Come to Israel, Day 3, 2019, continues

We left the Church of the Annunciation and crossed a large plaza.  At the center of the plaza is a statue of St. Joseph…

… with an angel built into the back of the statue.

 Leo told us to stand at the statue and turn in a circle – that area around the square was first century Nazareth.   Evidence of the original town was found right here. 

The far-left side of the square

Along the right side of the square is a Monastery connected to both Mary’s church and the church of St. Joseph

Together, we strolled down along the walk to the entrance of the church of St. Joseph.

Built in 1914 over the site of the original church, the spot has been known at least since the 7^th century as the site of the house and the carpentry shop of St. Joseph – because the locals at that time assured travelers it was.  Later, excavation to build the current church proved they were right! When a new church was built over the ancient one they discovered parts of primitive homes, (which were a lot smaller than the church built over them) grottos, cisterns and even a ritual bath (or, possibly, an early baptismal font according to Leo).

 Leo also told us that two things are known by apocryphal and historical accounts: the first is that Joseph died at home with Mary, and that Jesus was there to help and comfort him as he passed out of this life; and the second is that Joseph’s relatives lived in Nazareth.

The image in this stained-glass window shows the marriage of Joseph and Mary.

Another stained-glass window depicts the angel warning Joseph in a dream to leave Bethlehem and go to Egypt.

 Rough steps on one side of the church lead down to where the workshop would have been, but we weren’t allowed to go down them, for obvious reasons.

As we left St. Joseph’s to return to the Chapel of St. Francis of Assisi for mass, I was struck by the short distance between the house where Joseph grew up and the house where Mary lived. Had Mary grown up there, instead of in the temple until the age of marriage, like other parent-dedicated girls, Joseph surely would have known her!

After mass, we walked through the tiled plaza just outside the chapel, with its striking tiles..

....and statue of Our Lady, facing a waterfall.

Then it was on to the church in Cana, where the wedding took place and where Jesus turned water into wine…. In the most amazing wedding jugs!