June 2010 - Five Franciscan Martyrs Region

three aisles. The north aisle enclosed
the sacred place of the Dormition of
the Virgin Mary, whereas the
Coenaculum was enshrined in the
south-western corner. The Crusaders
probably gave the Coenaculum is actual
structure, at least in its fundamental
aspects, namely a two-storey edifice,
with the Upper Room and the
chapel of the washing of the apostles’
feet and the apparitions of the Risen
Christ underneath (the modern-day
synagogue, with the cenotaph of king
David). The basilica of Mount Zion was
officiated by the Augustinian Canons
Regular.
When Saladin took over
Jerusalem from the Crusades in 1187,
he did not destroy the basilica of
Mount Zion, but permitted the local
Syrian clergy to officiate it. Pilgrims
could still visit the Coenaculum and
Bible Lands
celebrate Mass. In 1294, however, the
Dominican pilgrim Ricoldo di Monte
Croce wrote that the basilica was partially
in ruins and that it had become a
mosque. The Upper Room was probably
left as a Christian place of worship.
In 1333, brother Roger Garin, a
Franciscan from the Aquitaine province,
came to live in Jerusalem at the
Hospital of Saint John, close to the
Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre. Through
the kind services of lady Margaret, a
Sicilian benefactress, who on 15 th May
1335 bought the entire property of
Mount Zion from the Treasury, and
bequeathed parts of it to brother
The Franciscans officiate in the Coenaculum twice a year
Roger on 19 th September 1335, as well
as through the personal interest of
King Robert of Anjou and his wife
Sancha of Majorca, sovereigns of
Naples, of whom brother Roger was
representative, the Franciscans even-
6 THE LAND OF THE PROMISE - June 2010