Street on Mount Zion in biblical times (November 2006).
Gathering of the Apostles (icon in the chapter room)
The example of the first Christian community was an inspiration not only to the patron of our order, Benedict of Nursia (480-547), but is to us as well. The position of our parent monastery, Dormition Abbey on Mount Zion, the traditional site of the early church in Jerusalem, links us to this ideal also geographically and historically.
Located as we are in the immediate vicinity of the Upper Room and the Pentecost chapel, our lives like, that of the early church, are shaped by the teaching of the apostles and the fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayer (Acts 2:42).
The House where Mary lived and died
A special gift is the patronal title of our church and our monastery: Dormitio Beatæ Mariæ Virginis – the Dormition (falling asleep) of the Blessed Virgin Mary, more commonly called the Assumption of Mary. Since ancient times the Christians in Jerusalem have honored the place where Mary lived and died on Mount Zion and have handed on the tradition that, on the occasion of the death of the Mother of God, the Apostles returned from their missionary journeys to the ends of the earth and gathered at Mary's death bed. Likewise even today pilgrims from all parts of the world visit our church daily to entrust their cares and needs to Mary.
Statue of Mary in the Crypt