Poppy and NeNe in Austria

Yesterday marked six months since we left the U.S. for Austria. Six months ago we said "see you later" to both sets of our parents. Last week we were very fortunate to be able to meet up with my parents in the Holy Land and then have them visit us in Austria. Ellie and Francis, who have grown a lot in six months!, were very excited to see their NeNe and Poppy - and, I'm pretty sure, vice-versa.

Here we are unexpectedly meeting up on the Mount of Olives (we had planned to meet elsewhere later in the day - so this was a pleasant surprise! Ellie gets her "smile for the camera face" from me ;)

Here we are in Vienna, Austria - in front of Volkstheater and St. Stephen's Cathedral. 

Then onto Gaming. When they first arrived there was only a dusting of snow (which did feel really cold compared to our weather in the 60s in the Holy Land). My mom helped Ellie hang up her Christmas ornaments from her cousins in Iowa.

By the time my mom left ten days later there was quite a bit more snow (over a foot)!

Unfortunately my dad could only stay for the weekend, but luckily he got some good selfies before he had to go!

Actually he is quite a good photographer - many of these photos were taken by him!

It was wonderful having my mom stay an additional week. She really got to experience our day-to-day life in Gaming, which is much more relaxed than traveling around Israel (or dealing with traffic - or blizzards - in Northern Virginia)! She watched Francis each day while I played outside with Ellie. When we came back inside she helped us make homemade hot chocolate and snow ice cream. We met Brian for Mass and had lunch together each day. We baked cookies, played games, went to Adoration, and even had a family dance party with NeNe! Several nights we had dinner with our neighbors, which was a great joy! And one afternoon my mom watched the kids so Brian and I could go skiing, which was an even greater joy :)

Today we returned to Vienna. After going to Mass, we walked through the market set up outside City Hall, which is transformed into a huge ice skating park with different paths you can skate on connecting several outdoor rinks. 

We enjoyed traditional Austrian food for lunch at a fantastic restaurant. 

And then toured the Sisi Museum and Imperial Apartments at Hofburg Palace. Ellie has become quite the pro at museum tours :) Francis has too - he just sleeps. Clearly he takes after Poppy ;)

We then had to say "see you later" back at NeNe's hotel (she'll fly out early tomorrow morning).

We all had such a great time and feel so blessed for this incredible, and very memorable, time together! We'll be missing them (and all of our relatives!) so much - but will see you back in the States in five months! 

Via Dolorosa (Way of the Cross)

Amidst the bustling markets of Jerusalem's Old City, you will find Christian pilgrims walking the Via Dolorosa - the Way of the Cross.  

They retrace the path Jesus took from the place He was condemned to death to the place of His crucifixion and finally His empty tomb. Every Friday at 3:00pm all the people in the streets of Jerusalem can watch the procession of Franciscan Friars pray the Stations of the Cross as they walk the Via Dolorosa with a group of pilgrims following prayerfully. Other pilgrim groups, like my parents', walked it at 5am, before the sun is up and before the vendors have opened shop for the day.  Our family walked it one afternoon - and with everything going on in the streets it was hard to really imagine what Jesus went through here - but I'm hoping I'll be able to reflect back on our experience, especially during Lent and Easter, and be able to more fully enter into Christ's Passion, Death, and Resurrection. 

I. Here Jesus is Condemned to Death

The site was in the Roman times the place of the seat of Pontius Pilate, located in the Antonia fortress, and the place of the hall of judgment. John 18-28: "Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment". Jesus is condemned to death by Pontius Pilate, as per John 19:16: "Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified".

Church of Condemnation

 Jesus is convicted, flogged, and the soldiers place a crown of thorns.   "Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands" (John 19: 1-3).

II. Here Jesus Carries His Cross

At this station Jesus  receives the cross (John 19:17, 19): "And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha...And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross...".

Church of Flagellation - stained-glass window illustrating flogging Jesus and placing a crown of thorns on his head

Ecce Homo Arch ("Ecco homo" is "Behold the Man")

According to tradition, this is the site Pilate presented Jesus to the crowds (John 19:5): "Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man!".

Ecce Homo Basilica

III. Here Jesus Falls the First Time

"And yet ours were the sufferings he bore, ours the sorrows he carried." (Is. 53:4).

IV. Here Jesus Meets His Mother

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." (Mt. 5:4).

V. Here the Cyrean Helps Jesus Carry the Cross

"And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus". (Lk 23:26).

VI. Here Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus

"And there followed him a great company of people, and of women, which also bewailed and lamented him".  (Lk 23: 27).

VII. Here Jesus Falls the Second Time

 The 7th station, according to the tradition, marks the place where Jesus passed through the Gate of Judgment, along the streets of Jerusalem. This street in one of the busiest in the old city, as it may have been during Jesus times. It was an intersection of the Cardo Maximus and a transverse street of the Roman Aelia-Capitolina, and in modern days an intersection of Via Dolorosa with Khan es-Zeit (the Oil Market).

   The way up hill and the pressure of the city had its toll: Jesus falls here for the second time under the weight of the cross.

VIII. Here Jesus Meets the Holy Women of Jerusalem

 "But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children". (Lk 23:28).

