In the Church of Beatitudes

by Jose Kurian Puliyeril

Soon after the morning prayers and breakfast, we checked out from Hotel Salom and took seats in the Bus arranged for our further journey. As soon as we occupied the seats in the Bus, the Respected Priests exhorted us to get prepared physically and mentally to search the divine sand that had the blessing to have the footprints of the savior of the world and we all sought God's mercy through the prayers lead by them. Our bus moved through the roads adjacent to the attractive, calm and blessed Galilee Sea. Our Lord and Savior had delivered the renowned 'Sermon on the Mount' from a mount adjacent to the Sea. Our aim and attention was to reach the peak of the mount, which is often revered as 'the mount of Eight Beatitudes'. When the bus was moving fast through the roads of bends and curves, we were enjoying the sights on both sides, which were so attractive, hearty and beautiful. When we looked at the Galilee Sea, which remained calm and quiet with a smiling face, we felt as if the Sea was asking us in stuttering voice and emotionally, "will you not come to me". The beautiful roses and jasmine flowers in the courtyards of the houses next to the roads were really eye catching and they were sending scents in the atmosphere. The sight of plenty of mangoes in the trees, which are not allowed to grow much tall, appeared in attractive colors and a few bunches in the lower branches were kissing the land which gave birth to the mango trees. The sight of protecting the bunches of bananas in large plastic bags and the banana plants carrying them in long lines was a fresh information and a pleasant view. Within no time our bus reached the courtyard of a monastery. Vast and wide lawns surrounded the courtyard. On one boarder many flowering plants were seen with different types of multicolored flowers of different sizes. When we saw the plants which were bent due to the heavy weight of the bunches of flowers, we felt like they were welcoming us with bowed heads. The sight of the Galilee sea from there was really thrilling and impressive. So many fishing and excursion boats of different colors and sizes were seen and their sight was so touching.

As our Lord taught about eight beatitudes, the Church has eight corners. Each beatitude is inscribed on the walls between two corners. When we had prayers inside the Church, we all came out and noticed concrete benches well kept in a systematic style under the very big trees in the surroundings. We all took seats under the shade of a big tree and remained like obedient children before their masters, with a mind of humbleness, with bowed heads. We all listened the Respected Priests keenly and with utmost attention. The selected portions of the sermon on mount from the Gospels were read and we all participated the retreat lead by our Priests. When Fr. (Now Ramban) Zechariah delivered the retreat address by comparing the relevant portion of the 5th chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew with the mention in the Gospel according to St. Luke, and when the study's attention was diverted to the highest peaks of the deep meaning of the beatitudes, it resulted in a divine move in the depth and width of our minds. We all felt a feeling of learning something in the way it should be. We all felt the seriousness of the words of our Lord. We enjoyed a unique type of satisfaction. When we were immersed in the prayer and benediction of V. Rev. Sleeba Kattumangatt Chor-Episcopa, we felt like swimming in the cold sweet lake. In fact we all were reluctant to move from there. We felt like sitting with our Lord and His blessed Apostles, while we were seated in the place where our Lord had taught them several times. When we meditated the holy verses, our spiritual satisfaction and thrilling joy were beyond explanation. Those moments were the solemn occasion when we all forgot ourselves. We had no selfish thoughts, desires and talks. Our souls flew back to the screens behind 2000 years. During the Holy Eucharist, we often listen the exhortation from the celebrant : "now let us send our minds, thoughts and hearts at the right hand side of God the Father, where our Lord and Savior is seated". When we remained at this site, we understood how we could send our minds, hearts and thoughts to the heaven, while remaining inside the Church in body. Our condition was exactly a practical lesson and experience of the exhortation of the celebrants. Our minds were engaged in the serious search to identify the voice of our Lord and his blessed Apostles from the sound waves in the surroundings. We had no minds to get up from the place filled with the divine and blessed air. We all took deep breath in and got up. We all were highly satisfied and impressed. We found similar groups of faithful sitting under the shades of other trees. We have noticed a sort of thrill and enthusiasm on the faces of many others too, who came there from different parts of the world.