Since Sunday, March 8 this year has the readings for the
Transfiguration, I will jump ahead a day to describe the experiences from that part of my trip about one month earlier.
The Mount of Transfiguration was truly one of the high points of the trip. As we approached Mount Tabor, I saw a cloud at its summit. I couldn't get it out of my mind, knowing the Biblical accounts refer to a cloud overshadowing them on the mount. Had Jesus gone before us? Perhaps we were just following Him. I admit the cloud wasn't a bright cloud, but it still seemed meaningful.
I meant to take a photo when we were leaving. It was only then that I could see the church at the top since the cloud had left while we were there. But I didn't take a photo at that point. Google Streetview has views of that, but not me. There are other sites people consider as candidates for the Mount of Transfiguration, but Mount Tabor has the most support, and even includes a spot considered to be the site of the transfiguration.
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| Cloud Overshadowing the Mount of Transfiguration |
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| More of Mount Tabor Showing Closer In |
As the bus headed to the base of the mountain, we drove past Elaine, I guess. There were other walls with artwork and not just names. But I just felt like including one photo here for a relative.
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| Elaine? |
The bus couldn't go very far before reaching the point where we wait for taxi rides. Each taxi holds about 13 people. So our group required a few of them. We waited quite a while at the transit spot. I enjoyed some freshly-squeezed pomegranate juice. Some people checked out the shop or tried other snacks or coffee. Fortunately, everyone stayed together, because there were many groups waiting, and I was surprised that our tour guide didn't use his whisper box transmitter to tell us all when we were going to board the taxis. You'll see a bit of the earpiece in a later photo. The smaller vehicles made sense as we went up the long and winding roads. They made hairpin turns MANY times.
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| Taxi Anyone? |
Mount Tabor's Proximity to Nazareth
Mount Tabor is a monadnock (a stand-alone mountain that rises from a flat, level land) and it's very rounded in a rather beautiful way. The view from the winding roads allowed me to take photos off to the west and northwest. What I wouldn't realize then but realize now is the close proximity to Nazareth! I think our tour guide mentioned it very briefly while we were leaving Nazareth earlier in the trip, but Nazareth is only 4 miles away! Jesus probably knew this hill very well. The geology of Nazareth places it on the upper side of a ridge of drop-offs. So when Jesus was about to be run off a hill when the people of Nazareth rejected him (but He walked through them and avoided it), he would have been tossed down to the level ground within sight of the Mount of Transfiguration.
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| Nazareth and Mount Tabor are Neighboring Hills! |
It's this proximity that made me happy I took so many photos. In this next photo, I took a photo from one of the taxi rides up. The foreground has the town where we boarded the taxi. The town in the distance that has a mountain ridge behind it is not Nazareth. It's the town below the Nazareth ridge. If you click on the photo to see the full-sized version of it, you will see a few buildings of Nazareth on some of the hilltops up and to the right from that town.
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| I See Nazareth from Here! |
Mount Tabor in the Bible
The Transfiguration occurred not long before the death of Jesus. Nazareth was where Jesus grew up during most of his youth. This makes this a bookending kind of site. Jesus was here shortly after birth and shortly before his death. In the Old Testament, it was the territorial marker that identified the boundary of three of the tribes of Israel. Deborah experienced a military victory here.
Mount Tabor in History
The height of this mountain over a somewhat open expanse made it a military fortress over many centuries of history. It changed hands a few times between the Israelites, Christians, and Muslims.
As a result of the various military conquests, the site went from having a few Christian churches about 1400 years ago, a monastery during the time of the Crusades and later an abbey, to having a fortress, to eventually having the Church of Transfiguration built on top. Even Napolean fought battles here. Just 3,000 of his men prevailed against the 35,000 soldiers of the Ottoman Empire. The Church of Transfiguration was built in the early 1920s.
Approaching the Church of Transfiguration
The walking path to the church from the taxi drop-off lot is a straight path. I would later find that the alignment from the church building down that path points to Nazareth. It's a natural direction, based on the shape of the mountain, but it was still interesting to me. As we walked toward the church, that cloud that overshadowed the summit left us with low visibility at the top. Even the view of the church was obscured by the haze. It was windy at the top. A little rain caused us to occasionally pull out our umbrellas or at least wear hats or hoods.
