what in NSW we experienced at Old Sydney Town.
A shepherd with his sheep and goats
The watch tower
The wine press - grapes were pressed by foot and the wine flowed down a channel in the rock into the basin below
A tomb
House with a reed roof, which could be easily removed
(Mark 2: 1-5)
Spinning wool
Wool was coloured with natural produce. It took 1000 sea snails to produce the colour for 1/2 kilogram of blue and purple wool - therefore only very wealthy people could afford these colours.
Carpenter at work - no power tools for him!
Kitchen
Synagogue in the town - women could not attend as there was no separate section for them. In the synagogue the windows were small to restrict the heat entering the building and they were up high so that people could not look in.
Making bread
The view from our lunch table!
The terraces of Nazareth 2013 have not changed much since ancient times.
Ein Karem
The birthplace of St John the Baptist
John the Baptist
Scripture related to the coming of John
The birthplace of John
From here we walked up the hill and the 100 steps to the...
Church of the Visitation
where Mary visited her much older cousin Elizabeth
Elizabeth was married to Zechariah, a priest who worked in the Temple. They were too old to have children but an angel appeared to him in the Temple in the place known as the 'Holy of Holies' and told him they would have a son. (Luke 1: 5-80) Mary visited her cousin, a ride of around four days, by donkey on steep and rocky roads.
The church has wonderful acoustics and the pilgrims sang Gentle Woman and prayed the Joyful mystery. We all felt Mary and Elizabeth's presence in this special place.
Mary meets her cousin - in the garden sculpture outside the church
Mosaic on the front of the church of Mary travelling to visit Elizabeth
The English version of the Magnificat on the wall of the garden
Fresco inside the church of Mary meeting Elizabeth
Fresco of Zechariah in the Temple is inaccurate as women would not be allowed near the 'Holy of Holies'
Off now to.... Jerusalem!
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