Church of St. Mary Magdalene (Jerusalem)

 Church of St. Mary Magdalene Jerusalem

Mount of Olives, Jerusalem

Tel. (02) 628 4371

Bus: 99

Open: 10am- 12pm Tue, Thu, Sat

Description of the Church of Mary Magdalene

Church of St. Mary Magdalene Jerusalem

Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Gethsemane is a Russian Orthodox church in East Jerusalem. Located in Gethsemane, not far from the tomb of the Virgin, on the slope of the Mount of Olives. Built in memory of Empress Maria Alexandrovna at the expense of the imperial family. Consecrated in 1888 in honor of St. Mary Magdalene. Since 1921, the relics of the Holy Martyrs Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna and nun Barbara have been kept in the church.

The temple is the main church of the female Gethsemane monastery and belongs to the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission (ROCOR in communion with the ROC MP).

 

History

The construction of a temple in memory of Empress Maria Alexandrovna was proposed by the head of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem, Archimandrite Antonin (Kapustin). He also proposed a site for the construction of a church on the slope of the Mount of Olives. By the autumn of 1882 the land had been purchased. Architect David Grimm drew up a project, and the church was founded on January 21, 1885. The construction project was led by the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society under the supervision and guidance of Archimandrite Antonin. The actual work on the construction of the temple was carried out by Jerusalem architects Konrad Schick, and then George Frangia. Tsar Alexander III contributed 100 thousand rubles for the construction of the temple, his four brothers - 15 thousand each; Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna - 5 thousand rubles. The Patriarch of Jerusalem consecrated the church on October 1/13, 1888 in the presence of Grand Dukes Sergei Alexandrovich and Pavel Alexandrovich and Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna.

In January 1921, the bodies of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna (the granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England) and her cell attendant Barbara, brought from Russia through China, were buried in the church. The will of the princess was fulfilled - to be buried on the Mount of Olives. The burial was performed by the Patriarch Damian of Jerusalem.

Princess Alice of Battenberg, mother of Prince Philip, husband of Queen Elizabeth II, is buried in the crypt under the temple.

Gethsemane Monastery
Main article: Gethsemane Monastery
In 1934, a women's community was founded at the church in the name of the Resurrection of Christ. The founder was a wealthy Scot Stella Robinson (Maria in monasticism), a newly converted to Orthodoxy. She also became abbess in 1936. Some of the sisters settled directly at the temple, in the Russian part of the Garden of Gethsemane. Here the community managed to establish daily worship and monastic life, incl. with the help of good connections of the abbess with the British authorities of Mandatory Palestine. Another part of the sisters settled in Bethany, where a Russian school for children of Orthodox Arabs and a hospital were established. The first abbess died in 1969, and in 1970 mother Varvara (Tsvetkova) became abbess. In 1988, the Gethsemane community received the status of a monastery.

 

Architecture, decoration

The seven-domed one-altar temple was built of white-gray Jerusalem stone and is an example of Russian architecture of the Moscow style. The church has a small bell tower. The iconostasis is made of white marble with a bronze ornament, the floor is made of multi-colored marble. Icons for the iconostasis were painted by artists Sergei Ivanov and Vasily Vereshchagin. On the altar arch there is a famous image - "Mary Magdalene before the Roman Emperor Tiberius" by Sergei Ivanov. In addition to Vereshchagin and Ivanov, paintings were carried out by Alexei Korzukhin, Alexander Sokolov, Evgraf Sorokin.

 

Shrines

The miraculous icon of the Mother of God of Gethsemane "Hodegetria". The image, which became famous in 1554 in the village of Rihaniya (Lebanon), was presented as a gift to the Metropolitan of the Lebanese Mountains Elijah. In turn, he gave it to the Gethsemane Monastery, after, according to legend, the Great Martyrs Catherine and Barbara appeared to him.
Relics of the Holy Martyrs Grand Duchess Elizabeth and Nun Barbara. Stored in separate crayfish on both sides of the salt. Initially, after being transferred from China, the bodies were buried in the crypt of the church in accordance with the will of the Grand Duchess. After the glorification of ROCOR as a saint on May 1, 1982, on the day of the celebration of the Week of the Holy Myrrh-bearing Women, their relics were transferred from the crypt to the temple.
Icon of the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Mary Magdalene with a particle of her relics.
Icon of the venerable elders of Optina and the ark with particles of their relics.