An update from the Holy Land

A lot of you thought I was crazy for returning to the Holy Land. And many of you wanted to see if the group survived before deciding to sign up for a trip. Even a few pilgrimage companies were closely watching to see how this went — it’s ok, I’m used to it. 😂

Well, we survived. Not only that, but we had the place to ourselves.

A little background and some stats…

I’ve been here around 30 times. I had one of the last groups here before the war, and now one of the first groups since the war.

My pilgrimage groups, for some reason, are around 90% women. This trip was no exception. We had 13 women and 4 men. Most of the women were traveling solo. And only three had been to the Holy Land before. They were not afraid. Although a couple of them told me on the last night that they were starting to feel nervous a few days before departure and hoping I’d cancel it. 😂 They were grateful that I did not.

We had a night in Tel Aviv, with most people arriving on their own a day or two early, and taking a taxi to the hotel. Three nights in the Galilee, with a visit to Caesarea Philippi, which is wedged between the Lebanese and Syrian borders. Then five nights in Jerusalem, with visits to Bethlehem and Jericho (those cities are part of Palestine for those who don’t know) and some late night and early morning strolls to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

At no point did anyone feel unsafe.

The grand finale of the pilgrimage was joining the Palm Sunday procession. We walked with thousands of others down the same path Jesus took as He entered Jerusalem and ended with a Holy Land pep talk and a blessing from Cardinal Pizzaballa.

With the exception of the Palm Sunday procession, we had the Holy Land all to ourselves.

Around the Galilee, we saw one other tour bus in Caesarea Philippi, and that was a small group of Evangelicals. We ran into two other small groups in Capernaum, one Mormon and one Baptist. There was no one at the Mount of Beatitudes and no one at Peter’s Primacy. Mount Tabor was deserted.

In Bethlehem, there was a Russian Orthodox group having a beautiful ceremony in the grotto for about 15 minutes. Once they left we were all alone for THREE hours. Although a Protestant group from my hometown (of all places) came loudly storming in for a few minutes, and then left just as quickly.

We were all alone in Jerusalem too. When we did the Palm Sunday walk as part of the tour, not the big procession, we didn’t see another soul except a small Italian group as we left Dominus Flevit. Almost fittingly, a large group of very noisy international agriculture students arrived during our Mass in the Garden Gethsemane to try and distract us during the consecration, and then they vanished after Holy Communion.

Why am I telling you all this?

Because I want you to experience it. My June Holy Land pilgrimage sold out, but… I just added a few rooms.

Are you worried it might be more crowded in June? Well, anything is possible, but I will say that several restaurants and several churches said we were their first group since the war and that my June group is the only one they have scheduled until September.

My Jerusalem hotel, which is usually packed with groups, has only three groups between now and June and then nothing until September.

So while it’s possible someone could throw together a group, it’s not likely to happen in the next nine weeks. And it’s even less likely there would be enough groups to make a difference.

So if you can join the June pilgrimage, there are now three additional rooms.

Here’s the link:

https://thecatholictraveler.com/catholic-pilgrimages/return-to-the-holy-lands-june/

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On a personal note…

During the Palm Sunday procession yesterday, I was thinking, why not just stay for Holy Week? I’ve never done it. I’m here. And so… I’m staying for Holy Week!

This year is unique in that the Catholics and the Orthodox are celebrating Easter on the same day. So it should be extra exciting, extra loud, extra crazy, and extra holy. I am hoping to do all the things, and of course I’ll be sharing them with you.

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Have a lovely Holy Week!

— Mountain