Abbey of the Dormition

Coordinates: 31°46′20″N 35°13′44″E / 31.7722°N 35.2289°E / 31.7722; 35.2289
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Abbey of the Dormition
Benedictine
EstablishedEarly 5th century
Dedicated toDormition of the Mother of God
AbbotNikodemus Schnabel
Architecture
Functional statusActive
StyleRomanesque Revival
Site
LocationJerusalem
Public accessyes
Websitedormitio.net

Abbey of the Dormition (German: Dormitio-Abtei, Hebrew: כנסיית הדורמיציון Knesia HaDormitsiyon, Arabic: كنيسة رقاد السيدة العذراء) is a Catholic abbey belonging to the Benedictine Order in Jerusalem, on Mount Zion, just outside the walls of the Old City near the Zion Gate. The Abbey is said to mark the spot where Mary, mother of Jesus, died.

Between 1998 and 2006 the community was known as the Abbey of Hagia Maria Sion,[1] in reference to the basilica of Hagia Sion that stood on this spot during the Byzantine period, but it resumed the original name during the 2006 celebrations of the monastery's centenary. "Hagia Maria Sion" is now the name of the foundation supporting the abbey's buildings, community and academic work.

In recent years the church has become a target for vandalism and desecration by extremist nationalist Israelis.[2]

History of creation

Further information: Church of Zion, Jerusalem

The Byzantine basilica Hagia Sion was built under

Khosrau II
.

Its foundations were recovered in 1899, when the architect and construction manager of the Diocese of Cologne, Heinrich Renard [de] (1868–1928), investigated the site. Bargil Pixner proposed the theory of a pre-Crusader Church of Zion, the continuation of an early Judeo-Christian congregation and their house of worship, which he located on the Madaba Map next to the Hagia Sion basilica.[3]

Dormition Abbey behind Greek Hagias Zion Convent

A monastic order known as the Abbey of Our Lady of Mount Zion was established at the site in the 12th century, with a church built on the ruins of the earlier demolished Byzantine church.[

Congregation of Notre-Dame de Sion is an unrelated monastic order founded in 1843).[4]

Modern building

Conrad Schick's diagram of the land acquired in 1898 for the construction, during the visit of Kaiser Wilhelm[5]
Exterior of the church
Interior of the church

During

German Goldmark from Sultan Abdul Hamid II and presented it to the "German Association of the Holy Land" ("de:Deutscher Verein vom Heiligen Lande").[6]

Conrad Schick reported about the event, describing the acquired plot of land and showing confidence that the remains of the ancient Zion Church would be discovered under the accumulated dirt.[5]

According to local tradition, it was on this spot, near the site of the

Blessed Virgin Mary died, or at least ended her worldly existence. Both in Orthodoxy and Catholicism, as in the language of scripture, death is often called a "sleeping" – or "falling asleep" – and this gave the original monastery its name. The church itself is called Basilica of the Assumption (or Dormition). In the Catholic dogma of the Assumption of Mary, Christ's mother was taken, body and soul, to heaven.[7]

Renard delivered the designs and plans for the Abbey, the direction of construction was entrusted to the architect

neo-Romanesque style that had become the state style of the new Imperial Germany.[8]

The present church is a circular building with several niches containing altars, and a choir. Two spiral staircases lead to the crypt, the site ascribed to the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, and also to the organ-loft and the gallery, from where two of the church's four towers are accessible.

Out of regard for the nearby

belltower
is set far enough away that its shadow does not touch the tomb, and is therefore not directly accessible from the church.

Benedictine community

The first monks had already been sent to Jerusalem in 1906 from

1948 Arab-Israeli War
. The abbey was located in the Israeli-controlled territory on Mount Zion, across from the Jordanian-controlled territory within the walled city.

In 1951, the abbey was separated from the

Beuron Congregation and placed under the direct supervision of the Abbot-Primate of the Benedictines in Rome
.

The community elected its own abbot for the first time in 1979.

Theology seminar

Since 1973 the abbey has been hosting an

Judaic, and Islamic
studies.

