The Church of Bethphage, also spelled ''Beitphage'', meaning "''house of the early figs''", is a Franciscan church located on the Mount of Olives in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. It contains a stone traditionally identified as the one which

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

used to mount the donkey at the start of his procession into Jerusalem.

History

The modern church, built in 1883, rests on the foundations of a 12th-century crusader chapel which was located in the ancient village of Bethphage, which is now a part of Jerusalem, but two thousand years ago would have been a separate village between

Bethany Bethany ( grc-gre, Βηθανία,Murphy-O'Connor, 2008, p152/ref> Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܥܢܝܐ ''Bēṯ ʿAnyā'') or what is locally known as Al-Eizariya or al-Azariya ( ar, العيزرية, " laceof Lazarus"), is a Palestinian town in the West B ...

and Jerusalem. The crusader era chapel itself was built on the foundations of a 4th-century

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

shrine commemorating the meeting between Lazarus' sister Martha and Jesus, after Lazarus had died. In 1867, during construction of a Franciscan monastery on the grounds, a stone, cube shaped and covered in plaster, was discovered. This stone, now called the

Stele A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...

of Bethphage, was an integral part of the 12th century crusader chapel and now lies near the northern wall of the church. The Crusaders had decorated the stone and inscribed upon it in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, descriptions of biblical events which occurred in the area of Jerusalem and Bethphage. In 1950 the decorations on the stone were restored and five years later, in 1955

frescos Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

were drawn on the walls and ceiling of the sanctuary. Today, as in the 12th century, pilgrims hold a Palm Sunday procession which begins at the Bethphage Church.Travelnet

Design and Layout

Foundations from the crusader chapel can easily be seen near the floor of the

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

. Behind the altar is a fresco depicting Jesus riding a donkey to the

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

, accompanied by his disciples. The church ceiling features drawings of flowers and leaves. Colored in shades of brown, the wall frescos portray

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

era people preparing for the procession. On one wall a group of

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

s hold a scroll which contains the second part of the verse from (). Written in Latin around the windows are the words which the people said about Jesus during the procession into the city. The main focus of the church is the Stele of Bethphage, which is set apart by wrought iron railings. There is a mirror behind the stone so that visitors can easily see the drawings on all four sides. The drawings depict the meeting between Jesus and Martha; two disciples bringing Jesus an ass and a colt, Lazarus rising from the dead, and on the side facing the altar, a drawing of a crowd of people holding palms.

Notes

References

The Holy Land
{{coord, 31.777618, N, 35.250838, E, region:IL, display=title Bethphage Franciscan churches in Israel Roman Catholic churches completed in 1883 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Israel