- Address
Ein Karem, Israel
- Web
https://www.custodia.org/en/sanctuaries/ain-karem-visitation - Visiting Hours
Summer (April-September): 8:00 – 11:45 / 14:30 – 18:00, Winter (October-March): 8:00 – 11:45 / 14:30 – 17:00 - What to see
Upper Church, Lower church and crypt
The Church of the Visitation is located in the village of Ein Kerem. The church is dedicated to the visit of Mary, the mother of Jesus to Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, when both were pregnant (the Gospel according to Lucas). The church stands where the summer house of Zechariah and Elizabeth, John’s parents, stood. In the church stands the stone that, according to tradition, hid Elizabeth and the baby John, during the massacre of the innocents, when Herod’s soldiers searched for him according to his order to kill all children under the age of two born in and around Bethlehem.
On the walls of the courtyard hang 70 ceramic plates with the Magnificat prayer in 70 different languages. This prayer was said by Mary when she came to visit Elizabeth, according to what is told in the Gospel written by Luke (chapter 1, verses 46-56).
