Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.

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As we continue to search for God among these holy places, I was reminded by a group of pilgrims who were beautifully singing the hymn ubi caritas in the Church of St. Anne that God is all around us. The first line of this hymn is translated, where charity and love are, God is there. In other words, we can bring God’s presence into the world anytime we allow his love and charity to work in, with and through us. This pilgrimage is a wonderful and grace-filled opportunity and we have definitely experienced the presence of God along the way. But, the reality is that we do not need to travel anywhere to find God. God will find us wherever we may be; we simply need to open our hearts and minds to this encounter. Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.

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Photos

Church of St. Anne
Built over the traditional birthplace of the Virgin Mary.

Traditional birthplace
Icon depicting birth and presentation of Mary in the background

Fellow seminarians
I met Brother David outside the Church of St. Anne. He is a White Fathers seminarian from Uganda, currently studying here in Jerusalem. God-willing, we will both be ordained deacons the summer of 2016 and priests the summer of 2017.

Comments

[Lynn]

Awesome Acoustics in this Church
The acoustics at St. Anne's church are awesome! I was told people come from all over the world just sing in this church. Brad would love it here! We only sang "This Little Light of Mine" when our group was there. I would have loved to hear a song like Ubi Caritas!