Dormition Abbey > Our Community > Greeting Address

Greeting Address by Abbot Benedikt

Dear Readers, dear Friends of the Dormition Abbey,

"One person can change a lot, many can change even more" is the saying. As Abbot of Hagia Maria Sion in Jerusalem I realise more and more, how true this is.

Mount Zion is, according to tradition, the place where Christ celebrated the first Eucharist with his apostles. It was here where he appeared after the Resurrection among his disciples to bid them peace. Here the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles (Acts 2,1-13). It is the place where the Council of the Apostles took place in the year 50 A.D. (Acts 15,1-29). But Mount Zion is best known as the meeting place of the first Christian community where, according to tradition, Mary, the mother of Jesus, fell asleep - hence the name of our church "Dormitio". In this ancient place of the early Christian church and also in Tabgha, the place of the Multiplication of Loaves, we endeavour to serve as a monastic community in the spirit of St. Benedict.

There are ample opportunities to provide this service here. These are examples: following the Benedictine Rule of Hospitality (RB 53) and providing a venue for ecumenical and inter-religious meetings, so important for the enhancement of peace. Through our "Foundation Hagia Maria Sion" and through the planned "Academy of Peace Beit Benedikt" we hope to create further possibilities for encounters of similar kind; maintaining and caring for holy places and visiting pilgrims and tourists; providing a spiritual and theological input to the ecumenical Academic Year for German-speaking students of theology.

We see our monastic presence on Mount Zion as our first task. This is fundamental to all our activities. We consider praising God and interceding with our prayers especially for unity and peace among the people of the Middle East our highest calling.

We thank God, that we receive again and again external assistance without which we would be unable to follow this calling and carry out the tasks set before us. This external help is for us monks and the co-workers of the Abbey an indication, that our community reaches far beyond Mount Zion and includes many benevolent and helpful people. We are very grateful to all of you!

But it is written in Psalm 127: "Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labour in vain". We therefore put all our plans and desires into His hands. For it was God who called us to do His work on Mount Zion. This is why we can be confident that He will sustain us here and not abandon us.

May God bless you. With best greetings from the Benedictine Community on Mount Zion

Yours sincerely,

+ Abbot Benedikt Lindemann OSB