So why did I come here? I didn't come here with any specific intention but I have now come to realize why God sent me here. It has been difficult being here. It was difficult getting adjusted to the situation here and it was also hard because missed being at St. Paul's where I had been for 10 months of my life. I missed my friends even though I was in a beautiful place. Then, day by day, I fell in love with the place and the people that I had come to meet while being here.
The last week then has been hard again because I knew that the last day was coming. Little by little, people were going home and it was difficult for me to see some of them go home. I had found a new home with new friends and now it is time to say goodbye. I hate saying goodbye!!
But underneath all of this, God was doing something very subtle that I will only realize later in my life. A mission that he gave me was these rosaries. I bought 150 rosaries in Bethlehem at the beginning of the trip and I felt inspired to bring them to all the sites of the mysteries of the Rosary. I wanted to see and touch the places that I pray so often, but not only that, I wanted to bring that to other people as well. I must give these out to friends and family...and when the last one is left, I will keep that one...but only until then will I be able to have that rosary.
So in one sense, I think the Virgin Mary brought me here to Jerusalem and Bethlehem so that I could see and touch and hear the places where she also walked with her son Jesus. So for the rest of my life, I will pray those places that I took these rosaries. But there is one final thing, I couldn't find a place that commemorated or was the "Church of" the Crowning of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth. I think the reason for that is that since she was crowned in Heaven, there is no spot on earth where we can find a site. Rather, these Rosaries are the crown that we will place on her Head of our love for Her but most importantly, Her love and Jesus' love for us!!
So would you like a Rosary?
Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal
Monday, August 2, 2010
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Day 31: July 30, Stations of the Cross and Shabbat
Today was a lonely day. So I had organized a day where Elizabeth, Caitie, and I would go and do the stations of the cross from morning until 3pm. I didn't realize how hot it would be and how unrealistic it was for me to plan 6 hours of religious activities. At the end of the month, many of us are "churched out" and so we need to take it easy.
So they day wonderfully began with a group of 14 of us celebrating Mass at Golgotha!! It was at 8:15 and was very surprising that they gave us this spot since in the Church there are at least 7 other altars that they could have given us. This was a very special mass since many people were leaving on that Friday and so it was our last mass together...many of us who had celebrated mass each day during the month.
From there, Caitie and I went to the 3rd station to my favorite place to pray: the Armenian Catholic church where they have adoration of the Blessed Sacrament during the day, it is truly a wonderful place to go. We were there until 11, so about 1h30m and then we left to walk to the Mt. of Olives where Jesus agonized in the Garden of Gethsemane. Caitie went inside the garden and then I walked up a bit higher to Dominus Flevit or the church that commemorates where Jesus wept for Jerusalem. Then around Noon, we headed out of the Garden to make our way to Golgotha, where we were going to arrive at 3pm.
However, just before arriving and passing through Stephen or Lion's Gate, Caitie decided that she could not go....and I was left all alone (Elizabeth had earlier decided to go to a Museum)...so my two close friends here left me alone with Jesus....I can assure you, it was a lonely road...so the next 3 hours I walked the stations, stopping to pray, to look at the churches, and to observe the people all around me. It was hot....and there was a lot of commotion around everywhere. I read scripture and really took the time to appreciate the experience....I can tell you this...doing the stations of the cross in Old Jerusalem has been one of my favorite spiritual experiences while I have been here....it truly allows you to feel Jesus' sufferings and some of the horrible things he endured. The picture you see above is the at the 3rd Station (Jesus falls the first time).
So I arrived at the Sepulcher at 3pm and was able to pray on the spot of Golgotha just as a huge group of Russians arrived to pray. Then I waited outside as Elizabeth and Dr. Jones were going to meet me at 3pm...but it took them 30 minutes longer to get there since the craziness in Jerusalem makes it hard to be early.
Finally, we walked around, and ended the most wonderful day by watching a now familiar scene for me...Shabbat...or when the Jewish people celebrate at the Western Wall the beginning of their Sabbath. I truly wish you could one day be with me there to experience the joy!!
