Rare Visit and Prayer Request at The Monastery on Top of Mount of Olives

The Mount of Olives

The Mount of Olives stands east of the old city of Jerusalem and at 826 meters above see level, it is higher. The mount has served as a cemetery of over 3,000 years. It is the exact location where Jesus ascended to heaven. As such, this holy site has been a place of worship since ancient times and Christians from all over the world view it as a major site of pilgrimage.

The Mount of Olives is named after the olive groves that used to cover it. Today, there are just a few last remaining olive trees still nurtured. But they are hidden and inaccessible behind the walls of the oldest monastery on the mountain, which rarely opens its doors.

The Monastery of the Benedictine Sisters

Since October 1896, over 125 years ago, a lone contemplative monastery stands on the top of the mountain. This is the home of the Congregation of Benedictine Sisters of Our Lady of Calvary. The first seven sisters came to Jerusalem from France and until today French is the common language. These days, five sisters live in the monastery, all of them for over 20 years, rarely exiting the old walls surrounding the place.

Except for urgent medical care, the sisters do not leave the monastery. And apart for an annual visit of pilgrims from Italy, no visitors enter the monastery. The Benedictine monastery stands like a time capsule in the heart of Jerusalem.

The sisters devote their time to prayers, contemplation, and to their expertise – writing beautiful Christian iconography (and they insist that they write and not paint this magnificent art).

Prayer Request at the Monastery

This year, due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, the annual visit of pilgrims did not happen, for the first time in many years. The sisters count on these visitors to help with picking the olives and paying a humble donation. This is the main source of income for the monastery.

And thus, under these rare circumstances, very few visitors from Israel were allowed into the monastery. All were Israeli volunteers who came to help with the olives. Among them, a delegate from The Salvation Garden was invited as well, to help with the olives and deliver an urgent prayer request at this holy site.

Olive Oil from the Mount of Olives

We’re thrilled to update that a close friendship was founded, with hopes for future visits as well. Also, we purchased the rarest of all olive oil. The only olive oil in the world made out of olives from the Mount of Olives. It doesn’t get any better than this.

While we can’t promise to deliver your prayer request at this specific holy site, since it is closed to visitors most of the year, we do visit regularly the holy churches of Jerusalem. For an urgent prayer request, we even hurry to pray for you within 24 hours.

Please click here to fill your own prayer request for the churches of the Holy Land