On Tuesday we stayed in Jerusalem because we were tired of all the driving we had been doing the previous days. This section (Part 4) is devoted entirely to our visit to the Church of John the Baptist at En Karem which is about 5 miles west of the Old City, but it took us about 30 minutes to get there because I don't think there is a single straight road in Jerusalem, and we had a hard time finding the right road.

For those of you who have read the Sandalphon Info page, you might remember that the Sandalphon legend says that the spirit of Elijah became Sandalphon, and that the Gospel says that John the Baptist was the spirit of Elijah, i.e., Sandalphon. And knowing this, I don't know if it's a coincidence or my own bias influencing me, but the Church of John the Baptist is one of my favorite places in Jerusalem.

This is the entrance to the church plaza. The door to the church is another 30 feet on the right side.

Here is the cave which the church is built around. This is where John the Baptist was suppose to be born and lived. The altar is to the right of the cave, which is unusual is Israel because the altar is usually above or in front of the traditional site that the church is built around, such as the birthplace, home, or tomb of some Biblical figure.

Here I am inside the cave. In the Fun Pictures Page and Wailing Wall story I mention how this cave is one of the places during my 1995 trip to Israel where I felt this incredible energy. While I was there this time, I decided to see if the cave had the same effect on me. I can't explain it, but this place radiates something. It's like being under a spotlight with no light. Rafael and I were lucky in that we were there early and had the place to ourselves, so I spent about 10 minutes just sitting in the cave trying to tune into what I was feeling. I eventually had to leave because I started getting a headache.

Here is Rafael in front of the altar.

The church had some wonderful art work with a John the Baptist theme. I shot an entire roll hoping to get some quality shots for the web page. Here they are.

Return to: Pilgrimage 97 Itinerary and Links

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