I always knew that I was going to go to the Holy Land, but I never thought that it would have been this soon. Spring Break of 2023 I was given the opportunity to travel to the Holy Land with 40+ Ave Maria University students and Faculty. I journeyed to the Holy Land with no expectations in mind of how I was going to feel emotionally and spiritually, I went to Israel with an open heart and mind.

It was around December that I received an email about there being five spots left to go on a pilgrimage to Israel, right then and there I called my dad and told him that there was an opportunity for me to go to Israel and he said, "you should definitely go." 

Keeping in mind that my great grandma and my dad got to go to Israel, and they would tell me the stories of all the places they got to go to, I thought to myself that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I must go on this pilgrimage.

February 25th, we landed in Israel and immediately got onto the bus to head to our hotel in Nazareth. On the bus ride to our hotel, we started off with a decade of the rosary and a brief conversation on how this pilgrimage to Israel will change our lives in different ways, and that we should be open hearted and minded to everything. 

Once we arrived to the hotel, we were told that Mary's Well was across the street so a bunch of us walked across the street and prayed at the well, that was one of the many powerful moments that was experienced while on the pilgrimage. 

We had visited many Holy sites including Mount Tabor, Church of Multiplication, The Church of Annunciation, Via Dolorosa, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, The Dead Sea, The Jordan River and many more. At each site we were given a talk about the importance of that site and some free time to walk around and explore the very location that Jesus walked many years ago. 

My favorite site that we visited was the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. We started that morning at 4am with the Via Dolorosa which led us to the Church. We walked into the church and up the stairs where we got to go touch the hole that the cross that Jesus was crucified on once stood, we got to kneel and pray at the stone slab that Jesus was laid on. At that site there were many tears shed.

Three months later I still have no words for the experience I had to be able to walk in The Holy Land and getting to experience first-hand the many areas that Jesus walked. I was once told that it could take years to finally be able to word a complete sentence on a very life changing experience. 

I am still processing the pilgrimage and still trying to find the words to truly explain the experience that I would love to experience again one day, and in hopes that I inspire other people to take that opportunity to go to the Holy Land and experience first-hand the base and foundation of the Catholic faith.