Christian pilgrimage as the worship of holy places originated in the 4th century, when the first believers began to visit Palestine, where the Savior performed his divine deeds. Since then, a lot of water has flowed from the Jordan River, and today both true believers and people who are more in vogue than those who have true religious needs make pilgrimages to the Holy Land. In the first case, the pilgrim seeks to visit special places previously prepared, who have completed a certain spiritual work. Tourists usually come to religious shrines only for the purpose of seeing them as attractions.
Land of three religions
The Holy Land is a territory enclosed between the Mediterranean, Red, Dead Seas, Lake Kinneret and the Jordan River. The most significant and tragic events in the history of three world religions took place here. It is here that believers strive to get, for whom a pilgrimage to the Holy Land is not just a tribute to tourist fashion:
- In Nazareth, the Virgin Mary first learned the good news and it was here that Jesus spent his childhood and youth.
- A Savior was born in the town of Bethlehem. The first Church of the Nativity of Christ was built over the cave, where it was born, back in the 4th century. The current basilica was rebuilt in the 6th century and is the oldest in Palestine.
- The Jordan River is the place where the Savior was baptized, and in a cave near Jericho, he then fasted for 40 days.
- Most of the events described in the Gospel took place on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Here water turned into wine, bread and fish multiplied, and the Son of God himself preached peace and love to his disciples.
At the end of the pilgrimage to the Holy Land, travelers visit Jerusalem, the city where the Savior spent the last days of his earthly life. The program of pilgrimage tours usually includes a visit to the Mount of Olives, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Church of the Ascension, the Garden of Gethsemane and the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin.
Most of the pilgrims strive to walk the Savior's Passionate Way, stopping at each station and remembering the lines of Scripture.
As part of the excursion program
You can make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land as part of any tour to Israel. Any travel agency specializing in organizing such trips will help to combine a visit to important places for every Christian with subsequent rest.
