The Holy Land is saturated with remarkable history. I thought I would add two such stories on this Church of the Pater Noster and the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Mary-Magdalene in my next post.
According to tradition, this was the site where Jesus taught his disciples the 'Lord's Prayer' (Pater Noster) foretelling the terrible destruction of Jerusalem and revealing his last coming. This particular spot was often visited by ancient pilgrims; but, fell into neglect for many centuries. In the 12th century, a modest oratory was built and then, rebuilt as the fortunes of the Crusaders ebbed and flowed. In 1856, a French princess, Aurelia Bossi married a banker, Le Roux and after his death, she married a prince Maurice Caesar from Auvergne. A Father Ratisbone persuaded her to buy the property which was owned by several Muslim families. Twelve years later, she succeeded in obtaining the land and donated it to France. She herself lived on the site for 8 years and built a church and cloister for a religious order of Sisters, the Carmelites who occupied them in 1874. The cloister is adorned with 'Our Father' majolica tiles in different languages like these:
Unfortunately the church itself was never completed. The princess was buried in the cloister in 1889. The beauty of the tiles is a living testimony to the faith of those who loved this site.
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