Memories of the Pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2015

From the 15th to the 25th of August, 2015, a long-awaited pilgrimage trip to the Holy Land was held, headed by His Grace Bishop Andronik. The group consisted of 15 people. Some of us have visited these holy places repeatedly, but most were here for the first time. It is impossible to convey the experiences of these 10 days in the Holy Land, since it is part of the life of the soul, it is a matter of “living” the Gospel, a following in the footsteps of Christ, of His Most Pure Mother, and of the Holy Apostles.

After landing at the airport in Tel Aviv on Saturday, August 15, we headed to Jerusalem on a comfortable bus. On the way, they stopped for a while in Latrun village, the place where the repentant Robber who confessed Christ while on the cross was born. Now there is a Catholic monastery which observes a strict vow of silence. A very picturesque place with green, flowering gardens and vineyards. The monks cultivate agricultural crops, produce various types of wines and wonderful olive oil.

We continue our journey. And before us, after a turn in the road, unexpectedly rises the Eternal City. It is immediately recognizable with the huge golden dome of a mosque on the Temple Mount of Jerusalem. The beginning of all beginnings.

Our hotel is located on the Mount of Olives, next to the Ascension Monastery, where, for about a quarter of a century, Vladyka Andronik, as part of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission, nourished the flock of Orthodox monastics and laymen. We occupied our rooms in thehotel, had supper, rested for several hours and gathered for prayerful preparation for Holy Communion. Near midnight, we board the bus, drive up to the new gates to the Old City. I cannot believe that now we will enter, and will follow the narrow streets along which the Savior walked. As soon as one enters, the heart and soul feels peace. And here is the Church of the Resurrection. Awe inspiring. The Stone of the Anointing. Golgotha. Under the dome is the Holy Kuvuklion (chapel). It is the grave of our Lord. The stone of scourging, on which our Master professed. The huge church in twilight, very majestic, many passageways, turnings, steps. The Divine Liturgy begins. The contrite sound of the Greek chants. After Holy Communion, we prostrate ourselves at the Holy Sepulcher, trying to remember the most important thing that we would like to tell the Lord. One’s thoughts are scattered, and there remains only the certainty that the Lord Himself knows what our soul needs.

Mount of Olives. The location of the Ascension of the Savior and Ascension Monastery. Here beside the wall of the church there is a stone where, according to tradition, the Mother of God stood during the Ascension of the Lord. In the cathedral there are the miraculous icons “She Who is Quick to Hear of the Mount of Olives ” and “She Who Seeks the Lost”, and in the chapel the place of the First and Second Findings of the Head of John the Baptist. We sing the troparion and kontakion with the Bishop and we serve a short molieben. The nuns Mothers Raphael, Melania and Maria very warmly receive him, and treat us to delicious coffee and sweets. We stroll through the property of the monastery, visit the former cell of the Bishop. Further on, in Little Galilee, a place which the Apostles often visited and where the Lord appeared to his disciples after the Resurrection.

In all the Holy places we sing hymns, troparions and kontakions, Vladyka reads the Gospel or serves a short molieben. This helped to deepen the special impression of the sacred events that took place in these place.

The next day early in the morning we go down the mountain a bit to Gethsemane, to the Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos. The temple is underground. On the way up the stairs to the right are the tombs of the Righteous Joachim and Anna, to the left of St. Joseph the Betrothed. Under the ceiling of the church there are garlands of lamps. The Liturgy begins. Communion of the Holy Mysteries, we make prostrations before the tomb of the Mother of God, and behind it is the miraculous icon “of Jerusalem”. Then, on the way to the church of the First Martyr Stephen, next to the cave where he was tortured, and through the Lion Gate we enter the Old City. Group behind the group, people of different nationalities and cultures of different religions with the desire to touch the shrines walk along its narrow streets, to look at the ancient walls and domes.