So they day wonderfully began with a group of 14 of us celebrating Mass at Golgotha!! It was at 8:15 and was very surprising that they gave us this spot since in the Church there are at least 7 other altars that they could have given us. This was a very special mass since many people were leaving on that Friday and so it was our last mass together...many of us who had celebrated mass each day during the month.
From there, Caitie and I went to the 3rd station to my favorite place to pray: the Armenian Catholic church where they have adoration of the Blessed Sacrament during the day, it is truly a wonderful place to go. We were there until 11, so about 1h30m and then we left to walk to the Mt. of Olives where Jesus agonized in the Garden of Gethsemane. Caitie went inside the garden and then I walked up a bit higher to Dominus Flevit or the church that commemorates where Jesus wept for Jerusalem. Then around Noon, we headed out of the Garden to make our way to Golgotha, where we were going to arrive at 3pm.
However, just before arriving and passing through Stephen or Lion's Gate, Caitie decided that she could not go....and I was left all alone (Elizabeth had earlier decided to go to a Museum)...so my two close friends here left me alone with Jesus....I can assure you, it was a lonely road...so the next 3 hours I walked the stations, stopping to pray, to look at the churches, and to observe the people all around me. It was hot....and there was a lot of commotion around everywhere. I read scripture and really took the time to appreciate the experience....I can tell you this...doing the stations of the cross in Old Jerusalem has been one of my favorite spiritual experiences while I have been here....it truly allows you to feel Jesus' sufferings and some of the horrible things he endured. The picture you see above is the at the 3rd Station (Jesus falls the first time).
So I arrived at the Sepulcher at 3pm and was able to pray on the spot of Golgotha just as a huge group of Russians arrived to pray. Then I waited outside as Elizabeth and Dr. Jones were going to meet me at 3pm...but it took them 30 minutes longer to get there since the craziness in Jerusalem makes it hard to be early.
Finally, we walked around, and ended the most wonderful day by watching a now familiar scene for me...Shabbat...or when the Jewish people celebrate at the Western Wall the beginning of their Sabbath. I truly wish you could one day be with me there to experience the joy!!
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Days 29 & 30: July 28-29, the Dome of the Rock and Ein Kerem
To be honest, I am very sad writing this because I will very much miss being here in Israel. The only consolation are the friends that I have waiting for me in Houston, which has truly become my home. So let me tell you about two of the most beautiful places that I have visited. I will post some pictures for these sites later but I was not able to at this moment.
First, the Dome of the Rock is one of the Holiest sites in Islam and so provides a lot of intrigue for people of other religions, mostly that it is the most visible building in Old Jerusalem. You can see from everywhere and it is what you see in postcards and pictures....so I have been wanting to go up onto the Temple mount, the courtyard where you can find the Dome of the Rock. The history of the Temple mount is simple although long...it is the site where the ancient Jewish Temple was...first there was a 1st temple somewhere in the area but was destroyed by foreigners...then a 2nd temple was built...by Herod during the time of Jesus and it was supposedly twice the height of the Dome of the Rock. This was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD and ever since that area has been a site of mourning and holiness for the Jews. Then the Dome of the Rock was built in 680 AD, so it is quite old and built exactly over the spot where the ancient Jewish temple was.
The inside is quite exquisite but very different from most churches. In Islam they forbid making images of people or animals and so all you see are intricate designs, pattersn, pictures of plants, and a lot of colorful stained-glass window. The structure is very impressive and we were lucky to get inside since non-muslims are not allowed anymore as of 2001. Wait until you see those pictures!!!!
Now onto Ein Kerem. This is the little town just outside Jerusalem where Zacharias & Elizabeth (Mary's cousin) lived. So most people come here to visit the church of the Visitation, although the actual town itself is so beautiful. There are plenty of pine trees around and hills, which makes the town feel like you are in Europe. The climate is a bit cooler because of all of the shade, and everything is built a bit more compact and closer together than Jerusalem. We spent all morning and a bit of the afternoon there so that we could have some time for reflection. This was the last official day of our stay here and so we were given 2 hours to pray and spend some time in silence.
