Cenacle of Jerusalem

CENACLE OF JERUSALEM. - A hall in Gothic style inside the Mohammedan mosque called Nebi Dâ'ûd ("prophet David"), to the southwest of Jerusalem, outside the present walls, on the hill called Zion. This mosque has two stories; on the lower story, to which no non-Muslim may have access, the followers of Islam venerate the tomb of David. The upper floor comprises two parts; in the western part of the hall Christians today venerate the place of the institution of the Eucharist, while in the smaller, eastern part, inaccessible to them, they venerate the place of the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

It is still disputed whether it is the same place where Jesus instituted the Eucharist, where the Risen Lord appeared several times and where the outpouring of the Holy Spirit took place. From the first Christian centuries on Mount Zion there stood a small church called "of the Apostles"; writers of the 4th century attest that in it the descent of the Holy Spirit was venerated, while they are silent about the institution of the Eucharist. Thus St. Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem (Cateches., 16: D. Baldi, Enchiridion Locorum Sanctorum, Jerusalem 1935, no. 370, p. 602), the Peregrinatio Aetheriae (D. Baldi, op. cit., no. 732, pp. 603-605) and St. Epiphanius (De mensuris et ponderibus, 14: D. Baldi, op. cit., no. 733, pp. 605-607). The texts of the New Testament are not decisive. Mk. 14:15 and Lk. 22:12 call the hall of the institution of the Eucharist ἀνάγαιον (= upper part of the house, upper room). When the Apostles after the Ascension returned to Jerusalem, they went up εἰς τὸ ὑπερῷον, which also means "upper room." The Vulgate has cenaculum in both places. In the same place the risen Jesus appeared to the Apostles, they chose St. Matthias and received the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:15-26; 2). If from these texts the identity of the hall cannot be deduced, neither can it be deduced that these were different halls. On the other hand, witnesses of the tradition from the 4th century onward affirm that in the said church the memory of the institution of the Eucharist was also celebrated: the Didascalia of Addai (D. Baldi, op. cit., no. 733, p. 606, note 2), Epistle 53 of St. Jerome (D. Baldi, op. cit., no. 734, p. 607). From the 5th century onward the testimonies in favor of the identification continually increase. Moreover, pilgrims relate that in the church of Zion the house of Mary, mother of John Mark, was also venerated; others see there also the house of James; the column of the flagellation was also venerated there, and from 415 the body of St. Stephen rested there. The house of the evangelist St. John and the place where the Madonna died were also located on Zion. The primitive small church, around the year 400, was transformed into a great basilica which received different names from different writers: "house of God," "Holy Zion," "mother of all churches." This basilica suffered greatly from the incursion of the Persians (614) and in 966 was set on fire by the Jews and Muslims, but was rebuilt by the Crusaders as a double church. This was destroyed in 1219. Around 1335 King Robert of Naples obtained the C. from the sultan of Egypt for the Catholic Church; and his spouse, the pious

Queen Sancia, built next to the C. a convent for the Friars Minor. But in 1552 the latter were expelled and the C. was reduced to a mosque. Only in March 1936 were they able to return next to the C., beside which they built a small convent and a small church.

Arduino Kleinhans