Mary of Nazareth

I am privileged to be a member of a church that sponsored a showing of the new movie "Mary of Nazareth" in our town.  It was one of only two showings in our entire state!  What a great Christmas gift for the people in my area!  The theater was sold out and I sat in joyful anticipation with my family.

May of Nazareth did not disappoint!  If you have a chance to view it, I would highly suggest it!

I try to never miss a chance to see a movie version of any of the stories from the Bible.  Even if I don't agree with the way the director and actors have depicted various events or people, I can almost always glean something spiritual from watching.  Sometimes a lot, sometimes just one little nugget, but I believe God is pleased with this attempt to tell the story of the Mother of His Son. 

The actress who played Mary (Alissa Jung) did a fantastic job!

Mary's faithful "yes" throughout the entire movie is spectacular!  At various different times she will frown in confusion, and then smile the most lovely and peaceful smile!  She trusts God to take care of things however He wishes and she just accepts whatever is happening as His will!!  It is beautiful!!!


I was overjoyed to see the Annunciation scene was set having Mary in a downstairs room making bread when the Angel Gabriel arrives. She stands and backs up in surprise - right into a small stairway!  A lot like the one I was fascinated with when I visited the Grotto of the Annunciation!  I have to say it really made my heart sing as I sat in the theater!!!  It made both the movie and my visit and the real event all connect for me!

Grotto of the Annunciation - Nazareth, Israel

When Mary is perplexed at the Angels' news, she leans back into the staircase for support for a moment before smiling that serene smile and telling the Angel that she is the "Handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to God's Will" - I loved it!

Mary never waivers in her faith from that moment on.  She might be puzzled a moment, but she trusts God completely and continually assures others that all will work out according to Gods' Will.

One scene that really stands out in my mind is the way they portrayed Mary's Magnificat.  All the movies I have ever seen have Mary standing and mono-logging the prayer to Elizabeth.  But in this depiction, when she arrives in Ain Karim (or Ein Karem) to see Elizabeth and begins to share her news, she is very happy and goes joyfully from one person to another - all around the room with excitement and smiles - happily delivering her news!

For the first time ever, I understood why it's called the "Song of Mary"!! 


One scene which really opened my mind was when Jesus is preaching and someone in the crowd says that his mother and brothers are outside.  

While he was still speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers appeared outside, wishing to speak with him.

(Someone told him, "Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak with you.")

But he said in reply to the one who told him, "Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?"

And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers.

 Matthew 12:46-49

Jesus barely hesitates before announcing that "who are my brothers?  Who is my mother?".  I never understood that, but after watching it in the movie, it made total sense to me!!  Yes - no one is more special to Jesus/God than anyone else!  He loves us all equally!  He wants salvation for us all equally!

Although the others in the scene get upset, Mary totally gets it.  She looks hurt at first, but then she understands.  She tells the others that he is correct.  Of course, the other family members are all scandalized and want to leave, but Mary insists on going in and sitting amongst the followers and listening to Jesus talk.  Jesus shares a look with her, and she smiles her understanding and he smiles back. 

The others try to talk her into leaving (Jesus has just disowned her in front of everyone!) and she says she's going to him because he is "My Lord"...WOW!!  So powerful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another scene I identified with was the evening of the Last Supper, right before they began.  Mary and Jesus have a conversation in the courtyard outside the Upper Room and it is very much like the   Cenacle which I visited on Mt. Zion.

The Upper Room (Cenacle) - Mt. Zion outside Jerusalem, Israel

I know that there is no Biblical reference to this scene, but I enjoyed it thinking that Jesus and Mary did enjoy many private moments together as Mother and Son, despite His public ministry (above).  As the mother of a grown son with his own life, I know these are precious times to be cherished, which I'm sure Mary did.

I personally only have one scene I did not like, and that was during the scourging of Jesus.  Although Mary was not present at the beating, in this movie she experienced each lash - falling to the ground in physical pain.

This is also not Biblical and I don't agree with the poetic license in this case.  I felt like it took away from the suffering Jesus did for us to have Mary experience his pain physically!  Our Mother would never want us to turn our eyes away from what Jesus did for us!  In fact, I believe she is mortified if anyone aligns her grief and heartbreak at His death with any of the suffering He did to save us.   It was just an unnecessary addition to the movie in my opinion.

