Celebrations in Sinai to mark the Anniversary of St. Catherine
Egypt, Local, 12/13/2002

The holy land of Sinai recently witnessed an international celebration to mark the martyrdom of St. Catherine of Alexandria.

The celebration was held at the foot of Mount Moses, where St. Catherine's monastery is located.

The monastery, which was originally ordered to be built by the Empress Helen, the mother of Constantine the Great, was actually built by Emperor Justinian, houses the bones of St.Catherine, was turned into a center of civilization for the whole world, in addition to being a place of worship.

Though established and patronized for most of its history by the Russian Orthodox church, St. Catherine's monastery is now under the auspices of the Greek Orthodox church. Most of its monks are of Greek origin.

In a post-mass message held to mark this religious occasion, Pope Krestopolise, head of the Greek Orthodox church said that this annual celebration renews the call to settle peace worldwide.

At this place, Moses called upon God, Subhan Allah (Glory to God), who it is believed was embodied in the form of a burning bush. God then gave to Moses the ten commandments in tablets of stone.

On the sideline of the international celebration, a cultural conference was organized on st.Catherine and her religious beliefs, where a large number of Egyptian, Greek, Russian and Lebanese intellectuals and philosophers attended.

St. Catherine, whose body was reportedly carried way by angels, was discovered five hundred years later at the top of the peak that now bears her name.

Her relics are stored in a marble reliquary in the Basilica.

Mohamed Saker, who represented Egypt at the international conference, said that Egypt respects all religions and doctrines.

Saker, who is a Greek linguist at the Antiquities Department added that ancient Egyptian's knowledge is firmly linked to ethical values which combines science and religion.

St.Catherine's monastery is a spectacular natural setting for priceless works of art, including Arab mosaics, Greek and Russian icons, western oil and wax paintings, fine sacerdotal ornaments, marbles enamels, chalices and reliquaries.

The monastery's library contains the second largest collection of illuminated manuscripts consisting of some 3,500 volumes in Greek, Coptic Arabic, Armenian, Hebrew, Slavic, Syriac and Georgian. It also has rare copies of the Bible dating back to 1577, 1587, 1598, 1604 and 1636 AD, the monastery's spokesman and conference coordinator, Tony Kazamisa said.

Kazamisa said that participants saw the remaining parts of a rare edition of the Bible dating back to the mid-4th century and discovered by a German researcher in 1844-1859 AD.

The German presented part of this Bible as a gift to Leipzig University who lent it to the Tsar of Russia, who later sold it to the Russian government.

St. Catherine's monastery is also a formidable fortification, with granite walls from 40 to 200 feet tall, surrounded by gardens and cypresses. Prior to the twentieth century, the only entrance was a small door 30 feet high.

It has a small 10th or 11th century mosque and a chapel (the chapel of St Triphone), also known as the skull house) which houses the skulls of deceased monks.

Previous Stories:
  Blair urges tourists to take a walk on the Nile side   (1/7/2002)
  Egypt for registering 15 monumental sites on world heritage   (9/25/2001)
  Pope calls for peace   (2/25/2000)

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