During a 2023 pilgrimage to Constantinople (Istanbul) and the Holy Land, members of Epiphany of the Lord Byzantine Catholic Church in Annandale, VA stopped at the site of the baptism of Christ, (the patronal feast of the parish) in the Jordan River. The group of 22 pilgrims included: (L to R) Lector Jack Figel, Deacon Tyler Wisniewski, Holly & Kevin Hogan, Jeff & Vicki Nashwinter, Marlene McCrachen and Lt. Joseph Hughes. Besides Christian places in Constantinople, the group also visited biblical sites in Galilee and Jerusalem led by Bishop John Michael Boteau, Romanian Greek Catholic Bishop of America, who celebrated the Divine Liturgy in Nazareth and Jerusalem and a special Akathist at the Tomb of Christ in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in a Franciscan chapel only 50 feet from the actual Tomb of Christ.

Lector Jack Figel
Holly and Kevin Hogan