Our second site on Day 6 was the Church of the Visitation. We had to walk down the hill from the Church of Saint John the Baptist and up an even bigger hill. We went from the man who was the New Elijah who would prepare the way for the Lord, to the woman who points us to Jesus, over and over, most notably in Cana ("do as he tells you").
Some people might wonder why the home of John's parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth would appear in two places. After all, many births would happen while at home back then. And yet the greeting of Mary and Elizabeth appears to be at this other site. The way a woman is considered ritually unclean following birth for a while led many women to temporarily live in another house during part of their pregnancy and shortly afterward. This is all the more reason the help of other female relatives was common. It's helpful to have family around to help during pregnancy and upon the birth of a newborn. So many smaller families sadly deny the children as many siblings and relatives to support them when they have children. It was great to read about how fast Mary rushed to visit and help Elizabeth.
The layout of the town appears in the map below. This church is in the lower-left part of the map, and the last site we visited is marked. We walked down the short path from the prior church down to the main road (in white). The ground continues downward as we head toward the place where water crosses under our path. People who weren't up to such a climb could stay at a coffee shop or cafe in the low-lying area.
I loved the many little waterfalls from the water that we crossed. I walked up the hill a bit and took a photo back toward the area we came from to capture some of this.
As we climbed higher, I took a photo of the hills and terracing along the hillsides. This is in the "hill country of Judea". I'm about to go into many details that appear in the Gospel of Luke, so I figured I ought to link to it so people can reference it if they wish to examine things further. In Luke 1, we see many parallels to the Old Testament accounts of the Ark of the Old Covenant. This use of typology and using the same phrases and places are some of the reasons why Catholics refer to Mary as the Ark of the New Covenant.
The Ark of the Covenant contained the Ten Commandments, Aaron's Rod, and a bowl of manna. These symbolized the Law/Word of God, the High Priest, and the Bread from Heaven. Jesus is the Word made flesh, our eternal High Priest, and the ultimate Bread from Heaven. In the same way the Ark contained these items that pointed forward to Jesus, Jesus would reside in the womb of Mary, making her the first Tabernacle of the New Covenant and a living form of a new Ark.
The Ark would spend time in the "hill country of Judea" for three months before being brought to Jerusalem. Mary would visit Elizabeth in the hill country of Judea for the final months of Elizabeth's pregnancy and the birth of John the Baptist. She would have to head back to Joseph in preparations for giving birth to Jesus. But they would end up going to Bethlehem before that happens, which is less than seven miles to the southeast of this site. When the Ark entered Jerusalem, King David danced and lept in front of it. John the Baptist would leap in the womb of Elizabeth upon the arrival of Mary, with Jesus in her womb. Even the phrase Elizabeth exclaimed, "And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" is reminiscent to the Old Testament quote from David in 2 Samuel 6, when he asks, “How can the ark of the LORD come to me?”
The attention given to Mary recognizes that she always points to Jesus, and that many aspects of her involvement in the life of Jesus help fulfill the Old Testament.
Anyway, as you can tell from my photo from near the church, we've gone up these stone stairs quite a ways. There are stone ramps just wide enough for someone to use the ramps for a vehicle to ride up or down the stairway. This is the standard way of handling roads in the Old City of Jerusalem and some other areas limited in space. In this case, I assume they didn't want to widen the road on the hillside. But the water is just pouring down the path.
We finally reach the church. We are welcomed with "MAGNIFICAT", which is the portion of Luke 1 also called the Canticle of Mary.
The entry is identified in three languages, with Hebrew first, then English, and then Arabic.
The exterior of the church has a tower and a large piece of artwork that is blocked by the cross on the entry gate.
So I had to take a closer photo of the artwork.
I turned and saw the statues of Mary and Elizabeth, one appearing visibly pregnant, while the other is not as far along.
I liked the look of this courtyard. It was simple.
A side chapel included some additional art. This included the depiction of the meeting of Mary and Elizabeth. I'm not as certain about the second one. But the last one appears to be the depiction of the slaughter of the innocents, when Herod ordered the killing of the children in the area. Since any child under the age of two years old would be killed, and John was born just 6 months before Jesus, he also had to be hidden to survive. This order mirrored the attempts to kill the children of Israel that nearly ended the life of Moses.
The altar in the side chapel.
Mary's Well is a major site on the site.
We appreciated this area that kept us out of the rain before heading to other places on the grounds.
The sad thing was that when we went into the main church, another group was praying the Mass. A guy near the entryway held a sign informing people of this and it also requested that people not take photos or make noise. I honored that request. But that means I missed the MANY works of art in that church. You can look online, and if you see a church interior with VERY LARGE works of art side by side by side by side, then you probably found the right place.
