The earth is crammed with heaven

"The earth is crammed with heaven" 

wrote poet Elizabeth Barrett.

 Her words echoed in my heart: "the earth is crammed with heaven and every common bush is afire with God; but, only he who sees, takes off his shoes." 

I thought of our hardworking mothers in the Caribbean and

Mediterranean whose sacrifices gave us opportunities they could only imagine for us. In that Grotto I could see Mary, a humble Jewish woman, caring for her family. I felt like taking off my shoes. We were on holy ground.

       
{This awesome Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth is the largest church in the Middle East and certainly caught our attention when we visited the Holy Land. In my opinion it is probably the most beautiful modern church I have seen dedicated to Mary, the mother of Jesus. It was designed by Giovanni Muzio from Milan. The site has an incredible history and was acquired by the Franciscans in 1630. It comprises two interconnected churches, one above the other, preserving in full the remains of the ancient churches. The third photo shows the traditional site of Mary's house. It looks like and is a cellar which served an important purpose to keep food from spoiling. Cooking in that era was always done outside. The small space was also reserved for sleeping and entertaining guests in the summer. Both churches are stunningly beautiful. Mosaics hang on the Basilica's walls and the courtyard's as well. The images display the cult of Mary from shrines around the world.} Happy Mothers' day.