Church of All Nations (Gethsemane)
At the Garden of Gethsemane, enshrining the rock where Jesus is said to have prayed before his arrest.
Plan a trip hereThe Story
At the foot of the Mount of Olives, facing the walls of Jerusalem, the Church of All Nations rises over the Garden of Gethsemane, where the Gospels record that Jesus prayed in agony on the night before his Passion and was betrayed and arrested (Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22). The name Gethsemane derives from the Aramaic for "oil press," and the garden preserves a grove of ancient olive trees; botanical studies have dated some trunks to the Middle Ages, and tradition holds that they descend from the trees of Jesus' time. Christian veneration of the site is ancient: the pilgrim Egeria described a church here in the fourth century, and its Byzantine foundations, together with those of a twelfth-century Crusader church, lie beneath the present building. The Church of All Nations, formally the Basilica of the Agony, was built between 1919 and 1924 to the design of Antonio Barluzzi with contributions from many nations, whose emblems adorn its ceiling. Its violet-blue mosaics and alabaster windows keep the interior in a perpetual twilight evoking the night of the Agony. Before the altar lies the bare Rock of the Agony, venerated as the place where, according to tradition, Jesus prayed, "Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will but yours be done" (Luke 22:42). Entrusted to the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Gethsemane is among the most moving stops of any Holy Land pilgrimage. Pilgrims keep Holy Hours before the rock, walk among the ancient olives, and on Holy Thursday join the traditional evening vigil recalling the Lord's agony and arrest.
Church Recognition
The Church of All Nations, known as the Basilica of the Agony, is one of the principal Holy Land sanctuaries entrusted to the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, on a site venerated by Christians since at least the fourth century.
Catholic Teaching
Gethsemane draws the faithful into the mystery of Christ's agony, in which the Son freely embraced the Father's will for our salvation (CCC 612), and it remains the great school of prayer in trial: watching one hour with the Lord, "not my will but yours be done" (CCC 2719, 2824).
Plan Your Visit
Practical
Additional Information
Ancient olive trees and the Rock of the Agony draw pilgrims at the foot of the Mount of Olives.
Go Deeper
The Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land's website (https://www.custodia.org) presents the sanctuary of Gethsemane; pray with the Gospel accounts of the Agony (Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22) and the Catechism on Christ's redemptive obedience (CCC 612).
Location
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In the Area
Other sacred sites within 40 miles.