VISITATION PARISH ~ St. John the Baptist & Sacred Heart Churches

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EXCITING NEWS!!!

In the Footsteps of Jesus ~ Pilgrimage to the Holy Land
 
Visitation Parish, St. John’s & Sacred Heart (Manchester/Essex) and Transfiguration Parish, St. Thomas & St. Dorothy (Wilmington and South Tewksbury) with the Spiritual Guidance of Fr. Paul Flammia and Fr. Walter Carreiro are inviting you to join us on a Pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
 
Some brief details to Pray about: The Pilgrimage will take place during Lent next year (a true Lenten retreat) February 29th ~ March 10. 
 
March is a good time to be in the Holy Land as temperatures are mild, much more than in summer when it is unbearably hot. It is being planned as a nine- or ten-day trip depending on the cost. 
 
Fr. Walter and I have been to the Holy Land, and it has changed our Spiritual Lives. The fact that you are standing in and visiting places where the Lord, our Savior walked, prayed, and performed signs and miracles is without parallel.
 
Take a look at some details of the Journey!
 
We begin our journey there after arriving in Tel Aviv, greeted by Anton, our guide, and expert on all things about the Holy Land. He is an Arab-Israeli citizen, experienced teacher, and most well-travelled person in most of the remote places in the Holy Land. His knowledge of the places there is vast. We are finalizing the itinerary and the following are places that we may visit depending on the length of the pilgrimage. Our likely first day will be in Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee/Lake Gennesaret. From there we visit Nazareth and the Church of the Annunciation, then Mt. Tabor to the Church of the Transfiguration, the namesake of our own Parish and visit the place where Jesus was Transfigured into His glory. We will visit Cana, the place of the first Sign in the Gospel of John, where the Lord changed water into wine. There married couples will renew their marriage vows. We may visit Banias (Caesarea Philippi) where Peter answered the question “Who do people say that I am?” and “But who do you say that I am”? and Peter responded with his confession of faith, “You are the Messiah.”We will make a stop at the Jordan River where you will renew your Baptismal Promises.

 
We travel south and how about a stop at the Dead Sea; it may not be scriptural, but it is a wonder. You will have time to float there, where it is nearly impossible to remain standing. Our journey continues with a stop at Qumran, where the parchments of the Book of the Prophet Isaiah were found in clay jars in a cave, or we may stop at Masada, a hilltop fortress where the Jewish people held back the Romans for a time. We will stop in Jericho, the oldest continuous city. Near there is the desert place where Jesus spent 40 days in prayer and fasting, and where he was tempted by the devil. In and from Jerusalem we visit the places of
the beginning and end of our Lord’s journey among us. From Bethlehem, where he was born, to The Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where he was crucified, entombed, and rose from the dead. Naturally we will visit the Garden of Gethsemane, the Church of All Nations, where Jesus prayed before his arrest, Ein Karem, where St. John the Baptist was born and the location of the Visitation. Of course, we will awaken early one day to walk the Via Dolorosa and pray the Stations of the Cross. Mass will be celebrated regularly, along with other prayer experiences. Time permitting, we will visit Yad Vashem,                                                              the World Holocaust Remembrance Center. 
 
Please click on the link above and complete your registration form. 

As of July 1, 2021 Sacred Heart Church and St. John the Baptist Church will merge into one parish called

VISITATION PARISH

We are excited about our new name and we look forward with a future filled with hope.

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