Tears of the Lord Catholic Church in Russian is commonly referred to that way, but in reality it is called more dramatic - Dominus Flevit. Translated from Latin, it means "The Lord started to cry." The title refers to the episode described by St. Luke in which Jesus laments the fate of Jerusalem.

Luke tells us that it happened when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. They greeted him enthusiastically, under the hooves of a donkey throwing clothes, the students loudly praising God for all the miracles they had seen. But when approached the city, Jesus, looking at him, burst into tears and said, "come on you days when your enemies will build trenches and encircle you and hem you in on every side, And shall lay thee and thy children within thee, and not leave in thee one stone upon another "(Luke 19: 43-44). About forty years later, in '70, and there was - the Roman legions burned the Temple and razed the city to the ground.

Tradition holds that Jesus prophesied in the western slope of the Mount of Olives (Olives) mountain. Here in 1955 was built a small church of Dominus Flevit. He projected it Barluchchi Antonio - Italian Franciscan friar, who worked on many buildings in the Holy Land.

You can get here on the steep path to the top of the Mount of Olives, or below, from the Basilica of Striving. Not an easy road, but the result is worth the effort.

Dominus Flevit Church, built in the form of tears, looks unusual. It stands on the ruins of a Byzantine chapel of the V century, fragments of an ancient floor can be seen to the left of the entrance, including a very beautiful multicolored mosaic depicting fruit and flowers. During the construction it has also been found burial cave Second Temple times with dozens of stone coffins (normally visitors are allowed to inspect the cave).

Mosaic on the altar at first glance it seems strange - it depicts a chicken, to open the wings of chickens. This is an illustration of yet another episode in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus' words: "Jerusalem! Jerusalem! you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you! how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left to you desolate "(Luke 13: 34-35).

Behind the altar is a large window overlooking the Old City. You can imagine what I saw from this point Jesus wept over Jerusalem: houses, palaces; first and foremost, of course, a huge magnificent Temple (where the Dome of the Rock is now shining). But looking at the beautiful city, he begins to see other paintings: the overthrow of the tower, destroyed buildings remaining from the Temple of the ashes, killed thousands and thousands of refugees scattered among the nations. That is why, filled with sadness, the Lord wept.