Part 5: A Memorable Journey of a Lifetime- the ‘HOLY LAND EXPERIENCE 2019’…

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Violet Pereira, Mangaluru. Team Mangalorean.
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Part 5: A Memorable Journey of a Lifetime- the ‘HOLY LAND EXPERIENCE 2019’…

On the 6th day of our journey, we visited Nazareth, Mount Carmel, Haifa, Caesarea, and Taba. Our day started with the Holy mass offered by the priests from Mangaluru who had accompanied us on this tour. After the mass, we proceeded to the hotel for breakfast. We were instructed to take all our luggage as our journey in Isreal would end in the afternoon and we would proceed towards the Taba border to enter Egypt via road. It was our last day in Israel and it was time to say goodbye to our tour guide, Freddy. We boarded the bus along with our luggage and proceeded towards Haifa to visit the Church of Mount Carmel. The Church is built over the house of Mother Mary where the annunciation took place.

Briefing about Haifa, Freddy said that Nazareth is the largest town in Israel with an Arab Palestinian population. There are about 170,000 with Arabs, Christians, and Muslims living together. Traveling in the city of Haifa, we enjoyed viewing the beautiful scenes. The Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth is built over the house of the Virgin Mary. It is believed that the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and said that she would become the mother of the son of God and then Mary had replied, “Let it be done to me according to your word”. The outcome of Mary’s consent has been carved on the facade at the entrance of the Basilica in Latin. This Church is built in modern architecture and decorated with different colours. This Church is the largest Christian Church in the Middle East. The construction of this church was completed in the year 1969.

We proceeded towards Haifa, which is the industrial capital of Israel. Haifa has the main Seaport of Israel and is the third-largest city of Israel after Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. There is a saying that if you want entertainment, it is Tel Aviv, if you want to work, go to Haifa and if you want to pray, go to Jerusalem. The major revenue comes from tourism and every year 4 million tourists visit Israel. During the time of the Soviet Union, only 1 million people used to visit Israel. But after the fall of the Soviet Union, four million people visit Israel every year. The second source of revenue is the diamond industry since Israel is one of the world’s centers for diamond cutting and polishing. There are no diamond mines in Isreal but diamonds are brought here from South Africa for cutting and polishing. The diamond industry came to Israel with Jewish immigrants who migrated from Belgium and other parts of Europe. Haifa is Israel’s Mediterranean oasis. Cars from Korea and Japan are brought here and sold to Europe. There are chemical industries, oil industries, steel and iron, furniture and glass industries. Israel depends on oil imports.

Our bus passed through the industrial area where the vegetable and fruit industries are also located. Fruits plucked in the morning are sent by air cargo by afternoon to the European market. Strawberries are a big part of this industry in Haifa and flowers including roses are exported in large numbers. There are fruit juice and vegetable processing industries too.

Later, we proceeded towards Mount Carmel to visit the Stella Maris Monastery which is also called the Monastery of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. The Mount Carmel Church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Mount Carmel is the symbol of beauty and it is around 550m above the sea level. It is surrounded by the Mediterranean to the West, the Alona and the Jezreel Valleys in Galilee which are in the East. There is a cave in the church which according to tradition is the place where Prophet Elijah lived and is called Stella Maris which means ‘Star of the sea’. Since Elijah had lived in this place, the Carmelite Priests come and stay here. The main church of the monastery is in the shape of a cross and the dome is painted with the Holy family and four evangelists, Rising Elijah to Heaven. The verses from the Bible are encrypted around the dome. A stone altar at the small cave with a statue of Elijah has been set up and an altar with the statue of Virgin Mary Carrying Jesus on her lap is erected above the cave.

After visiting Stell Maris Church we proceeded towards the Observation point of Mount Carmel to see the Golden Dome which is also called Baha’i shrine. Baha’i is a faith, founded by Baha’u’llah from Persia, Iran. Baha’u’llah means Glory of God. Baháʼu’lláh was the founder of the Baháʼí Faith and the principles of Baha’i are unity of religion, unity of humanity and unity with God. Our guide informed us not to touch the flowers or drink water when we enter to the Baha’i Shrine as it is not allowed. Baha’u’llah died on May 29, 1892, and is buried in the shrine next to the Mansion of Bahji. The Baha’u’llah’s shrine in Israel, is one of the very important pilgrimage sites with a beautiful view. From there we proceeded to the hotel for lunch.

Our journey continued after lunch towards the Roman Aqueduct and the beach area which is a beautiful place. The Aqueduct brought running water to the old city of Caesarea. Since the old city required a fast flow of running water, arches were built to support the aqueducts. The Romans built the Caesarea city to compete with Jerusalem. The name of Caesarea is mentioned in the book of acts more than 15 times. St Peter used to live at the house of Simon the Tanner in Joppa (Jaffa) in South of Tel Aviv during his missionary work. Later, St Peter was imprisoned in Caesarea before he was taken to Rome. On the roof of the house of Simon, when St Peter had a vision, he immediately left Zoppa, went to Caesarea and baptized the first Gentile by name Cornelius. The city was later destroyed and rebuilt by the Crusaders. The Crusader built the city and surrounded it by a wall which was again destroyed by Baibars, a Mamluk Sultan from Egypt.

We proceeded towards the Egyptian border and after 4 hours journey by bus, we reached the border. Photography was not allowed on the border areas. Our tour guide Freddy went to the departure counter to collect our slips and departure tax ticket. He then thanked all of us and said goodbye at the counter with a heavy heart. He also requested us to remember him in our prayers and said that every one of us was a blessing to him and his family.

Fr Francis thanking Freddy said, “First of all taking into consideration your age (79), we are amazed by the way you accompanied and guided us. You still sound like a youngster while you explain clearly with a loud voice. We appreciate your patience and enthusiasm. We may have irritated you several times while you were explaining to us about the places and events. We appreciate your enthusiasm and goodwill. We wish you good health and thank you for your good services. We thank Hadi for taking us around for three days. We have been traveling with you for three days safely visiting all the places. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”

After completing all the formalities, our tour guide Mido welcomed us to Taba, Egypt. From there, he guided us to the hotel for an overnight stay. It was a 10-minute drive from Taba to the hotel. At 9 pm, there was an animation show at the hotel. Our guide briefed us on our tour the next day.

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