Go on Virtual Holy Land pilgrimage this Advent

by Gunther Simmermacher · Published December 4, 2023 · Updated December 4, 2023

Church of Visitation, Ein Karem. (Photo: Gunther Simmermacher)

This Advent, the faithful can make a virtual pilgrimage to the Holy Land. (

The “Star of Wonder Advent Pilgrimage of Peace” started on the first Sunday of Advent, December 3, and will continue throughout the Advent. Each Sunday, a video will be released from a holy site and will discuss its biblical meaning and include daily reflections. To sign up go to https://www.magdala.org/2023-advent/

The Magdala Tourist Centre, which is run by the Legionaries of Christ in Migdal, the biblical town of Magdala at the Sea of Galilee, is releasing a video from a holy site, with a discussion of its biblical meaning. Daily reflections are also issued.

Grotto in the lower basilica of Annunciation. (Photo: Gunther Simmermacher)

Sites in the virtual pilgrimage will include Magdala, the hometown of Mary Magdalene; Nazareth, the hometown of the Holy Family and site of the Annunciation; Ein Karem, the place of the Visitation and birth of John the Baptist; and Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, with Beit Sahour and the Shepherd Field.

According to Kathleen Nichols, director of Magdala’s English media team, the virtual pilgrimage was “inspired by the conflict here in the Holy Land.”

Altar of church in Migdal. (Photo: Gunther Simmermacher)

Nichols filmed in Israel and Palestine. In Bethlehem, a city in the occupied West Bank, they filmed in the usually busy but now deserted church of the Nativity, the site of Christ’s birth.

They hope that the virtual pilgrims can fill these places with prayers for peace from all over the world. “People cannot come in person, and everyone wants to help by praying for peace,” she told the Catholic News Agency. “And so I wanted to fill the holy sites with peace.”

The Advent virtual pilgrimage follows various previous pilgrimages offered by the Magdala Centre, including a Lenten one earlier this year. (https://www.magdala.org/pilgrimage-of-freedom/)