JOHNSTOWN, PA -- With the blessing of His Eminence, Metropolitan Nicholas, of blessed memory, a Diocesan Pilgrimage to the Holy Land will depart from Pittsburgh on Monday,
May 9 and return on May 17.

The 32 members of the group will visit all of the holy sites associated with the life of our Lord Jesus Christ including the site of the Annunciation in Nazareth, the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem where an Orthodox Church has been built over the cave of the Lord's birth, Cana where our Lord worked his first miracle, the Mount of Beatitudes, the Jordan River and Mt. Tabor: the site of the Transfiguration. As they visit each holy place the group will pause the read the Gospel account of the event and also pray. In Jerusalem the pilgrims will visit the Eleona Convent on the Mount of Olives, the Chapel of the Ascension and the Monastery of St. Mary Magdalene which enshrines the relics of the Holy New Martyrs of Russia Grand Duchess Elizabeth and the Nun Barbara. While in Jerusalem the group will retrace the final hours of the Lord's life as they pray at each of the holy places where our Lord suffered: the chapel of the Flagellation, the Ecce Homo Arch, the Prison of Christ and finally the highlight of the journey: the Church of the Holy Sepulchre built in the 4th century which marks the place of our Lord's crucifixion and also the tomb of His resurrection.

The pilgrimage will include a midnight Divine Liturgy conducted at the very place where our Lord rose from the dead and each person will share in His Passion, Death, and Resurrection as they receive the Holy Eucharist in that most sacred place on earth. While in the Holy Land the tour will be escorted by an Orthodox travel guide, Mr. Tanas Baddour, the son of an Orthodox priest.

The Holy Land pilgrimage is being led and organized by Father Edward Pehanich and is accompanied by Diocesan clergy: Very Rev. Myron Zuder, Very Rev. Kenneth Bachofsky, Father Nicholas Wyborski, Father Mark Tyson, and Deacon Edward Brisbine.