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| The Cloud Overshadowed the Church of Transfiguration |
When I was at the Church of the Primacy of Peter, I noticed a cat in an unusual spot. I had taken a photo of that cat. And then I thought about how Facebook often has lots of cat photos. I considered making an album of "The Cats of the Holy Land", and I still might do that. But for now, these cats chose to climb to the top of the mount. Perhaps the first cat was also the second cat, only transfigured to glow a brighter white? I'm not sure.
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| Dark Cat |
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| Light Cat |
I'll mix some photos from entering and exiting since the exiting photos have a better view without the haze. The closer views show intricate details in the pillars and other aspects of the façade of the building.
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| Church of Transfiguration Front |
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| Arch Over the Entry |
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| Angling Up a Bit |
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| View of One Tower (Blue Umbrella Protecting the Camera from Rain) |
Inside the Church of Transfiguration
Upon entering the church, one sees the famous, golden half-dome that depicts the transfiguration. That dome is over the high altar. I hear there is a glass plate that reflects sunlight to it on one day of the year to celebrate the Transfiguration. That would have to be a sight to see.
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| Heading to the Low Altar for Mass |
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| High and Low Altar Areas |
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| High and Low Altar Areas |
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| Church of Transfiguration Main Ceiling |
The most famous artwork here is on the golden dome.
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| Transfiguration Up Close |
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| Transfiguration in its Glory |
Sometimes I like to look back out from the inside of a place. It provides a view that many people overlook. As I sat down for Mass by the Low Altar, I took a photo up toward the entry of the building.
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| Looking Back to the Front |
The Low Altar had rather interesting lighting over it. There were plenty of things to look at on the arched ceiling.
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| View of Low Altar from Where I Sat |
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| Above the Low Altar |
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| Cool Lighting Above the Altar |
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| View Above the Low Altar from Another View |
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| Artwork Behind Where I Sat for Mass |
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| The Whole Low Altar Area |
For this trip, I avoided using the flash on my camera for a few reasons. For one, it's nice to see settings with their natural lighting. I can always brighten or darken photos later if needed. I also don't like to mess up anything that gets damaged by exposure to intense light. I also don't want to mess up someone else's photos with flashes and possible shadows. I also didn't want to disrupt Masses or other activities where flashes are considered distractions and disruptive. But I intentionally took one photo to show how there are things we love to take photos of that have enough of a shine that they might reflect too much of a flash. Just the lighting from the room reflected off the arched ceiling above where I sat for Mass (that's also why the artwork appears upsidedown).
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| Flashes Might Not Work Well Here |
But don't spend all your time looking up! The floor under the area of the Low Altar had a window to the ground below. The spot of the Transfiguration is said to be here. There was another window to the area below with a passageway. But I preferred to just include this photo. This was another site where during the Mass, when it was clear that "He took Peter, John, and James and went up THIS mountain to pray." And one could look to the window in the floor if one wanted when the right moment came.
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| Transfiguration Point |
Reflecting on the Bible Account
Jesus was "One like Moses", which is revealed here again when we hear of the way his face glowed. The face of Moses glowed at Sinai. I also considered just how high this mountain rose above the land below. I hadn't thought about it enough in the past that Jesus would travel with his Apostles most of the time. He would also travel with Mary, his mother. In the absence of Joseph, her Son would care for her. So as Jesus and the Apostles and Mary approached this mountain, I could easily imagine some of them agree that only a few of them would have to go all the way to the top. But then I started to wonder if they just hung out at the base or did something else to fill their time. As I would later realize just how close Nazareth was, and that Mary lived there for many years, I now wonder if the group of travelers may have wandered into Nazareth for a while. But I guess it depends on how long the others stayed on the mountain. Since they didn't end up making any tents, it might have been a short enough time that the others may have just stayed at the base.
Our group was large enough that we had to split into two groups to go to the smaller chapels. Since Jesus met with Moses and Elijah, the two smaller chapels honor them. Jesus would speak to the two about His upcoming Exodus. The original language uses the term so clearly. I'm sure I'll go into that a great deal more regarding the New Exodus into the Promised Land that is Heaven. Consulting the dead is something forbidden by the Bible when it's in the form of trying to gain special knowledge. We see Jesus talking to two figures from the Old Testament. But God is a God of the living, not of the dead. The Saints live eternally, and these two figures represent the two primary components of the Old Covenant/Testament joining with the One who would institute the New Covenant/Testament.
