This church is built over a cave in which Jesus was said to have taught the disciples the prayer that begins "Our Father who art in heaven" (Latin: "Paternoster qui est in coelis").

The first church on the site, built by Constantine's mother, Queen Helena, was destroyed in the Persian invasion of 614 and a replacement built by the crusaders, but the current edifice dates back only to the 19th century. The walls of the cloister and church are covered in versions of the prayer in just about every major known language, following a similar crusader practice attested to by contemporaneous pilgrimage accounts.




Matthew Chapter 6

 7 “And in praying do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do; for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this:

Our Father who art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread; 12 And forgive us our debts,

As we also have forgiven our debtors; 13 And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from evil. 14 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; 15 but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

The Revised Standard Version, (New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.) 1973, 1977.