Vandalism

The Dormition Abbey, along with other Christian sites, has been the target of occasional vandalism as a form of

"price tag" terrorism
by extremist Israeli nationalist religious youths.

In October 2012 and in May and June 2013 the abbey was vandalized with anti-Christian graffiti and insults in Hebrew.

Havat Ma'on.[10][11][12]

On 26 May 2014 a box of wooden crosses was set ablaze inside the Dormition Abbey. It is believed that this was some sort of failed arson attempt. At the same time of the arson attempt, Pope Francis was conducting a service in the building next door in the Cenacle two floors above the room of King David's Tomb.[13]

A vandal entered the premises by jumping over a fence in December 2014 and went on to damage a crucifix, a bench, and a number of statues in the cemetery, one of which marked the grave of a monk with Israeli nationality.[14]

In January 2016, vandals wrote slogans on the walls of the Abbey such as "Death to the heathen Christians, the enemies of Israel" and "May his name be obliterated" (whose first letters in Hebrew spell the name of Jesus).[15] Gregory Collins, who was then the abbot, addressed a crowd of demonstrators for peace in Galilee, saying that: “The attack on the church is an attack on all those who believe in a civilization of love and coexistence.”[16]

References

  1. ^ Or "Assumption"
  2. ^ Magid, Jacob; Gross, Judah Ari (11 March 2019). "Prosecution drops case against far-right activists in Jerusalem church arson". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  3. ^ Bargil Pixner, Wege des Messias und Stätten der Urkirche. 2., erweiterte Auflage. Brunnen, Giessen 1994, pp. 110f.
  4. French National Library
    in Paris is 8-O2F-762.
  5. ^ a b Schick, Conrad (January 1899). "Notes and News". Quarterly Statement. 31. London: Palestine Exploration Fund: 3–4. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  6. OCLC 181540809.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: others (link
    )
  7. OCLC 50101584
    .
  8. ^ "The Germans in Jerusalem". Parallel Histories. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  9. ^ Another Israeli church defaced with 'price tag' graffiti, Oz Rosenberg and Nir Hasson, 3 Oct. 2012, Haaretz
  10. ^ "Jerusalem's Dormition Church suffers suspected 'price tag' attack." Nir Hasson and Gili Cohen, 31 May 13, Haaretz
  11. ^ Independent Catholic News
  12. ^ Suspected ‘price tag’ attacks reported in Jerusalem, West Bank, 31 May 2013 JTA
  13. ^ "Arson Attack Reported at Jerusalem Church Near Where Pope Celebrated Mass". HuffPost. 26 May 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  14. ^ "Israeli Police Arrest Jerusalem Abbey Vandal". Associated Press. 30 December 2014.
  15. ^ Nir Hasson (17 January 2016). "Jewish Extremists Vandalize Jerusalem's Dormition Abbey". Haaretz.
  16. ^ Weinstein, Eytan (21 June 2015). "Thousands rally for peace at torched Galilee church". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 20 August 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2021.

Gallery

  • Inside the Church of Dormition
    Inside the Church of Dormition
  • Bell Tower
    Bell Tower
  • The place where Mary was assumed into heaven, according to Christian tradition.
    The place where Mary was assumed into heaven, according to Christian tradition.
  • View from Mount of Olives
    View from Mount of Olives
  • The Hungarian Chapel in the crypt
    The Hungarian Chapel in the crypt
  • Corridor at Dormition Abbey
    Corridor at Dormition Abbey
  • A view of Dormition Abbey
    A view of Dormition Abbey
  • A view of Dormition Abbey
    A view of Dormition Abbey
  • A view of Dormition Abbey
    A view of Dormition Abbey
  • A view of Dormition Abbey
    A view of Dormition Abbey
  • A view in the evening
    A view in the evening
  • Miriam the prophetess
    Miriam the prophetess

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dormition Abbey.

31°46′20″N 35°13′44″E / 31.7722°N 35.2289°E / 31.7722; 35.2289

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