The Church of Our Lady, the Ark of the Covenant, The Basilica of Emmaus, The Basilica of the Visitation at Ein Kerem - July 26, 2011 - (Matthew Mac Donald)

Today, we left the Casa Nova in Jerusalem and toured the Judean Highlands and Lowlands as we made our way to the city of Bethlehem. The first stop that we made was at a church called Our Lady, the Ark of the Covenant in Abu Gosh. It is depicted in 1 Samuel 7 as a place called Baale-judah, where King David had the Ark of the Covenant placed for twenty years before he brought it back to the city of Jerusalem. It is now a Catholic Church staffed by French nuns.

Icon of Our Lady, Ark of the Covenant

Main Altar of the Church of Our Lady, Ark of the Covenant

The Jerusalem Skyline

Fabritzio explaining the significance of the Church

Statue of Our Lady, Ark of the Covenant

The next stop was the ruins of the Ancient Basilica of Emmaus, which is several miles outside of Jerusalem and it marks the place where the events of Luke 24:13-27 took place. This passage speaks about how Jesus appeared to two disciples on the road between Emmaus and Jerusalem on Easter Sunday. The disciples did not recognize who Jesus was nor did they understand completely the suffering that the Messiah endured in His passion, death on the cross, and His Resurrection in order to redeem mankind. Jesus then explained to them the meaning of the scriptures that spoke of the suffering that the Messiah had to endure, and it was not until Jesus broke bread with them (the Eucharist) that they understood who He was, and afterwards Jesus disappeared. One of the disciples then said "Was not our hearts burning within us as he opened up the scriptures to us?" The site of the Byzantine Basilica was founded in the city of Emmaus-Nicopolis, which was an ancient diocese of the Roman Catholic Church. The basilica was destroyed during crusader times and was rediscovered with the assistance of the Carmelites and Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified who saw the ancient town and basilica in a vision and was able to identify it during the archeological excavations and this enabled pilgrims to return to the site. The site is now under the custody of the Community of the Beatitudes, a Catholic religious order from France that is involved with the Charismatic Renewal.

The Ruins of the Ancient Basilica of Emmaus

An ancient Israelite tomb dating back to the First Century AD

A Byzantine Burial Tomb

Another First Century Jewish Tomb

Ryan pointing out the way

The Icon of Jesus at Emmaus

A picture of Pope Benedict XVI (Then Cardinal Ratzinger) celebrating mass at the Basilica of Emmaus in 1992

Fr. Fabian Lopez and Adam setting up for Mass

Information on how Bl. Mary of Jesus Crucified helped discover this site

We then had lunch at an Israeli McDonalds, which was an interesting experience (No Cheeseburgers could be found because that violates Kosher standards for food).

Ordering Lunch at an Israeli McDonald's

The final place that we visited was the Basilica of the Visitation at Ein Kerem. This Church marks the place where the events of Luke 1:39-80 took place-namely the Blessed Mother visiting her cousin St. Elizabeth, the mother of St. John the Baptist, the Blessed Mother praying the Magnificat, the Birth of St. John the Baptist and St. Zechariah praying the Benedictus. The Basilica is under the custody of the Franciscans of the Holy Land.

The Entrance to the Basilica

A depiction of the Visitation in the crypt of the Basilica

A depiction of the Blessed Mother as the New Ark of the Covenant

A depiction of the Slaughter of the Holy Innocents

The High Altar of the Main Church

Our Lady, Mother of All Nations

The Wedding Feast of Cana

The Battle of Lepanto

Bl. John Duns Scotus teaching on the Immaculate Conception

 The outer wall of the Church with translations of the Magnificat in various languages

The Magnificat in Latin, Greek and Hebrew

A Mosaic of the Visitation on the Outside of the Church

Matthew Mac Donald in front of the well of the visitation in the lower crypt of the church