Tapestry

Prilgrimages of Prayer

Pilgrimage of Prayer: Pilgrim’s Path thru Holy Land
13 July 2006

What Undergirds the Tour

The Pilgrimage Path: Resurrected “Jesus teaches Jesus” on the road to Emmaus - Peace at Mount of Beatitudes - Temptation in Wilderness - Birth & joy in Bethlehem - Ascent Psalms to Temple - Death of Jesus in Jerusalem - Future in Christ

As Pilgrims: experience death of self & recommitment to our Lord; peace & unity with God & others at the Sea of Galilee; face to face with temptation in the desert; victory in our Lord; steep climb up to Jerusalem with the Ascent Psalms; and answers from our Lord through prayer.

Reflection on a Pilgrimage

Living stones, Father, we are as You have made us - living stones for You - not walls of stones for rejecting others, but rather stepping stones to Your Kingdom.

May we come to rejoice in each others’ uniqueness - gifts and weaknesses. There Lord, You will have Your way with us, for it is only through You and by You and in You that we have our true being, not for our sakes, but for Your glory.

Linda attends an Episcopal church in southern Virginia. She wrote these words of reflections during the Tapestry 1999 Prayer Pilgrimage: Pilgrims’ Path thru the Holy Land.
Linda Franke

Pilgrimage of Prayer
Pilgrim's Path Thru The Holy Lord 1999

Arise, come away to a lonely place to be still & know that He is God. Join Tapestry on a pilgrimage through the Holy land in search of the prayer life of Jesus.

Attend a Tapestry Day of Prayer - Michelle Houverson, Women with Hope

Following the day of prayer in Jerusalem at St. George’s Cathedral, a group of pilgrims began a pilgrimage through the Holy Land of our Lord designed for times of prayer.

The Ascent Psalms were recited by 1st century Jews as they ascended the steep hills surrounding Jerusalem to attend worship times and services in the Temple. The same Psalms were used by the 20th century pilgrims as they ascended into Jerusalem. A day was spent in the Old City visiting the holy places of the Garden, Calvary, Wailing Wall, and the Via del a Rosa while reading the appropriate Scriptures at each location.

Temple Mount at the Old Wall

Each day began in prayer and ended in prayer by the collective group of modern day pilgrims. Interspersed during the day were short prayers using the Psalms, remembering the hours Jesus was on the cross as spoken of in Mark.

The 1st stop on the trek thru the Holy Land was a church on the road to Emmaus. One could see, smell, and sense the Lord’s presence in the beautiful garden and in the church built hundreds of years ago and maintained today by French Nuns. In such a setting, one is overwhelmed with the thought of how many saints through the centuries have given their lives in obedience to God’s call to worship, follow, and obey Him. The Jewish guide taught a Hebrew song and dance while the Arab driver practiced his prayers alone along the route.

The Ark of the Covenant Convent built upon the hill where the ark was kept until David took it into Jerusalem, was a place of acceptance of God’s plan, His path, and His ways. As the pilgrims looked out over a valley to Jerusalem beyond, there was a sense of the communion of saints. Watching in one’s heart the dance of David as he carried the Ark of the Covenant into the city built upon a hill. He carried the Law written on stone by the Hand of God and given to Moses; the manna given by God each morning to those in the wilderness; and the priestly rod of Aaron. In other words, Jesus. David carried the symbols of Jesus into Jerusalem years before our Lord was born. Jesus is the priest forever, the Bread of Life, and the fulfillment of the Law. He died for our sins so that we might live to His glory.

The pilgrims experienced a walk by the shore of the Mediterranean Sea at Caesarea, a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, the sunrise and sunset over the Galilean Sea, and prayers on the Mount of Beatitude with the Scripture teachings of Jesus read in Hebrew. One pilgrim felt as tho he had “come home”, another had a desire to be silent and listen to the still, small voice. Each pilgrim was affected by the land of our Lord, and our Lord of the land.

Mount of Beatitudes Chapel and Convent

The most difficult and yet the most spiritually rewarding time was spent at the base of the Mount of Temptation in a primitive, hot, dusty Eastern Orthodox desert monastery. God allowed the experience of His temptations in this place for His modern pilgrims. And yet this was the place God met each and every pilgrim. The worship, the songs, the prayers, the laughter, the friendships sealed, and the healings were mighty. Early morning communion, Eucharist, facing the Mount of Temptation with doves flying and bells ringing will forever be in our memories and hearts.

A night was spent at an oasis in the middle of the desert in a Bedouin tent. One could see the stars, experience the heat, and sense the loneliness that Abraham and Sarah must have felt at times. To stand under a full sky of stars reduced problems and allowed many to hear the words spoken into their hearts. It was also a time to sing and rejoice with the other pilgrims - American Jewish teenagers on a trip to see the land of their fathers.

The desert time prepared the pilgrims to pray with and minister to the Arab Christian women of Bethlehem. These women gave the pilgrims more than was brought from America.

Ride a camel with overnight in desert to “hear” the silence.

Staying in the convent directly behind the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem gave one pilgrim the privilege of seeing the sunset over the Church with the evening star rising directly over the cross on top of the steeple. A commitment to pray for the whole world was expanded and an understanding of God’s love for all people was given during that sunset over Jesus’ birthplace.

The ending of the pilgrimage took place where Mary visited Elizabeth in the hill country and baby, John the Baptist, leaped in his mother’s womb as the mother of his Lord approached.

The pilgrims began the Pilgrimage of Prayer with the prayer “Let it be done unto me according to Thy Word” at the altar of St. George’s Cathedral in Jerusalem and ended the Pilgrim’s Path thru the Holy Land in the small town of Ein Karem on the grounds of a monastery where Mary visited Elizabeth showing the result of her submission to God’s will - God’s Son, Jesus.