The Church of the Pater Noster is a Roman Catholic church located on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. It is part of a Carmelite monastery', also known as the Sanctuary of the Eleona (French: Domaine de l'Eleona). The Church of the Pater Noster stands right next to the traditional site of Christ's teaching of the Lord's Prayer (Luke 11:2-4), a cave which formed the crypt and centrepiece of the 4th-century Byzantine Church of Eleona. The ruins of the Eleona were rediscovered in the 20th century and its walls were partially rebuilt. Today, the land on which both churches and the entire monastery are standing formally belongs to France.
At the Church of Pater Noster on the Mount of Olives, 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.
A giftshop sells postcards of each plaque and the associated Convent of Pater Noster website offers translations in more than 1440 languages and dialects.
A long tradition holds that Jesus taught the Lord’s Prayer or Our Father in the cave that forms the grotto under the church. When the Crusaders built a church here in the 12th century, they called it Pater Noster (Latin for Our Father).
Pilgrims of the time reported seeing the words of the prayer inscribed in Hebrew and Greek on marble plaques. Excavations have uncovered a Latin version.
Cave is associated with several teachings
The Gospels suggest that Jesus taught the Lord’s Prayer at least twice. Matthew 6:5-15 has this teaching as part of the Sermon on the Mount in Galilee; Luke 11:1-4 has it while Jesus is on his way from Galilee to Jerusalem.
The cave under the Pater Noster Church certainly existed in Jesus’ time. Near the summit of the mount, it would have been a secluded and sheltered place for a small group to gather.
The earliest reference to Jesus teaching in the cave is in the apocryphal Acts of John, dating from the 2nd century, but it does not specifically mention the Lord’s Prayer.
Later the Christian bishop and historian Eusebius (260-339) wrote that “in that cave the Saviour of the Universe initiated the members of his guild in ineffable mysteries”.
When the Emperor Constantine built a three-level church on the site in 330, it commemorated the Ascension of Christ. This historic church was known simply as the Eleona (from the Greek word meaning “of olives”).
The cave is also believed to be associated with Jesus’ teaching about the destruction of Jerusalem and his Second Coming (Matthew 24,25).
History of the Church of the Pater Noster
The Gospel account provides almost no information on the location of Jesus' teaching of the Lord's Prayer, also known as the "Our Father." The 3rd-century Acts of John (ch. 97) mentions the existence of a cave on the Mount of Olives associated with the teaching of Jesus, but not specifically the Lord's Prayer.
The church historian Eusebius (260-340) recorded that Constantine built a church over a cave on the Mount of Olives that had been linked with the Ascension. (Other Constantinian churches built over a cave are the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.) The church was built under the direction of Constantine's mother St. Helen in the early 4th century and was seen by the Bordeaux pilgrim in 333. The pilgrim Egeria (384) was the first to refer to this church as Eleona, meaning "of olives."
When the site for the veneration of Christ's ascension had been moved up the hill (see Chapel of the Ascension), this cave became exclusively associated with Jesus' teachings on the conflict between good and evil (Matt 24:1-26:2). Here Egeria heard this Gospel passage read on Tuesday of Holy Week.
Like many buildings in Jerusalem, the Constantinian church suffered destruction by the Persians in 614. The memory of Jesus' teaching remained associated with this site, but the content of that teaching shifted from good and evil to the Our Father prayer. This new identification was based on a clever harmonization of Luke 10:38-11:4 with Mark 11:12-25 (the withered fig tree).
When the Crusaders arrived, the site was associated specifically with the Lord's Prayer. They constructed a small oratory amidst the ruins in 1106, and a church was rebuilt in 1152 thanks to the funds of the Bishop of Denmark, who was buried in it with his butler. 12th-century pilgrims mention seeing marble plaques with the Lord's Prayer inscribed in Hebrew and Greek at the church. Excavations have uncovered an inscribed Latin version.