This is a place with a sense of hospitality. I sent a postcard of this place to a family member who represents this most.
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| Image on the Church of the Visitation |
Some people might wonder why the home of John's parents, Zechariah and Elizabeth would appear in two places. After all, many births would happen while at home back then. And yet the greeting of Mary and Elizabeth appears to be at this other site. The way a woman is considered ritually unclean following birth for a while led many women to temporarily live in another house during part of their pregnancy and shortly afterward. This is all the more reason the help of other female relatives was common. It's helpful to have family around to help during pregnancy and upon the birth of a newborn. So many smaller families sadly deny the children as many siblings and relatives to support them when they have children. It was great to read about how fast Mary rushed to visit and help Elizabeth.
The layout of the town appears in the map below. This church is in the lower-left part of the map, and the last site we visited is marked. We walked down the short path from the prior church down to the main road (in white). The ground continues downward as we head toward the place where water crosses under our path. People who weren't up to such a climb could stay at a coffee shop or cafe in the low-lying area.
I loved the many little waterfalls from the water that we crossed. I walked up the hill a bit and took a photo back toward the area we came from to capture some of this.
As we climbed higher, I took a photo of the hills and terracing along the hillsides. This is in the "hill country of Judea". I'm about to go into many details that appear in the Gospel of Luke, so I figured I ought to link to it so people can reference it if they wish to examine things further. In Luke 1, we see many parallels to the Old Testament accounts of the Ark of the Old Covenant. This use of typology and using the same phrases and places are some of the reasons why Catholics refer to Mary as the Ark of the New Covenant.
The Ark of the Covenant contained the Ten Commandments, Aaron's Rod, and a bowl of manna. These symbolized the Law/Word of God, the High Priest, and the Bread from Heaven. Jesus is the Word made flesh, our eternal High Priest, and the ultimate Bread from Heaven. In the same way the Ark contained these items that pointed forward to Jesus, Jesus would reside in the womb of Mary, making her the first Tabernacle of the New Covenant and a living form of a new Ark.
The Ark would spend time in the "hill country of Judea" for three months before being brought to Jerusalem. Mary would visit Elizabeth in the hill country of Judea for the final months of Elizabeth's pregnancy and the birth of John the Baptist. She would have to head back to Joseph in preparations for giving birth to Jesus. But they would end up going to Bethlehem before that happens, which is less than seven miles to the southeast of this site. When the Ark entered Jerusalem, King David danced and lept in front of it. John the Baptist would leap in the womb of Elizabeth upon the arrival of Mary, with Jesus in her womb. Even the phrase Elizabeth exclaimed, "And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" is reminiscent to the Old Testament quote from David in 2 Samuel 6, when he asks, “How can the ark of the LORD come to me?”
The attention given to Mary recognizes that she always points to Jesus, and that many aspects of her involvement in the life of Jesus help fulfill the Old Testament.
Anyway, as you can tell from my photo from near the church, we've gone up these stone stairs quite a ways. There are stone ramps just wide enough for someone to use the ramps for a vehicle to ride up or down the stairway. This is the standard way of handling roads in the Old City of Jerusalem and some other areas limited in space. In this case, I assume they didn't want to widen the road on the hillside. But the water is just pouring down the path.
We finally reach the church. We are welcomed with "MAGNIFICAT", which is the portion of Luke 1 also called the Canticle of Mary.
The entry is identified in three languages, with Hebrew first, then English, and then Arabic.
The exterior of the church has a tower and a large piece of artwork that is blocked by the cross on the entry gate.
So I had to take a closer photo of the artwork.
I turned and saw the statues of Mary and Elizabeth, one appearing visibly pregnant, while the other is not as far along.
I liked the look of this courtyard. It was simple.
A side chapel included some additional art. This included the depiction of the meeting of Mary and Elizabeth. I'm not as certain about the second one. But the last one appears to be the depiction of the slaughter of the innocents, when Herod ordered the killing of the children in the area. Since any child under the age of two years old would be killed, and John was born just 6 months before Jesus, he also had to be hidden to survive. This order mirrored the attempts to kill the children of Israel that nearly ended the life of Moses.
The altar in the side chapel.
Mary's Well is a major site on the site.
We appreciated this area that kept us out of the rain before heading to other places on the grounds.
The sad thing was that when we went into the main church, another group was praying the Mass. A guy near the entryway held a sign informing people of this and it also requested that people not take photos or make noise. I honored that request. But that means I missed the MANY works of art in that church. You can look online, and if you see a church interior with VERY LARGE works of art side by side by side by side, then you probably found the right place.
This is a place with a sense of hospitality. I sent a postcard of this place to a family member who represents this most.
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