Day 7: Jerusalem (In the Garden)

Started the day by heading up to the Mount of Olives for a panaramic view of Jerusalem. Breathtaking!

Then we worked our way down the Mount of Olives, stopping at several holy sights. We stopped at St. Anne's Church which honors the mother of Mary. Here is a statue of Anne with Mary:

Inside St. Anne's church you are encouraged to sing. The acoustics are such that it echoes off the walls and it sounds like a beautiful, angelic chorus - it is hard to describe but it is really astounding. Our group was the only group in the church, so we sang "Holy, Holy, Holy" together and it sounded so amazing it literally brought me to tears.

We walked the route used every year to commemorate Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday:

And we visited the Basilica of All Nations:

My favorite today was the Garden of Gethsemane. It is a beautiful, fenced off area next to the Basilica of All Nations. There are olive trees within it that are 2500 years old:

Throughout our time here we have also gotten a chance to interact with a number of different people of varying backgrounds about their life in Israel. It has been a very educational and enlightening experience. I'm so grateful for this opportunity. 

We'll be visiting more sights in Jerusalem tomorrow.

Shalom,

Lisa