Day 17 - Ein Karem and the Museum of the Shoa

Today we drove to the Hill Country of Judea (Luke 1:39) to the town of Ein Karem. It was here that Mary made her Visitation to Elizabeth and where John the Baptist was born. I think we were all surprised how green the area was; we can't break the desert stereotype. This rocky green country would have been a beautiful place for these women to live and pray together, and to prepare to give birth to two very special babies.

Marking the place of St. John the Baptist's birth

The church of the Visitation is beautiful, full of powerful paintings of the Blessed Mother. We had mass at a different church, and prayed in the grotto of John the Baptist's birth. Our guide pointed out that a painting in the small cave showed Mary as the God Mother of John.

After mass we visited the Museum of the Shoa, the national Holocaust museum in Israel. We happened to take the tour at the same time as a group Israeli soldiers. Most looked under twenty. Ive been to Auschwitz, but I saw the Holocaust in a new light today.

After something so heavy we ended a little early and spent the afternoon resting, praying, and playing a lot of hacky-sack.

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