 | Cenacle( The ) and Evangelization 
The Cenacle is divided by three pillars into three naves.
The pillars and the arches, windows and other Gothic style
architectural elements are a clear indication the room was built
by the Crusaders in the early 13th century, on top of a much older structure. The older structure, according to the archaeological research,
was the first church-synagogue of the early Christian community of Jerusalem.
1. | History of the building In 70 A.D. the Roman general Titus suppressed the First Jewish Revolt (66-70 A.D.) by utterly destroying Jerusalem and burning the Temple. The first-century historian Josephus tells us that the destruction reached the farthest corners of the city and was so complete that someone passing by would not know a city ever stood there. The Judeo-Christians (so are called the first Christians in Jerusalem who were all Jews) had to flee the city. After a few years, the policy of the Roman Emperor towards the Jews changed and some returned to Jerusalem.
The Judeo-Christians who returned to Jerusalem, visited the “Upper Room”, the place where the Church was born. They began gathering there and there they built their first Christian Synagogue. It was between the year 70 and 132 A.D. Early Church writers identified this Judeo-Christian synagogue as the Church of the Apostles. It was later destroyed by Persian invaders in 614 A.D. and rebuilt by a monk called Modestus. It was partially destroyed by Muslims in 1009. During the Crusades, the building was razed to the ground by Muslims and replaced by the Crusaders with a basilica. Franciscan monks cared for the Cenacle from 1333 to 1552 when the Turks captured Jerusalem and banished all Christians.
After the Franciscan friars' eviction, this room was transformed into a mosque. Christians were not allowed to return until the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948.
The ancient site on top of which the Crusaders built the present Gothic style Basilica, represents the most ancient Christian Church in Christian history. | 2. | Christian Meaning of the building
“Cenacle” is the traditional Latin term for the Upper Room, or the site of the Last Supper. This word is a derivative of the Latin word “cena” which means supper.
In Christian tradition, this was the site where Jesus ate the last Passover meal with his apostles. Here Jesus celebrated the first Christian Eucharist and gave to his apostles the authority to continue to perform the same ritual until His coming in glory. This place is particularly linked to evangelization because it was here, according to the Gospel of John (20) that Mary Magdalene, after having seen and spoken to the risen Jesus at the tomb, rushed to announce to the apostles that Jesus had really risen.
It was in this upper room that Jesus appeared to his apostles on the evening of the day of His resurrection, breathed unto them His Holy Spirit and sent them to announce His Gospel.
The two disciples, who had recognized the risen Jesus at Emmaus, hurried back to this room to announce to everyone that they had seen the risen Lord (Luke 24).
It was in this upper room where the apostles together with Mary the mother of Jesus, were praying when the Holy Spirit descended upon them on Pentecost and gave them the gift of tongues to announce the Gospel to the people of different nations present in Jerusalem in those days. It was here that Peter, the leader of the 12 apostles, began the proclamation of the Gospel, as stated in Acts 2. |
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