We visit the Sheeps Pool, where Christ healed the paralytic, the house in which the Righteous Joachim and Anna lived, the Lythostroton (the Pavement) – the place of judgement, the dungeon where the Savior was chained. With trembling we sing Lenten hymns, the Irmosi from the Great Canon of Andrew of Crete. We then go to the Alexander Nevsky Residence [around the corner from the Holy Sepulchre], built under the leadership of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society. Inside the huge complex is the Threshold of the Judgment Gate, over which Christ stepped, when He was led to execution. Then the famous “Eye of the Needle”, a small aperture through which it was possible to get into Jerusalem when the city gates are closed. In the church [of the Holy Sepulchre] there are many wonderful beautiful icons. Vladyka served in his time alternating services. On the way out of the city is the Upper Chamber on Mount Sion, the place where the Last Supper was held. We leave the city and on the bus we drive up to the monastery of Onufrius the Great, who lived here in the IVth century. A nun lives in the monastery who greeted us very cordially.

In the early morning of the next day we go to the Judean desert — stones, mountains, gorges and caves — where the first monks and their followers found solitude to pray to God. It is difficult to get to the monasteries: serpentine mountain roads, stony paths and cliffs. Our driver Said operated the bus very professionally even on the most difficult road bends and twists. The first stop is the monastery of St. Khosevites. Neither the bus nor the car can reach the mountain monastery: the pedestrian road to it winds along the picturesque slopes of the mountains; the monastery is huddled on a narrow ledge of a sheer cliff. Throughout in the cliffs you see ravines. Small doors and crosses above them point to hermit cells that are now inhabited. There is also a cave in which the Prophet Elijah lived. On the way back local Bedouin offer their “transportation” — donkeys, of course — and not without a price.

Jericho. With the help of a cable car, we hung above ancient Jericho, and ascended to the Mount of Temptation, on which, after His Baptism, Christ performed the feat of the forty-day fast. Here is the stone where Christ prayed and the cave in which the Savior spent 40 days and nights in fasting and prayer.

Jordan. The water in the Jordan is invigorating. It was so joyful to immerse myself fully in these waters of Theophany! This was especially important for the Servant of God. Leontia. Vladyka Andronik supplemented the mystery of his Baptism with a full immersion.

Mount Tabor. Feast of the Transfiguration. Closer to midnight, we attend the service. On the territory of the monastery there are several thousand pilgrims. The service is held in the open air. The Gospel was read in different languages: Greek, Arabic, Russian and Romanian. During the sacrament, the air began to fill with cool life-giving moisture, and each tried to catch the material particles of grace. After the Liturgy, we joined in the Akathist to the miraculous icon “Unfading Flowers”. It sailed across the Sea of Galilee in a bottle, and was caught by local children and brought to the church. After the miracle, miraculous healings immediately began to occur, and therefore suffering people reached out to it.

Nazareth. The Church of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos was built on the Holy Spring, to which the Virgin Mary came for water, and where the Archangel Gabriel who brought the Good News appeared. The spring of the Blessed Virgin is in the crypt of the church in a separate side church with an altar above it. Above the altar is the miraculous icon of the “Annunciation at the Fountain.”

Cana of Galilee. Here, according to the legend, the Savior performed his first miracle: at the wedding feast when he transformed water into wine. An ancient water jug is a witness of the glory of God. Moreover, in Cana the Lord healed the son of the nobleman.

Tabgha. Here, as the Gospel says, Jesus performed the miracle of multiplying the loaves and fishes. Here, after his miraculous Resurrection, the Savior appeared to the Apostles. In the same region, Jesus performed a miracle of walking on the sea as on dry land, and miracles of calming the storm and filling the nets. The church is Roman Catholic. The main attraction is the restored mosaics of the 5th century. In front of the altar there is a famous mosaic with a picture of fish and a basket with bread.

The Mount of the Beatitudes. Here, Jesus chose the 12 Apostles and delivered his Sermon on the Mount, each part of which begins with the word “Blessed”.

Capernaum. Here the main preaching work of Jesus Christ occurred.

