Little Girl Gives Emotional Reading at the Church of Saint Peter

August 18, 2018

As part of a Holy Land pilgrimage organized by Bethlehem Handicrafts, around 30 pilgrims from Our Lady of the Plains, a Catholic church in Byers, Colorado, visited nearly every sacred site in the Holy Land.

Alongside a professional guide and photographer, George Bannoura, co owner of Bethlehem Handicrafts, joined the group with his family for the entire journey.

When the pilgrims reached the Church of Saint Peter in Gallicantu, the very place where Jesus spent His last night before the Crucifixion, they received an emotional surprise that none of them were expecting.

A Sacred Moment in a Sacred Place

Deep below the church, in the room where tradition holds that Jesus was held captive on the night of His arrest, the pilgrims paused to absorb the holiness of the place. Then something happened that left every pilgrim in awe.

Julianne Bannoura, daughter of George, had quietly prepared a passage from the Book of Psalms. She moved through the group and began to read these soul stirring verses. By the end, several pilgrims were in tears.

Scholars Neale and Littledale describe Psalm 88 as standing alone in all the Psalter for its unrelieved gloom and hopeless sorrow. Even the saddest of the other Psalms, and the Lamentations themselves, admit some variation of key, some strain of hopefulness. In Psalm 88, all is darkness to the close. Hearing it spoken aloud in the very place where Jesus prayed in agony made the words land with overwhelming force.

Psalm 88

O Lord, my God, by day I cry out,
at night I clamor in your presence.
Let my prayer come before you;
incline your ear to my call for help.

For my soul is surfeited with troubles
and my life draws near to the nether world.
I am numbered with those who go down into the pit;
I am a man without strength.

My couch is among the dead,
like the slain who lie in the grave,
whom you remember no longer
and who are cut off from your care.

You have plunged me into the bottom of the pit,
into the dark abyss.
Upon me your wrath lies heavy,
and with all your billows you overwhelm me.

You have taken my friends away from me;
you have made me an abomination to them;
I am imprisoned, and I cannot escape.
My eyes have grown dim through affliction;
daily I call upon you, O Lord;
to you I stretch out my hands.

Will you work wonders for the dead?
Will the shades arise to give you thanks?
Do they declare your kindness in the grave,
your faithfulness among those who have perished?
Are your wonders made known in the darkness,
or your justice in the land of oblivion?

But I, O Lord, cry out to you;
with my morning prayer I wait upon you.
Why, O Lord, do you reject me;
why hide from me your face?
I am afflicted and in agony from my youth;
I am dazed with the burden of your dread.

Your furies have swept over me;
your terrors have cut me off.
They encompass me like water all the day,
on all sides they close in upon me.
Companion and neighbor you have taken from me;
my only friend is darkness.

Walk in the Footsteps of Jesus Christ

Join one of our upcoming Holy Land pilgrimages to walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, visit the most sacred sites in the Holy Land, and stop by our workshop in Bethlehem to watch how our olive wood pieces are hand carved.

Bring the Holy Land home with hand carved olive wood rosaries and crucifixes from Bethlehem, made by Christian families in the birthplace of Christ.