Deir Rafat (, ), also known as the Shrine of Our Lady Queen of Palestine and of the Holy Land, is a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

monastery in central

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

. Located to the north-west of

Beit Shemesh Beit Shemesh () is a city council (Israel), city located approximately west of Jerusalem in Israel's Jerusalem District. A center of Haredi Judaism and Modern Orthodoxy, Beit Shemesh has a population of 170,683 as of 2024. The city is named afte ...

, between Givat Shemesh and kibbutz

Tzora Tzora () is a kibbutz in central Israel. Located about 20 km from Jerusalem, near the city of Beit Shemesh, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In it had a population of . Etymology The kibbutz is named for th ...

to the south and

Kfar Uria Kfar Uria () is a moshav in central Israel. Located near Beit Shemesh in the Shephelah. It falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The place was originally called "Kiryat Moshe", after M ...

to the north, it falls under the

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' and 'speech' or 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, the concept of jurisdiction applies at multiple level ...

Mateh Yehuda Regional Council Mateh Yehuda Regional Council (, ''Mo'atza Azorit Mateh Yehuda'', ) is a Regional council (Israel), regional council in the Jerusalem District of Israel. In 2024 it was home to 51,125 people. The name of the regional council stems from the fact t ...

. In , it had a population of .

History

The monastery was established in 1927, under the then British Mandate of Palestine, by the Latin Patriarch Luigi Barlassina and contained a boarding school, an orphanage and convent. Currently the convent is running a guest house and a retreat center for believers and Holy Land pilgrims. The façade of the convent church bears the Latin inscription "Reginæ Palæstinæ", lit. "to the Queen of Palestine", and carries a 6-metre statue of the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

. The church ceiling is decorated with a painting showing angels carrying banners with the first words of the

Hail Mary The Hail Mary or Ave Maria (from its first words in Latin), also known as the Angelic or Angelical Salutation, is a traditional Catholic prayer addressing Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical passages featured in the ...

prayer in 280 languages.Monastère Notre-Dame de Palestine: Deir Rafat
Monastic Family of BethlehemThe Shrine of Our Lady "Queen of Palestine" and the Holy Land at Rafat
LPJ Since 2009, the convent is in the care of the female branch of the Catholic order known as "the

Monastic Family of Bethlehem, of the Assumption of the Virgin and of Saint Bruno The Monastic Family of Bethlehem, of the Assumption of the Virgin and of Saint Bruno – or simply known as Monastic Brothers of Bethlehem and Monastic Sisters of Bethlehem – is a Religious institute, Roman Catholic institute of consecrated life. ...

", called the monastic Sisters of Bethlehem. File:Deir Rafat doors.jpg, Wooden doors with "Ave Maria" carving in different languages File:PC160010.JPG, Church interior File:DeirRafatNov172021 01.jpg, Deir Rafat File:DeirRafatNov172021 02.jpg, Deir Rafat compound

References

Bibliography

* * (pp
154
5) * * * (p
20

External links

*Survey of Western Palestine, Map 17
IAA

Wikimedia commons Wikimedia Commons, or simply Commons, is a wiki-based Digital library, media repository of Open content, free-to-use images, sounds, videos and other media. It is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation. Files from Wikimedia Commons can be used ...

{{Mateh Yehuda Regional Council Roman Catholic monasteries in Israel Catholicism in Israel Populated places established in 1927 Christian monasteries established in the 20th century Populated places in Jerusalem District Buildings and structures in Jerusalem District 1927 establishments in Mandatory Palestine