Where is the last supper of Leonardo da Vinci. About the Last Supper

In the 3rd century, during the reign of the Roman emperor Decius, a pagan sage, the famous sorcerer Cyprian, lived in Antioch. He appeased the prince of darkness himself with sacrifices, gave him all of himself into power, and he gave him a regiment of demons to serve and promised to make him a prince upon his departure from the body. Many turned to him in their needs, and he helped them with demonic power. One day a young man named Aglaid, the son of rich and noble parents, turned to him. One day he saw the girl Justina and was struck by her beauty, and from then on he began to seek her favor and love, but she refused him: “My groom is Christ; I serve Him and for His sake I preserve my purity.”

Martyrs Cyprian and Justina. Icon with life, late XVIII century. Russia

Armed secret knowledge and calling upon unclean spirits for help, Cyprian sent them three times to seduce Justina. They inspired her with evil thoughts, kindled carnal passion in her, tempted her with flattering and crafty speeches, but Justina defeated them with fasting, prayer and the sign of the cross, and, disgraced and frightened by the cross of the Lord, they fled in shame. Cyprian was then indignant and began to take revenge on Justina for his shame. He sent pestilence and plagues to the house of Justina and to the whole city, just as the devil once did to the righteous Job.

MS Note. According to another version, the appearance of an epidemic in the city coincided with these events, and at the same time a rumor was spread that the powerful sorcerer Cyprian, who failed in his sorcery, was taking revenge on the whole city for opposing Justinia, bringing a fatal disease to everyone. After which the frightened people approached Justinia as the culprit of the public disaster and convinced her to satisfy the sorcerer - to marry Aglaid.

She prayed earnestly, and the demonic obsession stopped. After such a change, people began to glorify Christ, and Cyprian, having received his sight, renounced the works of the devil, confessed everything to the local bishop Anthimus, gave him all his books to burn and begged him to perform holy baptism on him,

This victory and the triumph of the Christian woman were at the same time a complete disgrace to Cyprian, who considered himself a powerful sorcerer and boasted of his knowledge of the secrets of nature.

But this also served to save a person gifted with a strong mind, which, mainly through error, was wasted on unworthy use. Cyprian realized that there was something higher than his knowledge and mysterious art, than that dark force, on whose help he counted, trying to amaze the unenlightened crowd. He realized that all this was nothing compared to the knowledge of the God whom Justinia confesses.

Seeing that all his means are powerless against weak creature- a young girl, armed only with prayer and the sign of the cross, Cyprian comprehended the meaning of these two truly omnipotent weapons. He came to the Christian bishop Anthimus († 302; commemorated September 3/16), told him about his errors and asked him to teach him the truths of the Christian faith in order to prepare for the one true path, revealed by the Son God, and then accepted holy baptism. A year later he was made a priest, and then a bishop, while Justinia was ordained a deaconesses and made head of the community of Christian virgins.

Inspired by a fiery love for God, Cyprian and Justinia did much to spread and establish Christian teaching. This brought upon them the wrath of the opponents and persecutors of Christianity. Having received a denunciation that Cyprian and Justinia were turning the people away from the gods, the governor of that region, Eutolmius, seized them and ordered them to be tortured for their faith in Christ, which they unshakably confessed. Then he sent them to the Roman emperor, who was at that time in Nicomedia, by whose order they were beheaded with the sword.

He completely changed his life; seven days after baptism he was made a reader, twenty days later a subdeacon, thirty days a deacon, and a year later he was ordained a priest. He was soon made a bishop and in this rank he led such a holy life that he became equal to many great saints.

During the persecution of Christians under the emperor Diocletian, Cyprian and Justina were slandered, put in prison, then they ordered the saint to be hanged and his body flogged, and Justina to be beaten on the lips and eyes. After this they were thrown into a cauldron, but the boiling cauldron did not cause them any harm. In the end, they were condemned to be beheaded by the sword.

Seeing the innocent death of the martyrs, the warrior Theoktist declared himself a Christian and was executed along with them.

The Hieromartyr Cyprian and the Martyr Justinia were already venerated by the ancient Church. Saint Gregory of Nazianzus († 389; commemorated on January 25 and 30) speaks about them in one of his sermons. Empress Eudokia, the wife of the Byzantine emperor Theodosius the Younger, wrote a poem in their honor around 425.

