Provided below is the preliminary itinerary for the pilgrimage to the Holy Land with Bishop Nicholas of Manhattan, which is being organized by St. Seraphim Parish in Sea Cliff – the Memorial Church in Memory of the Reestablishment of Unity in the Russian Orthodox Church. It is expected that approximately fifty clerics and laymen from the parishes of the Australia & New Zealand, Western European, Canadian, Eastern American, Mid-American, South American Dioceses will participate in the pilgrimage. The organizers express the hope that, with God’s help, the pilgrims will be able to visit additional holy sites not currently included in the itinerary.
Tuesday, May 28
8:15 PM: Arrival at Tel Aviv Airport.
Departure for Tiberias. Check-in at the hotel on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.
Wednesday, May 29
Breakfast.
Departure.
Mount Tabor. Nazareth – the Orthodox church on the spring of the Most Holy Mother of God. Catholic church at the site of the house of the Most Holy Mother of God. Cana of Galilee – Orthodox church at the site of the house of Apostle Simon the Canaanite.
Mount of Beatitudes. Tabgha – the site of the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves. Capernaum – Orthodox Church of the Twelve Apostles. Metochion of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in the name of the Holy Equal-of-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene; holy springs at the metochion.
Dinner at the Kfar Kinneret Hotel in Tiberias.
Thursday, May 30
8:00 AM: Breakfast.
8:30 AM: Departure (with luggage).
Prophet Elijah Monastery (Muhraqa).
Haifa: Metochion of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Haifa. Stella Maris Monastery: the cave of Prophet Elijah.
7:00 PM: Check-in and dinner at the hotel.
Friday, May 31
8:00 AM: Breakfast.
8:30 AM: Departure.
Site of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God. Sheep Pool (Bethesda). The Path of the Cross: Prætorium (Christ’s dungeon); Threshold of the Judgment Gate; St. Alexander Nevsky Metochion ("Russian Excavations").
Visit to the Greek Patriarchate: reception with Patriarch Theophilus III of Jerusalem.
Church of the Resurrection of Christ (the Lord’s Tomb).
Dinner at the hotel.
Saturday, June 1
Departure for Liturgy at the Gorny Convent in Ein Kerem.
Hermitage in the Desert of the Forerunner & Baptist of the Lord John.
Monastery of the Righteous Simeon the God-receiver (Katamon). Monastery of the Holy Cross.
5:00 PM: All-night Vigil in the Trinity Cathedral in Jerusalem.
8:00 PM: Dinner at the hotel.
11:30 PM: Departure for night Liturgy at the Life-giving Tomb of the Lord.
Sunday, June 2
3:00 AM: Return to the hotel. Rest time.
10:30 AM: Breakfast.
11:00 AM: Departure. Lydda: Church and tomb of the Great Martyr, Trophy-bearer & Wonderworker George.
Jaffa: Righteous Tabitha Metochion of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission; Church of the Apostle Peter & Righteous Tabitha; tomb of St. Tabitha.
Observation deck of the Mediterranean Sea.
7:00 PM: Dinner at the hotel.
Monday, June 3: Holy Equals-of-the-Apostles Constantine & Helen
Liturgy in the cave of the Nativity of Christ. Veneration of the site of the Nativity of Christ.
8:30 AM: Breakfast.
Beit Sahour: Shepherds’ Field. Judæan Desert: St. Theodosius the Great Monastery. Lavra of St. Sabbas the Sanctified.
Hebron: Metochion of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Hebron: the Oak of Mamre.
7:00 PM: Dinner at the hotel.
Tuesday, June 4
Departure for Liturgy at the Metochion of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jericho.
No breakfast – double ration. Tea with rations after the service.
Mount of Temptation. Russian Museum-Park Complex. The fig tree of Zacchaeus.
The River Jordan. Site of the Baptism of the Lord. St. Gerasimus of the Jordan Monastery.
6:00 PM: Dinner at the hotel.
Wednesday, June 5
Departure for Liturgy at St. Mary Magdalene Convent in Gethsemane (ROCOR). Relics of Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth and Nun-Martyr Barbara. No breakfast – double ration.
Gethsemane: Tomb of the Most Holy Mother of God. Gethsemane Garden.
Bethany: the tomb of Righteous Lazarus and the school at Bethany.
All-Night Vigil at the Holy Ascension Convent on the Mount of Olives.
6:00 PM: Dinner at the hotel.
Thursday, June 6: The Ascension of the Lord
Departure for Liturgy at Holy Ascension Convent on the Mount of Olives.
Luncheon. Festal greeting of the abbess.
The Mount of Olives: Panorama of Jerusalem. Site of the Ascension of the Lord.
Free time in the Old City and the Church of the Resurrection of Christ.
6:00 PM: Farewell dinner at the hotel.
Friday, June 7
6:30 AM: Breakfast.
7:00 AM: Departure for the airport.
