The Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a Catholic church located in the western suburbs of Jerusalem, Ein Karem . The church is active, belongs to Custodia of the Holy Land of the Order of the Franciscans . At this place, according to legend, there was a country house of the righteous Zechariah and Elizabeth , the parents of John the Baptist [1] .
| Catholic Church | |
| Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary | |
|---|---|
 | |
| A country |  Israel |
| Location | Jerusalem , Ein Karem |
| Denomination | Catholicism |
| Diocese | Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem |
| Order affiliation | Franciscans |
| Architect | |
| Building | 1938 - 1958 |
| condition | Active temple |
With this place, tradition connects the gospel episode of the visit of the Virgin Mary to Her relative Elizabeth , described in the Gospel of Luke .
Having risen, Mary in these days, hurriedly went to the upland country, to the city of Judah, and entered the house of Zechariah, and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and exclaimed in a loud voice, and said: Blessed are you among the wives, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb! And where is it from me that the Mother of my Lord came to me? For when the voice of thy salutation came to my ears, the baby leaped joyfully in my womb. And blessed is she who believes, because what has been said to her from the Lord will be completed.
- Lk. 1: 39-45
Content
Location
The church is located on the steep western slope of Ein Karem Hill, about 7 km from the Old City of Jerusalem. Below the church on the slope is a spring, in the 14th century nicknamed by pilgrims as the “spring of the Virgin Mary”.
According to tradition, on the site of this church, Virgin Mary uttered her famous thanksgiving hymn - Magnificat [2] .
The ground floor of the church is occupied by a crypt with a grotto [2] . This grotto ends with a well with a small spring, known as the "small spring", from which John and his parents, according to legend, drank water [3] .
In the crypt wall behind the metal grill is a stone with a recess, found during excavations at this site in the 30s – 40s of the 20th century [4] . Perhaps in it, St. Elizabeth hid the baby John from the soldiers of King Herod (The Beating of Babies ). Above this stone there is an inscription in Latin: “In Hac Petra Elisabeth Johannem abscondisse traditur” (“Elizabeth hid John in this rock”). According to the Orthodox tradition, the place where St. Elizabeth escaped with the baby John is located 3 km west of Ein Karem (there is now the Franciscan monastery of John the Baptist in the Desert) [5] .
History
The existence of places respected by the pilgrims in Ein Karem associated with the episode of the Visit was witnessed from the first half of the VI century [6] . In place of the modern church stood a Byzantine chapel, the construction of which Christian tradition connects with Queen Empress Elena . In the XII century, the crusaders built a large two-level church on its ruins, but after the defeat of the Crusades, the church was destroyed [7] .
The Franciscan Order bought the ruins in 1679 [2] . In 1862, permission was obtained to conduct the first excavations. In 1938, excavations were carried out on the ruins under the guidance of archaeologist Bellarmino Bagatti , who revealed the foundations of the Byzantine chapel and the church of the Crusader period, which were included in the crypt ensemble (lower church). After the excavation was completed, the construction of the upper church by the design of Antonio Barluzzi began . Construction took a long time, interrupted during the Second World War . The entire ensemble of the Church of the Visitation was completed in 1958 [8] .
Architecture
The architectural ensemble of the church of the Visitation consists of a cloister , a crypt (lower church), an upper church and a crusader hall [2] . on the north side of the cloister is a Byzantine tank (VI – VIII centuries). The walls of the cloister are decorated with bas-reliefs with Magnificat texts in 42 languages [9] .
The center of the lower church is a grotto revered from early Christian times with a well (VI - XII centuries) and a small spring. The church is a small chapel almost square in plan, cut into the thickness of the mountain with its altar part.
The upper church, designed by Barluzzi, is richly decorated with frescoes by C. Wagerini. The plots of frescoes on five large panels are dedicated to the Virgin Mary: " Ephesus Cathedral , proclaiming Mary the Virgin"; "Patroness of all believers"; "Mediator and Intercessor" - a scene of a wedding in Cana of Galilee ; The “Patroness of Christians” is the papal blessing for the battle of Lepanto and the “Immaculate Prisnode” is a debate about the Immaculate Conception [9] . The vaults of the apse above the main altar are decorated with a picturesque image of the Virgin Mary surrounded by angels and saints.
The floor of the presbytery and nave is covered with mosaic panels. On the south side of the church is a well-preserved crusader hall [2] .
Notes
- ↑ A. G. Kholodyuk. Where the mountain hid from the soldiers of Herod the righteous Elizabeth and John (Inaccessible link) . Date of treatment July 15, 2015. Archived July 16, 2015.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 5 “Ein Karem - Church of the Visitation” on the site of Custody of the Holy Land
- ↑ BibleWalks.com. Ein Kerem. Visitation church.
- ↑ McCabe Pilgrimages. The churches of Antonio Barluzzi (Link unavailable) . Date of treatment July 19, 2015. Archived February 27, 2012.
- ↑ Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Surroundings of Jerusalem. The Desert of St. John the Baptist
- ↑ Maria Teresa Petrozzi. Ain Karim - Shrine of the Visitation. & 13 Archived on July 14, 2014.
- ↑ Church of the Visitation at sacred-destinations.com
- ↑ Maria Teresa Petrozzi. Ain Karim - Shrine of the Visitation. & 14 Archived on July 14, 2014.
- ↑ 1 2 Maria Teresa Petrozzi. Ain Karim - Shrine of the Visitation. & 16 (inaccessible link) . Date of treatment July 1, 2014. Archived July 14, 2014.
Literature
- Maria Teresa Petrozzi. Ain Karim - Shrine of the Visitation. Franciscan Print. Press, 1971
- Murphy-O'Connor, Jerome. The Holy Land: an Oxford Achaeological Guide. Oxford University Press. 2008