After the whirlwind of Holy Week and Easter here in Jerusalem, my classmates and I had the window of opportunity to head off on another trek: this time to Egypt.
The 5 hour bus ride to the southernmost point of Israel puts you in Eilat, right on the border with the Sinai Peninsula. There we caught our ride to the Greek Orthodox monastery of Saint Catherine’s, which stands at the foot of Mount Sinai.
Their peaceful rooms were a good call, because we needed all the rest we could get before we were up again at 2:00 am to start the epic hike up the mountain to reach the summit before dawn.
Hiking rugged terrain in almost complete darkness is always made more memorable by having camels snorting by your ear as they share the trail with you. The Bedouins rise early as well to provide that ride up the mountain or early cup of coffee for anyone who needs a helping hand in their trek.
I had had the special opportunity of bringing my mother here the week before as she finished her Easter visit here to the Holy Land. To be back again confirmed the meaningfulness of the rugged yet stunning landscape.
Which you don’t see much of when you first start hiking.
But when you reach the top, after a while you see something like this:
And then this:
And then this:
Our group of 13 was able to do what the winds had prevented us from doing the last time: Mass on top of the mountain. Father Johnson took one of the readings:
Much less cold than my previous visit, we were a cheery crew:
And visibility made the descent much more stunning than the climb:
The mountain itself:
Here at the end of the descent you see the ancient monastery, dating back to the Emperor Justinian in the mid-500’s, making it perhaps the oldest continuously active monastery in the world:
A significant place for Biblical scholars as well: the Codex Sinaiticus was found here, containing the entire Bible in Greek and dating back over 1600 years, making it one of the best sources for study.
And of course still found in the area today are camels:
Here are a couple more shots:
All photos by Father Estanislao.
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2 comments:
Wonderful, stunning photos. And I love it that the photo of "the mountain itself" is of Father Avram!
It brought back memories of my climb of the mountain when I was studying in Israel. Reaching the top of the mountain is certainly an "Alleluia" moment. Thank you.
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