Hieromartyr Cyprian and Martyr Justina. Miniature Minology for October, mid-11th century. Byzantium

“Having turned from magical art, O wise God, to the knowledge of the Divine,” the Church sings in the kontakion to the holy martyrs, “you have appeared to the world as the wisest physician, granting healing to those who honor you, Cyprian and Justina, who prayed to the Lover of Mankind to save our souls.”

Plot

The Last Supper is the last meal of Jesus Christ with his 12 disciples. That evening, Jesus established the sacrament of the Eucharist, which consisted of the consecration of bread and wine, and preached about humility and love. Key event evening - a prediction about the betrayal of one of the students.

The closest companions of Jesus - those same apostles - are depicted in groups around Christ, sitting in the center. Bartholomew, Jacob Alfeev and Andrey; then Judas Iscariot, Peter and John; then Thomas, James Zebedee and Philip; and the last three are Matthew, Judas Thaddeus and Simon.

According to one version, according to right hand The closest person from Christ is not John, but Mary Magdalene. If we follow this hypothesis, then her position points to marriage with Christ. This is supported by the fact that Mary Magdalene washed Christ’s feet and dried them with her hair. Only a legal wife could do this.

Nikolai Ge “The Last Supper”, 1863

It is not known exactly what moment of the evening Da Vinci wanted to depict. Probably the reaction of the apostles to the words of Jesus about the impending betrayal of one of the disciples. The argument is the gesture of Christ: according to the prediction, the traitor will stretch out his hand to the food at the same time as the son of God, and the only “candidate” is Judas.

The images of Jesus and Judas were more difficult for Leonardo than others. The artist could not find suitable models. As a result, he based Christ on a singer in a church choir, and Judas on a drunken tramp, who, by the way, was also a singer in the past. There is even a version that Jesus and Judas were based on the same person at different periods of his life.

Context

For the end of the 15th century, when the fresco was created, the reproduced depth of perspective was a revolution that changed the direction of development Western painting. To be precise, “The Last Supper” is, rather, not a fresco, but a painting. The fact is that technically it was made on a dry wall, and not on wet plaster, as is the case with frescoes. Leonardo did this so that the images could be corrected. The fresco technique does not give the author the right to make mistakes.

Da Vinci received an order from his regular client, Duke Lodovico Sforza. The latter’s wife, Beatrice d’Este, who patiently endured her husband’s unbridled love for libertines, eventually died suddenly. The Last Supper was a kind of last will deceased.

Lodovico Sforza

Less than 20 years after the creation of the fresco, Da Vinci's work began to crumble due to humidity. After another 40 years it was almost impossible to recognize the figures. Apparently, contemporaries were not particularly worried about the fate of the work. On the contrary, they in every possible way, wittingly or unwittingly, only worsened his condition. So, in the middle of the 17th century, when the churchmen needed a passage in the wall, they made it in such a way that Jesus lost his legs. Later, the opening was blocked with bricks, but the legs could not be restored.

The French king Francis I was so impressed by the work that he seriously thought about transporting it to his home. And during World War II, the fresco miraculously survived - a shell that hit the church building destroyed everything except the wall with Da Vinci’s work.

Santa Maria delle Grazie

“The Last Supper” was repeatedly tried to be restored, although not particularly successfully. As a result, by the 1970s it became obvious that it was time to act decisively, otherwise the masterpiece would be lost. Colossal work has been carried out over 21 years. Today, visitors to the refectory have only 15 minutes to contemplate the masterpiece, and tickets, of course, must be purchased in advance.

One of the geniuses of the Renaissance, a universal man, was born near Florence - a place where, at the turn of the 15th-16th centuries, cultural, political and economic life was extremely intense. Thanks to the families of patrons (such as the Sforza and the Medici), who generously paid for art, Leonardo was able to create freely.

Da Vinci statue in Florence

Da Vinci wasn't high educated person. But him notebooks allow us to speak of him as a genius whose range of interests extended extremely widely. Painting, sculpture, architecture, engineering, anatomy, philosophy. And so on and so forth. And the most important thing here is not the number of hobbies, but the degree of involvement in them. Da Vinci was an innovator. His progressive thought overturned the ideas of his contemporaries and set a new vector for the development of culture.

Leonardo da Vinci is the most mysterious and unstudied personality of past years. Some ascribe to him a gift from God and canonize him as a saint, while others, on the contrary, consider him an atheist who sold his soul to the devil. But the genius of the great Italian is undeniable, since everything that the hand of the great painter and engineer ever touched was instantly filled with hidden meaning. Today we will talk about famous work"The Last Supper" and the many secrets it hides.

