Posted on August 26, 2019 in News by The Grand Priory of America
From 6 – 16 May, 2019, thirty-two members, family and friends from the Grand Priory of America and the Grand Priory in Canada participated in the Order of St. Lazarus Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. The pilgrimage, organized by the Grand Priory of America and George’s International Tours, was led by Father Winston Rice and Chev. Jim Jeter, both from the Grand Commandery of the South. The Pilgrimage included visits and ecumenical services at the Holy Land sites in Jerusalem and its environs, the Judean Desert, Bethlehem, Bethany, location of the Tomb of St. Lazarus, and Galilee where our Lord started his ministry.
A special Roman Catholic Mass was also arranged on Sunday, May 12th, for the St. Lazarus Pilgrims, in the Tomb of Jesus in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. In addition to visits and services in Holy venues, the Pilgrimage also included visits to the important Crusader sites, including the ancient city of Acre, where The Order of St. Lazarus knights participated with other Christian Orders to defend the faith during the Crusades. The St. Lazarus Pilgrims also visited the Infant Welfare Center in Old Jerusalem supported by the Grand Priory of America, and the St. Louis Hospital, still an active hospital today and on the site of the Order of St. Lazarus’ hospital from the time of the Crusades.
The Pilgrimage was a truly spiritual and memorable event for all that went, and its success was such that another Pilgrimage is being planned for April 2021.
St. Lazarus Pilgrims at the Church of the Nativity
Garden of Gethsemane with 2000 year old olive trees
St. Lazarus Pilgrims at the Tomb of Jesus, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem
Crusader Fort at Acre
Sea of Galilee
St. Lazarus Ecumenical Mass at the Church of St. Francis, Jaffa