Let me say this, this trip has been one of the hardest for me to leave because Jerusalem and Israel are one of the most beautiful places you can go to on Earth. They are beautiful...not just physically...because in fact many other places in the world are more beautiful...but they are beautiful for the people that are here...for the struggle that is still going on here...and most importantly for all the siginifcant things that God has done here...especially for me a Catholic...Jesus having been born, living, and dying here. So for that...it continues to be a pleasure to share all the things I have come to see.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Day 28: July 27 - Hiking the Wadi Qelt
This beautiful picture that you see is what we did on Tuesday morning. It was a wonderful day that started oh so early. A group that decided that wake up earlier than the others, had to wake up at 4:30 in order to be ready to leave by 5:30am. We wanted to get to the desert at least 2 hours earlier than everyone else because the desert gets incredibly hot as you can imagine. The other thing that we were going to go see was the St. George's monastery.
So we arrived at the site, were dropped off, and were allowed simply to take in the beauty of the desert sunrise. The colors are brighter and more beautiful during sunrise hours than during the day. Then we began our hike down to the very isolated Orthodox monastery. It was quite a hike down, perhaps 400m vertically down although it took us at least 30 minutes to walk to St. George's.
We weren't alone as we saw some dressed in black Romanian Orthodox nuns who started some 15 minutes before us and beat us to the front door entrance. This way we knew that we were going to be allowed inside, since this wasn't guaranteed...the only thing that got us inside was that our guide is Fr. Tim, an Orthodox priest.
We spent 45 minutes in the monastery praying and observing the beautiful icons. Then we left and hiked along the edge of a gorge/canyon until we arrived at a road. There, we were picked up by the bus and were taken to Jericho. It was around 8:30 am at this point and so we were a bit tired...
Jericho was hot, but we went to the monastery commemorating the site where Jesus was tempted in the Desert....it was so incredibly hot. We took a cable car up to the monastery and were allowed to enjoy the most beautiful view of the city and surrounding area. This monastery was also very beautiful as you will see from some of the pictures. Aside from the day when we went to the Dead Sea, this was one of the most tiring days that we have had...but is was all worth it!!
Thank you for visiting...God bless you!!!
So we arrived at the site, were dropped off, and were allowed simply to take in the beauty of the desert sunrise. The colors are brighter and more beautiful during sunrise hours than during the day. Then we began our hike down to the very isolated Orthodox monastery. It was quite a hike down, perhaps 400m vertically down although it took us at least 30 minutes to walk to St. George's.
We weren't alone as we saw some dressed in black Romanian Orthodox nuns who started some 15 minutes before us and beat us to the front door entrance. This way we knew that we were going to be allowed inside, since this wasn't guaranteed...the only thing that got us inside was that our guide is Fr. Tim, an Orthodox priest.
We spent 45 minutes in the monastery praying and observing the beautiful icons. Then we left and hiked along the edge of a gorge/canyon until we arrived at a road. There, we were picked up by the bus and were taken to Jericho. It was around 8:30 am at this point and so we were a bit tired...
Jericho was hot, but we went to the monastery commemorating the site where Jesus was tempted in the Desert....it was so incredibly hot. We took a cable car up to the monastery and were allowed to enjoy the most beautiful view of the city and surrounding area. This monastery was also very beautiful as you will see from some of the pictures. Aside from the day when we went to the Dead Sea, this was one of the most tiring days that we have had...but is was all worth it!!
Thank you for visiting...God bless you!!!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Days 26 & 27: Jerusalem, Mass, and Laundry
So here is another blog that will include a couple of days to make it easier for me to post and for you to read.
On Sunday (July 25th), I went to the Old city for mass, which is always a treat for me. I took the 21 bus right outside of Tantur, paid 5 shekels (which is about $1.50), and then was taken to the Damascus Gate. I LOVE this gate because you can find all types of vendors there selling coffee, clothes, sweet bread, cell phones, middle eastern candy, and just about anything else you can think of. You can even get fresh squeezed Orange Juice right around the corner!!! So the only mass available at that time was at the Austrian Hospice and it was in German. Since I had a little bit of time before Mass started, I went to one of the stations of the cross, the crowning with thorns & flagellation. This is a smaller church, but I really was able to pray and meditate on our Lord's sufferings. I will load those pictures as soon as possible. There was a very somber atmosphere because of the dark stained glass windows, so it helped you enter into His agony. Then I walked over to the Hospice for mass at 10:30, which was all in German. The chapel was absolutely beautiful, with the entire chapel being painted with pictures and statues. It really was great...although it could only fit around 50 people. Then after Mass, I went to Adoration at my favorite station, Station IV, Jesus meets his Mother. This is by far one of the most beautiful monstrances in the world, being made in Poland and with an image of the Black Madonna. Truly something to behold. I had a delicious falafel pita for lunch and then headed back to Tantur.
