The Church of All Nations and the Garden of Gethsemane

Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” Matthew 26:36

Gethsemane, meaning “oil press” in Aramaic, is located to the immediate east of Lion’s Gate in Jerusalem, across a slight depression which is the base of the Kidron Valley.  While technically outside the Old City of Jerusalem, it is perhaps more accurate to describe the region as an extension of this most sacred of places to the Christian faith.

References to Gethsemane, also referred to as the Garden of Gethsemane, appear in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke in their recounting of the Passion of Christ, while the Gospel of John to a “garden” as the location does not include the place-name, but does not conflict with the accepted tradition that Gethsemane was indeed was the plot of land where Christ spent His last moments in prayer before His arrest.  

While the exact size of Gethsemane at the time of the Passion is unknown, there are several churches and monasteries in the area that each hold claim to being part of Gethsemane, the most famous being the Church of All Nations.  The site itself has been in possession of the Franciscan Custos of the Holy Land for over three centuries, having been acquired as an endowment through a donation by the Croatian Knights of the Holy Order of Jerusalem.  The present church was built in the early decades of the 20th century over the ruins of Byzantine and Crusader churches, which themselves were built around the Rock of the Agony on which Christ prayed before the start of the Passion as recalled in Mark 14:32-42. It was designed by the renowned Franciscan architect Antonio Barluzzi in Neoclassical style, paid for with donations organized from over a dozen nations, giving rise to its name “Church of All Nations”.   The exquisite mosaics on the facade of the front entrance and the ceiling interior are a noted feature of the structure.  Within the church compound, a well-maintained garden around an olive grove which includes some of the oldest olives trees known to exist anywhere in the world.  A 2012 study by a team of Italian experts concluded that three of the eight oldest trees, all of which are remarkable in both size and texture, range between over 800 to over 900 years old, and may come from saplings of earlier trees from the Garden, leading to the possibility that these trees are the direct descendants of those present at the time of that fateful moment in the Passion of Christ.

Although only one portion of the original plot of land known as Gethsemane, and while several other churches in the region are also worthy of visits by pilgrims, the Church of All Nations and its olive grove is a special moment along the pilgrimage trail; the pre-emptive start to the Via Dolorosa, the physical path of the Stations of the Cross that culminates at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.  To fully appreciate the Via Dolorosa, Calgary, and the Tomb of Christ, the pilgrim must first visit the Garden of Gethsemane, where the ancient olive trees that may be the world’s oldest living link to the Passion of Christ still bear fruit.

Be Not Afraid!

Good Shepherd Travel offers pilgrimages to Gethsemane and Jerusalem as part of their Holy Land tours.  Rome, Lourdes, Fatima, Ireland, and many other destinations are among our most popular programs.  For more information on how to begin preparing for a pilgrimage in late 2020 or in 2021, contact Tony AbuAita at Tony@goodshepherdtravel.com.  We will return to pilgrimage – and we hope to see you with us!