Nazareth - Church of Annunciation

One of the major sights to see in Nazareth is the Church of the Annunciation where it is believed that Gabriel visited Mary and told her she would bare a son. The church is built around what they think is the remains of Mary's childhood home.

We were very lucky to go inside because we got there just as it was closing to visitors. But the security guy took pity on us and let us in anyway. He even allowed me to take Joni to the back of the church to use what looked like the monk's restroom. He was a gem.

We weren't allowed to take pictures inside since there was a worship service going on, but we got a few from the outside.....


Luke 1:26-35

26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.

31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Sorry, not the greatest picture. It was the end of a long day and I didn't get many pictures here.

The front door, covered in events from Jesus' life.

A beautiful statue of Mary out in the front courtyard. Joni looooves to talk about Mary, so she thought this place was pretty cool.

We loved visiting Nazareth, even though we were only there for a few hours. We ate at a cute little schwarma place owned by the nicest little Arab family you'll ever meet. We felt like part of their family from the moment we walked in. They gave Jackson kisses all over his face over and over.

Just as we were done seeing the sights, we decided to go find a bench off in a corner and change Jackson's diaper. While we were changing him, these two cute little Arab boys kept circling around us, watching us. As we finished up and walked back to the car, we heard one of the boys yelling at us. Apparently, dumb ol' me put the car keys and my CAMERA down on a neighboring bench, and left it there. So the boy was trying to tell us to come back and get it. Again, what a gem. That kid has some good karma coming his way.