I did laundry later that day and I want to describe the process to you so that you can understand some of the beauty of this country. First of all, they offer to us free use of laundry machines and laundry detergent. My friend was using one of the machines so I had to use the other one, which was all in German (noticing a pattern here?). Ya! So I put my laundry into the machine, which really only has room for about 5 days worth of clothes and then let it go through the cycles. Now when they are done, you have to dry your clothes on these racks that you see in the picture above. I love the idea because it saves electricity and it allows the natural heat and sun to do all the work. The clothes take about half a day to dry so I did it at night and they were dry the next morning. However, I HATE that the clothes come out TOASTED!! Do you know what I mean....they come out after being dried...as if you just put them in a toaster or perhaps like old bread.....it reminds me of how they turn out in El Salvador.
So what do you with your toasted clothes????? Well...you can either live with and let your body heat soften them when you wear them....or you can iron steam them in order to soften the fabric. Either way....I much prefer using a dryer, which makes them come out very soft.
Last thing...I do want to say that on Monday we went to go see the City of David, which are excavations near the Old City of Jerusalem. They are the findings of Jerusalem at the time of King David and in fact they have most likely found the palace that he would have lived in. Check out the pictures of the city and the tunnels on www.flickr.com/photos/alvaro_interiano
On Sunday (July 25th), I went to the Old city for mass, which is always a treat for me. I took the 21 bus right outside of Tantur, paid 5 shekels (which is about $1.50), and then was taken to the Damascus Gate. I LOVE this gate because you can find all types of vendors there selling coffee, clothes, sweet bread, cell phones, middle eastern candy, and just about anything else you can think of. You can even get fresh squeezed Orange Juice right around the corner!!! So the only mass available at that time was at the Austrian Hospice and it was in German. Since I had a little bit of time before Mass started, I went to one of the stations of the cross, the crowning with thorns & flagellation. This is a smaller church, but I really was able to pray and meditate on our Lord's sufferings. I will load those pictures as soon as possible. There was a very somber atmosphere because of the dark stained glass windows, so it helped you enter into His agony. Then I walked over to the Hospice for mass at 10:30, which was all in German. The chapel was absolutely beautiful, with the entire chapel being painted with pictures and statues. It really was great...although it could only fit around 50 people. Then after Mass, I went to Adoration at my favorite station, Station IV, Jesus meets his Mother. This is by far one of the most beautiful monstrances in the world, being made in Poland and with an image of the Black Madonna. Truly something to behold. I had a delicious falafel pita for lunch and then headed back to Tantur.
I did laundry later that day and I want to describe the process to you so that you can understand some of the beauty of this country. First of all, they offer to us free use of laundry machines and laundry detergent. My friend was using one of the machines so I had to use the other one, which was all in German (noticing a pattern here?). Ya! So I put my laundry into the machine, which really only has room for about 5 days worth of clothes and then let it go through the cycles. Now when they are done, you have to dry your clothes on these racks that you see in the picture above. I love the idea because it saves electricity and it allows the natural heat and sun to do all the work. The clothes take about half a day to dry so I did it at night and they were dry the next morning. However, I HATE that the clothes come out TOASTED!! Do you know what I mean....they come out after being dried...as if you just put them in a toaster or perhaps like old bread.....it reminds me of how they turn out in El Salvador.
So what do you with your toasted clothes????? Well...you can either live with and let your body heat soften them when you wear them....or you can iron steam them in order to soften the fabric. Either way....I much prefer using a dryer, which makes them come out very soft.