Location and history of creation:

Famous fresco located in the church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, located in the square of the same name in Milan. Or rather, on one of the walls of the refectory. According to historians, the artist specifically depicted in the picture exactly the same table and dishes that were in the church at that time. By this he tried to show that Jesus and Judas (good and evil) are much closer to people than they seem.

The painter received the order to paint the work from his patron, the Duke of Milan Ludovico Sforza in 1495. The ruler was famous for his dissolute life and youth was surrounded by young bacchantes. The situation did not change at all because the Duke had a beautiful and modest wife, Beatrice d’Este, who sincerely loved her husband and, due to her meek disposition, could not contradict his way of life. It must be admitted that Ludovico Sforza sincerely revered his wife and was attached to her in his own way. But the dissolute duke felt the true power of love only at the moment of the sudden death of his wife. The man's grief was so great that he did not leave his room for 15 days. And when he came out, the first thing he did was order a fresco from Leonardo da Vinci, which his late wife had once asked for, and forever stopped all entertainment at court.

Pictured is the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie.

The work was completed in 1498. Its dimensions were 880 by 460 cm. Many connoisseurs of the artist’s work agreed that “The Last Supper” can best be viewed if you move 9 meters to the side and rise 3.5 meters up. Moreover, there is something to see. Already during the author's lifetime, the fresco was considered his best work. Although, calling the painting a fresco would be incorrect. The fact is that Leonardo da Vinci wrote the work not on wet plaster, but on dry plaster, in order to be able to edit it several times. To do this, the artist applied a thick layer of egg tempra to the wall, which subsequently did a disservice, beginning to collapse just 20 years after the painting was painted. But more on that later.

The photo shows the Last Supper in the refectory.

Idea of ​​the piece:

"The Last Supper" depicts the latter Easter dinner Jesus Christ with his disciples and apostles, which took place in Jerusalem on the eve of his arrest by the Romans. According to scripture, Jesus said during a meal that one of the apostles would betray him. Leonardo da Vinci tried to depict the reaction of each of the students to the prophetic phrase of the Teacher. To do this, he walked around the city, talked to ordinary people, made them laugh, upset them, and encouraged them. And at the same time he observed the emotions on their faces. The author's goal was to depict the famous dinner from a purely human point of view. That is why he depicted everyone present in a row and did not draw a halo above anyone’s head (as other artists liked to do)

Pictured: Sketch of the Last Supper

1. According to historians, Leonardo da Vinci had the hardest time writing two characters: Jesus and Judas. The artist tried to make them the embodiment of good and evil, so for a long time he could not find suitable models. One day, an Italian saw a young singer in a church choir - so spiritual and pure that there was no doubt: here he was - the prototype of Jesus for his “Last Supper”. But, despite the fact that the image of the Teacher was painted, Leonardo da Vinci corrected it for a long time, considering it insufficiently perfect.

The last unwritten character in the picture was Judas. The artist spent hours wandering around the most hot spots, looking for a model for writing among degraded people. And now, almost 3 years later, he got lucky. An absolutely degenerate guy was lying in a ditch, in a state of severe alcoholic intoxication. The artist ordered him to be brought to the studio. The man could hardly stand on his feet and had no idea where he was. However, after the image of Judas was painted, the drunkard approached the picture and admitted that he had already seen it before. To the author’s bewilderment, the man replied that three years ago he was completely different, led correct image life and sang in the church choir. It was then that some artist approached him with a proposal to paint Christ from him. Thus, according to historians, Jesus and Judas were based on the same person at different periods of his life. This once again emphasizes the fact that good and evil go so close that sometimes the line between them is imperceptible.

By the way, while working, Leonardo da Vinci was distracted by the abbot of the monastery, who constantly hurried the artist and argued that he should paint a picture for days, and not stand in front of it in thought. One day the painter could not stand it and promised the abbot to write off Judas from him if he did not stop interfering in creative process.

The photo shows Jesus and Mary Magdalene.

