On Wednesday it was the Feast of the Visitation which remembers when Mary left Nazareth to go and be with her much older and pregnant cousin Elizabeth.

The village of En Karem has been associated with the birth place of St John the Baptizer and therefore with Zachary and Elizabeth lived and where Mary would have met her cousin. It’s a beautiful story and in such a peaceful suburb in Jerusalem, I was struck by it when I was here last time. Since I was to be here on the feast itself I decided a mini pilgrimage was called for. We took the tram to Mount Herzl and then walked through a valley.

As I walked I was struck that this landscape and quality of path must have been similar to the sort of thing Jesus would have seen, or Mary on her way to Elizabeth, or the disciples on the way to Emmaus after the death of Jesus. For me it isn’t so much that the places in the Holy Land are the exact locations of sites, but rather that there are areas such as these and the tombs I visited, that help one to visualise the scriptures and the times people lived in. There is something to be said for the sense of connection too of those millions of people through nearly two millennia who have gone to some of these sites too. The prayers offered up that seep into the stones and the land, the silence that has been held.

The village is gorgeous full of flowering plants at the end of May and fruit growing on trees. There appeared to be a good number of decent eateries which is surprising given how far out from the centre it is. It is a peaceful and calm place where there is also the Spring of Mary- which they take care to tell us not to drink from!

The spring is at the bottom of a hill where frankly stopping for water would be wise. To reach the visitation church itself there is a steep climb but it is very much worth it.

There are a number of magnificat’s in different languages on a wall, beautiful mosaics and a lovely garden area to walk up to the church that sits above where one arrives.

From here you can go back down the ice cream and then head to the Church of St John the Baptist- where the inside was full of scaffolding- but also many beautiful tiles. There was a rather curious looking cross in front of the altar and scaffolding that showed various instruments of the death of Jesus.

It was a beautiful day and prayerful which can be surprisingly challenging in Jerusalem. There is much to distract a person here.