Last thing...I do want to say that on Monday we went to go see the City of David, which are excavations near the Old City of Jerusalem. They are the findings of Jerusalem at the time of King David and in fact they have most likely found the palace that he would have lived in. Check out the pictures of the city and the tunnels on www.flickr.com/photos/alvaro_interiano
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Days 24 & 25: The country of Jordan and the Adventure in Petra
So I have not been able to blog for the past few days, but since I have been here for a while, it seems to be a good idea to blog maybe every 3 days since what we have been doing has been more routine. However, the last two days have been incredible and so I wanted to blog right away before I forgot.
First of all, Dr. Paul Jones of Transylvania University, who is here for a month, organized the trip of 2 days. We took a shuttle through the border into Jordan (which took about 2 hours of driving) and then we drove South for about 2 hours to get to the city of Petra. We drove through Amman, Jerash, and then arrived in Petra.
In Jerash, you find some of the most beautiful remains of a Roman city. There are hundreds of columns left, with stone streets, and a beautiful theater. The remains are fantastic, especially if you like archeology. Now, Jordan is a country of about 7 million people, so it isn't overly large, but it still takes a while to get to different cities.
We arrived in Petra Friday evening (we left at 8:30 am that day and arrived at the Hotel at around 9pm). We were very tired since not only did we stop to see some sites, but we also drove all day long.
Petra is particularly famous because of the Indian Jones movie but more importantly because the Naboteens, who inhabited that area, carved an entire city into the sandstone walls of the canyons. It's hard to describe what's there. The canyons were formed much the same way that the Grand Canyon was formed, by water, and the colors in the canyon are red, blue, purple, yellow, but mostly a beautiful red & rose hue that is quite stunning.
We took a 4 hour tour that including riding on donkeys, riding on a camel, and seeing the beautiful sites of the canyon. The city is no longer inhabited, but they believed it was made perhaps around 4 BC. What is most beautiful about the whole thing is the size of the carvings, and the fact that the people carved the cities and tombs into the rock in such a way that it protected it from the water. In other words, the carvings are at least 10 to 15 ft. into the rock. The most famous carving is the "Treasury" that you see here, and you can imagine how huge it is compared with me at the bottom of the picture. I do want to say this about the whole site, it gets very hot in the later part of day, but in the early morning when we go there, it was quite beautiful especially because of the rosy colors of the stone. The whole place looked like it was one big sunset. The entire site, is a park that would take at least 2 days to see completely and we only had 4 hours, so we saw what most tourists go and see.
We stay until around 12:30pm, and then we had a very quick lunch and had to take the bus back to the border 6 hours north of where we were. This gave us plenty of time to see Jordan by car, to see the Dead Sea on the Jordan side, to see a few other beautiful panoramas, and to see also a bit of the daily life. Please look at my pictures and enjoy some of the beautiful things that I was able to see.
Thank you for seeing my blog, God bless you!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Day 21: July 20, The Desert of the Negeb
I will keep this blog a bit shorter. Today we did a full day trip to the desert of the Negeb, which is the desert that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob often found themselves in. It is south of Jerusalem by about 2 hours and is quite beautiful. It isn't a desert like the ones in Africa, but it receives very little rain fail, and is very rocky, dusty. We go the privilege of going into this small canyon where we were able to have some time for silence. I simply remember that I was able to pray and let God speak to me in the same desert that Elijah and other great Old testament people were able to speak to God.
Man was it hot there!! You think it makes it easier to talk to God, but it makes it harder because you're sweating, you are hot, and most likely if you are in the desert, you are lost. I learned that out here, you are forced to trust that God is going to take care of you...
So it was simply one more day of seeing beautiful things in Israel. Keep checking up on my blog. But I will write again on Sunday because I will be leaving on a 2 day trip to Petra in Jordan. Petra is the city that is carved into the canyon that you see in the "Indian Jones" movie. Pray for me that I stay safe. God bless you!!
Man was it hot there!! You think it makes it easier to talk to God, but it makes it harder because you're sweating, you are hot, and most likely if you are in the desert, you are lost. I learned that out here, you are forced to trust that God is going to take care of you...
So it was simply one more day of seeing beautiful things in Israel. Keep checking up on my blog. But I will write again on Sunday because I will be leaving on a 2 day trip to Petra in Jordan. Petra is the city that is carved into the canyon that you see in the "Indian Jones" movie. Pray for me that I stay safe. God bless you!!
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