Page 46 - Holyland Magazine - 2018 Edition

Pastor with parishioners renewing their wedding vows
as well. Couples, especially those who have
been married for many years, often look to
renew their vows. What better place in the
world to renew their wedding vows than here,
the site of Jesus’ first miracle, the Wedding
in Cana. Not all archaeologists agree on the
exact site where the event occurred. History
tells us that a church was built in Cana by
Empress Helena (mother of Christian convert,
Emperor Constantine) in the 4th century, and
this was identified with the ruins of a large
building found by travelers to Kafr Kanna in the
17th century. Today, on this site, you will find
the Franciscan Wedding Church.
Built in the 1880s, this small church has two
levels. The narrow chapel of the upper church
supports a simple domed roof. A mosaic
fragment on the wall near steps leading to
the lower level holds an inscription in Aramaic,
the language of the area at the time of Jesus.
The lower level houses a small museum with
artifacts from the site, including six stone water
jars, typical of those of the first century. Each
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jar would have been filled with 20-30 gallons Near the Wedding Church is another, the Greek
of water that would have been used by the Orthodox Church of St. George (also known
wedding guests for ritual washing of the hands as the Greek Orthodox Church of the Wedding
before the meal. Extensive renovations of the Feast). Built in 1886, it is a large structure with
church in the 1990s allowed for contemporary clock and bell towers, and surrounded by a
archaeological research. Excavations in and spacious courtyard with trees, flowers, an
around the church have unearthed the remains ornate water fountain, and most importantly,
of three levels of buildings beneath the present benches where you can sit and enjoy the
structure: a 14th century building of the Middle tranquility of the spot. Nearby, you will see a
Ages, a Jewish synagogue from the 5th third, small chapel built by the Franciscans and
century, and the ruins of private dwellings from dedicated to St. Bartholomew.
the 1st-4th centuries.
Today, the center of this Arab village of Kafr
For many couples, a wedding or vow renewal Kanna (Cana) has been renovated with a
in the Franciscan Wedding Church is a promenade and small plazas. In the town,
highlight of their time in the Holy Land. One you will find a number of shops that sell
woman from South Carolina wrote about her souvenirs of Cana. Some even carry local
recent trip. She and her husband renewed wine with labels indicating that the bottles
their vows along with five other couples. came from Cana. These souvenirs will no
“Who would have thought,” she said, “that doubt end up being a small reminder of the
we would be blessed to be in the place of the spiritual experience of Cana.
first miracle, and after 52 years of marriage,
that too is a miracle.” The author is one of the founders of Journeys
Unlimited