VISIT TO NABI SAMUEL AND ABU GOSH

The tomb of Samuel 

Today we visited Nabi Samuel, where tradition holds that the Prophet Samuel is buried.  As with so many other places here, multiple civilizations have left their mark. The tomb today is located on a hilltop overlooking Jerusalem to the east, in a fortress built by the Crusaders in the 12^th century and later converted into a mosque.  Today Jews and Muslims share the site, with a Jewish tomb for Samuel on one level of the old fortress and a Muslim tomb on the second level. 

            Then we continued on to the village of Abu Gosh a little further to the west, where we visited a peaceful church dedicated to Mary, Ark of the Covenant. It is believed that the Ark of the Covenant was lodged here for about twenty years after it was recovered from the Philistines, to whom it had been lost in battle. The Israelites built the Ark of the Covenant according to instructions given by God to contain the two tablets of the Ten Commandments.  They believed that the Ark contained in some way the presence of God himself. Christians have likewise given Mary the title Ark of the Covenant because she bore within her womb the presence of God, Jesus Christ. 

Our lady of the Ark of the Covenant Church

            Down the hill from this church is a monastery run by a group of French Benedictine monks and nuns. It was built on a site where tradition holds that Jesus appeared to two disciples who were walking on the road to Emmaus after his Resurrection. 

The place where Jesus appeared before two of his followers on the road to Emmaus after His Resurrection 

It is believed that the church here was built on top of the place where the two disciples recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread, after having spoken with him for a while as they walked along the road. Here we joined in the Sunday Mass celebrated by the Benedictines.  It was a beautiful liturgy, almost entirely sung in French and Latin.

Mass at Benedictine Monastery in Abu Gosh