Nazareth, Sunday July, 7th 2013

The home to the largest Christian community in Israel and the home of both Mary and Joseph.  We were able to visit the church that was built on top of the remains of the site where Mary, the mother of Jesus lived.  There are basically caves under the church that have been preserved.  It seems that back 2000 years ago, the poor people lived in caves.  Mary and Joseph were both poor, both lived in caves.  The places that we visited today, Mary and Joseph's homes (caves) and possibly Joseph's workplace were only a few hundred yards apart.  Joseph's home was closed to the public today.  We did not get to go inside.
When you go into the Church of the Annunciation, you go into a mostly empty church.  The focus is on the small altar that is actually underground.  The upper level of the church is where mass is celebrated.  Today when we were there, a mass was being said in Spanish.  What makes this church really incredibly special is that countries from all over the world sent huge pieces of artwork depicting Mary.  Russia, China, Japan, Poland, Iceland, Canada, USA...the list goes on and on the one from Japan depicts Mary holding the baby Jesus and they both are painted as they were Japanese!  I have never considered the baby Jesus with bangs.