2. The most discussed secret of the fresco is the figure of the disciple located at the right hand of Christ. It is believed that this is none other than Mary Magdalene and her location indicates the fact that she was not Jesus' mistress, as is commonly believed, but his legal wife. This fact is confirmed by the letter “M”, which is formed by the contours of the couple’s bodies. Supposedly it means the word "Matrimonio", which translated means "marriage". Some historians argue with this statement and insist that Leonardo da Vinci's signature - the letter "V" - is visible in the painting. The first statement is supported by the mention that Mary Magdalene washed Christ’s feet and dried them with her hair. According to traditions, only a legal wife could do this. Moreover, it is believed that the woman was pregnant at the time of her husband’s execution and subsequently gave birth to a daughter, Sarah, who marked the beginning of the Merovingian dynasty.

3. Some scholars argue that the unusual arrangement of the students in the picture is not accidental. They say that Leonardo da Vinci placed people according to... zodiac signs. According to this legend, Jesus was a Capricorn and his beloved Mary Magdalene was a virgin.

Pictured is Mary Magdalene

4. It is impossible not to mention the fact that during the bombing during the Second World War, a shell that hit the church building destroyed almost everything except the wall on which the fresco was depicted. Although, the people themselves not only did not take care of the work, but also treated it in a truly barbaric manner. In 1500, a flood in the church caused irreparable damage to the painting. But instead of restoring the masterpiece, in 1566 the monks made a door in the wall depicting the Last Supper, which “cut off” the characters’ legs. A little later, the Milanese coat of arms was hung over the Savior’s head. And at the end of the 17th century, the refectory was turned into a stable. The already dilapidated fresco was covered with manure, and the French competed with each other: who would hit the head of one of the apostles with a brick. However, The Last Supper also had fans. The French king Francis I was so impressed by the work that he seriously thought about how to transport it to his home.

The photo shows the Last Supper fresco.

5. No less interesting are the thoughts of historians about the food depicted on the table. For example, near Judas Leonardo da Vinci depicted an overturned salt shaker (which at all times was considered bad omen), as well as an empty plate. But the biggest point of controversy is still the fish in the picture. Contemporaries still cannot agree on what is painted on the fresco - a herring or an eel. Scientists believe that this ambiguity is not accidental. The artist specially encrypted in the painting hidden meaning. The fact is that in Italian “eel” is pronounced “aringa”. We add one more letter, and we get a completely different word - “arringa” (instruction). At the same time, the word “herring” is pronounced in northern Italy as "renga", which means "one who denies religion". For the atheist artist, the second interpretation is closer.

As you can see, in one single picture there are hidden many secrets and understatements, which more than one generation has been struggling to uncover. Many of them will remain unsolved.

"The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci is perhaps one of the top 3 most mysterious and controversial works famous Italian. A fresco that is not essentially a fresco. An experiment lasting three years. A fertile field for speculation about the meaning of symbols and authentic personalities depicted. An impossible challenge for restorers. All this is about one of the most famous works art in the world.

Bad luck begins: who ordered Leonardo's "Last Supper"

He also paid a lot of attention to the development Agriculture, industry, science and culture. Of the painters, he particularly favored Leonardo da Vinci. His brush belongs to the portrait of Lodovico’s mistress and mother of his son Cecilia (Cecilia) Gallerani, better known as “The Lady with an Ermine”. Presumably, the painter immortalized the Duke's legal wife Beatrice d'Este, as well as his second favorite and the mother of another illegitimate son, Lucrezia Crivelli.

Lodovico's home church was the chapel at the Dominican monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie, and its abbot was a close friend of the duke. The ruler of Milan became a sponsor large-scale reconstruction church, which he saw as a future mausoleum and monument to the Sforza dynasty. The vanity plans were exacerbated by the sudden death of his wife Beatrice and daughter Bianca in 1497, two years after Leonardo began work on The Last Supper.

In 1495, when the painter received an order to paint one of the walls of the refectory chapel with a nine-meter fresco with the popular gospel story, telling about last meeting Christ with the Apostles, where he first revealed the sacrament of the Eucharist to his disciples, no one could even suspect what a long and difficult fate awaited her.

Experimental art of Leonardo da Vinci

Instead of using the good old technique of applying tempera to fresh plaster (in fact, which gave the name to the fresco, which comes from the Italian fresco - “fresh”), Leonardo began to experiment. The subject of his experiments consistently became literally all the factors and stages involved in the creation of frescoes, starting from the construction of scaffolding, for which he tried to invent his own mechanisms, and ending with the composition of plaster and paints.

