We arrived at the Holy River Jordan very early, and were
lucky to be the first group there. First,
Fr. Sergei performed the Great Blessing of the water. Afterward, each pilgrim was submerged into
the water three times as the rest of the group sang the Tropar. Then we all swam together in the river. The river was a pretty green color, and the
currant was so strong, that swimming upstream was virtually impossible. The vegetation along the shore was lush, and
as we stood in the water we could feel little fish nipping at our ankles.
Most of the photos in this blog are taken by Katia
Pokrovsky, (thank you!) and the
individual photos she took at the Jordan river are especially beautiful. We can’t include all of the individual ones
in this blog, but here are a few to give an idea of how our submersions took
place.
We then headed to the Mount of the Beatitudes, the place of
the Sermon on the Mount. There we sang the nine Beatitudes from the Liturgy, on the mountainside where
Christ preached His Sermon. Our next
stop was Tabaka where Christ performed the miracle of feeding the 5,000 with 5 loaves
and 2 fishes
Then we went to the Greek Orthodox Church of the Apostles (below) in Capernaum right on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.This is where Christ healed the paralyzed man whose friends let him down
through a roof to see Jesus in a crowded house. Afterward, we rested under the grape arbor where peacocks roam.
We took a boat ride on
the Sea of Galilee. First, Fr. Sergei
read the Gospel about Christ commanding the Apostles to cast their nets on the
other side of their boat and then we listened to music and even danced.
In keeping with the theme of the Apostles being
fishermen, our lunch was at a beachside
restaurant and we were served the fish of St. Peter.
A stop at the Greek Monastery of St. Gerasim of Jordan and his lion capped
off our day. This is where St. Zosima left from to go to the desert and give St .Mary of Egypt Communion.
In the evenings in our hotel, many of our pilgrims play card
games popular at camp – durak and mafia.
Scouts from Washington, NY and Russia can be found altogether around
tables talking, eating ice cream or
playing cards. All the youth ae
mixing well and getting to know each other, and now there is a family feeling to our group.
