In March, 2017, I visited one of the Cana locales in Galilee. I say one of the Cana locales, as there are several locales with some claim to being the Cana of water to wine fame.
Geographically, the Cana I visited is located at about latitude 32.748450, longitude (east) 35.338169. The town is called Kafr Kanna. From Tel Aviv, it’s about 115 kilometers or 71.5 miles to the northeast. It is a short drive from Nazareth.
Map courtesy of maphub.net
My first destination in town was the well known wedding chapel. The building, a small church built in the 1880’s, is a Franciscan facility. I’ve yet to find a name for this church beyond the “Wedding Church.” It is built on the site of two previous Christian churches, the earliest being built in the 5th century. (All photos taken by Tim Wojcik.)
The Franciscan “logo” Cross above one of the Church doorways
The small campus includes the church building, a courtyard, and an outbuilding for visitors comfort needs. In the courtyard is a relatively modern well – symbolic of the well used to draw water. The day, in early spring, was clear yet not hot. A good day to explore both inside and outdoors.
After a few photos outdoors, I was ready to take in the inside of the church: from back to front, the windows, the altar, the decoration. Upon entering the church, we realized a wedding mass was in progress. The language sounded Polish – it was a Slavic language. Well, I couldn’t act like a respectful tourist photographer with a sacred ceremony in progress. I did take a few snaps.
We stayed with the Mass for a few minutes. At a transition in the liturgy, we quietly exited. I felt a bit deflated. Heading toward the street, my son Nick pointed out the sign leading us to a whole other dimension to the church.
This way to the jar. I almost skipped a huge amount of the Wedding Church’s offerings. Through the door and down the stairs we went, rewarded with quite a few artifacts from Cana of old. One locked case displayed smaller items. As the path continued, ancient vessels stood on display.
And then, in its own container, protected from irreverent tourist behaviors, stood the jar.
It looked, well, rough. I expected something a bit more elegant. Handles, maybe. After all, how would the banquet boys wrestle these jars over to the well and back? But then maybe the handles had been torn off for souvenirs by some overenthusiastic crusader several hundred years ago. If this was the jar, then this was the jar.
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The street from which one enters the church property has two remarkable features. This street, a walled sreet as it borders the Wedding Church property, gave some artisan the opportunity to tell the story contained in John 2:1-11. The entire miracle story is etched in the wall, in a single line of English text.
The other remarkable feature of this street is that it’s part of the Jesus Trail. This 65 kilometer/40 mile path takes the pilgrim walker from Nazareth to Capernaum. At this point in Kafr Kanna, the Jesus trail looks like this.
Once out of town, the Trail opens up to more natural vistas. When/if I get back to Galilee, I plan a little longer walk down the Jesus Trail than the 100 feet or so that time allowed.
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Among the other five Christian churches/chapels and one mosque within walking distance, we then visited the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George. After a sidewalk approach of about 75 feet from the street, there is a front building with an archway, a fountain and decoration. Through the archway is an ample courtyard. The courtyard contains a dazzling gazebo-like structure.
It is the ceiling of this structure that really shines. The center of this ceiling has a large image/icon of Jesus Christ surrounded by four angels. Along the periphery are smaller circle icons of saints and angels.
The church building was locked; however, an attendant/docent offered to let us in. I had to balance my desire to snap a zillion photos with reverent behavior this sacred place deserves.
The church was small, more of a chapel sized space of worship. It is a church named in honor of St. George, and so several of the images depicted the saint doing battle with the dragon. This image is located on the sanctuary wall directly above the altar and below an image of Christ and the Apostles.
This church held many reminders of its location in Cana: the site of the water-to-wine miracle. As at the Franciscan Wedding Church, this Greek Orthodox church preserves two waters jars from antiquity. The jars – reminiscent of the miracle – are protected by plexiglass containers which open to allow parishioners and the faithful to place objects such as tamata, rosaries, photos, bracelets and handwritten notes for supplication – and for veneration.
One piece of carved wood depict vines with clusters of grapes and graceful birds bordered by Greek columns and centered by an ornate chalice. This luxurious carving provides a frame of sorts for a depiction of the miracle including Jesus, Mary, some disciples and the waterboys who first sense something special going on. The columns are decorated with tamata from the faithful.
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The Holy Land is as prone to commerce as any place of tourist destination. Several shops take advantage of their location to offer Cana wine and other souvenirs. This shop couldn’t resist the use of the image of the Divine Mercy to draw in the Catholic faithful for a “must have” item or two.
I made my selections. We had other destinations during this all too brief stay in Galilee. As I walked back to the car my various impressions folded into the realization that, in all likelihood, the miracle will continue day after day, year after year, in this place too.
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