Tuesday, April 1, 2014

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"St. Catherine's Church"
Bethlehem

Monday, ‎December ‎23, ‎2013

Third Day of my Holy Land Trip, Mount Zion, Jerusalem

My Holy Land Trip

"St. Catherine's Church"
next to the church of Nativity
Bethlehem


The Church of St. Catherine can be entered in three different manners: via the north transept; through the underground caves; and passing through the Cloister of St. Jerome. The church, which is part of the complex of the former Crusader monastery, has undergone noteworthy transformations over the years, most recently the modifications carried out on the occasion of the Jubilee Year 2000.

The site, which already in 1347 had been dedicated to St. Catherine of Alexandria, initially was only a small chapel within the Franciscan Convent, corresponding to what today the area of the altar is dedicated to St. Catherine.

The court yard of St. Catherine's Church, next to the church of Nativity:




The ancient structure as it appears in the drawings of Bernardino Amigo underwent major changes, with its area substantially increased over time. The sacred edifice which exists today is very large and well-lit. It consists of a nave and two aisles, with a raised apse where the friars’ choir is located.

The court yard of St. Catherine's Church, next to the church of Nativity:


A Nativity scene is represented on the stained glass windows, a result of the modifications carried out in the year 2000. At the end of the aisle on the right is the altar dedicated to St. Catherine, while to the right, in a recessed area, is the altar of the Virgin with the statue of the Child Jesus, which dates from the 18th century and is used during celebrations of the Christmas Solemnity in Bethlehem.

The court yard of St. Catherine's Church, next to the church of Nativity:


Worthy of note are the Crusader arches preserved at the entrance of the church that have been incorporated in the present structure and formerly were part of what is known as St. Jerome’s Cloister. In this area is a bas-relief donated by the Pope on the occasion of Jubilee 2000.

The court yard of St. Catherine's Church, next to the church of Nativity:


The Church of St Catherine of Alexandria, 19th-century church adjoins the 6th-century Church of the Nativity, built over the cave where Jesus was born. It even shares a wall with the Nativity church. The Church of St Catherine is the parish church for Bethlehem’s Catholics. It is also often used by groups of pilgrims.

The Cloister of St. Jerome, so-named because it allows direct access to the cave dedicated to that Saint, was restored by the Italian architect Antonio Barluzzi in 1947. During this work, Father Bagatti provided assistance to the archaeological surveys of the caves lying below.

For the restoration of the cloister it was necessary to insert new columns where the original ones were missing in order to provide additional support to the structure. This was done in a manner to preserve the original structure, a clear example being the simple and linear modern capitals which alternate with the more richly decorated Crusader ones.

From the Cloister one can enter the Chapel of St. Helena, which is in fact what remains from the base of the Crusader bell tower. The chapel contains 12th century frescoes in a poor state of preservation but very interesting stylistically. From the entrance, to the right of the cloister, can be seen an entry door to the church used by the Latins for the official entries of the Pope, since the right to enter through the principal door is accorded solely to the Custom of the Holy Land and the Patriarchs.

On the opposite side is the entry to the Franciscan Convent, which represents an enlargement of the Crusader monastery. Remaining elements from the Crusader monastery include the entrance hall with pointed arches, the perimeter walls giving access to the north side of the convent, the storeroom and cisterns, some of them dating from even earlier periods.

By passing through the basement of the convent one can enter the place that by tradition is known as the Washing of Jesus.

Statue of St. Jerome, in front of the church of St Catherine:


St Catherine of Alexandria, she has been widely venerated in both East and West, there are few reliable facts about her life. According to the traditional story, this early 4th-century martyr from Egypt was of noble birth and well educated. At the age of 18, she challenged the emperor Maxentius (or his father, the emperor Maximian) for persecuting Christians and worshipping false gods.

A view of the from the Cloister of St. Jerome, the courtyard in front of St. Catherine Church:


The enraged emperor ordered her to be tortured on a wheel — hence the term “Catherine wheel”. But when Catherine touched the wheel, it broke. She was then beheaded and tradition says angels carried her body to Mount Sinai, where in the 6th century a church and monastery were built in her honor.

This latter part of the story was, however, unknown to the earliest pilgrims to the mountain. It was two or three centuries later that the story of St Catherine and the angels began to circulate

The Tree of Jesse in St. Catherine’s Church in Bethlehem:

The bas-relief (a type of sculpture) of the Tree of Jesse is a large work given as a gift by Pope Benedict XVI during his trip to the Holy Land in 2009. The main part of the work signifies an olive tree as the Tree of Jesse. It displays Christ’s ancestry from Abraham through St. Joseph. It is placed along the path used by pilgrims making their way to St. Catherine Church. The piece also integrates symbolism from the Old Testament. Jesus at the top with his arms open wide blessing the Earth.

The Tree of Jesse in St. Catherine’s Church in Bethlehem:


St Catherine of Alexandria has been ranked with St Margaret and St Barbara as one of the 14 “most helpful” saints in heaven. She is also one of the saints reputed to have spoken to St Joan of Arc.

The Bethlehem church dedicated to St Catherine was built in 1882 on the ruins of the Crusader church and monastery belonging to the Augustinians. Beneath the paving of the cloister are the foundations of an earlier monastery, possibly that of St Jerome (whose statue stands on a pedestal in the cloister).

A view of inside the St. Catherine Church:


A door in the southwest corner of the cloister leads to a Crusader chapel. The chapel walls are decorated with remnants of Crusader wall paintings, which were partially restored in 1950. A narrow stairway on the right hand side of the nave leads down into a complex of caves and rock-cut chambers.

A view of inside the St. Catherine Church:


A view of inside the St. Catherine Church:


These contain a number of chapels. They include the Cave of St Jerome, who translated the Vulgate version of the Bible; St Joseph’s Chapel, recalling the dream in which an angel warned Joseph to take the Holy Family to Egypt; and the Chapel of the Holy Innocents, commemorating the children massacred by Herod.







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