Mount of Olives: Matthew: 21:1, 24:3, 26:30; Mark 11:1, 13:3, 14:26; Luke: 19:29, 19:37;21:37, 22:39; John: 8:1; Acts 1:12. The Mount of Olives seems to have been a place of refuge for Christ Jesus and the disciples. Its summit is also remembered as the sight of Christ Jesus' Ascension, forty days after his Resurrection. This hill derives its name from its past as an immense olive orchard. It is located just to the East of the Old City. The Roman (and perhaps pre-Roman) road from Jerusalem to Jericho went over the Mount of Olives. On Palm Sunday, the Palm Processions follow this ancient road down the Mount to St. Stephen's Gate. Bethany, the town of Jesus' close friends Lazarus, Mary and Martha stands on the south-eastern corner of the Mount of Olives and is also located on the old Roman road.

Gethsemane: Matthew: 26:36; Mark 14:32. After the Last Supper, Jesus and the disciples leave Jerusalem and go to rest and pray in the place called Gethsemane. In this 'garden', Jesus prays and overcomes temptations while his friends sleep. His prayers and turmoil ends when Judas arrives with a band of men and betrays Jesus with a kiss. The word 'Gethsemane' is related to the Aramaic and Hebrew words for an 'olive-press'. Tradition logically locates this site at the western foot of the Mount of Olives in the Kidron Valley.

Bethlehem: Matthew 2: 1, 5, 6, 8, 16; Luke 2: 4, 15; John 7: 40-42, 52. According to two of the Gospels (Luke and Matthew) and popular belief, Christ Jesus was born in Bethlehem. But Mark says nothing of Jesus birth and the verses cited above in John seem to indicate a controversy during Jesus' life-time as to the location of his birth. Bethlehem is the city of David, and Hebrew prophetic tradition named Bethlehem as the birth-place of the Davidic Messiah. The Church of the Nativity stands over an extensive network of caves. Archeology and current living patterns clearly demonstrate that caves were (and are) used in Palestine for human and livestock habitation. When St. Helena, the mother of the Byzantine Emperor, visited the Holy Land in the early 4th Century, this site was one of the only two sites associated with Jesus' earthly life that local Christians remembered and revered. In the late 4th Century, St. Jerome moved into some of these caves, eventually retranslating the Bible into Latin from the Greek and Hebrew originals and founding a monastery. Also See: I Samuel 16: 1-23; II Samuel 7: 12-12, Psalms 89: 3-4, 132: 11-12; Micah 5:2.

Jerusalem: There are some 150 citations of Jerusalem in the New Testament alone! It is the Mother City of our Faith, and it features centrally in the lives of Jesus, St. Paul, the early Church, not to mention David, Solomon, and many of the Prophets. Once King David brings the Ark to Jerusalem, it becomes the center and focus of God's interaction with His people. A reality, a symbol and a promise, Jerusalem and the new heavenly Jerusalem are the climax of Eschaton and rule of God as revealed in St. John's Book of Revelation. 'Jerusalem' appears to be a Hebrew mispronunciation of the pre-Israelite name of the City. Some of the hundreds of references to Jerusalem in the Old and New Testaments are:

1. Joshua 15:63; Judges 1:8, 19:10; Ezekiel 16: 3, 45 for pre-Israelite origins of the City;
2. II Samuel 5: 6-9 for David's (Israelite) conquest of Jerusalem;
3. II Samuel 6:1-15, 7: 1-25; I Kings 5: 1-18, 6: 1-38 for Israelite creation of religious center in Jerusalem.
4. Ezekiel 40:1 - 48:35, Haggai 2:1-9; Ezra 3:1 - 6:22 for mystical and physical rebuilding of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.
5. Matthew 2: 1-3; Luke 2:22-38, 41-52; for early life of Jesus.
6. Matthew 16:21, 20: 17-18, Mark 10: 32-33; Luke 13:22, 19:28 for the foreboding symbol of Jerusalem in Jesus' life.
7. Matthew 21: 1-11, Mark 11: 1-11 for first Palm Sunday.
8. Acts 1: 1 - 8: 40, 11: 1 - 18; 15: 1-35 for development and role of early Church in Jerusalem.
9. Acts 7: 58 - 8:1, 9: 23-31, 11: 27-30. 21: 1 - 28: 22; Galatians 1: 13 - 2: 15 for role of Jerusalem in St. Paul's life.
10. Revelation 3: 12, 21: 1 - 22: 5 for the role of Jerusalem in the redemption of the world and full experience of Christ's rule.

Jordan River Valley, Jericho and Judean Desert: Matthew 3: 1 - 4: 12, 19: 1, 20: 29-34; Mark 1: 1-13, 10 : 1, 10: 46-52; Luke 3: 1-22, 4: 1- 12, 10: 29-37, 18: 35-43, 19: 1- 10, [11-28]; John 1: 19-42, 3: 25-30, 10: 40-42. Hebrews 11: 30. The Jordan River Valley is the location of John's baptisms of repentance and of Jesus' own baptism by John. The Valley is also a north-south corridor that allowed Galilean Jews to go south to Jerusalem and avoid the hostile territory of the Samaritans. The desert is a place of exile, temptation and hardship, where through vulnerability the vital love and presence of God is recognized. Like Moses, the Hebrews and Elijah before him, Jesus is tested in the desert. Jericho is a giant oasis in the Jordan River Valley. It was the first city to fall to Joshua and the Israelites. Here, Jesus heals the blind the hard of heart. Once important for Balsam perfume, Jericho continues to be an important agricultural center. Also see: Joshua 6: 1-27, I Kings 16: 31-34, 17: 1-7.

Way of the Cross: Matthew 27:1 - 28:10; Mark 15:1 - 16:8, Luke 23:1 - 24:12, John 18:28 - 20:18. Jesus' betrayal eventually leads to his trial, humiliation, crucifixion and resurrection. The Via Dolorosa begins at the site of the Antonia Fortress and ends at the Empty Tomb in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Praying the Via Dolorosa began during Crusader rule in Jerusalem (12th and 13th Centuries). Within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre are the sites of Golgotha and the Empty Tomb. Their location was revealed to St. Helena by local Christians in the early 4th Century. This Church is the holiest place in the world for Christian believers. It buildings have been built, destroyed and altered many times over the centuries.