Holy Land November 2022

Review: a pilgrim trip to the Holy Land
 
Hello! I want to share the joy of the best event that’s happened to me in many years with all Orthodox. It was a pilgrim tour to the Holy Land. Together with other pilgrims, I spent a 10-day journey filled with God’s help and indescribable grace.

We departed from Estonia on November 2. And came back on November 11. The travel plan kept us busy all the time. Our group visited a lot of sites during these days. All the places that I’ve known since childhood – my grandmother and I used to read about them in the Bible. The places where Jesus Christ, the Mother of God, and many saints had lived and performed their miracles.

We had a transit in Turkey and landed in Israel at night. So we had breakfast at the hotel and immediately went to the holy sites. On the first day, we visited Mount Zion. We saw the Upper Room in Mount Zion – where the Last Supper took place. Then we visited the shrines of the Mount of Olives and admired Jerusalem from there. The view is captivating. I made some good photos from there. We visited the site of the ascension of Our Saviour and descended from a mountain. We were in the Garden of Gethsemane, in the Tomb of the Virgin Mary. Some of us stayed for the All-night vigil at the Convent of Saint Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane.
 
Honestly, even if the pilgrimage lasted just one day, I would already be happy and satisfied with the trip at that point. Because I prayed near numerous thousand-year-old shrines on that day and such a thing has never happened in my entire life! And I was filled with such emotions and such grace! I’ve never felt like this before. I can describe it with one word only – happiness! I’m very happy and grateful to Our Lord for bringing me to the Holy Land in Israel.

The first day was the most memorable for me. But this was just the beginning, of course. The following day was the feast day of Our Lady of Kazan. We attended the Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral of All Russian Saints. This is a patronal feast in the main church of the Gornenskiy Convent. The service was held by the Metropolitan of Volokolamsk Anthony. Then, we prayed in memory of Abbess Georgia near her grave.
 
The following days were so busy that I don’t remember the exact order of all places we visited. But it goes without saying that a special place in my memory belongs to Jerusalem, the greatest city on earth for Christians. We attended the Divine Liturgy in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and prayed there. There was enough time to explore all its holy sites. Everyone in our group partook in the Holy Mysteries of Christ. Also, we walked around the Old City of Jerusalem and followed the Way of the Cross. The ambiance there is incredible! Every meter of this earth has an imprint of a biblical story. There are relics everywhere that remember Our Lord Jesus Christ. You can feel it the same way you feel water drops on your skin during rain.

Bathing in the Jordan River was another memorable event. We plunged into it at approximately the same place where Jesus was baptized – in Bethabara. After bathing, I felt such a surge of spiritual strength, which is difficult to describe. You just have to experience it yourself.

In total, we’ve visited so many locations that it’s impossible to enumerate them all. Bethlehem, Galilee, Jericho, Tabor, and Jaffa – and there were many stops in each place. And each of these places is worth dedicating its own pilgrimage to! And we managed to see them all, pray everywhere, and venerate the relics and the miraculous icons.
 
We had many transfers, long-distance flights, and hours of standing on our feet during these 9 days. I’m not a young girl anymore. But it wasn’t hard for me for a single minute. On the contrary, faith in Our Lord improved my strength. And even the rare physical fatigue didn’t disturb me at all because it was blocked by an extraordinary joy and a surge of spiritual strength.

By the way, I also remember how our group harvested olives in the Gornenskiy Convent on the last day of our stay in the Holy Land. With the blessing of Abbess Catherine, we helped the nuns. In the same monastery, we venerated the icon of Our Lady of Kazan, thanked the Mother of God for our blessed trip, and asked for her help on our way home and with other issues.

This trip was unforgettable. I have only positive impressions and can’t say anything bad about it. And I want to mention the people who organized it and helped us, pilgrims, on the way. This is Marina, who accompanied our group. She took care of us, putting her heart and soul into her work. And special words of gratitude go to the wonderful young priest, Father Grigory. He is an amazing person to talk to and knows a lot. On the bus to the holy sites, he was telling us about the places that we were about to visit. About the apostles and the saints, with whose names those places are associated. In general, his speeches about faith and religion were interesting and easy to understand. We prayed together and sang songs. He found time to talk to each of us individually. Many people asked him for advice in their daily affairs.
 
I think that other pilgrims from our group will agree with everything I said. Because we shared our opinions on the way back. The people I talked to were very pleased.

Everyone was talking about the smart organization of the trip. The Andcross Pilgrim Spiritual and Ecclesiastic Center took care of all everyday issues and perfectly dealt with them. Everything was planned in advance for us, and all agreements and appointments were made. We weren’t thinking about what to eat, where to sleep, and how not to be late. We were always on time, and our buses and guides were already waiting for us. All we had to do is to pray calmly and think about faith and the soul. We enjoyed every minute we spent in the Holy Land.

I wish health to everyone who’s been with me during these blessed days! Thank you all and may God bless you!

Larissa