Pater Noster is Latin for "Our Father." This is where Jesus instructed His apostles during His last week and is associated with the giving of the Lord's Prayer. This is also the place where Christians start the parade down the Mount of Olives and into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. On Palm Sunday, we were part of that parade which started here.
It is also a possible site where Jesus ascended into Heaven after He was resurrected. Acts 1 - 9-11:"And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward Heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, 'Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into Heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into Heaven, shall so come in like manner as we have seen Him go into Heaven."
Photo: Diagram of Pater Noster.
The Lord's Prayer is in more than 60 languages and at this church each of those languages were displayed in mosaics.
Photo: Next to the Pater Noster was a cave where Jesus taught His apostles of future calamities. Matthew 24:3: And He sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?"
Photo: When a visitor goes to a grave, they place a rock on the top to signify they were there. Rocks, instead of flowers, are placed on the graves because they will not wither and always remain there.
Photo: The Holyoaks with the Dome of the Rock in the background. When we arrived at Dominus Flevit, we took a moment to capture some of the most significant sights in view.
This is the place where Jesus wept over Jerusalem and the church is therefore shaped like a tear drop.
Dominus Flevit Church: Dr. Allred explained that this site was originally a cemetery and was later occupied by a Byzantine monastery. The current church, built in 1955, is shaped like a teardrop to commemorate the tears of the Savior. According to the Gospel of Luke, as Jesus was riding the colt down the Mount of Olives on his way to make his Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, he wept over the Holy City because people rejected Him. In Luke 19:41-44, Jesus predicted its future destruction. On another occasion, Jesus lamented: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophet and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under wings, and ye would not." (Matthew 23:37).
Photo: View of Jerusalem from Dominus Flevit.
Photo: Note the gold-domed Russian church in background.
Did you notice the emblem of the "hen gathering her chicks under her wings" on the altar of Dominos Flevit? So touching.
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