As a Hen Gathers Her Chicks

The church at Dominus Flevit is shaped like a teardrop, honoring the tears Jesus wept at this place.  The focal point from within the chapel is a great window under an arched ceiling, with iron rays emanating from the silhouette of the bread and cup of the Eucharist, behind the altar at the forefront of the oratory.  The window frames the vision of the Old City in the distance, with the city wall and the golden surface of the Dome of the Rock in the forefront, and in the center, more distant, the two gray domes of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. 

Before the great window, the altar, covered with a white cloth embroidered with green leaves and pink flowers, bears a wonderful circular mosaic, in hues of white, gray, orange, rust, and scarlet, of a haloed hen chicken with wings spread and outstretched surrounding and protecting her little yellow chicks.  Circled around the maternal scene are Jesus’ words from Luke 13:34, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, qoties volvi congragare filios tuos quemadmodum gallina congrgat puilos suos sub alas.  Et nolvisti?”  Latin translated to English:  “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, How many times I have turned to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.  And you didn’t know?”