Holy Ground - St. Catherine's Monastery on Mt. Sinai with Fr. Justin Sinaites

foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] the first monks came here in the latter third or the early fourth centuries that was the dawn of the monastic movement when people departed into the desert to devote their lives to prayer and fasting this is a place of solitude a place of austerity that the first one came here not just because this was a place of austerity and quiet they came here because this was a traditional place where God reveals himself to the prophet Moses first of the Bush that burned with fire without being consumed and then at the peak of Sinai where Moses received the Ten Commandments he received the inspiration of the law that is also where he beheld the Tabernacle in sacred vision and he was commanded to make the same on Earth so that the worship that we offer here below is the reflection of the worship that is offered in the heavens Nigeria came here in December of the Year 383 and she mentions in the valley there is a garden and in the garden there is a church next to the bush and the Bush is still alive to this day and sends out green shoots this is the burning bush that has been described by pilgrims ever since right in front of it is the site of the fourth Century Church it is a day the Chapel of the burning bush the burning bush has been pointed out by pilgrims ever since the 4th Century but the disappointed out that a bush is constantly renewed itself on this rootstock it's not like a tree so it is possible that a bush would survive for so many centuries the Prophet Elijah came here 600 years after Moses that is when he hid in the cave and there was an earthquake God was not in the earthquake there is a fire that is not in the fire there is a strong wind God was not in the wind and then there was the voice of a gentle breeze where it says in the King James Bible is still Small Voice and that is where God was so these very important Revelations of God to the prophet Moses and to the Prophet Elijah also took place here this is the ancient world the traditional wealth where where Moses came the Seven Daughters of Jethro had drawn water for their flocks but then Shepherds came and because they were girls they pushed them out of the way they took the water for themselves Moses was all by himself in a strange country but he said this isn't right and he puts the Shepherds out of the way gave the water back to the girls when the girls were home earlier than usual their father Jethro said how is this and they said in Egyptian drove away the Shepherds he immediately liked Moses because he realized here's a stranger all by himself but he's standing up for what is right and so he said where is this Egyptian he came he ended up living with him he married his daughter Zapora and they had children here it doesn't say how long he lived in the desert in the pentateuch but when Saint Stephen is making his defense in the Acts of the Apostles he mentions that he was 40 years in the Palace of pharaoh he lived 40 years in the wilderness so he was 80 years old when God appeared to him at the burning bush and then it does say at the book of Deuteronomy that he was 120 when he died and although he was so elderly his vision was still strong and he had all of his strength in 2007 we commissioned an artist in Greece to make depictions of the life of the Prophet Moses it begins with him being rescued by the daughter of pharaoh from the Ark of bull rushes this is when he came to the well he met Jethro he married his daughter Zapora he was taking care of his sheep and goats in the desert when God appeared to him at the bush had burned without the bush being consumed he crossed the Red Sea the prophet Moses sister Miriam chanted A Hymn of Thanksgiving this is when he struck the rock with his staff and the waters came forth this is when they were fed by Manna and by the quails they defeated the amalekites Moses received the tablets of Allah he broke the golden calf he brought them here to the mountain where God revealed himself in an extraordinary way he constructed the Tabernacle and we read that when the Tabernacle was set up it was filled with luminous light the presence of God the last scene is taken from the life of Saint John clinicas it is said that on the day he was installed as avat because he was so beloved and so respected there were 600 people here on that day and then after the service the monks were trying to provide for them and it was total chaos trying to provide food for 600 people and then a Jew appeared and he took charge and he gave everyone orders and he reduced the chaos to order and then everything went smoothly at the end they were looking for him they didn't find him and so they said this is strange and they went to the Albert John quimicus and they said a Jew appeared it was directing this but no we can't find them what is going on and he said don't be surprised before Lord Moses has appeared in this place that is sacred to him so this is the last scene in the paintings that it is an incident taken from the life of Saint John climicus but it is a reminder of the presence of the scenes and of their protection and solicitude for the amongst who live here and for the pilgrims who visit here to this holy place in the epistle to the Corinthians Saint Paul appeals to all of these as the Paradigm for the Christian Life The Passage to the Red Sea becomes a type of baptism we are sustained by spiritual meat and spiritual drink in our life as Christians and we come to the very presence of God God manifests