Day 5: Bethlehem all day, Solemn Entry into the Tomb

by Steve Ray on November 13, 2017

There are an unprecedented number of people in the Holy Land right now. I have never seen this many people in my 25 years of coming here and the guides and locals are saying they’ve never seen anything like it.

Today in Bethlehem there were loads of groups everywhere. That came from all over the world speaking every imaginable language. It was like nine ending river of people.

We started the day at our favorite Olivewood Store where we gave everybody two hours to enjoy all of the amazing items that were for sale. We helped and coach them to make wise purchases. Our purchases helped 65 Christian families. We also had the local Christians sing the Our Father in the original language of Aramaic, the language of Jesus. It was beautifully sung and brought people to tears.

From there we went to Mass in Shepherds Field where the angels appeared to the Shepherds on the first Christmas Eve. Another exceptional Hamily but Fr. Nathan can be heard/seen here.

Lunch at our favorite Christmas Tree Restaurant where we have three Christian brothers by bringing our business to them.

Then we went to the Church of the Nativity but the crowds were so huge and the line was so long unfortunately we are unable to get down to the place where Jesus was born. It is very difficult to make people stand in line for four hours. We even arrived during the lunch hour hoping the lines would be shorter but they were just as long.

An hour and a half of free time at the hotel before we all gathered to walk over to the Holy Sepulchre for the Solemn Entry where our group got a special reception by the Franciscans with organ accompaniment and we all bypassed the four hour line to go into the tomb of our Lord.

Dinner and a tour of the Holy Shroud Exhibit closed out the day. Enjoy!