The Sea of Galilee. On its waters the Savior walked, here He quelled the storm, He called the chiefs of the Apostles from their nets. On a wooden ship built on the pattern of boats that used to sail in biblical times, we walked along its waves, admiring the surrounding views. In the restaurant on the beach St. Peter had a dinner of fish. Galilee is unusually green and picturesque due to the abundance of fresh water.

Magdala. The birthplace of St. Mary Magdalene. On the territory of the monastery – the spring that on the site of the healing of Mary Magdalene, also a radon source with turquoise water and small fishes. The church is surrounded by a beautiful garden, in the center of the site is a holy spring. This place, like Capernaum, resembles a paradise. The place is run as a holding of the Gornensky Monastery of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission.

We stopped for one night in the hotel right on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Warm and soft sea water immediately lifted the fatigue.

The Well of Jacob. The church of St. Photini the Samaritan Woman. WE had just entered the church when the abbot of the monastery Father Justin allowed Vladyka to enter the altar, and read the Gospel. In the right part of the church is a shrine with the relics of Holy New Martyr Archimandrite Philumen, who guarded the well and brutally murdered by a fanatic in 1979. The well is located in the crypt under the altar of the Church of St. Photini Samaritan Woman. Near this well, there was the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan Woman. Father Justin asked the Servant of God Victoria to fill the bucket with water from the well.

Monastery of the Holy Cross. The church enshrines the tradition that on this site Lot grew three seedlings, which he received from his uncle Abraham: pine, cedar and cypress. The sprouts grew into a single huge tree, felled during the construction of the temple of Solomon, but never used by the builders. Much later, a cross was made from its trunk on which the Savior was crucified. Under the altar is the cave and the place where this tree grew.

The Hill Country. Here, according to tradition shortly after the Annunciation the Most Holy Virgin Mary came from Nazareth to share the joy with the Righteous Elizabeth, the mother of St. John the Baptist about the future birth of the Savior from her. The splendid church is named in honor of All the Saints of the Russian Land. Gornensky Monastery is under the Moscow Patriarchate. Now there are about 80 sisters in the monastery. The monastery can be attributed to the head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission, Archimandrite Antonin Kapustin, who gradually bought up plots here and built an orphanage for Russian pilgrims.

Lavra of St. Sava the Sanctified. Founded in the 5th century, it gave the world the great St. John of Damascus, and many other glorious champions of Christ. The Lavra was plundered by Persians, Turks, and Crusaders. An earthquake crushed the walls of the monastery, but the spirit of monasticism is unbroken. This is impossible without the help of God! To this very day, monks live by the strict rule of the founder of the Lavra. In this waterless gorge, a spring was miraculously discovered. According to tradition, Saint Sava felt sorry for the monks who carried water from afar and turned to God in his nightly prayers. Praying, he immediately heard a noise coming from beneath the bed of the dried up stream. Looking there, Sava saw a wild donkey, who with his hoofs scraped the earth and dug a deep pit, put his head down into it and began to drink. Immediately the monk came down and, having dug at that place, did indeed find the spring. And to this day in the Lavra there is ample water flowing from the holy spring. In the Lavra, the incorrupt relics of Saint Sava rest, which we have kissed, as well as the relics of the holy inhabitants of the Lavra. Inside the walls of the monastery grows a date palm planted by the Venerable Sava himself, whose leaves and fruits have a miraculous effect in cases of infertility. Women and female animals of the monastery are not allowed on the territory. Outside the walls of the monastery is a tower, which serves as lodging for women and where sometimes lived and the mother of Saint Sava, Sofia.