The Crusader-era church was damaged in 1187 and destroyed by 1345. In 1851 the remaining stones of the 4th-century church were being sold to Jews for tombstones in the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
The site was finally rescued by the Princesse de la Tour d'Auvergne, who bought the land and began a search for the cave. In 1868 she built a cloister modeled on the Campo Santo at Pisa and founded a Carmelite convent to the east in 1872.
In 1910, the Byzantine foundations over the cave were found partly beneath the cloister. The cloister was moved and the Byzantine church began to be reconstructed in 1915. The project is still unfinished.
New church was abandoned
Pater Noster Church is a part-reconstruction of Constantine’s Eleona church. Built to the same dimensions, it gives a good idea of what that original Byzantine basilica looked like. The garden outside the three doors outlines the atrium area.
In 1920 construction began on a new Church of the Sacred Heart over the grotto. Work was abandoned in 1927 when funds ran out, leaving the base and walls open to the sky.
Steps below the altar platform lead down to the crypt of the 4th-century basilica, partially built in the cave. But only a little of the stonework remains of that original church.
A 1st-century tomb, which Constantine’s engineers had blocked up with masonry, can now be seen.
What to See at the Church of the Pater Noster
The 4th-century Byzantine church has been partially reconstructed and provides a good sense of what the original was like. The half-restored church has the same dimensions as the original; the garden outside the three doors outlines the atrium area.
The unroofed church has steps leading down into the cave, which was partially collapsed when discovered in 1910. It is an interesting medley of ancient rock cuttings, concrete supports and marble furnishings. The cave cuts partly into a 1st-century tomb.
Left of the church's south door is an area paved with mosaics and identified as a baptistery. The 19th-century cloister is in a European style and upholds the tradition of multilingual plaques bearing the Lord's Prayer - 62 tiled panels display the prayer in 62 different languages, from Aramaic to Japanese to Scots Gaelic. The tomb of the Princesse de la Tour d'Auvergne is on the south side of the cloister.
The lane to the right of the convent's entrance leads to the Russian Church of the Ascension, established 1887. Its white tower can be seen from the Old City on a clear day. Byzantine tomb chapels with some lovely Armenian mosaics are preserved in the small museum.
The church is located in the At-Tur district of Jerusalem which has a population of about 18,000 mostly Muslim Arabs, with a small Christian minority.
Administered by: Carmelite Sisters
Tel.: 972-2-6264904
Open: 8am-noon, 2-5pm (Sunday closed).
At the Church of Pater Noster on the Mount of Olives, 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.
A giftshop sells postcards of each plaque and the associated Convent of Pater Noster website offers translations in more than 1440 languages and dialects.
A long tradition holds that Jesus taught the Lord’s Prayer or Our Father in the cave that forms the grotto under the church. When the Crusaders built a church here in the 12th century, they called it Pater Noster (Latin for Our Father).
Pilgrims of the time reported seeing the words of the prayer inscribed in Hebrew and Greek on marble plaques. Excavations have uncovered a Latin version.
Cave is associated with several teachings
The Gospels suggest that Jesus taught the Lord’s Prayer at least twice. Matthew 6:5-15 has this teaching as part of the Sermon on the Mount in Galilee; Luke 11:1-4 has it while Jesus is on his way from Galilee to Jerusalem.
The cave under the Pater Noster Church certainly existed in Jesus’ time. Near the summit of the mount, it would have been a secluded and sheltered place for a small group to gather.
The earliest reference to Jesus teaching in the cave is in the apocryphal Acts of John, dating from the 2nd century, but it does not specifically mention the Lord’s Prayer.
Later the Christian bishop and historian Eusebius (260-339) wrote that “in that cave the Saviour of the Universe initiated the members of his guild in ineffable mysteries”.
When the Emperor Constantine built a three-level church on the site in 330, it commemorated the Ascension of Christ. This historic church was known simply as the Eleona (from the Greek word meaning “of olives”).
The cave is also believed to be associated with Jesus’ teaching about the destruction of Jerusalem and his Second Coming (Matthew 24,25).
History of the Church of the Pater Noster
The Gospel account provides almost no information on the location of Jesus' teaching of the Lord's Prayer, also known as the "Our Father." The 3rd-century Acts of John (ch. 97) mentions the existence of a cave on the Mount of Olives associated with the teaching of Jesus, but not specifically the Lord's Prayer.
