Another early start at 5:15am for breakfast and on the bus to the Church of the Nativity.
The reason for the early start was so we could join a Roman Catholic communion at the church at 7:30am that is not open to the public. After a chance to explore the church, much of which is under reconstruction we entered an underground cave, close to the traditional site of the nativity and a Franciscan priest officiated at the communion which was held underground close to the traditional site of the nativity. We sang some Christmas hymns in an adjacent cave.
We left the Church of the Nativity for a walk through Bethlehem, along the wall that separates Jerusalem from the West Bank. Our destination was a local store which was selling items made of olive wood, icons, jewelry and clothing.
Our next stop was the Shepherds Field, more information about the location at http://www.seetheholyland.net/shepherds-field/ The church has a non-traditional format with seats arranged in a circle under a cupola. We heard that many the churches under the Franciscans were designed to be different from each other and the theme here was of a tent. We sang some more hymns and headed off to lunch.
Lunch was at Ruth’s Restaurant which served our best meal yet, felafel, salad, pita, etc.
As we’d packed much of the day into the morning and we’d had several early days in a row we had the afternoon off to reflect, relax or with one small group make an independent return trip to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.
In the evening we had a talk from a Christian Palestinian, Dr. George Sabella.
Tomorrow we’re off to Nazareth where we’ll stay three nights…another early start! :-)
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