himself God dwelling in the midst of his people and then after our Passage through the desert we cross over the Jordan and enter into the Promised Land these were the formative experiences for the children of Israel these became also the formative experiences for Christians and it is interwoven in all of our services these are the keys to understanding Orthodox hymns and Orthodox icons and it is a great blessing to live at this very place to hear these references that carry through all of the services and to think we're living at this very place where all of these Revelations occurred we have the first service at four o'clock in the morning when the stars are bright in the sky the surface ends at seven o'clock when the Sun rises we have a short service at noon we have Vespers and complain at four o'clock in the afternoon so the beginning the middle and the end of the day are spent to the services so it is a very complex schedule but one that has been in place here for so many centuries the spiritual goals that they had of all are still our spiritual goals today so we have every incentive to meet the spiritual goals that were there centuries ago and that are still in place today oh [Music] baby babies [Music] from here you have an overview of the whole Monastery you can see the 6th Century Basilica this is the bell tower that has nine bells that were the gift of the emperor Alexander II of Russia right next to the church is a mosque so now he's unique and having a mask inside and it is an example of peaceful coexistence in the history of the monastery we see a record of peaceful relations mutual respect between the monastery and the Muslim rulers between the monastery and the local Bedouin the Bedouin here Trace their descent to the soldiers who built them on the stair in the 6th century and they were commanded by the emperor Justinian to live here and to guard and protect the monastery we know that Arab rule came here in the year 630 so from that time the monastery was no longer part of the Roman Empire but it had been built with such an ambitious scale as a fortress in the middle of the desert that it survived through all the centuries even to our own day with the arrival of Arab rule they converted to Islam at the end of the 7th century but they continue to live here they are the jabalia means the people of the mountains with specific reference to Mount Sinai they continue to live here to support the monastery and to protect the monastery one of them said many years ago this is in our DNA because for 1400 years we have been living here and protecting the monastery this is quite remarkable if you think about it we differ in language we differ in faith we differ in culture we differ in all the things that make for conflicts and tensions and yet throughout the history we can see examples of mutual respect Mutual support the monks helping the Bedouin the better one protecting the monastery and that is a very beautiful example for our own day when we read the news the news is filled with reports of conflicts and tensions and wars and we think will there ever be peace and then when we think of Sinai it is a place of Peace So it shows that it is possible Sinai then emerges as the Paradigm of Peace for our world today one of the most important documents we have on display in the museum is a copy of the letter attributed to the prophet Muhammad himself in which he gave protection to the monks and to the Christians living in the area the letter of the of the Prophet Muhammad is certainly not unique he dictated many letters of protection and these are today receiving a great deal of interest from Muslim Scholars because they see these as very important precedents for peaceful relations between Christians and Muslims one person said this document is as important today as it was in the 7th century this is the central story room for the library the library here is famous it is the accumulation of manuscripts that have been built up here over the centuries the climate here is very dry and very stable and the monastery has never been destroyed and never been abandoned in all of its history for so all those reasons over the centuries an incredible library was built up the books that you see above are the early Greek printed books we have 8 000 early Greek printed books the more important text for Scholars and visitors are the ones that you see below throughout the room they are behind the screens on horizontal shelves we have 3 300 manuscripts all together I have manuscripts that I would like to show you the first is a lectionary a lectionary is the gospels for reading of the services this is open to the beginning of the gospels according to Saint Luke on the left you see a very beautiful illumination depicting the Evangelist Luke he is poised beginning to write his gospel so it is a splendid text and then when you turn the rest of the pages the gospels have a title in gold and pigments but then the text is written in ink the red that you see is early music notation the gospels were never read with the spoken voice they were interned for greater Clarity in an acoustic environment and these are early music notations to guide the intonation of the gospels if you look carefully you see where candle wax was dripped on the page you see finger marks so these texts were used over the centuries this was made in Constantinople at days from the 11th century one of the amazing things is that I could take it and use it in the services today because the language and the readings have remained exactly the same that is an indication of the incredible