The movie ends when Mary sees her risen Son and that smile, that grace-filled look of understanding and joy.  A perfect way to end such a wonderful movie experience!!

I thoroughly enjoyed Mary of Nazareth and would recommend it to anyone, of any faith!

Basilica of the Annunciation - the Church

ADVENT

When we entered the upper Sanctuary of the Basilica of the Annunciation there was another pilgrim group on the altar celebrating Mass. It's hard to "tour" a site while Holy Mass is going on, but it happened to us when we were having mass a few times and although I vaguely remember people moving around the outskirts, everyone is respectful and I never remember there being any problem with it.

You can see how the railing surrounds the opening which looks down into the Grotto where the actual Annunciation took place. This is a huge church, and I can just imagine it filled with worshipers who are able to file past the cavity on their way to Holy Communion and gaze down into the Grotto where it all began.

We contented ourselves with quietly checking out the walls which were covered in mosaics donated from countries all around the world.

My Dad always told me if you can't says something nice, don't say anything at all. I don't always follow that advise, but I'm going to when it comes to the "mosaic" donated by the United States...

Oh well.

There was a gorgeous, giant stained-glass window across the back that was reflecting beautifully on the floor and it took me about 8 tries to finally get the photo I wanted of it.
 

I don't know what the deal is, and I can't find anything about it on the internet, but all the wooden columns and supports for the walls and roof had small circles cut into them as you can see from the close-up above. It gave the entire church a different look for sure.

 

This is the parish church for the local Catholic community of Nazareth and the inscriptions on the Stations of the Cross are in Arabic.

The main isle was beautiful in the natural light that came in from the dome overhead when we were there and Mom captured this lovely picture of it.

Fellow pilgrims look very thoughtful when contemplating the Basilica.

 

When I look at the faces in this photo, I feel like I can identify with them. Look how they are "pondering" this sacred place. Don't they look like they are really, intensely trying to understand? To grasp?

I recounted in an early post how I struggled to make a connection with this holy site (and others). I was filled with interior anxiety because I didn't feel some all-enveloping-warm-fuzzy from being there. I was straining within my mind to unite myself to this place and imprint it on my heart forever.

I was allowed to stand within 3 feet of the spot where Gabriel spoke with Mary and told her about her part in the salvation of the world.

It's just profound!

Mary had free will just like we all do. She could have easily said no to God's plan. And so can we. But she didn't, she said yes. And helped save us all.

She became the Mother of God, the Mother of us all!

I might not have had a heart-stopping mystical moment in the Grotto, but that doesn't mean I don't have a spiritual connection with Mary.

Dearest Mary, Thank You for always being available to me in all occasions.  You have always been a wonderful guiding light in difficult times.  I am so blessed to have you to count on to stand at any of the crossroads in my life and point the way to your son, Jesus.  Amen.

 2012 Pilgrimage to Israel - Day 4

Basilica of the Annunciation - The Grotto

ADVENT   Luke 1: 26-38

Our bus pulled up to the curb so we could all hop out. Nowhere to park that giant thing in this old section of Nazareth! I was amazed the entire time at the ability of our driver Mickey to negotiate the narrow streets and tight turns!

Basilica of the Annunciation

We had to walk up the hill to the Basilica of the Annunciation, which we could see rising over the buildings. The little street was bordered on both sides with neat little shops and markets and it was hard not to stop and spend time poking through them.

Streetside shop in Nazareth, Israel

The array of delicious looking fruits and vegetables was always so colorful! It was hard not to buy a little of this and that - even though there were many which I couldn't even identify!

More shops along the road to the Basilica of the Annunciation

The spices in baskets smelled absolutely heavenly from out in the street! I wished we had time to explore and sample! I would have loved to have taken some of this back to my kids, who both cook way better than I do!

So many things to see and experience, but watch where you are going because the Israeli drivers will not stop for you to get out of the street while you gawk at the goodies on the sidewalks!

The gate leading into the courtyard of the Basilica from the street

As happened multiple times on our trip, all of a sudden there would be a door or gate in a small alley or street, and wa-la! We'd be entering into a lovely courtyard before a famous church!

The Basilica of the Annunciation

Each courtyard is unique, and this one was full of mosaics of the Virgin Mary donated from countries all over the world, as was the inside of the upper chapel. (I'll save those for another time!)

To the left of the entrance was a terraced hill which led up to a courtyard overlooking ruins of ancient Nazareth and going higher still was the Church of St. Joseph.

