She then helped Penelope to rise to her feet and both walked to the main crypt where Christ was laid and the miraculous resurrection occurred. The kind woman squeezed Penelope's hand and with a smile disappeared into the vast open spaces of the cathedral.
It was about two in the morning when the liturgy at the Greek orthodox basilica within the huge Church of the Resurrection ended. Penelope and her daughter had stayed until the end, and they received Holy Communion wine and bread, the blood and body of Christ. Tired but content and with renewed hope, they strolled through the deserted narrow streets back to their hotel.
After three days of visiting the holy sites in and around Jerusalem, they went to Gethsemane, where Penelope took her time to descend the more than fifty steps to the place believed to be the burial ground of the Virgin. She wrote a little note and left it there on the grave. It was wet from her tears.
She was overwhelmed by the large underground church and the thousands of oilburning lamps hanging from the ceiling. Penelope heard that they were gifts from people whose prayers were answered.
The next day, they were to leave for Egypt by bus, taking them to Cairo. Their ship was to meet them in Alexandria. The sun rose early and looked much larger than Penelope had ever seen it before, and much hotter, too. She watched the scorched land and the sun's rays bouncing off of it as the bus traversed the dry land. In the afternoon, they arrived at the Monastery of St. Catherine in the middle of the Egyptian desert. With the barren Mount Sinai in front of her, Penelope gazed in awe.
Penelope removed her shoes to go into the place of the burning bush. Later, she experienced her first camel ride, taking her to the top of Mount Sinai. She saw the magnificent change of color on the mountains as the sun went down and she realized why God chose such a stark and desolate place to speak to Moses. Her spirit was uplifted when she reached the top and she recited the Lord's Prayer. She concluded by saying: "I know you are out there. Hear me ... Hear me, Lord!"
The Bedouin guide was a handsome young man who smiled constantly. Penelope felt good around him. By the time they came down from the mountain, it was dark and freezing cold. The evening Vespers were being conducted at the large basilica of the monastery, as they had been for fourteen hundred years. Upon seeing her mother, Eleni gave her a big hug. "I am so happy for you,