Reflection by: Gabriel Ee
1. Cana
There are three to four different places that claim to be the Cana from the bible. One of the more favoured ones lies about 4 miles along the road from Nazareth to Tiberias.
The rough location of the marriage of Cana from the New Testament. This is the scene where Jesus performed his first miracle, turning water into wine as described in John 2:1-11. Two churches were built here to commemorate the first miracle.
2. Nazareth
One of the main holy Christian cities stands at a height of 1,230 feet above sea level. The city is enshrined amongst hills and was the place chosen by God for the annunciation and birth of Jesus Christ. Jesus would spend most of his childhood in Nazareth. It is during this period of time that Jesus probably worked as a carpenter with St. Joseph.
During the time of Jesus, it seemed that Nazareth had a bad reputation, with Nathaneal from Cana exclaiming “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”. The first attempt on Jesus’s life was made here, where he subsequently decided to move down to Capernaum.
There is no definitive date for the origin of Nazareth. The spring which still supplies Mary’s Well with water would have attracted inhabitants since ancient times.
Nazareth, inhabited by Jews after the great Jewish revolt, only became accessible to Christians in the 4th century. When the 5th century began, a church was constructed over the Grotto of the Annunciation and was probably destroyed in the year 614 by Persians. Tancred rebuilt the monastery and the church in Roman style. In 1263, the Crusader Church was Razed to the ground by Baybars, a commander of the Egyptian army. In 1730 the Franciscans were permitted to build a small church which they expanded in 1877. The Franciscans, in 1960~, were finally able to build a church worthy of the great mystery of the Annunciation. They proceeded to construct on of the large Christian sanctuaries in the Middle East.
3. Basilica of the Annunciation
Designed by italian architect Muzio, who conceived a plan of two interconnected churches, with one sitting above the other. This method of construction allowed for the full preservation of the remains of the ancient churches. The outer walls of the lower church followed the lines of the Crusaders’ Basilica, except that they were moved a few yeards from the west to separate the building from the busy main road. The two churches are 80 feet high and 130 feet long. The western and southern facades are decorated with statues illustrating the Incarnation and the Annunciation. The striking majestic dome is 170feet high and is made of reinforced concrete with stone. Its roof is covered with copper and the cupola is surmounted by a lantern.
The Grotto of the Annunciation is situated at where used to be the utmost southern end of the ancient village. This grotto is widely believed to have been the original site of the Annunciation.
4. The Church of Saint Joseph
Built over the original carpentry workshop of Saint Joseph, the Church of Saint Joseph is relatively solid and unassuming, especially when compared to the massive Basilica of the Annunciation.
A stairway in the church descends to a crypt where caverns can be seen through a grille in the floor. Seven further steps lead to a 2-metre square basin or pit with a black-and-white mosaic floor. This is believed to have been a pre-Constantian Christian baptistry, perhaps used as early as the 1st century.
Beside the basin, a flight of rough steps leads down to a narrow passage which, after turning 180 degrees, opens into an underground chamber 2 metres high.
Off this are openings to grain silos and water cisterns, cut into the soft limestone rock by early dwellers. Such underground repositories were typical of ancient Nazareth.
5. Mary’s Well
One of the most authentic sites in the Holy Land. It was and still is the city’s only source of water. The spring gushes out of the mountain and runs throug a conduit to a public fountain where women still draw water all day long.
6. Mt Tabor
Located west of the Sea of Galilee, Mount Tabor is the site of the Battle of Mount Tabor between the Israelite army under the leadership of Barak and the army of the Canaanite king of Hazor, Jabin, commanded by Sisera. It is also the site of the transfiguration of Jesus.
Between 1919 and 1924 a Roman Catholic church of the Franciscan order named “Church of the Transfiguration” was built on the peak of Mount Tabor. The architect who designed the church was Antonio Barluzzi. The church was built upon the ruins of a Byzantine church from the fifth or sixth century and a Crusader church from the 12th century. In the upper part of the church, above the altar, is a mosaic which depicts the Transfiguration. On the Feast of the Transfiguration, celebrated on August 6, it is illuminated by sunbeams which are reflected by a glass plate on the floor of the church. A rock near the entrance of the church has an engraving in ancient Greek and beside it there is an engraving of a cross. Nearby there are the remains of the 12th-century Benedictine abbey.
7. Reflection
Our day started at the church of Cana, the rough location of Jesus’s first miracle where he turned water into wine at the wedding of Cana. Before we commenced the tour of the place, we had a short service, allowing the couples on the pilgrimage to renew their marriage vows and reaffirm their matrimony in faith and Christ. We then visited one of the six stone jugs that contained the water that was miraculously turned into wine. It was much larger than anticipated and played into today’s themes of reality defying our expectations of biblical events.
We then visited the Basilica of the Annunciation. Designed by Italian architect Muzio, the Basilica consisted of two interconnected churches, with one sitting above the other. This method of construction allowed for the full preservation of the remains of the ancient churches. We stopped by the Grotto of the Annunciation under the main basilica, where the Archangel Gabriel revealed himself to Mary. We spent some time in prayer, then proceeded upwards to view the splendour of the main Basilica. Different cultural interpretations of Mother Mary sprawled its sides, and above sat a dome representing a lily opening its petals to the altar below.
We then proceeded downwards, walking through the remains of biblical Nazareth and came across one of the only remaining ancient Nazarian houses, similar to the one that housed Mary and Joseph during the birth of Jesus. It was here that the resident archaeologist explained to us the structure of these houses; the houses were built into caves and contained stables in the back. This contradicts much of our current interpretation of the nativity scene, with the stable as its own structure with hay and roof all around, as opposed to the underground system that we learnt of today.
Closeby to the remains of biblical Nazareth was a museum that housed the oldest known written “Ave Maria”, scrawled onto a piece of structure that would have made up Mother Mary’s original house.
Before lunch, we took a quick trip up Mount Precipice, the location of the first attempt on Jesus’s life, where the people of Nazareth attempted to push him off the mountain. The mountain provided a different view of the Valley of Armageddon that we had come across the day prior.
We stopped for a nice lunch at Diana’s Restaurant and proceeded to Mount Tabor, otherwise known as Mount Transfiguration. We attended mass at the Church of Transfiguration atop Mount Tabor. Inside the church was a magnificent display of Franciscan artistry, with beautiful murals decorating the walls, and detailed carvings along every arch. The church was truly a sight to behold and served as a reminder of the reverence for Jesus’s Transfiguration.
The day was full of interesting revelations and subverted many of our expectations. Right from the start, our tour guide Josef reminded us that our expectations would differ greatly from reality. He specifically compared our expectations of the ancient city of Nazareth, to how Nazareth actually was now, a bustling cityscape full of cars and modern buildings. From the water jugs at Cana, to how the houses of ancient Nazareth functioned, today was filled with eye-opening experiences, beckoning us to think deeper into how reality can differ from what is written in the bible.
Coming to you from the Holy Land! Day 02 of our pilgrimage! Keep us in your prayers!