Church of the Pater Noster
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Church of the Pater Noster | ||
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Style Romanesque Revival | | |
Groundbreaking | early 4th century | |
Specifications | ||
Materials | Stone |
The Church of the Pater Noster (
Biblical background
The 2nd-century Acts of John mentions the existence of a cave on the Mount of Olives associated with the teachings of Jesus, but not specifically the Lord's Prayer.
History
Constantine and the Byzantine period
The modern Church of the Pater Noster is built right next to the site of a fourth-century
The church survived intact until it was destroyed by
Crusader church
The memory of Jesus' teaching remained associated with this site, and during the Crusades it became exclusively associated with the teaching of the Lord's Prayer. The Crusaders built a small oratory amid the ruins in 1106, and a full church was constructed in 1152, thanks to funds donated[citation needed] by the Danish Bishop Svend of Viborg, who is buried inside the church.[2] The Crusader-era church was heavily damaged during Sultan Saladin's siege of Jerusalem in 1187, eventually being abandoned and falling into ruin by 1345.
Modern church and ruins recovered
In 1851, the remaining stones of the 4th-century church were sold for tombstones in the
The site was acquired by
In 1910, the foundations of the ancient church that once stood over the venerated cave were finally found, partly stretching beneath the modern cloister. The convent was moved nearby and reconstruction of the
The tomb which Princess Aurelia Bossi prepared for herself during her lifetime stands at the entrance of the modern church. She died in Florence in 1889, and her remains were brought to the church in 1957, according to her last wish.
Design and layout
4th-century Byzantine church
The 4th-century Byzantine church has been partially reconstructed and provides a good sense of what the original was like. The church's dimensions are the same as the original's and the garden outside the three doors outlines the atrium area. The church is unroofed and has steps that lead into a grotto where some Christians believe that Jesus revealed to his
As one enters the south door of the Byzantine church, on the left there are fragments of the mosaic floor of the baptistery.
19th-century church
The 19th-century cloister is modelled on the Campo Santo at Pisa, Italy.[citation needed] It separates the partly reconstructed Byzantine church, which stands west of it, from the small 19th-century convent church, which stands east of it.
Princess Aurelia Bossi's tomb stands in the western lateral chamber of the narthex, on the right-hand side as one enters the church.
Lord's Prayer plaques
The walls of the cloister, of the convent church and the partially reconstructed Eleona church are all used to display plaques that bear the Lord's Prayer in a total of well over 100 different languages and dialects.[4]
Location
The church is located in the
Gallery
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View from the cloister
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The Lord's Prayer in many languages
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The Lord's Prayer in Biblical Greek
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The Lord's Prayer in Latin
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Pater Noster
References
- ^ Thomson, William McClure (1880). The Land and the Book, Or, Biblical Illustrations Drawn from the Manners and Customs, the Scenes and Scenery, of the Holy Land. Harper.
- ^ Suhm, Peter Frederik (1793): Historie af Danmark, vol. VI, fra Aar 1147 til 1152, Copenhagen: Brødrende Berlings Trykkeri, page 102.
- ^ "Architecture. Le Consulat de France à Jérusalem jouit d'une vue exceptionnelle". israelvalley.com (in French). 2 November 2020. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
- ^ "The Convent of the Pater Noster". Archived from the original on 2013-05-11. Retrieved 2009-01-11.
- Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, Oxford Archaeological Guides: The Holy Land (Oxford, 1998), 125–26.
- Kay Prag, Blue Guide to Israel and the Palestinian Territories (Black and Norton, 2002), 230–31.
- Daniel Jacobs, Mini Rough Guide to Jerusalem (Rough Guides, 1999), 105–06.
External links
- Sacred Destinations
- The Pater Noster Church
- Photos of the Church of the Pater Noster at the Manar al-Athar photo archive