Shalom! Gethsemane

Shalom! Continuing our journey in Israel, if you missed my earlier posts, check out Shalom! Israel.

On our first morning in Jerusalem, we visited the Garden of Gethsemane, one of the scared places dearest to Christians.  The word “Gethsemane” originates from the Hebrew expression Gat Shemen, which means “olive press”.  The Garden of Gethsemane is filled with olive trees of hundreds of years old.

Garden of Gethsemane is the place where Jesus spent the night before His arrest.

“Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” – Matthew 26:36  

In the Garden is the Church of All Nations built by the Italian architect, Antonio Barluzzi, between 1919 and 1924.  The church, also known as the Basilica of the Agony, reference to the night that Jesus spent there on the eve of his Passion.  The name of “Church of All Nations” commemorates the contributions made by many countries of its construction.

View of the presbytery with the mosaic in the apse representing “Christ in Agony being Consoled by an Angel”.  A large fragment of the rock on which Jesus is supposed to have prayed the night before the Passion is in front of the high altar.  The rock is entirely surrounded by crown of thorns in wrought iron.

It was an emotional experience stepping into the Garden of Gethsemane.

For more on my Israel trip, check out Shalom! Israel

 

Thank you for stopping by

Audrey

 

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