continuity that exists here at Sinai the next manuscript is a 9th century psalter it is a parallel tax written in Greek and Arabic side by side in the 9th century Greek was written all capital letters with no word separations between the words the Arabic was written in cubic Arabic it is not an easy alphabet to read among Arabic speakers today but it is very artistic and the significance of this is in the translation of the scriptures and services into Arabic we know the Arabic rule came to this part of the world in the early 7th Century by the 8th and 9th centuries Christians were speaking Arabic as their native language and it was important to have these services and the scriptures translated into Arabic this is a text that dates from that time and it also shows a community of peace speakers of Greek and a community of speakers of Arabic living side by side and a manuscript needing to serve the needs of both communities the third manuscript that we have is the most illuminated manuscript of the latter the latter is the most important text written here as Sinai it was written by the Abbott John who was here in the later Sixth and early 7th century because he had gained great respect as a spiritual director and as a wise inexperienced guide when he became the abbat here he was asked to write a spiritual treatise the person writing the letter said give us the tablets the way Moses received the tablets in the hand of God show us the way from Earth to heaven the way Jacob saw the vision of the latter they listened from Earth to heaven and so he took that Motif and he called his work the latter of divine ascent it is a work that has been treasured ever since the 7th Century because it describes how to acquire the various virtues as we mature as Christians and Ascend the spiritual letter from the first steps to the most advanced the latter ends with the same lesson that Saint Paul brings in the first Epistle of the Corinthians now of their abide faith hope and love and the greatest of all is love so the end point of the latter is the vision that Saint Paul set out in his epistle to the Corinthians it is a spiritual guide that has been respected not only among monastic but by lay people as well technology changes at a dizzying speed but human nature doesn't change and so the advice that he gave us on how to be humble how to acquire the different virtues is still the advice that we need to hear today I think one of the distinguishing marks about Sinai is the incredible continuity that is here we feel that in the services the church where we have daily Services were constructed in the middle of the sixth Century we commemorate the founders of the Sacred Monastery The Sovereign so it is an incredible example of continuity in some ways it's like a part of the late antique world that has reached our world largely intact the library became known to scholars in the West in the 19th century it wasn't until the middle of the 20th century that the remarkable icon collection came to the notice of Scholars from the West the most famous icon that we have is the famous icon of Christ that dates from the 6th Century Christ is depicted holding the gospels and his left hand blessing with his right hand the painting has such a spontaneity such a Grace many people have tried to make a copy of it and the copies always fall short of the original because the original was painted with such a presence and just just a complexity it is almost impossible to reproduce it is important to realize that icons were not created as works of art they were created in the works of devotion and they still play an essential part in Orthodox prayers and devotions both in public Worship in the church and in private devotions in the home everyone is here out of the narration for the Heritage the spiritual Heritage of Sinai and by living here by taking part in the daily Services by maintaining the Heritage that is here we enter into that tradition and become a part of that tradition it is a very beautiful thing to live here and to read The Works of Saint John clinica's sent hezekius the Sinai Saint philothius Sinai and to think these Works were written at this very place I was studying the works and he mentions we must be like polished mirrors reflecting Christ in the classical World mirrors were not made of glass and so belief as they are today they were made of silver or bronze the bronze or silver was polished with finer and finer abrasives until you yielded a reflective surface but silver and bronze tarnish the mirror has to be cut polished to clearly reflect the image and that is the Paradigm that is set forth for Christians we must think of ourselves as mirrors that constantly need to be polished and kept right and dooming to accurately reflect praise and Saint philuthius says Christ imprints himself he he writes he inscribes himself luminously upon the polished mirror of the Soul for that Saint philothius had to invent the new word he wrote this word is unprecedented it was one that was coined by Saint philotheus himself who described how Christ inscribes himself luminously upon the polished mirror of the Soul it is a very beautiful thing to read these texts and to think these Saints lived here at this very place they wrote these words at this very place we need to study them to incorporate them into our own lives and then we enter into the Heritage that has been preserved at this very place [Music] foreign [Music]

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Length: 23min 20sec (1400 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 22 2023