Pilgrimage Visit To Scriptural Sites In The Holy Land Makes Powerful Impression On Area Residents

A group of people from Spokane and North Idaho recently got a close look at some of the world’s holiest sites - Bethlehem, Nazareth, Mount Sinai and Jerusalem.

The experience was profoundly inspiring.

“It was wonderful,” said Father Gregory Horton of St. John Orthodox Church in Post Falls, who led the group. “It was the most incredible journey of a lifetime.

“Everything in the Holy Land is still there, from the time of the Scriptures.”

George Alex of Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Spokane went on the trip with his wife, Sally.

“We thought it was wonderful,” said Alex. “You really have a different feeling than just going to church here.”

Eleni Schumacher of St. John’s said she spent most of the trip with her mouth open in awe, at a loss for words to describe what she was feeling.

“I’ll never look at the Gospel the same again,” she said.

The group of 35 spent nearly two weeks overseas last month. Fifteen of those were from the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene area, with others coming from Seattle, California and Alaska. The fact that the group was Orthodox, with the exception of one Roman Catholic woman who served as a traveling companion to another woman, gave the group special access to some sites.

Most sites are in the hands of either the Roman Catholic Church or the Orthodox Church, explained Horton. It is not unusual for Orthodox pilgrims to be granted special access to sites in the hands of the Orthodox Church, and the same entry for Catholics visiting sites governed by the Catholic church.

“We were able to get into the inner sanctuaries of many places,” said Horton. One such place was the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

“Everyone goes there,” said Horton, “but then the priest, Father Parthenious, took us to a place where nobody goes.” The site held the bones of “the little holy innocent babies” that were martyred by King Herod.

“Still there, all these little baby bones in all the catacombs. Not a dry eye on the tour.

“Apparently they won’t let anyone else go in. Thank God that we had such a blessing.”

The fact that a church was built on top of the site is not unusual in the Holy Land, said Horton.

“Every site, without exception, is beneath a church of some kind, either Orthodox or Catholic,” he said. “It’s very well defined, the order of who has which sites.”

While there is some debate over the locations of some holy sites, such as the exact place of Jesus’ baptism, many locations are universally accepted.

“The earliest Christians marked the sites,” said Horton. “When Christianity become tolerated, churches went up on those sites.

“In light of the conquests and barbarism, it’s amazing that all of these sites are still intact.”

The group also visited Mount Tabor, the Mount of Beatitudes, the Jordan River, Galilee, the Dead Sea and Gethsemane.

“Everywhere we went we had a little service,” he said. “It was beautiful.”

Horton found one of the most moving moments on the tour to be participating in a service in the tomb of Christ. “I was in awe, receiving my Holy Communion right where Christ was buried and where he rose from the dead,” he said.

Shumacher was inspired by all the services, no matter where they were held. She remembers the feeling of worshipping in places that were over a thousand years old.

“It gave you the chills sometimes,” she said.

Though all were profoundly touched by the trip and said they would do it again, the experience was not without tension - a fact of life in an area that has been fought over by several different faiths.

There were guards on the tour bus when they entered Egypt, said Shumacher, and they had to go through several military checkpoints. She saw fighter jets overhead, and a few times they were spit at by passing Jews who recognized the traditional garb of the Orthodox priests in the group.

There was also a military patrol at the Dead Sea, complete with machine guns.

Despite all this, Shumacher said she was never afraid and would love to go again.

“Over there, it’s just very commonplace,” she said. “It’s kind of an undercurrent that was there. I never felt intimidated.”

The militarized nature of the area isn’t the only thing that people sometimes don’t expect. Some people expect the area to be just like it was in the times of Scripture, said Horton, but the area is fully modern, complete with cars and pollution.

“The old-world feel is still there, especially in the old city of Jerusalem,” he said. “You have to look beyond the modern trappings to find your way back to the time of Christ.”