By Pilgrim Lauren Langrell
Struggling to pull myself out of bed after a long intense night of the classic game Mafia, playing with pilgrims from around Australia. You know it’s a Catholic pilgrimage when a player asks “Guys...I think this games immoral because we are lying!” After rushing out the door in the early hours of the morning, sprinting past the empty breakfast room and just making it through the bus doors, we began our pilgrimage for day eight in the Promised Land of our spiritual ancestors.
With a beautiful beginning to the morning, our first stop was at the Basilica of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor. It was on this mountain, that Our Lord Jesus Christ revealed himself in all His glory and divinity to His apostles St John, St Peter and James the brother of John. Our coaches dropped us off at the bottom of the Mountain and all the pilgrims split into smaller groups to enter mini buses that would drive us up the windy roads to the peak of the Mountain where the Church was situated. Apparently, the road we were travelling on was a two way road...and somehow the driver’s eccentric moustache didn’t ease my nerves!
At each sharp turn, we took a deep breath and closed our eyes because one small crash would send us rolling down the hill. After surprisingly reaching the top in one piece, all the Exodus pilgrims walked towards the magnificent, stone Church which was lighted by the radiant glow of the sun above. It was breathtaking upon entering this Church, two main altars were visible once entering, the altar below consisted of beautiful mosaics of Christ and on the floor were two openings that traditional says which revealed the real stone floor where Our Saviour transfigured. At this altar, the Sacrifice of the mass was celebrated. The altar above was equally as beautiful but was personally more moving, as there was an astounding vast mosaic of the Transfiguration, displaying Christ lifted above the ground and looking up to His Father. On either side of Jesus were two elevated figures, Moses holding the Ten Commandments and the prophet Elijah.
Before entering this Church, we had meditated on the words of Archbishop Dolan, on the Transfiguration in his “Lessons from the Apostle Peter”. It was through this reading that we not only came to a deeper understanding of the event which took place, but that when in the presence of the divine Christ we should often have silence and listen to Him. We should not always focus on doing talking which is often unnecessary (evident through St Peter in this passage), but set aside time where we should remain silent and gaze upon the Christ in all his glory. We must learn to listen to Him. And so when praying in this Church, I learned to listen more because I often become discouraged in prayer when I find I run out of things to tell Christ. But Christ is not there to be a garbage dump where we give him all our problems to deal with, but rather He is a source of healing, advice, peace, steadfast direction and unwavering strength. He is the One who to do the talking.
After a solemn and reverent Mass celebrated by His Eminence, Cardinal George Pell and three assisting Priests, it was time to begin our next exciting visit!! The Church from the Wedding in Cana! This was definitely a special one for all the lady pilgrims! For the guys, it was a looonggg and painful bus trip as all the girls couldn’t stop talking about how sweet and romantic it would be to be married there. Once arriving at the destination, the Church was small in size but large in beauty. This was where Our Lord’s first miracle took place, it was here where Our Lady ordered the servants to do as He tells. And the water was miraculously turned into wine, and the Apostles proclaimed “Truly, He is the Son of God!” We were able to descend beneath the Church to view the remains of the original Church which held the marriage that Mary and Jesus were present.
I must admit, my heart did melt for a moment or so, as the traditional wedding entrance song was played throughout the Church. Kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament, we prayed for the vocation of Marriage whether that is to be the Spouse of Christ or the spouse of another.
Following this visit, lunch was served at a nearby restaurant and next door was a souvenir shop, where most pilgrims bought the Wine from Cana. We then boarded onto the buses and headed back to our hostel for a relaxing afternoon of rest and swimming in the Sea of Galilee. Most pilgrims choose to sleep in order to catch up from the lack of rest, while a few others and I headed to the Sea for a swim and lie on the sand, feeling the warmth of the Israel summer sun.
After dinner, all pilgrims were welcomed to listen to the informative and intriguing talk on the Order of Malta by His Eminence, Cardinal George Pell. We are so blessed to have him with us on this journey! All the pilgrims here love him and it’s a fight on the back seat to sit next to him every bus ride!
Now as the day is coming to a close, my body is saying sleeeeppppppp...but my mind is saying maaafffffiiiaaaa.
So good bye everyone back home! Know of our prayers and please keep us pilgrims in your prayers that we remain firm in the faith and built up in Jesus Christ.
God bless!
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