Lavra of Theodosius the Great. This is the first monastery in Palestine. Founded in 476 AD by Theodosius the Great near the cave where, according to tradition, the Magi who came to worship Christ stopped to rest on their way back from Bethlehem. Unlike the other Lavras of Palestine, the new monastery became a model for combining prayer and diligent care for others — the Venerable Theodosius, in addition to dwellings for the monks, erected buildings for the poor and needy. Many needy people gathered in the monastery, and the brotherhood grew to 700 people. At the beginning of the VIIth century, the monastery was destroyed by the invading Persians, and after a revival in the 16th century it was again devastated by the Turks, after which it stood for a long time in ruins. The Jerusalem Patriarchate then bought this plot of land and reconstructed the building.
Bethany. The Lord often came here because it was the home of His beloved friend Lazarus and the sisters Martha and Mary. The Byzantine basilica and all the buildings built in the 5th-6th centuries over the site of the resurrection of Lazarus survived the invasion of the Persians in 614, survived until the 12th century, and in the 13th century were abandoned and almost forgotten. Three centuries later, on the ruins the Muslims built a mosque, inside of which is the cave-tomb of St. Lazarus. The troparion “In confirming the common Resurrection” was sung and we venerated the tomb.

Bethlehem. The Church of the Nativity of Christ was built in the 4th century by the Empress St. Helena. It is the most ancient church now in the Holy Land and the only one not destroyed by countless wars that have plagued Palestine. It is run by three faiths: Greeks, Roman Catholics and Armenians. The church is very large. You enter it through the low gate of humility. A few meters to the right of the stairs going down into the Cave of the Nativity is the miraculous icon of the “Mother of God of Bethlehem”; it is the only icon of the Mother of God on which the Blessed Virgin smiles. The image was painted in Russia and transferred to Bethlehem by the Empress Elizabeth after she was healed of a serious illness. The cave where the Savior was born is a church underneath the basilica. A silver multi-pointed star indicates the place of the Savior’s birth. To the left is the section called the “Holy Manger”, Mary put the newborn infant God there.

On Saturday morning we leave for Bethlehem. Thanks to Mother Fotini, who rented a room, we have the opportunity to celebrate the Divine Liturgy. We are worried, but local parishioners quickly arrange the necessary utensils, there are also full vestments for Vladyka, and the empty hall soon looks like a church. The service begins. Prayerfully and harmonious singing quartet under the guidance of Reader George and the Subdeacon Vladimir, servant of God Victoria, servant of God Alexandra. We partake of the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Feeling of spiritual joy and grace. Mother Fotini invited us to a meal; near the cell is an orchard and a vegetable garden. From a conversation with mother, we find out that on the night before our departure (3 days before the Feast of the Dormition) there will be a procession with the Cross — the transfer of the plashchanitsa of the Mother of God from Jerusalem to Gethsemane. Marvelous are Thy works, O Lord!

And then at midnight we gather in the Old City in the Church of the Resurrection. After the Divine Liturgy in the of the Gethsemane Dormition Monastery, opposite the Church of the Resurrection, the abbot of the monastery brings forth the plashchanitsa icon carried on his hands, tied with colored ribbons. Ahead are the monastics. The nuns from Greek, Russian, Romanian monasteries line up in two rows to lead the procession. They are followed by the clergy. Greek nuns sing the troparion of the Dormition and the exapostilarion of the feast. Many pilgrims carry bouquets of flowers with fragrant basil and candles. Someone started singing “Theotokos Virgin” and we all join in. At dawn, we leave the city.

With the bells ringing the icon is brought to the Church of the Dormition. In the square in front of the church a lot of people stand, we decided to return to the hotel to rest, and after a few hours again went down to the church and venerated the plashchanitsa.

Monastery of St. Gerasim of the Jordan; Hebron, where according to tradition Abraham spoke with three Travelers at the Oak of Mamre; the Garden of Gethsemane with olive trees from the time of Christ; Lydda is the city of St. George the Victorious; Joppa, where the Apostle Peter received a revelation and began preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles — this is not a complete list of places we were lucky to visit! Each place has something special to remember which goes deep into the soul and left its mark in our hearts. It’s hard to tell about everything.

I want to thank the Bishop, who backed up all our trips and visits with stories about the holy places, from the lives of the Saints, and the incredible events that he witnessed during his ministry here.

We were impressed by all that we saw, and often one returns to the days spent in the Holy Land. Thank God for considering us worthy of such great joy!

Pilgrim reader George Sereduk