ITINERARY

Day 1. Monday, January 6, 2025: Transatlantic Flight

Take your transatlantic flight to the Holy Land.

Day 2. Tuesday, January 7, 2025: Amman

Welcome to Jordan! Upon arrival in Amman, transfer to your hotel for a welcome dinner and overnight in Amman.. (WD)

Day 3. Wednesday, January 8, 2025: Amman – Petra

Start your sightseeing with a panoramic view of the city of Amman, the capital of Jordan and home of numerous ancient ruins, including the pillars of the Roman Temple of Hercules, the 8th-century Umayyad Palace complex, and the 2nd-century Roman Theater. Then, see Mount Nebo, where Moses was granted a view of the Promised Land. While here, tour the holy site where Moses died and was buried. Have lunch together. Finally, visit the Monastery of St. George in Madaba to see a 6th-century mosaic floor map of the Holy Land, which includes Israel, Palestine, and Southern Egypt. Arrive in Petra for dinner and overnight. (BB, L, D)

Day 4. Thursday, January 9, 2025: Petra

Enjoy a full day of guided sightseeing in Petra. Walk through the “Siq,” an immense crack in the Nubian sandstone, which some say could be the very “rock” that Moses split in two and from which water poured forth. Two-thousand years ago, the Nabateans carved a city out of the rose red rock. Admire the Treasury, known as Al Khazneh, one of the most elegant remains of antiquity. In the Old City of Petra, one can see the ruins of an ancient pagan temple and many tombs carved into the rose red rock face. Have lunch with the group. Next, visit the Monastery, for those able and willing to climb the 800 steps leading up to it. Overnight in Petra. (BB, L, D)

Day 5. Friday, January 10, 2025: Petra – Tiberias

Leave Petra and head north for Tiberias, in the Holy Land. Cross the border into Israel and drive to Jericho, one of the world’s oldest cities, for a distant view of the Mount of Temptations. In Jericho, Our Lord healed Bartimaeus, the blind beggar, and dined with Zaccheus, the tax collector. Have lunch with the group. Continue to Tiberias for dinner and overnight. (BB or boxed breakfast, L, D)

Day 6. Saturday, January 11, 2025: Excursion to Mount Carmel, Mount Tabor, Nazareth & Cana

Begin the day with a visit to Stella Maris Carmelite Monastery in Mount Carmel. Below the monastery is Elias’ Cave, where the prophet lived and meditated before defeating the pagan prophets of Baal. Continue to visit Mount Tabor, the site of Our Lord’s Transfiguration. Then, travel to Nazareth to visit the Basilica of the Annunciation, erected over the house of the Virgin Mary. Continue to St. Joseph's Church, a small church built on the site of St. Joseph’s home and workshop. Finally, visit Cana to see the church built where Our Lord performed His first miracle at the wedding feast. Renew your vows there (subject to confirmation.) Dinner and overnight in Tiberias. (BB, D)

Day 7. Sunday, January 12, 2025: Sea of Galilee

This morning, enjoy a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, where Our Lord did much of His preaching and where many of His Apostles were fishermen. Then visit the Mount of Beatitudes, the scene of Our Lord’s great Sermon on the Mount. Then, visit the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes to commemorate the miracle. Continue to the Church of the Primacy of St. Peter, where Our Lord appeared to the Apostles after His Resurrection. Continue to Capharnaum to visit the church built over the ruins of St. Peter’s house and the synagogue where Our Lord used to preach. For lunch, sample the famous St. Peter’s Fish at a local restaurant. See the Valley of Doves; this valley is the route Jesus Christ would have taken from Nazareth to the Sea of Galilee. Continue for a short visit to the fishing village of Magdala, where St. Mary Magdalene lived. Here in 2009, a chance discovery revealed a 1st-century synagogue. Dinner and overnight in Tiberias. (BB, L, D)

Day 8. Monday, January 13, 2025: Tiberias – Ein Karem – Bethlehem – Jerusalem

This morning, journey to Ein Karem to visit the Church of St. John the Baptist, built over the Grotto of the Nativity of St. John, and the Church of the Visitation that commemorates Our Lady’s visit to St. Elizabeth. Then, stop at Shepherds’ Field, where the angels appeared the first Christmas night. Travel to Bethlehem and visit the Church of the Nativity, built on the site where Our Lord was born. Connected to the Church of the Nativity, visit St. Catherine's Church; descend to the grottoes of the Holy Innocents, St. Joseph and St. Jerome. Inside, visit St. Jerome's Chapel, where the saint wrote the Vulgate. Arrive in Jerusalem for dinner and overnight. (BB, D)

Day 9. Tuesday, January 14, 2025: Jerusalem: Bethany, Mount of Olives & Mount Sion

Start this morning with a visit to Bethany, the town where Our Lord resurrected St. Lazarus from the dead. Then to the Mount of Olives for a panoramic view of Jerusalem. Visit the Chapel of the Ascension and the Church of Pater Noster, where Our Lord taught His disciples how to pray. On to the Church of Dominus Flevit, where Our Lord wept over the city of Jerusalem, and the Church of All Nations, officially named the Basilica of the Agony, built over the rock on which Our Lord prayed the night before He was crucified. See the Last Supper Room, where Our Lord shared the Last Supper with His Apostles. Afterwards, visit the Church of the Dormition, where tradition reveals that the Mother of God was laid in a tomb before her body was assumed into heaven. Your final visit is to the Church of St. Peter in Gallicanctu, where St. Peter denied Our Lord, and to the Palace of Caiaphas, where Our Lord was imprisoned. Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem.(BB, D)

Day 10. Wednesday, January 15, 2025: Jerusalem

Begin the day with a visit to the Temple Mount, traditionally the Temple of Solomon, since 691 AD an Islamic site. Then, visit the Church of St. Anne, erected over the traditional site of the birthplace of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Continue to the Pool of Bethsaida excavations, identified as the scene of the healing of the paralytic. Afterwards, visit the City of David, a major archeological site that had been recently excavated and opened to the public. This site is where scholars believe David built his palace and established his capital around 1,000 BC. The Siloam Pool is adjacent to the area and traditionally believed to be the site where Our Lord put clay on a blind man’s eyes and then sent him to wash them out in the pool’s purifying waters, giving him sight. Travel south following the Jordan River to the site considered the place where St. John the Baptist baptized Our Lord. Next, visit the Qumran Museum located on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea at the settlement nearest to the hiding place of the Dead Sea Scrolls in the caves of the sheer desert cliffs. Continue for an opportunity to wade in the Dead Sea. Dinner and overnight in Jerusalem.(BB, D)

Day 11. Thursday, January 16, 2025: Jerusalem: Holy Sepulcher

Early this morning, carry the cross and follow the Via Dolorosa, the Way of the Cross, and end at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Then, enjoy an in-depth tour of this church, including a visit to the tomb of our forefather Adam and the tombs of Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. Then, visit the Flagellation Church that enshrines the spot where Our Lord was flogged. Finally, visit Ecce Homo Church, commemorating the place where Pontius Pilate presented Our Lord to the hostile Jewish crowd. Transfer to Amman, Jordan. Tonight enjoy a farewell dinner. Overnight in Amman.

(BB, FD)

Day 12. Friday, January 17, 2025: Homebound Flight

Transfer to Tel Aviv airport for an early flight back home.