As I mentioned, right by where we petted the kitty, our first stop on Day 8 after the drive back up to Nazareth was the Orthodox Church of the Annunciation. It is not known for sure where the angel appeared to Mary to give her the news that she would be Jesus’ mother. Scripture doesn’t tell us. If you’ve been reading along, you know that we already visited the Church of the Annunciation at the beginning of our trip. This is another possibility for where it happened. Not far up the street from the other, this Orthodox Church also stakes a claim as a possible site.
Nazareth in those days was much smaller than the 200.000 plus inhabitants it has now, and there was one spring that provided water to the smaller group that lived there over 2000 years ago. That spring is still flowing, and it is actually IN the Orthodox Church of the Annunciation. It’s a valid claim as a possible site, as Mary would have drawn water from this spring as part of her daily activities, and God has been known to make appearances to His people in the vicinity of running water rather regularly. To me, the exact position of where is less important as THAT it really did happen, and close by. The Holy Land is special in that way, it brings things to life knowing it happened either “here” or “very close”. Here are some pictures of the very unique church.
In an Orthodox Church, the artwork covers every surface. There are pictures of bible stories on every wall and ceiling and sometimes the floor. Next to the door, you can make a donation for a candle to light for prayer.
And more pictures of the walls etc.
Not sure what the purpose was for this “bird statue” on top of this area.
Altar area, the wall behind which only the priest may go to intercede for his parishioners.
Very old woodwork in the altar area. Here are some of the pews.
Down these stairs and at the end of this hallway is the spring, still flowing.
It is hard to see, but the water flows here. Many leave notes/prayers and tributes to Mary here. I’m going to try to include a video…
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Did it work? I’d be interested to know if you were able to watch this short clip. OK! Next up is Zippori!