« Breakfast overlooking the Sea of Galilee
Posted on October 22, 2009 in 2009 Pilgrimage to the Holy Land - 0 COMMENTS
Day One
by Rev Fr Chris Flesoras
We departed our hotel that is situated in Tiberius, which was the capital of Galilee at the time of the Lord. The Jews considered Tiberius a defiled city as it was built upon a cemetery. It was one of the few cities in the region that Jesus did not visit.
The Sea of Galilee is actually a lake. It is approximately 22 kilometers north to south. The width is about 12 kilometers. The deepest part is about 50 meters. It remains one of the main sources of water (40%) for the population of Israel. During the time of the Lord, in addition to providing an abundance of water, it was considered the main source of protein (fish). Four of the disciples – Andrew and Peter and James and John, the sons of Zebedee were fishermen and were called by the Lord to leave their nets and follow Him.
The Sea has a tropical climate. Oranges, coconuts, dates, mangos and bananas all grow in the basin surrounding the Sea. One will notice dark or light blue bags covering the fruit on banana trees. The reason for this is to either encourage or discourage the maturating of the fruit (a means of controlling the market). Olives are also seen in abundance upon the hillsides. From OT times, the olive was considered a bless fruit of a blessed tree.
We arrived at the Mount of the Beatitudes, the Site where the Lord, who at least on one occasion taught his disciples. Today, there stands a simple, but beautiful Catholic Church in a Eucalyptus grove. The church, octagonal in design (out of respect for the 8 Beatitudes) was built in the 1930’s. It is one of the few churches in the region that is not constructed upon the site of an earlier Church.
The next Church visited was the Benedictine Church of the Muplitplican, which is found a bit down the hill from the Mount of Beatitudes. Although the present Church was constructed in the 20th Century, its foundation is on two pre-existing Byzantine Churches 350 and 480. Each Church had within her foundation a rock that is considered the rock on which the Lord blessed the loaves and fishes. There are exquisite floor mosaics from the fifth century found throughout the Church, the most notable being a mosaic depicting the loaves and fishes.
We then visited the Church of Capernaum. The city is remembered as the town in which Jesus resided after he left Nazareth. Here, there exist the remains of a fourth century synagogue (built upon a first century synagogue, and a Church built over the house of St. Peter. There are also the remnants of several other early Byzantine structures upon this site.
Numerous miracles were wrought at Peter’s house – the two most notable being the healing of the paralytic who was lowered through the roof and the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law (a Scriptural reminder that the most prominent of the Apostles was married).
Our next stop was the Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Apostles situated by the Sea. It was surrounded by a beautiful garden, including a trellis of grapes, under which peacocks were walking to and fro. The program of iconography for the Church incorporated many of the miracles of Jesus that took place in the general vicinity with the disciples being prominently displayed.
We then took a short walk from the Church to the Sea. A boat was waiting for us on which we traveled to the Eastern shore of Galilee. When we reached the center of the lake, Fr. Demetri had the boat come to a stop and offered a beautiful talk that discussed the Lord coming to the disciples upon the water. “Just imagine walking on water, defying gravity, having such faith,” said Father. One could not help but contemplate his or her relationship with Christ. Could we do the same?
Our boat headed for shore. We enjoyed a tradition “St. Peter’s fish” lunch. This fish, a type of tilapia, was served fried with a vegetable soup and some tasty side salads. A cup of strawberry ice cream and we were off!
Our next stop was the Jordan River. It wasn’t quite what I expected, a bit too developed and commercial for my liking. Nonetheless, it was a blessing to process with our group down to the river, to read prayers of the blessing of water and also to celebrate the Rite of Baptism for Jennifer Rice, now Genevieve, with her godparents Tim and Stephanie Dison.
With some of her fellow pilgrims still wading in the water and others on the steps next to the water, we advanced through the prayers of exorcism, the making of a catechumen, the blessing of the water, and the anointing with an oil of gladness. Genevieve and I then waked out into about waste deep water and she was baptized in the Name of the Trinity. Coming out of the water, Fr. Demetri sealed her with Holy Chrism. The Epistle and the Gospel were read and the prayers concluded. Tomorrow morning Genevieve will receive the Eucharist for the first time with her fellow pilgrims in the Greek Orthodox Church of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor.
As we were passing by the other areas set aside for prayer along the banks, I recognized two clergymen from Sacramento! The fathers serve the Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe. What a joy it was to see familiar faces on the banks of the Jordan. Hopefully, we will all meet again on the Feast of St. Andrew at the Church of Annunciation. The Roman Catholic Bishop is scheduled to offer the homily this evening at the close of services celebrated by His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos.
Our final stop for the evening was the Holy Monastery of the Holy Apostles situated here in Tiberius. Fr. Timotheos, the priest monk who oversees the foundation, received us. The original Church was built by the Empress Helen. Since this time, it was destroyed by the Persians, the Muslims, and the Crusaders, to be rebuilt for the last time shortly after the Crusades. The Monastery contains three chapels – one dedicated to the Holy Apostles, the second to Sts. Peter and Paul, and the third to St. Mary Magdalene. This site is significant to all Christians as the disciples ate fish with our Lord here following His Resurrection on the third day. It was also the site where the disciples gathered to decide through lot where each of them was to travel to share the Gospel with the inhabited world.
After dinner, some of us will probably gather to process and discuss all that we saw and experienced this day. Tomorrow will be another packed day starting at 8AM with Liturgy. More tomorrow!
