Mary on a donkey en route to Ein Kerem

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Enlarge the photo (click once and then again)  and you will see Mary on the road from Nazareth to Ein Kerem, accompanied by walking and flying angels.
Said to be built over the home of John the Baptist's parents, Elizabeth and Zechariah, the Church of the Visitation stands high up on the hillside of Ein Kerem.

In Luke 1:39-55  the pregnant Mary visited her pregnant cousin Elizabeth and this "visitation" lasted for three months.
When Mary arrived, the unborn John  recognized the unborn Jesus and "leaped with joy" in Elizabeth's womb.
Elizabeth exclaimed, "Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!" and Mary sang a hymn of thanksgiving known as the Magnificat:

Behind the statues of Mary and Elizabeth are over 42 plaques of the Magnificat in different languages.

The modern (1955) church was designed by the prolific and gifted Italian architect Antonio Barluzzi.
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Feast at the Church of the Transfiguration

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The festive Mass for the Feast of the Transfiguration was broadcast live as streaming video.

Hundreds ascended to the top of Mount Tabor, believed to be the place of Jesus' transfiguration, and packed the beautiful Franciscan basilica.

Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Custodian of the Holy Land, and many other priests conducted Mass in the upper part of the church.
Enlarge the first photo to appreciate the splendid golden mosaic.


Cameras of the Franciscan Media Center were grinding away (including one on a huge long boom).

The view of the Jezreel Valley from the top of Mt. Tabor, the lone rounded mountain in the region, was splendid.
Someone really picked a good place for the transfiguration.
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UPDATE: Archbishop Pizzaballa is no longer the Custos of the Holy Land.  He is now the Apostolic Administrator of Jerusalem.

For more about Mt. Tabor and the Transfiguration please see my posts here.

(Linking to inSPIRED Sunday.)
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The Italian Hospital

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Judging from this reflection for Weekend Reflections, you might think I had jumped over to Italy to get the shot.

Jerusalem's Italian Hospital is strikingly similar to the Medici family palace in the Piazza della Signioria in Florence (known as the Palazzo Vecchio) or to the town hall in Siena.

Italian architect Antonio Barluzzi built or restored dozens of churches, hospitals, and schools in the Holy Land.
His Italian Hospital was built from 1912 to 1919.

The gates have the Capitoline she-wolf with Romulus and Remus.

And here is the winged lion familiar to Jerusalemites from the statue atop the Generali Building.

The church, with a beautiful octagonal dome, stood at the center of the 100-bed hospital compound.
The church has been deconsecrated and now a huge mezuzah is affixed to the right side of the door (for Monday Doorways).
Enlarge the photo and see remnants of a mosaic above the door.

Today the complex houses offices of Israel's Ministry of Education.

Click on this photo to see the bare rectangles along the walls which once held the emblems of fifty Italian families that are descended from Crusader warriors. .
Unfortunately for the outstanding building, its location (Shivtei Yisrael St. corner of HaNevi'im St.) is right next to Mea Shearim.
The very ultra Orthodox Jews living there pressured the Municipality to remove all crosses and symbols of "irrelevant" history.
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During World War I the Ottoman Turks expropriated the hospital from the Italians (who were fighting against them and the Germans) and it suffered damage.
After the war Barluzzi saw to its rebuilding.
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During World War II the British seized the building from their enemies, the Italians, and made it the HQ of the Royal Air Force.

To quote Aviva Bar-Am, "Three years later [1948], when the British began pulling out of Palestine, both the Arabs and the Hagana hoped to get their hands on this strategic property near the border with east Jerusalem. Fortunately for the Hagana, it discovered the exact time of the British exit and the Jews got in first."

The tower and hospital were good observation and firing posts for Israel during the War of Independence, but Jordan's Arab Legion shelled the structure.
In the early 1950s, Italy demanded that Israel repair it.
Israel replied that it was Jordan that damaged it.
Eventually Italy and Israel agreed to a sale of the building.

Since 1963 the Ministry of Education has been in the former Italian Hospital.
What a history, eh?
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A nun at Terra Sancta's door

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I've posted about Terra Sancta College before, but now I want to show its lovely front door for Monday Doorways (where meme host Louis la Vache is showing some nice Biblical scenes on his doors today).
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You normally have to shoot through the locked outer gate, so just believe me that the door bears the words CHARITAS -- FIDES.
Charity/love -- faith.
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Today was my lucky day.
I saw the door open for the first time AND a nun came out!

Enlarge the photo and see she is kneeling not in prayer but rather in service to the plants, watering them on this hot day.
Well, gardening is holy work too, IMHO.
Terra Sancta was designed by the prolific Italian architect Antonio Barluzzi.
This historic photo is from the 1920s, when it was dedicated.
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The heritage sign says that "This monumental building typical of Italian public buildings of the period ... served as a boys college (high school) administered by the Franciscan order."
When the Hebrew University on Mt. Scopus became inaccessible to Israelis in 1949, the university used Terra Santa (aka Terra Sancta) for offices and to store the library collections.
Just a few years ago the entire building finally went back into entirely Franciscan hands.
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I think it is now a college where young Catholic men can study and live.
And the new Franciscan Media Center might be inside that big door as well.
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A tireless and devoted Italian architect

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Antonio Barluzzi (1884-1960) was an Italian architect, a fervent Christian, and a tireless traveler.
He certainly left his mark in the Holy Land.
Between 1912 and 1955 he built or restored 24 churches, hospitals, and schools in Israel and Jordan.

The Christian Information Center in Jerusalem is currently showing an exhibition about his life and works.
The posters, like the one above that you can enlarge and read, are in English and Italian.
Look at the Arab stonemasons at work on the stones to build the Basilica of the Agony on the Mount of Olives.
Look at the arches in the ceiling of the church!

Here is how the arches looked from above while being constructed in the early 1920s!
Please enlarge the picture and feast your eyes!

The church is over Crusader and even earlier foundations.
Right next to it is the Garden of Gethsemane.

The altar is built next to the Rock of the Apostles (where some of them fell asleep instead of watching with Jesus).

What is the Great Seal of the United States of America doing on the ceiling?
Well, the church is also called The Church of All Nations and the symbols of each country that contributed money are incorporated into the inlaid gold ceilings of each of 12 cupolas.

The Franciscans' worship there on Maundy Thursday, April 21, will be broadcast live to the world.

With thanks to Antonio Barluzzi for our That's My World tour today.
Find my other posts about his works here.

UPDATE Oct. 3, 2013:  See how Italian tinsmiths are doing restoration work on the roof of the church.

(Linking to inSPIREd Sunday.)
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