Firstly, the method of working on wet plaster was categorically not suitable for him, which set quite quickly and did not allow him to thoughtfully work on each fragment and endlessly refine it, bringing it to perfection, as Leonardo da Vinci usually painted his paintings. Secondly, traditional egg tempera did not provide the degree of brightness of the colors he needed, since it faded somewhat and changed color when drying. And mixing pigments with oil made it possible to obtain more expressive and brilliant paints. In addition, it was possible to achieve different densities of shades: from very thick and opaque to thin, luminous. This perfectly corresponded to da Vinci’s love for creating filigree light and shadow effects and his signature sfumato technique.

But that's not all. In order to make the oil emulsion more suitable for the requirements of wall painting, the painter decides to add egg yolk to it, thus obtaining a hitherto unprecedented composition of “oil tempera”. As time will tell, in the long term the bold experiment did not justify itself.

It’s time to do: the long history of the creation of “The Last Supper”

Secondly, the long process meant a corresponding increase in financial costs for the painting, especially since a whole team worked on it. Volume only preparatory work the application of plaster, primer and white lead coating involves the involvement of all members of the Leonardo studio.

The abbot's patience gradually came to an end, and he complained to the duke about the slowness and laziness of the artist. According to the legend cited by Vasari in his Lives, da Vinci answered Lodovico in his defense that he could not find a suitable scoundrel to serve as a model for Judas. And that if a person of the required degree of disgusting is never found, he “he can always use the head of this abbot, so annoying and immodest”.

There is another legend about the sitter who posed for the painting of Judas. So beautiful that if the situation is far from reality, it would be worth inventing it. The artist seemed to be looking for his Judas among the very dregs of society, and in the end he chose the last drunkard from the gutter. The “model” could barely stand on her feet and didn’t think much, but when the image of Judas was ready, the drunkard peered at the painting and said that he had already had to pose for her before.

It turned out that three years before these events, when he was a young and chaste singer in a church choir, a certain painter noticed him and offered him the role of a model for the image of Christ. It turns out that the same person, at different periods of his life, happened to be both the embodiment of absolute purity and love, and the prototype of the greatest fall and betrayal. Beautiful parable about the fragile boundaries between good and evil and how hard it is to climb up and easy to slide down.

Escaping beauty: how many Leonardos are left in The Last Supper?

Numerous restorations and attempts to save the painting by the legendary Italian only aggravated the losses. British art critic Kenneth Clark in the 30s of the last century examined preparatory sketches and early copies of “The Last Supper” made by artists who took part in its creation. He compared them with what remained of the fresco, and his conclusions were disappointing: “Exaggerated grimacing faces, as if descended from Michelangelo’s Last Judgment,” belonged to the brush of a feeble mannerist of the 16th century.”.

The last and most extensive restoration was completed in 1999. It took about two decades and required an investment of more than 20 billion lire. And no wonder: the restorers had to work more delicately than jewelry: it was necessary to remove all the layers of early restorations, without damaging the crumbs that remained from the original painting. Supervisor restoration work I recalled that the fresco was treated like this, “as if she were a real invalid”.

Despite the voices of critics that as a result, the Last Supper has lost the “spirit of the original,” today it is still closer to what the monks of the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie saw before them during the meal. The main paradox is that one of the most famous and recognizable works of art in the world contains only no more than 20 percent of the original.

In fact, this is now the embodiment of a collective interpretation of Leonardo da Vinci’s design, obtained through painstaking research and analysis of all available information. But, as often and densely happens in art world, the difficult fate of the exhibit only adds points and value to it (remember the story of the abduction and discovery of Davinci’s Mona Lisa, which brought her to the absolute top of mass culture).

On the fifth day after the Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, on Thursday, the disciples asked Jesus Christ: “Where do you tell us to prepare Passover for You?” (The Passover lamb was to be slaughtered on Friday evening).

Jesus Christ said to them: “Go to Jerusalem; there you will meet a man carrying a jug of water; follow him into the house and tell the owner: The teacher says: where is the upper room (room) in which I would celebrate the Passover with My disciples? He will show you a large, furnished room; cook there." Having said this, the Savior sent two of His disciples: Peter and John. They went, and everything was fulfilled as the Savior said, and they prepared Easter.