As we stood in the courtyard listening to Hillel give us information from his extensive knowledge of history, The White Mosque began it's mid-day "call to prayer". They were broadcasting their message quite loudly (due to the close proximity of so many Christian pilgrims?) and everyone was forced to stop wait as we couldn't hear the person next to us, much less poor Hillel! I looked up to see if I could spot the minaret and instead saw a lovely church up on the hill above us!

the Salesian Church, Nazareth, Israel

I looked it up when we returned and found out is the Salesian Church, which has a convent and orphanage built by the French. It was very pretty sitting so white against the gorgeous blue of the sky we had that day!

Hillel finished and we entered the front of the church through a gorgeously carved door and found ourselves in the lower level of the church which contains the Grotto of the Annunciation.

The Grotto of the Annunciation

We came into the Grotto from the right side. Directly in front of us was an altar which is used for serving Mass in this holy place and was a 1/2 level below us. We walked around to the front on a balcony to get into line.

Above the altar the room had a beautiful hole in the ceiling which was directly in front of the altar in the upper church. The congregation must have been able to look down directly into the Grotto as they receive Holy Communion! How awesome!!

There was a long kneeler which ran most of the length of a rail above the altar with a view directly into the Grotto, perfect for meditation on the holy site.

Pilgrims praying before the Grotto of the Annunciation

Fr. T was at the kneeler - so deep in prayer. Others were there too; everyone looking so serene. They all seemed to be so spiritually connected to the site! I yearned to be like them! I new I was looking at a sacred site, but was having a hard time connecting.

Everyone was so respectful in the grotto, only whispering, except for the quiet rebukes from the brother posted beside the cave with his breathy "ssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhh". I stood in the line and tried to pray, tried to connect, tried to center myself in the spirituality of our location.

The Grotto of the Annunciation

The line circled behind the rail, around the altar and down a set of steps to a landing in front of an iron gate in which the sacred site was. When I reached the front of the line, I could look through the ornate iron gate into the sacred spot.  

"Here the Word was made flesh"

There was an altar there built over the spot venerated as the place where the Angel Gabriel appeared to little Mary.

The Grotto of the Annunciation to the Virgin Mary

But I found myself focusing on a set of ancient stairs which led up and out of the area from behind it. My imagination started running - This was a room in a cave. The ceiling was still rock and I could imagine this as maybe a bedroom? A storage area? A kitchen or work area? There is no description in the Bible of the location , it just says "he came to her". Had Mary been upstairs and run down those steps to retrieve some item in this room? Was she down here doing some mundane household chore when the Angel Gabriel appeared to her? Maybe she was sleeping and he woke her up? Wow.

Well, I was still a bit perplexed (a neat word I stole from Mary's response to Gabriel's words to her). I didn't understand why my heart wasn't just soaring to be in this place!!

I looked at the old stairway and the ancient ceiling. I tried to pray, "Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee". Wow. This is where those words were spoken. Words I have said a million times. But I was frustrated that it just wasn't connecting for me.

"Ave Ave Ave Maria..." popped into my head. Ahhhhh. If I couldn't pray, I could sing. And the old song drifted through my mind. I took a few pictures so I could capture my moment in this place and then I had to move on as it was another pilgrim's turn to stand before the site of announcement of the coming of the Messiah.

By this time we were headed up a giant circular staircase to the right of the Grotto exit. Pilgrims from my group and strangers alike joined right in and we all spontaneously sang the song that is one of my favorites. It was a precious moment!

Immaculate Mary, thy praises we sing;
Who reignest in splendor with Jesus our King.
Ave, ave, ave, Maria! Ave, ave, Maria!

In heaven, the blessed thy glory proclaim;
On earth we, thy children, invoke thy fair name.
Ave, ave, ave, Maria! Ave, ave, Maria!

We pray for our Mother, the Church upon earth,
And bless, dearest Lady, the land of our birth.
Ave, ave, ave, Maria! Ave, ave, Maria!

I know, I know. Those aren't the words they sing nowadays. But those are the words I sang in 1966 at St. Mary's Catholic School in Sherman, Texas and those are the words I sang 46 years later as I finally made my spiritual connection in the Grotto of the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, Israel!

Thank You Lord for sending the Holy Spirit to me in song when my heart could not find a prayer!  Amen.
 

Luke 1: 26-38

2012 Pilgrimage to Israel - Day 4