The church historian Eusebius (260-340) recorded that Constantine built a church over a cave on the Mount of Olives that had been linked with the Ascension. (Other Constantinian churches built over a cave are the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.) The church was built under the direction of Constantine's mother St. Helen in the early 4th century and was seen by the Bordeaux pilgrim in 333. The pilgrim Egeria (384) was the first to refer to this church as Eleona, meaning "of olives."
When the site for the veneration of Christ's ascension had been moved up the hill (see Chapel of the Ascension), this cave became exclusively associated with Jesus' teachings on the conflict between good and evil (Matt 24:1-26:2). Here Egeria heard this Gospel passage read on Tuesday of Holy Week.
Like many buildings in Jerusalem, the Constantinian church suffered destruction by the Persians in 614. The memory of Jesus' teaching remained associated with this site, but the content of that teaching shifted from good and evil to the Our Father prayer. This new identification was based on a clever harmonization of Luke 10:38-11:4 with Mark 11:12-25 (the withered fig tree).
When the Crusaders arrived, the site was associated specifically with the Lord's Prayer. They constructed a small oratory amidst the ruins in 1106, and a church was rebuilt in 1152 thanks to the funds of the Bishop of Denmark, who was buried in it with his butler. 12th-century pilgrims mention seeing marble plaques with the Lord's Prayer inscribed in Hebrew and Greek at the church. Excavations have uncovered an inscribed Latin version.
The Crusader-era church was damaged in 1187 and destroyed by 1345. In 1851 the remaining stones of the 4th-century church were being sold to Jews for tombstones in the Valley of Jehoshaphat.
The site was finally rescued by the Princesse de la Tour d'Auvergne, who bought the land and began a search for the cave. In 1868 she built a cloister modeled on the Campo Santo at Pisa and founded a Carmelite convent to the east in 1872.
In 1910, the Byzantine foundations over the cave were found partly beneath the cloister. The cloister was moved and the Byzantine church began to be reconstructed in 1915. The project is still unfinished.
New church was abandoned
Pater Noster Church is a part-reconstruction of Constantine’s Eleona church. Built to the same dimensions, it gives a good idea of what that original Byzantine basilica looked like. The garden outside the three doors outlines the atrium area.
In 1920 construction began on a new Church of the Sacred Heart over the grotto. Work was abandoned in 1927 when funds ran out, leaving the base and walls open to the sky.
Steps below the altar platform lead down to the crypt of the 4th-century basilica, partially built in the cave. But only a little of the stonework remains of that original church.
A 1st-century tomb, which Constantine’s engineers had blocked up with masonry, can now be seen.
What to See at the Church of the Pater Noster
The 4th-century Byzantine church has been partially reconstructed and provides a good sense of what the original was like. The half-restored church has the same dimensions as the original; the garden outside the three doors outlines the atrium area.
The unroofed church has steps leading down into the cave, which was partially collapsed when discovered in 1910. It is an interesting medley of ancient rock cuttings, concrete supports and marble furnishings. The cave cuts partly into a 1st-century tomb.
Left of the church's south door is an area paved with mosaics and identified as a baptistery. The 19th-century cloister is in a European style and upholds the tradition of multilingual plaques bearing the Lord's Prayer - 62 tiled panels display the prayer in 62 different languages, from Aramaic to Japanese to Scots Gaelic. The tomb of the Princesse de la Tour d'Auvergne is on the south side of the cloister.
The lane to the right of the convent's entrance leads to the Russian Church of the Ascension, established 1887. Its white tower can be seen from the Old City on a clear day. Byzantine tomb chapels with some lovely Armenian mosaics are preserved in the small museum.
The church is located in the At-Tur district of Jerusalem which has a population of about 18,000 mostly Muslim Arabs, with a small Christian minority.
Administered by: Carmelite Sisters
Tel.: 972-2-6264904
Open: 8am-noon, 2-5pm (Sunday closed).
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