In the evening of that day, Jesus Christ, knowing that He would be betrayed that night, came with His twelve apostles to the prepared upper room. When everyone reclined at the table, Jesus Christ said: “I greatly desired to eat this Passover with you before My suffering, because, I tell you, I will no longer eat it until it is accomplished in the Kingdom of God.” Then he stood up and took off outerwear, girded himself with a towel, poured water into the washbasin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. Having washed the feet of the disciples, Jesus Christ put on His clothes and, lying down again, said to them: “Do you know what I have done to you? Behold, you call Me Teacher and Lord, and you call Me correctly. So, if I, your Lord and Teacher, washed your feet, then you should do the same. I have given you an example, so that you also do what I have done to you.”

By this example, the Lord showed not only His love for His disciples, but also taught them humility, that is, not to consider it a humiliation for themselves to serve anyone, even an inferior person.

After eating the Old Testament Jewish Passover, Jesus Christ instituted the Sacrament of Holy Communion at this supper.

And while they were eating, Jesus took bread and, having blessed it, broke it and, giving it to the disciples, said: “Take, eat; This is My Body, broken for you for the remission of sins (that is, for you it is given over to suffering and death, for the forgiveness of sins).” Then he took a cup of grape wine, blessed it, thanking God the Father for all His mercies to the human race, and, giving it to the disciples, said: “Drink from it, everyone, this is My Blood of the New Testament, shed for you for the remission of sins.”

These words mean that, under the guise of bread and wine, the Savior taught His disciples that very Body and Blood, which the next day after that He gave over to suffering and death for our sins. How bread and wine become the Body and Blood of the Lord is a mystery, incomprehensible even to the Angels, which is why communion is called a Sacrament.

The Lord gave the commandment to always perform this Sacrament, saying: “Do this in remembrance of Me.” This sacrament is being performed with us now and will be performed until the end of the century during a divine service called Liturgy or Liturgy.

During the Last Supper, the Savior announced to the apostles that one of them would betray Him. They were very saddened by this and in bewilderment, looking at each other, in fear they began to ask one after another: “Am I not, Lord?” Judas also asked: “Isn’t it me, Rabbi?” Jesus says to him: “You said.” John reclined next to the Savior. Peter signaled to him to ask who the Lord was talking about. John, falling to the Savior’s chest, quietly said: “Lord! Who is this?" Jesus answered just as quietly: “The one to whom I dip a piece of bread I give.” And, dipping a piece of bread, he handed it to Judas Iscariot, saying: “Whatever you are doing, do it quickly.” But no one understood why the Savior told him this. And since Judas had a box of money, the disciples thought that Jesus Christ was sending him to buy something for the holiday or to give alms to the poor. Judas, having accepted the piece, immediately left. It was night.

Jesus Christ, continuing to talk with His disciples, said: “Children! I won't be with you for long now. I give you a new commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved you. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for each other. And there is no greater love than this, that someone lays down his life (gives his life) for his friends. You are My friends if you do what I command you.”

During this conversation, Jesus Christ predicted to the disciples that they would all be offended because of Him that night, they would all run away, leaving Him alone. The Holy Apostle Peter said: “Even if everyone is offended because of You, I will never be offended.” Then the Savior said to him: “Truly I tell you, this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times and say that you do not know Me.” But Peter began to assure even more, saying: “Even though I had to die with You, I will not deny You.” All the other apostles said the same thing. But still the Savior’s words saddened them.

Comforting them, the Lord said: “Let not your heart be troubled (that is, do not grieve), believe in God (the Father) and believe in Me (the Son of God). The Savior promised His disciples to send from the Father another Comforter and Teacher, instead of Himself - the Holy Spirit: “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him and does not know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you (this means that the Holy Spirit will abide with all true believers in Jesus Christ - in the Church of Christ). A little more - and the world will no longer see Me; and you will see Me; for I live (I am Life; and death cannot overcome Me), and you shall live. But the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you everything and remind you of everything that I have told you.” The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, “Who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me; and you also will testify, because you were with Me from the beginning” (John 15:26-27).

Jesus Christ also predicted to His disciples that they would have to suffer a lot of evil and troubles from people because they believed in Him: “In the world you will have tribulation; but take heart (be strong): I have overcome the world (that is, I have overcome evil in the world).”

The Savior ended His conversation with a prayer for His disciples and for all who would believe in Him, so that the Heavenly Father would preserve them all in firm faith, in love and in unanimity (in unity) among themselves.

Having finished the supper, they went beyond the Kidron stream, to the Mount of Olives, to the Garden of Gethsemane.

NOTE: See Matt. 26, 17-35; Mk. 14, 12-31; OK. 22, 7-39; In. 13-17; 18, 1.