Today is our first full day here in Jordan. We woke up and had breakfast at the beautiful Hotel Marriott here in Amman. Our first stop was a little more than an hour away in an area called Ajlun for one of the five specially designated pilgrimage sites designated by Pope John Paul II in the year 2000. We had Mass in the beautiful little church in the mountains to the north which is how it got its name, “Our Lady of the Mountain.“ It is believed by the locals that Mary and Jesus passed through this town at one point. There’s also a statue of Mary that recently wept tears of human blood. Homily here.

Our second stop was the 2nd designated pilgrimage site called MR Elias (St. Elijah) which is the birthstone of Elijah the Prophet in the mountains of Gilead. From there we drove south to Jerash which is mentioned in the Bible as Gerasa. We had lunch and toured the ancient Roman city. Next we stopped at the Jabbok River where Jacob wrestled with the angel which happened to be God himself, in the book of Genesis. It is here he was renamed Israel and it’s the first time the word Israel is used in the Bible.

From there we arrived home to the hotel with time to relax before dinner and get rested up for another exciting day tomorrow. Heading to Petra!