Transcendent T-Shirt

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The Church of St. Anne, near the pools of Bethesda, is a popular Jerusalem pilgrimage site. The altar setting creates a sense of God's transcendence.

This Crusader era church (1100s) is built over the site traditionally associated with the home of Anna and Joachim, parents of Mary, the mother of Jesus. A Byzantine church was placed over the presumed home site in the 5th century. Crusaders replaced the small Byzantine chapel with the current structure. Crusaders believed Mary was born in a grotto just beneath the current structure.

Following Muslim recapture of Jerusalem in 1187, the church became a Muslim seminary. Christian pilgrims were allowed access to the grotto. By the 1800s the building was abandoned. Ottoman Sultan Abdulmecid I presented the church to Napoleon III in 1856, a gift for France's assistance in the Crimean War. The Church remains today under French ownership, administered by the Peres Blancs ('White Fathers')--a missionary society of the Roman Ca...

Stephen Stookey, Ph.D., is a university dean/church history professor/ordained minister by day and photographer by night. Well, not just nighttime; you get the picture. His love for photography began with a Kodak Instamatic 104 and a handful of GE flash cubes. Now with Canon equipment in hand, Stephen captures visual stories from locations of natural beauty, historical importance, and spiritual significance. His images appear in publications and Hollywood productions and hang on the walls of businesses, homes, and high-end hotels. Stephen operates Stephen Stookey Photography, an online print on demand business. Thank you for taking time to view my portfolio. If you see something you like, it can be purchased in multiple print and...