Franciscan Monastery

 Last Wednesday we visited the Franciscan Monastery.  This is an accurate recreation of the the Holy Land pilgrimage sites, and one of our archdiocese's pilgrimage sites for the Year of Faith.

Here we have Zorg, praying at St. Joseph's altar (Zorg loves St. Joseph!).

I love visiting the monastery!  It's run by the same Franciscans that are the caretakers of the Holy Land sites represented here, and our guide had spent most of his life in the Holy Land. 

My mom has visited both the actual Holy Land and the monastery, and says it's very accurate but less noisy and more prayerful!

 Here, as in the Jerusalem, the place Jesus died is on one side of the church, and, directly behind me as I was taking this picture, there is Jesus' tomb.

Most of the walls are covered with bas-relief sculptures.  The stained glass windows, made in Germany, depict Franciscan saints.  It was a thoroughly Franciscan experience, which made it quite stunning, later that day, when our new Holy Father took the name Francis!

They also have replicas of the catacombs beneath the church.  That was really neat, especially since they have reproduced the little chapels where the early persecuted Christians had Mass.

Then there is a beautiful covered rosary walk with pictures of all the mysteries and 150 different versions of the Hail Mary (150 languages).  Choclo loved this and said he wanted to do "the whole Jesus story."  So we did!

 We also visited the Lourdes grotto and the outdoor stations of the cross.  This early in the season we had the place to ourselves and it was quiet and prayerful (except for occasional Choclo and Oob noise which only bothered us!).

It was a beautiful and prayerful visit, just perfect for Lent!