"Saint Mary's Well, Nazareth"

Destinations By Brian Wilkes

In Nazareth, Galilee stands a spring-fed mikveh (ceremonial bath house) which has been restored many times over the centuries. Orthodox Christian tradition states that it was here the Blessed Virgin Mary was told by the Archangel Gabriel that she would bear a son who would be the awaited Messiah. The Annunciation is narrated in Luke 1:26-38, but the location is unclear. The non-canonical Protoevangelion of James states that Mary received the message while fetching a pitcher of water. Three spouts provide water from "Gabriel's Spring" to any who seek it. I have worked to capture a balance between the blazing sun and the cool shadows provided by olive, cedar, and cypress trees. Mary's Well is an active place of pilgrimage, as are the nearby Orthodox and Catholic cathedrals of the Annunciation. I hope the viewer will have the sense of making a virtual pilgrimage, a connection to the locations of the Gospel, and the assurance the God will speak to us directly or through messengers if we will but listen.