IX. Here Jesus Falls the Third Time

The station is marked by a cross on a pillar, which is seen below, located on the wall of the Coptic Patriarchate. 

Entering the Grounds of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

X.  Here Jesus is Stripped of His Garments

"And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take". (Mark 15:24).

XI. Jesus is Nailed to the Cross

"They crucified Him" (Jn 19:18).

XII. Here Jesus Dies on the Cross

"Jesus cried out again in a loud voice, and gave up his spirit." (Mt. 27:50).

Rock of Golgotha, Calvary

 "And behold, the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked, rocks were split, tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised. ... The centurion and the men with him who were keeping watch over Jesus feared greatly when they saw the earthquake and all that was happening, and they said, “Truly, this was the Son of God!” (Mt 27: 51-54).52

Rock split from the earthquake - directly below the place of Jesus' death

XIII. Here Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross

"Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury". (Jn 19: 40).

XIV. Here Jesus is Laid in the Tomb

"After he had taken the body down, he wrapped it in a linen cloth and laid him in a rock-hewn tomb in which no one had yet been buried." (Lk 23:53).

The Resurrection of Jesus. (Mt. 28: 1-10)1After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning,^* Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.2And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it.3His appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow.4The guards were shaken with fear of him and became like dead men.5Then the angel said to the women in reply, “Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified.6He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.7Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ Behold, I have told you.”8Then they went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce this to his disciples.9And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage.10Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

Journey through Jerusalem

One of our days in the Holy Land we met up with my parents, who were on the Dr. Scott Hahn Tour, on the Mount of Olives.  From the Mount of Olives we had a gorgeous view of Jerusalem. Ellie and Brian enjoyed a camel ride at the top of the mount.

We then walked down the Palm Sunday Road and stopped at the little church, Dominus Flevit "The Lord wept." It was here that Jesus wept over Jerusalem (Lk 19:41).  

We then continued down the road to Gethsemane (Lk 22:29-53).  We visited:

The Grotto of Betrayal - here Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss (Lk 22:47-48) and Jesus was arrested, bound, and led away (Lk 22:54).

The Tomb of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Garden of Gethsemane, which contains trees with roots dating back to the time of Jesus. 

The Basilica/Church of All Nations - which is built around the "Rock of Agony," a section of bedrock identified as the place where Jesus prayed alone in the garden on the night of His arrest. We joined my parents' group here for Mass. This was probably the most moving part of the pilgrimage for me. After Mass, I was able to place my hand on the Rock and I immediately started crying as I was overcome with emotion and perhaps a sliver of realization of what God has done for me. 

We then went up to Mount Zion and visited:

The Church of St. Peter Galilcantu, where Peter denied Christ (Lk 22:33-34) and containing what is believed to have been a dungeon ("the deep pit") in the high priest house where Jesus was imprisoned. 

Dormition Abbey

The Upper Room of the Last Supper (Mt 26:17-30) (what is built over it).

Next we visited the excavations at "the City of David."  King David, from the Old Testament, captured, strengthened, and beautified Jerusalem, making it his city around 1000 BC (2 Sam. 5:5-16).  The city at that time occupied only the cone-shaped spur of land south of the Temple Mount that is outside the present-day city walls.

We had a good view of Kidron Valley, the boundary of the living, in the City of David, and the dead, on the Mount of Olives.  Jesus crossed Kidron Valley with his disciples when traveling to Garden of Gethsemane (Jn 18:1). 

We took the dry tunnel (versus taking Hezekiah's tunnel and having water up to our knees) from Gihon Spring to the Pool of Siloam.

It was at the Pool of Siloam that Jesus healed the blind man (Jn 9).

We then entered the Old City through one of the gates. 

Our first stop inside the gates was the Wailing Wall. The Wailing Wall is the remains of the retaining wall of the Temple in Jerusalem, where Jesus and all Jews traveled to and prayed at every year.  Jesus was presented at the temple as an infant and visited the temple at age twelve (Lk 2:22, 27, 41-52).  Twice, at the beginning and close of His ministry, Jesus cleansed the temple (Lk 19:45-48; Jn 2:12-25).  Today most of the area that was once the Temple is now controlled by Muslims.  The Muslims' golden "Dome of the Rock" occupies this area and is often pictured in Jerusalem's skyline. 

At the Wall, we prayed for the many intentions we brought on our journey. We had written down the prayer intentions and left the notes in the cracks of the Wall. Twice a year the notes are collected and buried at the Mount of Olives. (All men and boys must wear head coverings to approach the Wall.)

Next we walked to the Pool of Bethesda (Jn 5:1-9), which supplied the water for the Temple and is where Jesus healed the crippled man. 

Our final stop for the day was Saint Anne's Church.  Tradition holds that Anne was Mary's mother, and this may have been the place of Mary's birth. We met a lovely priest who explained the significance of the statue of young Mary and her mother Anne, who is holding a scroll with the command to love God with all your heart, soul, and strength (Dt. 6:5).

The following day we walked the Via Dolorosa, The Way of the Cross, concluding in the Church of the Holy  Sepulcher -- I'll share more about that in my next (and final) post about the Holy Land!