From this small plot of land to the Last Supper there are only a handful of meters. This extreme proximity to the place where the Last Supper took place is what makes the mass at the Franciscan monastery of the Last Supper that closes the feast of Corpus Christi in Jerusalem so special.
Br FRANCESCO PATTON, ofm
Custos of the Holy Land
"We come here precisely because the Upper Room, the "Cenacolino", is very close to the Cenacle, and since we are no longer present at the Cenacle we celebrate here the feast of Corpus Christi. This brings us back to that holy Thursday when Jesus instituted the Eucharist, the Sacrament of His Body and Blood given for us."
After the celebration, the procession with the Blessed Sacrament touches the most significant places of the Cenacolino.
Br NOEL MUSCAT, ofm
Superior Convent of the Cenacolino
"Here we have a small convent, but first of all we have two churches: the upper church behind me, at the top - it is the original church of the convent dedicated to the Eucharist - and then the small chapel - where we finished the procession with the last blessing - dedicated to the Holy Spirit. In the garden, we stopped for the second time in a small place, made as a place of gathering, prayer, in the open air."
Mount Zion is also the first seat of the Custody of the Holy Land: here the Franciscan friars lived from 1333 to 1551, when they were driven out by force. Meanwhile, in 1342, Pope Clement VI officially entrusted them with the task of guarding the Holy Places.
Br FRANCESCO PATTON, ofm
Custos of the Holy Land
"We always carry in our hearts the hope of being able, one day, to return to this place, which still bears the signs of the Franciscan presence from a physical point of view: if you go to the Last Supper and even in the part that was the friary built by the friars, you can still see carved on the walls and in stone those that are the symbols of the Custody itself. For us, it is a place that has a very special place in our hearts."