But just as Moses went to Sinai before returning to the people he would lead out of Egypt, Jesus went to this high mountain before returning to Jerusalem to lead people to Heaven. I believe this is one reason why there's at least one theory that the mountain was Sinai rather than Mount Tabor, but that's really out of the way, considering that Jesus had so recently been at Caesarea Philippi, which is in the extreme northeast part of Israel. Mount Hermon is the better alternate theory since it's so close to where Jesus had just been. But it's the opposite direction from Jerusalem, so Jesus would have to backtrack to return.
Back to the Chapels in the Church
I went into the Chapel of Moses first. He was depicted with the Law. The floor pattern had small crosses and a spiraling cord. It was a nice, small space.
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| Holy Moses |
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| Floor of Moses Chapel |
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| Moses Chapel from the Altar |
After we left that chapel, we could check out the other chapel. This is the Chapel of Elijah. (S. Elias)
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| Elijah |
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| Elijah Chapel |
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| Ceiling Inside Elijah's Chapel |
To the Left and the Right of the High and Low Altars, there were some other altars.
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| Left Altar |
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| Right Altar |
Back Outside the Church of the Transfiguration
As I left, I again admired the structure and the carvings.
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| Archway Over Exit/Entrance |
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| Beautiful Pillar |
My eyes looked forward and saw the courtyard, the grottos around it, and the plentiful vegetation around it. I believe Mount Tabor has roughly 4,000 species of plants on it.
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| Looking Out from the Church of Transfiguration |
Some of us climbed up the steps that were to the right side of the church building when we faced it. As people neared the top, their umbrellas were strained. I angled mine toward the wind and it was okay at first. I knew I wanted to protect my camera lens from the rain. But after I got to the top of the steps and took a step or two away from it, the wind started to tug on the other things I had, including my hat. My hat flew down off the edge to where I stood moments earlier. Someone stood there, and I kept hoping they would try to secure the hat so it wouldn't be lost forever. But she just stood there a few feet away from it. I guess it wasn't as windy down there. So I went down the steps again and picked up my hat and put it in a large coat pocket. I went back up. It doesn't look like it's too windy, does it?
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| Oh...It's Windy at the Top! |
The view from around the church allowed me to see land far below and at a distance. It was worth the wind, but I didn't linger there very long.
Another view from somewhere near the top of the mount, but this time in panoramic mode.
Heading Back
It was eventually time to leave. So we headed down the path to the taxi lot. Now I know that we were walking right toward Nazareth.
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| Leaving on the Straight Path |
Some trees showed signs of having grown on unstable ground. They also had some interesting angles to them. I guess they didn't have a V8.
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| Angled Trees |
A Difference in Signs
But it was in the vicinity of the Mount of Transfiguration that I first saw the crosswalk sign that just looked a bit more formal than our signs. It looked like the guy in the photo was wearing a hat. I would later realize that signs like this tend to appear where the Orthodox Jews are, and similar signs without the hats are everywhere else. I guess they make them relatable to the people there. This is not a crossing area for Men Without Hats, but they can dance if they want to (safety dance only), they can leave their friends behind, but if they don't dance...just cross the street.
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| Formal Crossing? |
Other Visitor
Someone I haven't met, but who someone I do know made me aware of happens to be in Israel right now as I type this up. Seeing that she was in Capernaum today (Saturday, as I will post this tomorrow on the day we celebrate the Transfiguration), if her trip follows the same sequence as my trip, then she will experience the Church of the Transfiguration on the day it's celebrated during Lent. The main celebration for the Transfiguration is in August though...the day when they light up the dome with sunlight. So the normal approach to saying Mass based on the location and not based on the liturgical calendar might just align for her.
Leaving Galilee
I loved the Mount of Transfiguration. It was our last stop in Galilee, and thus we would leave the lush countryside and head south toward the desert land after this. Most of the drive still showed us green hills and a view of Jordan (the country) across the Jordan River.
Since I am posting this before finishing Day 4, I will jump back to that and eventually point this story in a way that you can continue to follow the rest of the trip in order, including the rest of Day 5.
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