Mount of Olives

The little village of Bethany on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives about 3km from Jerusalem was a favourite place of rest and refuge for Jesus. Here he knew the intimacy and friendship of his friends Martha, Mary and Lazarus. And here, in the cemetery just below the village, he raised Lazarus from the dead. Since 2005 Bethany, in the West Bank, has been cut off from Jerusalem by Israel’s separation wall. What used to be a 10-minute drive from the Mount of Olives to Bethany now requires a lengthy detour, so the Tomb of Lazarus has become isolated from the normal pilgrim and tourist route.

The courtyard outside had beautiful mosaics of Lazarus, Mary and Martha.

We then travelled to the other side of the Mount of Olives, starting at the top we began out descent, started by visiting the Church of Pater Noster. Christians recall Christ’s teaching of the Lord’s Prayer to his disciples. On walls around the church and its vaulted cloister, translations of the Lord’s Prayer in 140 languages are inscribed on colourful ceramic plaques.

It is operated by French Carmelites - you can see their grille off the sanctuary.

The Our Father prayer in English (Anglais)

We had Mass at the little teardrop Church of Dominus Flevit, halfway down the western slope of the Mount of Olives. The church recalls the Gospel incident in which Jesus wept over the future fate of Jerusalem.

Spectacular view of the city through the window behind the altar.

We had a beautiful view of the Old City from the courtyard.

We walked down to the Garden of Gethsemane, named in the New Testament as the place where Jesus went with his disciples to pray the night before he was crucified. The name in Hebrew means “oil press”. Oil is still pressed from the fruit of eight ancient and gnarled olive trees that give the garden a timeless character. We had an opportunity to spend some time in prayer in a private area of the Garden of Gethsemane, surround by olive trees, aloe plants and geraniums. A little Oasis around a busy intersection.

We visited the Church of the Agony also known as the Church of All Nations (because all nations contributed financially to building it). The Church of All Nations, is built over the rock on which Jesus is believed to have prayed in agony the night before he was crucified.

This church was dimly lit inside, using sorrowful colours, reminding us that is a place of sorrow.

The "rock" is pictured directly in front of the altar surrounded by a metal crown of thorns.

We visited the "Upper Room." The Cenacle room on Mt Zion in Jerusalem is where two major events in the early Christian Church are commemorated: The Last Supper and the coming of the Holy Spirit on the apostles.

The hill of Mount Zion, the highest point in ancient Jerusalem, is dominated by the Church of the Dormition. The location is identified in Christian tradition as the place where the Virgin Mary died — or “fell asleep”, as the name suggests.

In the crypt below has a Mary carved from wood. We gathered around and prayed a "Hail Holy Queen" together.

We ended our busy day with a meeting with an Israeli man and a Palestinian woman who came to share their story of living in conflict. They are part of a NGO forum that brings together bereaved families of people killed in the conflict. They attempt to bring peace through working by educating teenagers about each other by putting a human face and personal story of on the conflict. The hope is to challenge their views that have been shaped by their home environment and to soften a hardened heart.

It seemed a timely meeting in light of the recent deaths in Israel. Many Arab shop keepers in the Old City were closed today in mourning.

Mary, Queen of Peace - pray for us.