Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
According to the Gospels, Jesus prayed among the olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane on his last night before his crucifixion.
Two millennia later, most Catholic Monks and nuns here on the Mount of Olives harvesting crops on terraces overlooking Jerusalem old city View deep work as a form of reverence and prayer.
“Olives have a business,” said the Rev. Diego Dalla Gasa, operating a speedy modern press to make oil from recently harvested olives in the Franciscan hermitage next to Gethsemane. “It must be suppressed and then we will enjoy ‘green gold’.”
Just up from Gethsemane for the Benedictine sisters – which is derived from the word for “oil press” in Aramaic and ancient Jewish -Harvest is also a form of return. He said it’s easy to pray in the beauty of nature — and on a recent morning he had the company of a friendly kitten.
Groups of volunteers ranging from Israelis to Europeans help hand-pick the olives, catching them in nets strung across rooftops. Many said it was also a faith experience for them, especially seeing the holy sites in Jerusalem.
Most of the oils and preserves made at the Mount of Olives are used by religious communities, both in the kitchen and in churches, where the oil has religious uses.
This October, the harvesting of olive trees – a symbol of peace, at least since the Biblical story of Noah’s ark and the dove that brought the olive branch in it – has brought a new sense of hope.
After two years of war, in which hundreds of centuries-old trees were shaken by missile attacks, a tenuous ceasefire holds. holy land,
,
This is a photo gallery curated by AP Photo editors.
,
Associated Press religion coverage is supported by the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from the Lilly Endowment Inc. AP is solely responsible for this content.